On May 15, 2013, the Mansfield Board of Selectmen celeberated a ritual which has become known as "passover". This is not to confused with any religious holiday, but rather the annual snubbing of long-time Selectman George Dentino with regards to being elected Chairman of the Board of Selectman.
What may have begun as a bad joke has evolved into a straight up insult by allegedly grown men who should be ashamed of their actions.
Mr. Dentino has been a Selectman longer than anyone on the board and has been referred to as a "maverick", a "radical" and a few other terms which the rules of this forum forbid me to write but the fact is that George has been none of the above. Instead, he has been a source of wisdom, knowledge and something lacking with the others at times and that is common sense. While the others, less one enjoy taking turns to be Chairman it is George Dentino who always ends up with the short end of the stick and one must explore why.
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They seem to be fearful of George, but why? Mr. Dentino is not afraid to speak his mind but he has always protected the board and has distanced comments made outside of his position as Selectman from that of the board, yet they treat him as though he is radio active.
Are they that power hungry and spiteful or is it something else?. It is no secret that George Dentino didn't do a whole lot of favors for the former regime in town and one or two present board members might still have ties to that group, so maybe there is more to this than meets the eye.
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Anyway, don't bother to ask these men to defend their actions as they will simply run for the hills. The bunch of them together could not hold George's water and while none would admit it, history speaks for itself.
So the next time you see one of these Selectmen, make sure to wish them a happy "passover" as this is one thing they excel at.