Dear Readers,
I would like to clarify statements being made by Gary Daugherty today.
When interviewing candidates I give them every opportunity to put out their message. After I chat with them I forward a copy of my write-up. Every candidate is given the opportunity to change whatever they like, remove whatever they like, and add whatever they like.
During my chat with Gary he said his vote on the override was private, I didn’t know if he supported the override or not.
The draft for “Upton Daily meets Gary Daugherty” was sent to him for approval. I quoted him in my interview as written below.
When asked if he supported last year’s override for the school budget Gary said, “I want good schools but I want it to be transparent. I’m always cautious of overrides because the money is set forever.”
After reviewing the post, Gary changed the statement to read like this.
When asked if he supported last year’s override for the school budget Gary said, “I reluctantly supported it because I was a hundred percent sure all the money was going to the schools. I’m always cautious of overrides because that money is set in the tax rate forever.”
He is now writing on facebook.
“An article was written earlier this week in the Upton Daily implying that I was not a strong supporter of the school system in our town”
Gary changed the statement and added the word “reluctantly.” He also had the opportunity to ADD and REMOVE anything he wanted to from the post and he took advantage of that opportunity. He removed an entire paragraph and changed several statements.
I write this not to disparage Gary. I really liked him and given another circumstance he would have had my vote. I don’t like when my integrity is questioned especially when Upton Daily is probably the only place where candidates are given the opportunity to make any change they want to their “meet the candidate” write ups. To be honest my feelings are hurt.
UPTON DAILY 
I can see why Jim Floyd is a former journalist.
Thanks for reading, MUGA.
Oh how I hate myself for looking at this blog this morning! I usually don’t read these things but my wife pointed me to it and now my productivity for the day is, in blog-ian terms, trending downward.
I want to come out and say that I consider myself a strong supporter of the schools. But I would categorize myself as having “reluctantly” supported the override. My rationale there was simple…I remember the past override when Upton voted ‘yes’ and Mendon voted ‘no.’ When that happened last time, the monies that had been proposed as earmarked for the schools could not go directly to the MURSD. Yet there was no underride when Mendon ultimately declined to pitch in. Instead, the money was sent to a School Stabilization Account. But as far as I understood what happened (and being politically agnostic it may be that my interpretation isn’t entirely correct), said School Stabilization Account was funded THAT FIRST YEAR. After that, the money simply remained on the tax rolls and was dispersed to other line items within the overall town budget. So we voted to add to our tax bills to fund the school system. But the money ultimately did not continue going to the schools. Was I “reluctant” to see that scenario play out again? Yes ‘pandering’ I was. Does that mean I’m not a strong supporter of the schools? Framed by your comment, yes. Within my own self evaluation, no. Good schools are good for all. Great schools are better.
I’ll state again…I see merits in both candidates. And I find both of their messages compelling. Gary Daugherty champions change. And change can be a positive, particularly within a smaller type governing body like we have. Conversely, Ken Picard represents stability. And often staying the course can bring positive results. Which do you pick? That’s why they built those small three-sided booths that are currently standing in the gym at Nipmuc. Let’s consider ourselves lucky that two quality people are willing to go through this arduous and, too often, personal process in an effort to do what they consider best for our town. And let’s get out and vote!
Jim Floyd
Well said Jim! I think if Jenn doesn’t want to get her “feelings hurt” maybe she should stay neutral in her blog relative to Town political issues and not endorse a candidate. I also think the Teachers Union should do the same. Should the other Town Departments such as the Police, Fire and DPW Unions publicly endorse a candidate? Why not voice our opinion at the ballot box.
It appears he wants to have it both ways; viewed as a strong supporter of the schools and at the same time wants the votes of those who were against the override. Everyone I know who is a strong supporter of our school district was a strong supporter of the override, period.
Please check out Gary Daugherty for Selectmen on Facebook, if you would like to see his full comment about the Upton Daily article.
The office of selectperson should be sought by someone who does not understand what that role requires
Jenn,
We know each other and you know I respect what you try to do with your blog. But as a former journalist, I feel I must address what you wrote above. The endorsement editorial you wrote in favor of Ken Picard did, in my evaluation, take Gary Daugherty’s use of the word “reluctantly” out of context and in so doing, you painted a picture of him as being less supportive of the Mendon Upton School District. Also odd to me was the fact that your endorsement really only seemed to be a reedit of the editorial you posted on the same matter from the Teacher’s Association. I honestly don’t see Mr. Daugherty’s attempt to clarify his position, given my assertion that he was taken out of context, as throwing you (or your blog) “under the bus.” I read his response and don’t see anything personal in it that should necessitate you having your feelings hurt. He was clarifying what seems to have become (at least per you and the Teacher’s Association) a political twisting of words put forth to discredit one politician in favor of a more favored one. Gary seems like a good guy with a mainly positive message. And Ken Picard has done a lot of great things for this town. Let’s try to get through this day without devolving into the he-said, she-said circus. And let’s hope that whichever candidate prevails that we, as a town, can move forward after the polls close not as a series of political camps, but rather as a quaint small town hoping to manage its way through some difficult times.
