WELL FOLKS, last year the cowardly buffoons running the Town of Holden spent EVERY DIME of Holden’s available funds to stave off a Proposition 2 ½ override. This year their cowardice and stupidity caught up with them and bit them in the ass BIG TIME. SO, Holden voters will be presented with a $5.5 Million Proposition 2 ½ Override on 11 May 2026.
WHAT BACKED THE TOWN OF HOLDEN INTO THIS GIGANTIC FINANCIAL HOLE ???
NONE OTHER THAN THE BLOATED, OVER-SPENDING, SUB-STANDARD WACHUSETT REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT CONTINUED TO HIRE ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES EACH YEAR—NOW TOTALING MORE THAN 1000—WHILE THE WRSD TOTAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT PLUMMETED FROM 7493 IN FISCAL YEAR 2010 TO 6427 THIS YEAR.
THAT’S A DROP OF 14.5%. IT IS CLEAR THAT PARENTS ARE SEEKING ALTERNATIVES TO THE ‘WOKE,’ DEI-INFESTED, LGBTQ-GROOMING WRSDFOR THEIR CHILDREN.
AS THE WRSD HEMORRHAGED STUDENTS IT KEPT ADDING EMPLOYEES AND ITS BUDGET SKYROCKETED FROM $81.3 MILLION IN FISCAL YEAR 2015 TO $129,515,225 THIS YEAR—A 59.3% INCREASE IN A MERE 11 YEARS.
THE WRSD NOW HAS 1 EMPLOYEE FOR EVERY 6.4 STUDENTS. THAT’S INSANE.
MEANWHILE, THE STUPID, TESTICLE-CHALLENGED SELECT BOARDS AND FINANCE COMMITTEES IN HOLDEN, PAXTON, PRINCETON, RUTLAND, AND STERLING SUPPORTED THE WRSD’S RUNAWAY HOSING OF DISTRICT TAXPAYERS AND THE PLUNDERING OF THEIR MUNICIPAL BUDGETS.
THEY HAVE ZERO CREDIBILITY–ON ANYTHING. REMEMBER THAT AT UPCOMING ANNUAL TOWN MEETINGS.
YEP, Kirsten Newman, California Blow-In, and Blaine Bershad, both reflexive tax-and-spenders and members of the Sterling DemocRAT Town Committee (of course!), are running unopposed for re-election to the Sterling Select Board and the D.P.W. Board, respectively.
Incompetent and insufferable Kirsten Newman, and her husband, Eric, the latter being Vice-Chair of the Planning Board, are more loyal to the pro-development Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, and hence the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC)(an oxymoron joke), than they are to the Town of Sterling and its taxpaying citizens. They stuck themselves on the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission Board, headquartered in Leominster, which is chock-full of “MBTA Zoning” asslicks like them who are out to ‘radically transform’ Sterling with massively increased housing unit development, thereby destroying Sterling’s small-town, semi-rural character. In other words, they are YIMBY Assholes out to CALIFORNICATE Sterling. Moreover, Kirsten Newman never met someone else’s hard-earned tax dollars she wouldn’t spend in a heartbeat.
Like ALL DemocRATS their motto is: “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine too.” For students of history, that’s the Commie doctrine in a nutshell.
As for Blaine Bershad, he’s an architect on the D.P.W. Board out to build a bloated, exorbitant monument to himself—the proposed Sterling D.P.W. Garage Mahal Truck Palace—at Sterling taxpayer expense to the tune of $25,535,000 for 28,000 square feet (2/3 acre), or $912 per square foot.
Kirsten Newman, it should be noted, has no objection to this BLOATED BOONDOGGLE MONSTROSITY.
If good ol’ tax-and-spend Blaine and his D.P.W. cronies ditched the tax-hungry parasites known as Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc. and Vertex (the project manager), we Sterling taxpayers could get a perfectly serviceable 14,400 square foot D.P.W. building for $5.2 million, or $361 per square foot, like the Town of Marion, Massachusetts, with similar population and land area, just did.
BUT NOOO, THAT WOULDN’T BE AN EXTRAVAGANT ENOUGH MONUMENT TO BLAINE AND HIS STERLING D.P.W. CRONIES. HE AND THEY PREFER TO SCREW US TO THE MAX.
