An Embarrassing Record of Failure

The Hate Blogs, authored by Gary Lopez and Eric Schwaab, have been whacking away with their mean-spirited attacks on hard working and decent town employees, elected officials and volunteers for two years.

They said they represent the vast majority of Barnstable residents. They promised to field a slate of candidates in every race. The results thus far?

Councilor James Crocker is unopposed.

Councilor Anne Canedy is unopposed.

Councilor Greg Milne is unopposed.

Councilor Rick Barry is unopposed.

Councilor Henry Farnham is facing a challenge from John Brennan, who ran against Farnham four years ago and is not a Lopez candidate.

Councilor James Munafo has two challengers. One is Michael Hersey who is a local lawyer and not affiliated with Lopez. The other is Eric Schwaaab, the only Hate Blog candidate in this year's Council race.

Councilor Gary Brown is term-limited out. Three candidates are vying for the seat, Jason Cox, Lou Gongaga and James Tinsley, none of which are Hate Blog sponsored candidates.

The net result? After a six month recruiting effort, the Hate Blogs, AKA Gary Lopez and Eric Schwaab, convinced the grand total of ONE person to run for Town Council. Eric Schwaab.

And let us not forget the School Committee race. Three incumbents, Patrick Murphy, David Lawler and Peg Dandritch are up for re-election. Former Superintendent Tom MacDonald tossed his hat in the ring, too. He obviously is not a Hate Blog candidate. He cares about Barnstable too much.

Two hate Blog candidates have entered the race, Thomas Dolby and Sean Walsh. So the Hate Blogs recruited two candidates.

One just dropped out. Sean Walsh announced he is no longer in the race.

That means there is only one candidate left, Thomas Dolby.

So that means that after months of recruiting, Lopez and Schwaab recruited a grand total of three candidates. One dropped out. That leaves Tom Dolby and one other. Eric Schwaab.

An embarrassing record of failure.

What do you think?

The Bizarre World of Lopez

He's living in another world. A fairy (no pun intended) land of good is bad and bad is good. He has a slant on everything that happens in Barnstable. Of course it is always through his prism. Which can be pretty wacky at times.

Some of Gary Lopez' favorite theories over the past few weeks?

1. The Town of Barnstable bribed the bond rating agencies to get the highest possible bond rating that any community can receive;

2. The Town of Barnstable bribed the National Civic League to get the prestigious All America City Award;

3. The Town of Barnstable took private contributions to pay for said trip and paid the business community back with a uniform tax rate; and

4. the Town went on the America City trip without a budget.

And you wonder why every local media outlet sees Gary as a nut and has concluded that Lopez must be suffering from advanced Alzheimer's disease?

And have you ever seen this guy? He's kind of a cross between Otis Campbell and Professor Irwin Corey.

The difference between the print media and the local blogs is that there is at least some accountability with the newspapers. As far as the hate Blogs are concerned--

It is the Bizarre World of Lopez!

What do you think?

Gary Lopez is a Joke

You have to hand it to him. Gary Lopez is entertaining. Dumb, but entertaining. He'll criticize and attack anything at any time. His latest post is a case in point.

He apparently writes a post to encourage citizens to get involved by volunteering on Town Boards and Committees. Of course, he has done everything in his power (which isn't much) to create such a negative atmosphere in Town that no one would want to volunteer. Who wants to be personally and viciously attacked on a daily basis on blogs which can be read by family members, friends, etc.

Then he attacks an incredible human being who has served with distinction on the school committee for many years by declaring her as unfit because she is in her eighties. Wait a minute-- Isn't Gary almost there himself? I guess we should not consider his candidacy for Charter Commission.

Then he goes on and on about our local economy. His solution? Gambling. That's right. Casino Gambling in Barnstable. That is a great economic development plan. Hey Gary, what about legalizing prostitution..or drugs.

How can you write a post talking about our kids future and, in it, advocate casino gambling in Barnstable? You ask why Lopez has no credibility?

Now, the only forum he has left are the blogs. You see, he has lost all credibility with the local press because... well, let's just say some of us are truth challenged. He also rarely if ever appears personally at a meeting because, well, let's just say that some of us have trouble completing a sentence. So he usually gets his minion, John Julius, to do the dirty work for him. Every week he calls Johnny with the play book and gives him the speech to be given at the Council meeting. Good work John!

So Gary doesn't have many options left. He resorts to sitting at home and attacking away. Personal, mean-spirited attacks on anyone and everyone who volunteers their time to make our community better.

And Gary thinks we have a problem getting more people involved. Gee, I wonder why?

What do you think?