Best to and for all,
Jim Floyd
Hi Jim,
Just to clarify I am not a journalist, yikes! I have no formal education, well except in music. Upton Daily is described as “an online resource to find out what’s UP in Upton” nothing more. I do this for free as a hobby and hope that others enjoy the blog. Just wanted to make sure everyone understood that.
Hi Jenn,
I get the distinction. And please note that I did not refer to you as a journalist. More, as you and I have discussed, in general I appreciate your efforts. But frankly, because your blog predominantly centers on local news, you, inadvertently or not, blurred the line between being a hobbyist/blogger and an online journalist when you stepped beyond disseminating items of newsworthiness and began endorsing one local candidate over another under your “Upton Daily” masthead rather than as Citizen Jenn Doyle. And your follow up piece, where you alleged that the candidate you did not endorse had thrown not you, but Upton Daily, “under the bus” became additional editorializing whereby the lines were again blurred.
I honestly don’t think you were trying to do this, but I thought your wording within both pieces could easily mislead and sway public opinion. As a now antiquated axiom states, “Never start a war of words with someone who buys ink by the barrel and paper by the ton.” In today’s techno-based news cycle, your local blog does constitute a news outlet. As such, like our candidates today, you open yourself up to scrutiny regardless of whether you took journalism classes in school.
As I said to both candidates before leaving the Nipmuc parking lot, I am grateful to them both for putting themselves in the line of fire. And I hope that once the process concludes that they, and we, all get along…you and me included.
Jim
No hard feelings here. As I wrote in this post, under different circumstance I may have voted for Gary, he is a good guy, but this time around my vote is with Ken. So I’m not sure who isn’t getting along?
Obviously, I felt this needed to be posted for my own integrity, you feel different. Oh well. that’s life.
At the end of the night, I will report who won and move on to the next topic I find interesting enough to share with readers.
Have a good day Jim.
Hi Jenn,
Thanks for the reply. Note I didn’t say anyone wasn’t getting along. I stated that I hoped when all was over that everyone WOULD get along with no hard feelings, my point being that sometimes things like elections and votes on issues can cause latent ill feelings between folks who found themselves on different sides of a proverbial fence. I’m hoping that’s not the case here. As John Wayne said at the end of the movie Wheel of Fortune, “The way I see it is that it takes 42 muscles to frown but only eight to smile. And I’m just plum lazy.”
Have a great night…
Jim
Thanks for the comments today Jim.
I enjoy when readers interact on the blog. Although I typically avoid commenting because “comments are for the readers”, today I made an exception because I was in the mood for a little neighborly banter.
An added plus, readers love the comments 🙂
Hi, Jennifer. I am always invigorated & encouraged be our phone conversations & so pleased to have a place to express myself freely. Were my articles sufficient for the public to understand who I am, why I’m running for the Housing Authority Board?Probably. I’m terribly disappointed in the video taped sound system on Candidates night. People in the audience could be heard clearly. The minute the microphone was used the acoustics in the room & that instrument garbbled the words. The moderator, Dave , has a clear voice… Re-starting the question distorted it. I ended up translating it to my friend & others told me they turned it off. By the way, Coach Road has a lovely lady who is hearing impaired…subtitles would have been nice. Gary had the most difficulty being heard. You asked him to slow down & I appreciated that. Public speaking is not easy & doesn’t come easily for most. Being thrown under the bus is what happened to me by the Milford Daily News . I will be voting for Gary mostly because I think this town needs some new people. Frank Aniello lost by only 11 votes last year. It was a disappointment to me. The Town Crier had an opinion article about Mendon residents complaining about gov’t but no one was challenging an incumbent…”that keeping people on their toes ” is helpful & healthy. If nothing else I am certainly looking for the public to become aware. The Upton Housing Authority is public property, not an entity until itself I’m grateful to live in America where we can vote & every vote counts. Pamela Goodwin
It seems like he is just making up this whole thing to have a platform to talk about his policies more. I am glad you posted this article clarifying what happened so he cannot get away with throwing you under the bus for his own gain.