By the way, while the Sterling D.P.W. is responsible for trash pick-up in Town, back in 2024 Blaine and his partner, Will Sherwood, had a trash-burning incident on their very own property. It seems that someone torched their Harris-Walz yard sign (OF COURSE, AS ROBOTIC DemocRATS, THEY SUPPORTED AIRHEAD CACKLING KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM ‘SOMALI FRAUD’ WALZ) and a couple of adjacent yard signs, including one for DemocRAT Congress Critter James ‘Commie Cuba Jim’ McGovern, seen below with, and as a FANBOY of, the late Ruthless Cuban Commie Dictator Fidel Castro—
Here is a news report on that trash-burning incident:
WELL FOLKS, it should come as NO SURPRISE WHATSOEVER that Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc., an exorbitant outfit expert at ABSOLUTELY SCREWING TAXPAYERS ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS, hired by Sterling Town Government’s callous, stupid, incompetent, groupthink, go-along, lemming, tax-and-spend ASSHOLES to design Sterling’s proposed, re-packaged $25,535,000 twenty-eight thousand (28,000) square foot Garage Mahal Truck Palace Boondoggle at $912 per square foot, was retained by Holden to design Holden’s OWN Garage Mahal Truck Palace Boondoggle.
SCROLL DOWN AND SEE ALL THE PLANS, INCLUDING THE WESTON & SAMPSON ENGINEERS, INC. GREEN AND WHITE LOGO IN THE RIGHT MARGIN:
Ryan Mouradian, now Sterling’s D.P.W. Director, used to be the Holden D.P.W. Superintendent and was “Ex Officio” member on Holden’s D.P.W. Garage Mahal Truck Palace facilities committee.
— ALSO designed by Weston & Sampson Engineers, as an example for Sterling to follow. He and his cronies neglected to mention that Norwood’s population is 32,000—
OH, AND HERE’S ANOTHER ‘COINCIDENCE’—VERTEX WAS THE NORWOOD D.P.W. PROJECT MANAGER AND IS NOW THE STERLING GARAGE MAHAL TRUCK PALACE BOONDOGGLE PROJECT MANAGER.
Unfortunately, the Vertex link I posted failed to connect but you can do your own search engine word search and find the Vertex-Norwood D.P.W. link.
Don’t you just love the smell of cronyism and conflicts of interest in the morning???
Ryan Mouradian, a Professional Engineer, is so far up Weston & Sampson Engineers’ collective asses that only his heels are now visible. He looks more like a Weston & Sampson shill than a prudent, cost-conscious Sterling employee who is supposed to be guarding Sterling taxpayers’ interests.
I’d like to know ALL the connections to Weston & Sampson Engineers he’s had over the years.. HEY RYAN, WHY DON’T YOU POST YOUR COMPLETE CURRICULUM VITAE/RESUME ON THE STERLING D.P.W. WEBPAGE?!
MEANWHILE, the Town of Marion, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, JUST OPENED its NEW 14,400 square foot D.P.W. facility at a cost of only $5.2 Million–it came in UNDER BUDGET– or $361 per square foot.
NOTE THAT THE TOWN OF MARION DID NOT USE WESTON & SAMPSON ENGINEERS OR VERTEX. IT USED SALTONSTALL ARCHITECTS, AND A MR. CORMIER AS PROJECT MANAGER.
OBVIOUSLY ONLY STUPID, BENT STERLING TOWN GOVERNMENT ASSHOLES PREFER SPENDING $912 PER SQUARE FOOT INSTEAD OF $361 PER SQUARE FOOT FOR A D.P.W. FACILITY.
MAKES YOU WONDER WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON HERE IN THE SHADOWS, DOESN’T IT???
FOLKS, the Town of Marion, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, population 5347, and having 26.1 square miles, just opened–in February 2026—its BRAND NEW 14,400 SQUARE FOOT D.P.W. BUILDING AT A COST OF $5.2 MILLION, OR $361 PER SQUARE FOOT. IN FACT, IT CAME IN UNDER BUDGET!
SO, HOW IS IT THAT THE TOWN OF MARION GOT A BRAND NEW, PERFECTLY SUITABLE D.P.W. BUILDING FOR $361 PER SQUARE FOOT WHEREAS THE PROPOSED, RE-PACKAGED STERLING D.P.W. GARAGE MAHAL BOONDOGGLE OF 28,000 SQUARE FEET HAS A ‘NON-NEGOTIABLE’ COST $25,535,000, OR $912 PER SQUARE FOOT?
ANSWER: THE TOWN OF MARION, UNLIKE STERLING, IS NOT RUN BY A COLLECTION OF IRRESPONSIBLE, OUT-OF-CONTROL ASSHOLES SITTING ON ITS D.P.W. BOARD, SELECT BOARD, AND FINANCE COMMITTEE—AND THE TOWN OF MARION USED SALTONSTALL ARCHITECTS AND A SOLE INDIVIDUAL PROJECT MANAGER, NOT WESTON & SAMPSON ENGINEERS OR VERTEX.
