Volunteers Come Together at the Common Cemetery
On the afternoon of Thursday July, 9th a small army of volunteers came together to complete the detailed mowing and trimming work at the Berkley Common Cemetery, a day after Berkley Selectwomen Tabitha McCrohan and Jennifer Vincent took it upon themselves to mow it because of inaction by Berkley Cemetery Commissioners Robert Longton and Kevin Pavao.
Jennifer Vincent – Berkley Updates
They came out for a number of reasons but two stand out for us. For some it’s about giving a few hours of their time to Berkley resident Nate Kelliher. Kelliher has been tirelessly working to support his friends in the wake of a horrific personal tragedy last year and reached out repeatedly to the Cemetery Commission with offers of assistance at the Common Cemetery. Instead of quitting after being rebuffed several times, he pulled together a group of friends, landscapers, retired landscapers, and Selectwoman Tabitha McCrohan to get the cemetery fixed.
For others, seeing the leadership of Berkley’s Selectwomen – “stealing” lawnmowers and ignoring a cemetery commission that tried to tell them that they didn’t have permission to do the right thing – took that selfless act seriously and stepped forward to assist. Whatever the reasons, at it’s core this was was simply something that needed to get addressed.
Within a few short hours, this group of volunteers brought the Berkley Common Cemetery back to respectability. There is still work to be done with maintaining coverage and eventually implementing a permanent solution. We expect to see some joint meetings between the Board of Selectmen and Cemetery Commission in the near future so that a better plan can be developed1
Leaving Longton Behind
Sometimes what is not said is more insightful than what is. As referenced above, on Wednesday, Selectwoman Jennifer Vincent addressed the cleanup effort as well as the struggles to do the right thing consistently in Berkley. We’re going to highlight and address them below.
What’s left unsaid is who is not alongside Vincent and McCrohan – Selectman and Cemetery Commissioner Robert Longton. Remember, Vincent has had a number of public facing roles in the past. She understands the precision of language and uses it in such a way that allows her to get her point across without offending when speaking to multiple constituencies at the same time. For her, this is direct and displeased. Longton’s complete lack of inclusion in any way leads us to suspect that there is a growing divide on the Board.
What are the usual channels? That would be the independently elected Cemetery Commission. Here is the incumbent roster. The 3rd newly elected member hasn’t had a meeting scheduled that he can attend in the two months since gaining office, so we are excluding him from this discussion until he is able to actively participate.
Who tried to stop them? Sources tell this blog that it’s members of the cemetery commission that are fighting over who controls restoring the condition of the cemetery instead of focusing on getting it fixed.
When you consider this statement in contrast with Vincent’s typical pattern of taking ownership of almost any issue she’s involved with from start to finish, it looks like Longton and Pavao, overstepped for the last time with Mom and are being sent to their rooms to think about things.
We joke above, but that’s what appears to be playing out here. The Selectwomen do all of the work that comes their way without being asked and when another public body in Town missteps, they get pulled in to fix that too. It’s a quagmire for sure. But it begins with poor representation on local boards and commissions. People need to want to make a positive difference and work proactively to resolve issues instead of resorting to playing politics and holding onto personal territory.
Smarten up Berkley
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