A Day for Remembrance

On this day for remembering, we recall a favorite quote of Winston Churchill:

'Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few'

While Churchill was, at the time, speaking about British pilots during the Battle of Britain in 1940, the words are easily applied to other times and other places. He liked his whiskey and his cigars, but the man brought an eloquence to the English language that is fast going the way of the Dodo in our contemporary world of texts and tweets. And maybe it's his American mother that gives many of us a special link to his greatness.

Today, we rightly honor those who have served to protect our way of life, especially those who have fallen in the line of duty. But we also take this special day to remember those of our own families and communities that have gone before us and in many ways, large and small, helped pave our way into the future. It is important to celebrate those memories thereby perpetuating their influence beyond mortal constraints.

The View's Favorite Sports Bar

It all started at a Red Sox spring training game in Ft. Meyers this March. We were checking the scoreboard when up came an ad for Johnny Malloy's Sports Pub in nearby Bonita Springs. We never did stop in for the two-for-one chicken wings, or whatever they were offering to Sox fans, but we eventually did do a little research and learned that this restaurant is actually a franchise with nine additional locations.

But when you click on the LINK, the plot thickens as it turns out that the eponymous Johnny Malloy was a mounted policeman. The music, alone, is worth the click

In our family, we have our own mountie, cousin, Jamesie Leahy. So if we were to bring one of these franchises to Massachusetts, we would have to re-craft the name to somehow include our mountie while still taking advantage of the franchise. Any thoughts? And while you are thinking, try to come up with someone with deep pockets that also knows how to run a sports bar.

Plymouth Town Election, May 8th

Just in case you have been out of town for the past few months, the election that has precipitated the proliferation of lawn signs around Town will be held next Saturday, May 8th at all the regular polling places. To View a sample ballot, click HERE, then select your precinct. Aside from the election of 3 Town Meeting Representatives from each precinct, the main event, and only town-wide contest, is the election of two members to the Board of Selectmen from among three candidates: incumbent, BUTCH MACHADO, Vice Chair of the Finance and Administrative Advisory Board (Fin Com) MATT MURATORE, and former Fin Com member SERGIO HARNAIS The candidates have been busy over the past few months attending a number of debates, some of which have been televised. For those seeking more information about the candidates' backgrounds, experience, education, other community involvements, we suggest visiting the candidates web sites by clicking on the highlighted names above.

On a more qualitative basis, we offer the following thoughts:

Incumbent, Plymouth native, Butch Machado has served as Selectman for the past three years. He deserves full credit for enduring the gruelling nights of long meetings. Moreover he comes across as being a straight shooter who means what he says. One concern, however, stems from his full-time employment with the Town of Plymouth DPW. To his credit, this means he cannot accept the stipends and benefits provided to other elected officials, but it also means that he must recuse himself from many key budget discussions, especially those involving crucial negotiations and budgeting concerns relative to Town employees and their benefits. As the Town continues to face severe revenue shortfalls, these discussions and decisions will become more important than ever.

As Vice Chair of the Fin Com, Mat Muratore also knows the grind of lengthy weekly night meetings. The other side of this coin, however, is the in-depth knowledge of Town finance that this service has provided him. As a business executive, he also knows first-hand about the challenges of running a large private organization in the demanding health care field.

Serge Harnais also brings Fin Com experience to the table. In addition, he has twenty years experience in Information Technology with the Federal Reserve bank of Boston.

The View sees Muratore as the strongest candidate. Butch Machado is a good man, but is handicapped by his position with the DPW. In better times, this may not have been as important as it is today. Due to anticipated revenue shortfalls, the Town will be forced to consider major cuts in these areas as they constitute a major portion of the Town budget.

Serge Hernais brings enthusiasm and talent to the task. While lighter on experience than the other two candidates, he may well have the ability to quickly climb the municipal learning curve.