FOLKS, did you really need any additional proof that Sterling’s Planning Board, Chaired by walking conflict of interest, self-dealing, self-serving developer weasel Carl Corrinne, is collection of arrogant dopes?
Well, whether or not you did here it is in the form of Columbia St, LLC’s Massachusetts Land Court Complaint challenging the City of Cambridge’s so-called “Inclusionary Zoning” ordinance on Constitutional grounds, specifically citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 5th Amendment “land taking” decision Sheetz vs. County of El Dorado :
Columbia St, LLC’s Complaint was filed 3 December 2025 and COULD knock out bogus “Inclusionary Zoning” by-laws ALL ACROSS Massachusetts.
During the 8 December 2025 Sterling “Zoning Forum” I informed all present about this new court challenge. The Sterling Planning Board can’t claim that they are uninformed.
INDEED, Massachusetts’ ‘affirmative action hire’ and reliable Commie airhead Attorney General Andrea Campbell is so concerned about that prospect that recently she filed a Motion to Intervene in that Land Court case.
SO, GIVEN PENDENCY OF THIS COURT CHALLENGE IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS TO ALL BUT STERLING’S ARROGANT PLANNING BOARD DOPES THAT “INCLUSIONARY ZONING” SHOULD NOT BE ON THE 2026 STERLING ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WARRANT.
Here’s an AI-generated summary derived from paywalled newspaper reports:
Holden Town Meeting voters overwhelmingly rejected a plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act on March 2, 2026, defeating the proposal by a margin of 520 to 257. The vote came after a year of deliberation and a prior rejection of a similar plan, with residents expressing concerns about preserving the town’s character, traffic, and property values.
The rejected plan, developed by a working group led by Selectmen Vice Chairwoman Linda Long-Bellil, aimed to designate two sites—Holden Trap Rock Quarry and Halstead Apartments—for multifamily housing as a “bare minimum” compliance effort. However, key stakeholders, including the owners of Trap Rock Quarry and Lilac Hedge Farm, were not notified of the proposal, fueling opposition.
Town Manager Peter Lukes confirmed that the state is expected to serve Holden with a lawsuit, as the town remains non-compliant. The Attorney General’s office, led by Andrea Campbell, has already sued nine towns, including Holden, for failing to adopt required zoning changes by the December 31, 2025, deadline.
If the town does not comply, the state could appoint a special master to draw up a zoning plan—without local input—or impose fines. Holden is now among the communities facing legal action, and the next steps will likely involve defending the town’s decision in court.
FOLKS, above is the header I used for the following 2 March 2026 email I sent to the Town Administrator, copies to the Select Board twits and the Building Commissioner. UNFORTUNATELY this WordPress format did not allow me to transfer the red text referred to so below I inserted [Existing Text] instead.
Mr. Caldwell,
The Planning Board, Chaired by walking conflict of interest, self-dealing, self-serving developer weasel Carl Corrinne, has proposed the gutting of Sterling’s present Zoning By-Law definition of “Structure” and the substitution of a new vague, ambiguous, amorphous definition of “Structure” that would permit developers like him to erect a variety of real stuctures encroaching on abutters’ lot lines, AND THAT IS THE CLEAR INTENT OF THIS BULLSHIT PROPOSAL THAT SPEAKERS OPPOSED DURING THE 8 DECEMBER 2025 ZONING FORUM.
The proposed new vague, ambiguous, amorphous BULLSHIT definition is in black text below. The much superior and more definitive original definition is in red text below.
STRUCTURE:
A combination of materials assembled at a fixed location to give support or shelter, such as a building, retaining wall which retains four or more feet of unbalanced fill, fences over seven feet high, swimming pools that contain water over 24 inches in depth and 250 square feet of surface area or the like. The word “structure” shall be construed, where the context requires, as though followed by the words “parts thereof”. A vessel shall not be considered to be a structure.
[Existing Text] A combination of materials to form a construction, including among others, buildings, stadiums, tents, reviewing stands, platforms, stagings, observation towers, water tanks, play towers, swimming pools, trestles, sheds, shelters, fences over six feet high, display signs, flagpoles, masts for radio antennas, courts for tennis or similar games, backstops, backboards; the term “structure” shall be construed as if followed by the words “or portion thereof.”
UNLESS the Planning Board WITHDRAWS its proposed new definition of “Structure” and retains the existing definition of “Structure” I shall offer as an amendment at the 2026 Annual Town Meeting the following even more representative definition of “Structure:”
STRUCTURE:
A combination of parts, components, or rigid members constituting a solid entity at a fixed location, such as a dwelling, storage shed, woodshed, radio antenna mast, fence over six feet high, berm, retaining wall, billboard, tennis or basketball court, tennis or soccer ball backstop, stadium, spectator stands, observation tower, observation platform, or swimming pool with rigid sides or a rigid deck, but shall not include temporary construction stagings or platforms; tents, awnings, or canopies erected for temporary events such as weddings, wedding receptions or parties; flagpoles; weather instrument stanchions and assemblies; or vessels.
