SIGNS POPPING UP AROUND TOWN??
Volunteers wanting to inform and looking for support and signatures outside local grocery store??
The Latest Buzz in Milford!
When the Board of Selectman decided in a 2 to 1 vote not to renew Milford's Police Chief O'Loughlin’s contract, it took most residents by surprise. Not all residents keep up with local politics and were shocked, angered and confused by the decision of the Board of Selectmen not to renew.
Find out what's happening in Milfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
I've struggled with how to go about writing this article specifically due to the fact that this cause needs to be kept about the Chief and not politics. Provided all the newsworthy stories that are emerging in town, I felt I could not possibly do him and his time as Chief proper justice while also shedding light as a whole on all aspects surrounding this issue. Instead of trying, I am sharing the post from the Milford man, Mike Johnson who started the online petition which has since gathered nearly 1900 signatures alone in just over a week. On Sunday morning, Mr. Johnson authored the following post which was posted on a Facebook page dedicated to supporting Chief O'loughlin and the Milford Police Department entitled, ‘Chief O’Loughlin, OUR CHIEF.’
Find out what's happening in Milfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"Good morning everyone. Current online petition count is 1848 and we have an additional approximate 55 from our face to face attempts yesterday. What a week it has been in our town and for our movement to support the Chief. Between the donations for the signs, our face to face engagement yesterday and all the people we spoke to directly as a result not to mention the local and even corporate businesses in town who have and are supporting our movement and the Chief, I’d be comfortable stating that this has become and is still becoming a movement, a movement our town has come together on and created on our own.
I want to touch on a few things that have jumped out to me in all of this and what I have observed so far and the intentions going forward because as a group of supporters and fellow Milford residents we all deserve to be in the know of what is happening.
Our focus here is backing the Chief and the Milford Police Department. I am aware of the other issues which developed this last week in our town and the press release from MPD. I will say, that is a separate issue to what we all are doing here in voicing our support for the Chief and even more importantly the fact that we as a town weren’t even considered when it came to the board making the decision to not renew Chief O’Loughlin’s contract. I’ve said it time and time again, we deserve to know the reason for their decision, and should be provided the opportunity as a town to convene on the matter to discuss. Obviously everyone knows where we stand on the issue and stand firm that the Chief’s contract needs to be renewed. He’s three years from retirement, he’s served our community for 17 years selflessly, let the man retire. My point in saying all this again, is to reiterate what our goal is here. Let’s keep our focus together on making this happen.
That said, here we go.
I think everyone is in agreement that there are some very concerning issues occurring with town leadership. Issues that are starting to come out into the public eye that cannot be avoided and certainly will be addressed. They aren’t going to go away. At all. I want to make something perfectly clear, regardless of whether the Chief’s contract is renewed we as town have a very important decision to make. Attorney involvement with the Chief’s contract issue has the potential to become yet another lawsuit to be added to a list of ongoing lawsuits which are all as direct result or involvement of the actions of the Board of Selectmen. I saw a comment the other day that summed it up perfectly, and I’m paraphrasing but how many more times do the citizens of Milford have to foot the bill with our dollars because the Board of Selectmen can’t seem to do things by the rules? Do we really want to let our town go down this road? I’m no genius but I’m thinking with multiple ongoing lawsuits and potential for one more, I’d say that we the people aren’t the problem......My old drill sergeant said once to a fellow soldier, “If everyone together is pointing the finger at you, you’re more than likely the problem.”
So how do we fix it? After we receive the answer from the board of their intent to either listen to the people of Milford or not listen, we will adjust our compasses to the direction of “Right thing to do” yet again and we all will have to begin to have a discussion of a recall. This town can’t afford to keep footing the bill for irresponsible, irrational decisions that are becoming more prevalent and more frequent. We can’t afford to keep going down this road because if we do, again, a dangerous precedent is being set and the will of the people will continue to be simply discarded.
For now, we keep our focus, we keep voicing our opposition to the executive session vote of the non renewal of Chief’s contract that nobody was provided a reason for. Not a word. We continue to support the police department. Let us not lose focus of our goal, the goal of keeping an outstanding public service official who has done so much for our town, right where he is until he retires on his terms. Because in the end, when we look back on these issues, we as a town can say our cause was just. Milford PD has the slogan, “Commitment to our Community.” Our support/movement for the Chief and the department in this endeavor is our community’s commitment to them. All of them.
Have a great remainder of the weekend and remember, Town Hall, Monday Oct 15th, volunteers are needed to hold signs in support of the Chief leading up to the town meeting. Come show support, or just say hello. If you have a friend who’s a Milford resident who hasn’t signed online or in person, bring them down we’ll have hard copy petitions to sign as well. I’m again placing the link to the online petition below. Share it. With everyone, and then share it again. It’s clear to see that in just over a week, almost 2000 other individuals, support each other in this movement to ensure the right thing is done. Let’s do this!"
I couldn't have said it any better!! If you would like to sign the petition, that will be presented to the Board Of Selectman at the October 22nd meeting, follow the link below!