Monday, August 22, 2005
The scandal seekers come up empty
Three cheers to councilor Isaac Mass for his straightforward response to the supposed conflict-of-interest brouhaha. The ethical concerns raised by Al Norman are a transparent attempt to affect the outcome of this rezoning matter.
One could just as easily question Mr. Norman's motive, since any publicity he receives from blocking development will help him sell more books. Mr. Norman has two books for sale at Amazon.com, both drawing upon his credentials as an anti-development activist. One even has the subtitle, "How You Can Stop Superstore Sprawl In Your Hometown". Any new development project in Mr. Norman's hometown would be a strike against his credibility as an author; sales of his book sales would be likely to decline. Conversely, a well-publicized defeat of new development could help him sell a lot of books.
While I doubt that book sales are Mr. Norman's primary motivation in opposing the rezoning proposal, the possibility is at least as credible as the charges against Isaac Mass.
The ethics charge struck me as particularly strange because it goes against everything I know about Isaac. I worked with him at Channing Bete, and have been acquainted with him through mutual friends. He's a warm-hearted guy who genuinely cares about this town. I may not see eye to eye with him on every political issue, but the strength of his character has never been a concern of mine.
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UPDATE
I've been poking around Mr. Norman's web site. He doesn't just sell books, he offers anti-sprawl consulting services as well. That explains why his site is a dotcom, not dotorg. His site includes a "Victories" list, and I bet he'd like to see this zoning issue added to it.
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UPDATE 2
OK, I'm getting sucked in but this is just fascinating, and I'm home from work with nothing to do. I just want to pin down Norman's potential financial interest, since he brought it up.
Last year PBS Newshour reported, "His efforts have turned into a cottage industry for the 57-year-old Massachusetts native. His fees run anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000, but he says, 'My fees are a joke compared to what Wal-Mart pays their consultants.'"
Let's say this zoning issue means he'll gain a couple of clients if he wins, and loses a couple of clients if he loses (leaving book sales aside). At the high end of his rates that's $6k in either direction--a swing of $12k. Speculation, of course, but it's more concrete than his dirt-digging expedition against the council.
One could just as easily question Mr. Norman's motive, since any publicity he receives from blocking development will help him sell more books. Mr. Norman has two books for sale at Amazon.com, both drawing upon his credentials as an anti-development activist. One even has the subtitle, "How You Can Stop Superstore Sprawl In Your Hometown". Any new development project in Mr. Norman's hometown would be a strike against his credibility as an author; sales of his book sales would be likely to decline. Conversely, a well-publicized defeat of new development could help him sell a lot of books.
While I doubt that book sales are Mr. Norman's primary motivation in opposing the rezoning proposal, the possibility is at least as credible as the charges against Isaac Mass.
The ethics charge struck me as particularly strange because it goes against everything I know about Isaac. I worked with him at Channing Bete, and have been acquainted with him through mutual friends. He's a warm-hearted guy who genuinely cares about this town. I may not see eye to eye with him on every political issue, but the strength of his character has never been a concern of mine.
----------
UPDATE
I've been poking around Mr. Norman's web site. He doesn't just sell books, he offers anti-sprawl consulting services as well. That explains why his site is a dotcom, not dotorg. His site includes a "Victories" list, and I bet he'd like to see this zoning issue added to it.
----------
UPDATE 2
OK, I'm getting sucked in but this is just fascinating, and I'm home from work with nothing to do. I just want to pin down Norman's potential financial interest, since he brought it up.
Last year PBS Newshour reported, "His efforts have turned into a cottage industry for the 57-year-old Massachusetts native. His fees run anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000, but he says, 'My fees are a joke compared to what Wal-Mart pays their consultants.'"
Let's say this zoning issue means he'll gain a couple of clients if he wins, and loses a couple of clients if he loses (leaving book sales aside). At the high end of his rates that's $6k in either direction--a swing of $12k. Speculation, of course, but it's more concrete than his dirt-digging expedition against the council.