FOLKS, if you watched the 26 February 2026 joint Finance Committee-Capital Budget Committee meeting on Sterling-Lancaster Community TV you would have learned that for the next Fiscal Year’s proposed budget Town officials have spent to within $12,000 of our Town’s Proposition 2 ½ levy limit, meaning that we avoided a Proposition 2 ½ Override Vote by just that much—SO FAR. The figures could change before the May 2026 Annual Town Meeting. The Finance Committee-CBC are spending down and playing shell games with what are supposed to be prudent, healthy reserves in ‘Free Cash,’ the Stabilization Fund, and the Capital Investment Fund to stave off a Proposition 2 ½ Override Vote. From now through the 2026 Annual Town Meeting they, the Town Administrator, and the Select Board will posture and pretend that they are heroes and wizards for kicking the Proposition 2 ½ Override Can down the road to next year. WELL, ACTUALLY, NO: THEY ARE FECKLESS, GUTLESS, INCOMPETENT, FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE CRETINS WHO ALLOWED THIS FINANCIAL CRISIS TO BUILD OVER MANY YEARS BY FAILING TO CONFRONT THE WRSD’S SKYROCKETING PAYROLL/BUDGET BLOAT AND THE TOWN OF STERLING’S OWN SKYROCKETING PAYROLL BLOAT.
IN FACT, with a mere $12,000 breather the Finance Committee-CBC signaled approval for a Town employee cost of living allowance/COLA [increase] of 3% instead of exercising prudence and limiting it to 2%. THAT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE F#CKING STUPID INVERTEBRATES, TOGETHER WITH THE TOWN ADMINISTRATOR AND THE SELECT BOARD, TWO OF WHOSE MEMBERS—INCOMPETENT POSEUR CHAIR KIRSTEN NEWMAN, AND MAUREEN “OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL BULLSHIT” CRANSON—WERE SITTING IN ATTENDANCE.
THE SELECT BOARD APPOINTS, OR FAILS TO RE-APPOINT, THE FINANCE COMMITTEE-CBC MEMBERS, SO THE PRESENCE OF NEWMAN AND CRANSON AT THAT MEETING WAS A NOT-SO-SUBTLE HINT THAT THE FINANCE COMMITTEE-CBC SHOULD MIRROR THEIR OWN STUPIDITY AND PLAY ALONG.
NOTE: During that meeting it was revealed that Maureen “Our Lady of Perpetual Bullshit” Cranson’s pet, the Sterling Senior Center, wants to build an addition!
GEE, I wonder if the Council on Aging will hire Weston & Sampson as project engineers and Vertex as project manager and run the per-square-foot cost for THAT addition up to $912 as they have for the Sterling D.P.W. Re-packaged Garage Mahal Boondoggle.
ALL OF THIS IS JUST A REMINDER THAT STERLING IS RUN BY OUT-OF-CONTROL SPINELESS BUFFOONS.
If you thought that ANY Town of Sterling Board, Committee, or Department gives a rat’s ass about YOU, THE TAXPAYERS, YOU’D BE ABSOLUTELY WRONG.
Just before the joint Sterling Finance Committee-Capital Budget Committee 26 February 2026 meeting wrapped up Select Board member/pernicious dope Maureen “Our Lady of Perpetual Bullshit” Cranson, sitting in the audience along with the officious and incompetent Select Board Chair, Kirsten Newman, to universal approval of the Finance Committee and CBC, announced that there will be a concerted propaganda campaign to push approval of the re-packaged Sterling D.P.W. Garage Mahal Boondoggle at $25,535,000 for 28,000 square feet, or $912 per square foot, instead of the $33,000,000 for 37,000 square feet, or $892 per square foot, original Garage Mahal Boondoggle shellacked and shot down at the 13 November 2025 Special Town Meeting by a vote of 373 to 183. The D.P.W. says that the $25,535,000 figure is fixed and non-negotiable. All the afore-mentioned aim to enlist the Sterling Meetinghouse News and The Landmark in their propaganda campaign, and probably The Item too.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT—THESE A$$HOLE$ ARE ABSOLUTELY OUT OF CONTROL.
In 2018 the Town of Berlin got an excellent 13,000 to 14,000 square foot new D.P.W. building for $4.1 million, or about $304 per square foot.
This BOONDOGGLE will be coming up in several months for ANOTHER Special Town Meeting vote.
In the meantime hold on to your wallets and stay tuned.
