Voting is a personal decision; each voter may support whatever candidate they want for whatever reasons they feel are most important. The political process, however, is a valid topic of discussion: campaigns, organized messaging, misinformation, and coordinated political activity are all fair game for public debate, particularly following an election. The 2026 election for the Board of Selectmen in Berkley offered a rare window into how those tactics can influence local politics. It’s the dirty side of politics.
This spring in Berkley, we saw our own version of political warfare, one sided as it may be. At the bottom of the page are the recount petitions for the 2026 Board of Selectmen election. We’re going to use them to look at some of the familiar political players who repeatedly appeared around the same narrative this spring. There are a significant number of overlapping entries.
The first petition from Precinct 1 contains Berkley’s volunteer auxiliary political enthusiasts, and charter members of the Bob Longton Fan Appreciation Society. Some are close personal associates or family members of his supporters, while others have been frequent participants in the same political circles over the past several years. Think Old Berkley Preservation Society, political division – outsiders, newcomers and anyone without the proper Berkley pedigree need not apply. This group of signatories includes Bob’s neighbors, some of Renee Gagne’s many, many kinfolk, and The Chapter 11 Nardellas signing up Berkley for a ghost Selectman.
Precinct 2 is Where the Fun Begins.
This is where the Old Berkley Mafia Cinematic Universe starts assembling its familiar cast.
First up, former Berkley Selectwoman, Treasurer and Tax Collector Wendy Cochrane and her husband Shawn. Public office may be behind her, but retirement from Berkley politics appears to be a concept Ms. Cochrane has impolitely declined. While most former officials take up gardening or golf, Ms. Cochrane apparently chose a quieter retirement: Berkley politics, Facebook warfare and whatever political drama happens to be on the menu that week.
Messages obtained through public records requests imply that Ms. Cochrane was coordinating with Bob Longton and his team of Berkley’s volunteer Facebook rapid-response brigade on a regular basis before and after the election. It’s also difficult to ignore the anonymous social media account we have previously examined and the evidence connecting that account to Cochrane and not wonder just how far her involvement in Berkley politics continued after leaving office.
And apparently social media wasn’t enough. Our request produced a stream of unsolicited messages from Cochrane going back over a year. If nothing else, the messages make one thing abundantly clear: retirement has not removed Cochrane from Berkley’s political orbit or dampened her determination to make sure town officials continued hearing from her again. And again. And again.
As usual, the receipts are below. There are hundreds more to dissect, many of which we can’t find the words to describe. In time, Dear Readers. In time.
It’s not a secret anymore. And it looks like Bob Longton can speak after all, as he provided Cochrane and the rest of the gang enough detail about the coffee meeting to make clear the political telephone lines were working just fine.
But she wasn’t the only one. George Miller wisely spared us the convenience of appearing on this particular piece of paper. But based on texts floating around the interwebs between Ms. Cochrane and local influencer Noel Edgren, it looks like Rehoboth homesteader and Berkley Town Moderator still manages to find a way into the conversation. That’s not especially surprising. Miller and Cochrane spent years serving alongside one another on the Board of Selectmen and holding elected positions in Town Hall, so theirs is hardly a newly formed political acquaintance.
What role Miller actually played in this election, if any, isn’t something these messages establish. Nevertheless, his name turns up in conversation. And we’re sure he’s thrilled about what that and other texts about him may say. We’re also joyous that Edgren and Miller have apparently become regular texting buddies but come on ladies, loose lips sink ships.
We don’t know the full extent of the Ginger Menace’s involvement of course. But as these notes drift down to us from the Cloud, it begins to paint a picture of all of the machinations going on in the background. What role Miller actually played, if any, beyond what appears in these messages isn’t something these records establish.
Checking in at #4 is former Berkley Fire Chief Scott Fournier, who abruptly retired in 2024 before his contract was up. Fournier’s been laying low, splitting his time between “working” the stand in his front yard and working for the Dighton Fire Department. Why not Berkley? That station’s right down the street. That’s weird.
But make no mistake: the dozens of Longton signs in his family fields were a little bit of a giveaway that the Fourniers were motivated to get the correct election result for the Fourniers. Judging solely by the campaign signs, one could reasonably conclude the Fournier family was preparing to annex central Berkley.
Recall petitioners 5 through 8 outed the always politically reliable Moroffs. If Berkley Mafia politics had airline frequent flyer miles, the Moroffs would already qualify for Platinum Elite Status. And there was COA Board chair Margaret Moroff, once again appearing on the same side of a Berkley political fight as Cochrane. Some traditions simply refuse to die.
And who can forget Mrs. Moroff’s husband Richard, longtime member of Berkley’s Capital Improvement Committee, a committee so impressively inactive that Town Meeting routinely passes over its report because there isn’t one to give. Quorums are apparently aspirational. Capital planning, optional. But consistency? Twenty years and counting.
Bringing up the rear, as reliable as the sunrise, is Planning Board member Gregory Unger. Every town has a Neighborhood Watch. Berkley appears to have accidentally elected one. If an unfamiliar car drives down the street, there’s a decent chance it’s being photographed and reported before it’s reaches the stop sign. If someone says something online that isn’t to his liking, there’s an understandable concern they may soon find themselves discussing it in their driveway, rather than in the comments section. One almost wonders if Mr. Unger believes the Planning Board’s jurisdiction extends to the entire town and neighboring communities if time permits.
What’s Next
The truth, Dear Reader, is that this story isn’t over. It never ends.
In just a few short months, the campaign signs will begin sprouting from the ground with the reliability of dandelions after a spring rain. Facebook based constitutional scholars, election experts, municipal attorneys, and amateur psychologists will dust off their keyboards and once again publish two sentence dissertations on Berkley politics from the comfort of their living rooms. Anonymous accounts, having spent the winter quietly hibernating, will suddenly awaken with an urgent need to save the Town from whatever imaginary catastrophe is scheduled for the week.
The same rumors will make their rounds. The same talking points will be recycled. The same familiar cast of characters will emerge to insist that Berkley is only one Board of Selectmen meeting away from total collapse and that the “Twits” running the town are burning it to the ground.
And perhaps that’s the real lesson.
Don’t Believe the Hype
Political dysfunction rarely arrives all at once. It seeps in one rumor at a time, one shared post at a time, one unquestioned claim at a time, until the extraordinary begins to feel ordinary and the loudest voices begin to drown out the truthful ones.
So the next time campaign season rolls around, pay attention. Ask questions. Expect answers. If a candidate won’t make themself available to the public, ask why. If they refuse to answer a reasonable question, ask it again. And when you see the same handful of people repeatedly tearing one candidate down while promoting another call it exactly what it is.
Because if we don’t, we’ll find ourselves right back here again, wondering how it all happened and why we pay such high taxes with little to show for it; that type of result is what we have come to expect from Town leadership over the last 20 years, until recently, but that will be an article for another day.
None of this should scare good people away from running for office. Berkley needs honest people willing to step forward, answer questions, be transparent, be accountable, and put the seat first. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to agree with us. You don’t even have to like us. Just tell the truth and remember that public service comes with public accountability.
So if you’re thinking about running, run. Berkley needs you more than ever.
Remember: Elections have consequences. Choose wisely.
That’s not Bambi
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