Another Oops for Steve Torres

http://www.tauntongazette.com/topstories/x703876860/Taunton-City-Council-Preview-Airing-It-Out

Down with the propaganda machine!

On Tuesday, Fall River City Corporate Counselor, Steve Torres, opted to send a last minute letter to the City Council rather than appearing before the Council, as planned, to discuss the formation of a non-profit cable board. Not a politically smart move on his part because I am sure it caused added friction to the already tense relationship between the Council and the Mayor's office. But it gets worse.....

Torres' letter to the Council quickly said that he researched the issue and that there is no legal authority to form such a board. Thereby, completely dismissing the Council's desires to form such a board and more importantly, the demands of the citizens to form such a board.

Then on WSAR, Torres defended his decision not make his scheduled appearance by again saying that he had researched the formation of a non-profit board for cable television, it can't be done, there was really nothing to discuss, and that the letter was sufficient.

My question to Torres is: How well did you research this subject Steve Torres, Attorney, bound by ethical cannons, subject to sanctions for malpractice? Did you willfully withhold relevant information from the Council? Did you give bad legal counsel?

I ask because on June 28, 2006, as the Corporation Counsel for Taunton, you formed a non-profit corporation for Taunton, nearly identical to the one being requested by the City Council and the people of Fall River. You even cited the laws that support such a non-profit cable board.

or click here to view http://fliiby.com/file/946927/qfhhv5fuek.html

I know you will attempt to rebut by trying to say that Fall River's "FRG" channel is government only so it is different than Taunton - but the money all comes from the same Comcast money - the money that the non-profit cable board of Taunton controls.

Our operating budget is made possible through an agreement between the City of Taunton and Comcast, providing us with 2% of their net cable revenues. This corporation is overseen by a five member Board of Directors, which is responsible for setting studio policy, and the overall finances of T.C.A.M.

Our Executive Director is in charge of the day to day operation of our studio, and determines our programming schedule, the use of our studio and equipment, and all other issues relating to the programs you view on T.C.A.M.

http://www.tcamtv.com/

Moonlighting

In February of this year, Attorney Steven A. Torres, sat before the Fall River City Council and defended his recently signed contract, for his position as the city's corporate counsel. The city councilors questioned the fact that Torres was making more money than any previous corporate counsel for Fall River. Torres and Mayor Flanagan justified the $115,000 salary by asserting that the pay reflected the fact Torres would be eliminating his private practice to focus on Fall River full time. (note: At that time, I couldn't find any information supporting the claim that Atty Torres even had a private practice and the MA board of bar overseers website indicated Torres did not carry any attorney malpractice insurance because he was a government employee.)

Consider the fact that Torres justified his increased salary with the notion that he was losing money by giving up his private practice. Then imagine my surprise when I read an article out of Wareham recently which evidenced the fact that, 10 months into his contract with Fall River, Torres was still working side jobs:

"A report on the forensic audit of town computers, which has been in progress for nearly a year and a half, is once again delayed. Town Administrator Mark Andrews and the Board of Selectmen had been told that special counsel, the Law Offices of Steven A. Torres, would be prepared to present the results of the audit on Sept. 28 or October 5."

Pretty sneaky of Torres and Flanagan considering the fact that the City Council approved Torres' increased salary based on the premise that Torres was eliminating his private practice to, presumably, focus all of his efforts on the matters of Fall River. This is clearly not the case.

I think Torres is already overextended in his capacities as co-mayor of Fall River. I kid, I kid........... However, there have been many occasions where I have read in the Herald News, or heard at city council meetings that Corporation Counsel hadn't completed some task requested of them. Also, Torres went before the city council to get approval for another $45,000 budgeted so he could hire another attorney for the office - I certainly hope the addition of a new attorney wasn't to free up time for Torres to moonlight

Lawyers and stuff

After a vote to give the part time Fall River School Committee attorney, Bruce Assad, a $32,000 raise, Assad now makes ($77,500) approximately double the median income of Fall River (for a PART TIME CITY JOB). I am not begrudging him for trying to get the most money he possibly can, I would probably try to do the same thing; BUT damn you School Committee for allowing this!! I hope when teachers are paying for classroom supplies out of their pockets, they think of you.

I think this quote from Tim McCoy, in support of Assad's raise, sums up the egregiousness of the raise pretty well, "...he is a guy that has spent several hours in negotiations during the past couple of months."

I am additionally frustrated because, on the city side of things, co-mayors Torres and Flanagan are about to add ANOTHER attorney to the legal department. I distinctly remember Flanagan selling the city a bill of goods that included cutting the costs of the "overpriced" legal department under the Correia administration. The city clearly survived all these years on one full time attorney and 2 part time attorneys....why do we now need 3 full times and a part time? On this subject, the law department proposes to pay the new Assistant Corporation Counsel $47,000 for a full time job. How does that reconcile with the $77,500 for the part time Assad?

These people are in the "public service" sector.....I always thought that meant they served the public, but it seems like it is the other way around.

And there goes the casino.......

In response to the Senate legislation that does not reserve a casino license for an Indian tribe, Mashpee Wampanoag chairman, Cedric Cromwell, threw a temper tantrum today. An article in tomorrow's Boston Herald quotes Cromwell:

“If the state gives a commercial license to another casino operator, we won’t pay the state a cent when we build a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts once expanded gaming is approved,” said Cedric Cromwell. “We will destroy the competition because we won’t pay licensing fees or taxes and we will provide a great player experience with more wins.”

Extorting the state with a threat he can never follow through on seems like such a bad idea. I am pretty sure with these remarks, Cedric Cromwell just bumped the Fall River Casino plans to the bottom of the list.



Mayor Flanagan and Counselor Torres, please rethink this.

Oh Snap!

So many hurdles to overcome before we can ever possibly get a casino in Fall River.  I recently heard Mayor Flanagan state that people "just don't understand how close to getting a casino we really are."  Today, another hurdle was put in our path to casino-topia.  Previously it was "hoped" by our powers-that-be that Fall River would have the advantage in getting one of the three casino permits, because Fall River's casino plan was for indian gaming and one of the permits would "hopefully" be dedicated to an indian plan. 

This afternoon, the Senate introduced a casino bill and it gives no preference to indian casino plans.  This means Fall River will not have any advantage in the race to get a permit.  This means we are now in direct competition with numerous other cities and towns vying for the 1 coveted permit for the region (the region is norfolk, bristol, plymouth, nantucket, dukes and barnstable counties).   New Bedford is one of these cities.  And lets be honest, they have their $hit together over there much more than Fall River does; governmentally, economically, planning wise, and in the area of economic development. 

The recent decisions by Mayor Flanagan and Atty Torres to forego the BioPark and gamble on the slight chance of getting a casino are capricious and will likely have a detrimental impact on our city long after they are voted out of office.