Daily socks it to Russo

I sort of remember when our mayor did not renew the appointment of our city planner, Nick Cracknell. I remember what a furor it caused, and up until I left the Current, I still heard it as a major criticism of the mayor.

I see in today's (that would still be Thursday's) Daily News an editorial, I guess, about Newbury's decision to "toss out" its town planner.

With Newbury voters poised to accept or reject the biggest private construction development in their town's history, they clearly need all the professional firepower they can get to make sure the town's interests are met.

With that in mind, it's astonishing that two selectmen have chosen this very moment to toss out the town planner, Judy Tymon. Perhaps even more surprising is the lack of definitive and defensible reasons they gave as the basis for their decision.

Monday night, selectmen voted 2-1 to get rid of Tymon when her term expires on June 30. Selectmen Joe Story and Vincent Russo cited two central reasons — Tymon's failure to bring in grants and her failure to improve communication between town agencies.

But those reasons didn't wash with many who attended the angry meeting. Selectman Jen Wright, who favored keeping Tymon, produced a list of some $522,000 in grants that Tymon has secured since 2004.

Russo's response — "Look at that... she doesn't give it to us. She gives it to the press" — doesn't say much for his own research into the matter. If anything, it sends the message that he was more aggravated that he was publicly blindsided with facts than with the ugly realization that perhaps he hadn't done his own homework.

I don't have much to add to this, because I am no longer astonished by anything that happens around here, or there, government-wise, and I already expressed my feelings here, only not quite as eloquently.

Good going.