Glenn Heller Of WAMC Pirate Radio Responds To Upstream.

Mr. Weaver,

Why does it take a ‘watchdog’ or ‘gadfly’ to let people know that the head of a local charity is taking a whopping pay raise and getting full time, free use of a new car, all at the expense of the charity? Why aren’t the Albany media — the folks who are getting paid theoretically to find out about local things that smell bad — ferreting out this stuff instead of a volunteer ‘watchdog’ like me with meager resources?

Regarding Alan Chartock: There is a reason why there is so much fear and loathing amongst good people who work, or have worked, at WAMC. How else do you think I find out about the stuff about which I write?

By the way, you might want to check out Wikipedia’s entry about Mr. Chartock. You should also consider adding your own material to the entry.

Thanks for your insightful review. My writing appears ‘intelligent’ only because I use ’spellchecker’ before posting online (something far too many other blogs — not yours — and e-mails could benefit by using).

As to your observations, you are on-point in your suggestion that I consolidate sites/blogs. I don’t know if that is going to happen anytime soon though, because of time considerations. Plus, though I hardly ever get a chance to update nowadays, I like having a choice of venues depending on subject matter.

Regarding the ‘gadfly’ label that too often gets attached. I am used to labels. Labels are a pejorative method by which the ‘legacy’ or ‘driveby’ media categorize people and stories in order to detract from or undercut the ‘message’.

Example: When I lived full-time in The Berkshires, I spent some time turning over a lot of rocks — sacred cow Alan Chartock was just one of them — mostly uncovering violations of Massachusetts Competitive Bidding statutes — i.e.: I formally notified State authorities concerning various sweetheart deals I uncovered between municipalities and favored contractors — deals that had been in place for decades and which the local media knew about but which unexplainably chose to ignore.

These were ‘no-bid’ municipal contracts, highly illegal, which resulted in favored contractors raking in millions of dollars over the years without the nicety of having to compete: Contracts for paving, installation of sewer lines in streets, road building — you name it.

As a result of my actions, the State came in and enforced the rules. The State IG and the State Dept. of Labor and Industries cited cities and towns for violating Mass. laws. Things changed — I think and hope for the better.

Back then, The Berkshire Eagle was labeling me ‘The Watchdog’. {When friends would phone me in The Berkshires and ask what I was up to, I’d say, “I’m being called ‘The Watchdog’ — so I’m sitting here watching my dog!”) So now, I am being called ‘Gadfly’. It’s all the same. It’s called ‘Shoot-the-Messenger’ syndrome.

Thanks for taking the time to peruse my sites.

GMH

P.S. http://www.montereynews.org/ is another of my Web sites that I should update more often.