Eric Schwaab Already in Trouble

Eric Schwaab really knows how to start off with a bang. He hasn't been a candidate for office (or a voter, for that matter) for a day and Hate Blogger Eric Schwaab of Hyannis (or Brighton, depending who you ask) is already being questioned by the local press regarding his candidacy to the Charter Commission.

The local Barnstable Patriot wrote, "Before Schwaab could take out nomination papers, he had to change his voter registration from his Boston address to Barnstable, which he did Monday.

In an e-mail exchange with the Patriot in March, Schwaab said that he was considering a town council run for Precinct 3. Asked then about his residency, he pointed to his tax assessment. Beginning in Fiscal Year 2006, Schwaab the residential exemption for his Barnstable property. That carried forward for FY’07 and represented a savings of $665 in town taxes for that year.

At the same time, Schwaab was still voting in Boston according to the Barnstable Town Clerk’s office, which has access to voting histories. Town assessing director Jeff Rudziak confirmed that Schwaab received the exemption for both 2006 and 2007, but said that Schwaab did not make a request for the exemption. He said that the tax bill mailing address is the same as the property, which was among the screening criteria for determining residency in the initial year of the exemption. A request to Schwaab for clarification on residency was not answered at this writing."

So, it appears we have a candidate who did not make himself available to the local press to answer questions. There also appears to be major questions about whether he was in fact, a resident, when he said he was. Did candidate Schwaab pay his fair share of local taxes? Or did he shirk his responsibilities to this community? Was he truthful about his residential status? Why is he now attacking the local newspaper?

Public figure Eric Schwaab needs to start telling the truth and fast, if he wants the citizens of Barnstable to consider his candidacy seriously.

And isn't this the resident (non-resident) who has relentlessly questioned the honesty and integrity of many local officials and town employees over the past two years? We will find out just how honest this candidate is during this campaign.

You want some advice Eric Schwaab? Start telling the truth!

What do you think?

A Hat in the Ring

I have to give it to the local politicians. If nothing else, they know politics. And somehow and some way they did it. They drew the opposition out into their ring.

News has it that both Gary Lopez and John Julius have or will take out papers for public office. These are the two who have viciously attacked anyone and everyone who serves our community in any way, be it a Councilor, employee or Committee member.

You know the drill. Everyone (except them, of course) is corrupt. Everyone (except them, of course) is dishonest. Everyone (except them, of course) is a liar.

For two years they have questioned the honor, honesty and integrity of everyone associated with local government. All, of course, under the guise that you can say anything they want, true or not, against a person who is either a public official or a public figure.

Well, guest what? These guys just did something that no one would have predicted. They became public figures by announcing their candidacy for public office.

Oh my!!

CapeCog is short for HATE

CapeCog is really one person, Gary Lopez. Well o.k., two, if you count Lopez' gofer, John Julius.

For any person involved over the years in Barnstable politics, Gary Lopez has been seen as a do-nothing cheap shot artist who gets some perverse pleasure in attacking others while NEVER really getting anything done. He has lost all credibility with every local media outlet over the years for one simple reason. He can't be trusted. He'll stretch the truth and the facts so much, you wouldn't recognize them on a bet.

He has run for office many times but rarely gets any votes to mention. Why? Because people see him as a joke, a circus side show who is funny on occasion, but never meaningful and always humorous at someone else's expense.

If you believe him, he is responsible for everything that is good. But the successes that he claims are almost always completed by someone else. He is a legend in his own mind. If you doubt it, just ask him.

He's the type that when he meets his maker, he will wonder why there is no one at the funeral home to grieve. I have said it many times, but here it goes again. No one likes or respects a bully. And Gary Lopez is a bully who hides at home taking cheap shots at others. Can we say, gutless?

What do you think?

A Sad Commentary

Over the past few weeks, I have asked several residents whether they would consider running for the new Charter Commission. Their response was disappointing. In a nutshell, they are discouraged by the present atmosphere of negativity that they hear about on the hate blogs and listen to during public comment at the Town Council meetings.

What a shame. These are upstanding citizens with years of professional experience and commitment to various causes in our community. They would bring an incredible level of expertise and integrity to the review process. But it looks like they, and others, don't want to get into a food fight. Life is too short and there are too many worthy endeavors that they can, and will, volunteer for.

This community loses when good people are discouraged from participating because the handful of critics take their legitimate criticism from discourse to personal attack and mean-spiritedness. The attacks that have been made on town officials, employees and volunteers are just plain wrong. And they ruin communities, not improve them.

The hate blogs need to claim ownership of that fact! Why doesn't the legitimate press, the Cape Cod Times, The Barnstable Patriot and the Register speak up on this issue? Are they now fearful of attack, too?

What do you think?