Sex, Lies and Voice Mail

So reaction to my Blog has been pouring in via email, telephone, and live encounters in the bricks and mortar world. Selectman Kusner called, again, to complain. This time he had a point…. albeit minor.

I used him as a source in my debut Blog to expose the tipbit about the new Town Manager making a surprise inspection last summer (you can tell he’s a US Army veteran) out at Cherry Hill and not being happy with what he found thus demoting Superintendent Engstrom. I wrote that Mr. Kusner had originally called to complain about something I posted on the net.

Well I sit corrected: Mr. Kusner, as he grumpily pointed out on my voice mail, actually had called to congratulate me on the state Department of Education awarding a Charter to Pioneer Valley Chinese Charter Immersion School (I am one of 15 original founding member). During this chummy chat he revealed the Engstrom episode.

Interestingly this time around he admonished me about “treating your sources respectfully,” but didn’t deny he was a source, or take issue with the information I had used about Engstrom. Yet he couldn’t have been to overly angry as he closed with “good luck with your beginning as a reporter.”

Now combine that corroboration with another source that reported Engstrom had moved into the Clubhouse for a few months last summer. Little wonder why the Town Manager was unhappy with what he discovered in early August. With a 60-K annual salary, you would think Engstrom could afford an apartment.

Of course, that other caller had some interesting things to say about risqué web sites and what may or may not be found on a town computer’s hard drive, but I’ll leave that for the real reporters to ferret out.