Category: Your View

One more slanderous “confusion” from the Plymouth Select Board, this time from its chair, Richard Quintal, whose target was Frank Mand, vice-president of a not-for-profit environmental organization, the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance. In his confusion, Mr. Quintal managed to offend not only Frank Mand, but also the entire grassroots environmental community of Plymouth and […]

We lived in Hingham in the 1980s when a developer made an offer for South Shore Country Club. The situation was very similar to the proposal made to acquire Atlantic Country Club. The Town of Hingham had to make a decision to either buy the golf course or let the development proceed.  It became a […]

Last week Select Board Chair Richard Quintal, speaking “as a private citizen,” wrongly labeled the not-for-profit organization Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance (SEMPBA) as being a party in a lawsuit against the town despite having a “sweetheart deal” on a town owned building. Along the way, he managed to drag in the name of candidate […]

At best it’s abuse of power. At worst it’s utter incompetence and unchecked hubris. Select Board Chairman, Mr. Quintal, went to the podium for public comment recently and stated he will speak as a citizen. He then proceeded to share information that is never open to citizens (ongoing litigation). He did so with righteousness and […]

In late 2024 while my sister Emily and I were visiting the wonderful town of Plymouth for the holidays, our mother Deb Iaquinto confidently declared: “I’m going to run for Select Board in the upcoming town election.” Our initial reaction was a mix of “What?!” and, “Are you sure?” She had “retired” from her high-octane […]

On May 8, the PI reported that Select Board Chair Dick Quintal misspoke on April 29, when he stated that Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance (“Southeastern”), together with others, had sued the town in April 2025 to stop construction of a business park on Hedges Pond Road despite having  previously received a “sweetheart” lease on […]

When I left home after graduating from Plymouth South High School in 2006 to attend Norwich University – the nation’s oldest private military college – I carried the values of this town deep in my heart. Plymouth gave me the foundation of who I am; the US Army refined it. Through my service in Afghanistan […]

Question 1 on the May [17] ballot is binding. This was added by the Select Board on a Friday, one day before the printing deadline – to be added to a ballot in a May election that has historic low turnout (meaning just a few people would be making this important decision). Though Select Board […]

I was dismayed by Richard Serkey’s recent letter (“Vecchi’s accusations lack credibility”), which seems to me to illustrate the overheated rhetoric that has made political discourse in the United States so unpleasant to engage in over the past decade. Mr. Serkey is correct that [Scott] Vecchi was the subject of multiple civilian and internal complaints […]

Beware the political candidate with the most campaign signs.  Where is the funding coming from?  Likely outside money from industry, trade groups, and wealthy special interests.  It certainly isn’t grass roots.  They aren’t your friends and neighbors and perhaps don’t even live in Plymouth.  But they want a candidate to influence town politics.  If that’s […]