Massachusetts Republican Party Faces Campaign Struggles and Local Frustrations

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Without further ado, WBSM presents the Vary Richard Show streaming live on WBSM.com and the WBSM app. Call 508996500. Text us using App Chat on the WBSM app. Now, the Barry Richard Show. All right, welcome back to the program. The time right now is 108. It is approaching 109 and it is sunny, it is hot, it is Mike, I know weather. I just love this stuff. Um anyway, and uh so we um are talking a little bit about what's going on here in Massachusetts with the governor's race and the Republicans doing everything they can possibly think of to hand the race to Mora Healey. Um, you know, I've been telling you for months that the Democrats should have acted like Democrats, gone behind the scenes, picked a good strong candidate, a good strong team, uh, made sure they could count signatures and uh, and then send them out there against Cely and said they had to have this huge production that has fallen apart. And it's it's a total embarrassment, but it's typical Massachusetts Republican. And um and here we go again with another u another disaster as we head into another election that should have been an easy pickoff. More Healey should have been so easy to pick off this year, but uh I don't know. It's going to be a contest. 5089960500. You've been hanging on for a while. I appreciate it. You're next in WBSM. Good afternoon. Uh good afternoon. And you are right. This is definitely your weather. This is my weather. I just love this stuff. Yeah. Well, that's the only compliment I'm going to give you right now because it really hurts me that Yep, you're right. I actually believe that and I didn't want to hear it that Healey's going to get back in again because this circus of a Republican party is an embarrassment. You know, it it's like all they're doing is really magnifying their dirty laundry if you want to. Well, that's the point. That's exactly what's got me up. So, this thing happened unfortunate. Okay, you had a bunch of rookies, the two Ans and uh and this kid Walsh who got taken in. They got snookered uh by this uh this guy with his scheme. Okay, fine. You try to keep that stuff hush hush and quiet. Instead, they're out there throwing gasoline bombs all over it. No, I know. I I I fully I get it. I'm like I can't believe it. And the part that bothers me the most is they're that dumb. They can't be that dumb. It's like all of a sudden it's like it's for them it's easier to fight among themselves than to fight against another party. Well, the Republicans are upset. The the Republican party is upset because, you know, Anne Brensley was supposed to be their gal, right? And they threw Anne Brensley out there and she was going to be their their gal and so on and so forth. And then they found out about well the actually it was WBRU in BUR BRU in in in BUR BUR up in Boston the public radio station. They found out about her tax leanings hundreds of thousands of unpaid taxes and so on and so forth. Uh-oh there's a problem. And then she goes on to the convention, wins the convention real big. And then we find out, uhoh, there's another problem. The girl farmed out her signature drive to the cheapest bidder and she got screwed over. Okay. And then so that's bad enough. And then the other Ann gets caught up in the same scandal with the same guy. And you know instead of what they should do, I don't care whether they like Shawn Oliver at Mass GOP or if they don't like him. Um they might be angry, whatever. They should be picking Shawn up. He's a heavy dude, but they should be picking him up and marching him around with him on their shoulders saying, "Yes, he stands for honest and fair elections. He's our guy now." And blah blah blah. They have no choice. They've got nobody else to back. You know, man, and I and I get it. And and the thing that the Democrats do when something like this comes up, they don't acknowledge it. They ignore it. They just keep going. They blame it on Trump. News. Just blame it on Trump. That's all. Yeah. It's Trump's fault. why these why we can't do not we meaning why the Republicans can't can't do it. I don't get it. I really don't get it. And it's like you know honestly uh you're right. It there's so much out there for them to win on that they're blind to it. They're totally blind and and and it's really it's an embarrassment. This Republican party in this state is such an embarrassment. Everybody should be from the head of the party and all should be taken out and restocked with fresh people because these guys have no idea what they're doing. You know what? If Sean Oliver went out there and, you know, did something to knock these people off the ballot or to discredit them or maybe he shuffled around in their underwear drawer and found some some, you know, some some skeletons in there or whatever, you know, then I can see it. But the bottom line here is these two ladies were not going to get on the ballot. It had already been determined weeks ago that they both had bogus signatures. They weren't going anywhere. So why is the Republican party turning on Sean Oliver as though it's his fault? If Shawn Oliver evaporated, they still don't go on the ballot because they had bad signatures. Because that's the problem, like I was saying earlier about the Republican party. They're not they're they're hanging on to a sinking boat instead of keep moving forward. Okay, this didn't work. You keep going on. You know what I'm saying? It's like they they're just not thinking forward. And that's really to me what it seems that the Democrats have over the Republicans. They know to ignore bad publicity, bad idea, bad situations and they keep moving forward. We're not going to talk about that. We're going to talk about, you know, the latest flavor of ice cream. But the Republicans don't. They just linger like a bad cold. And that's what's going to keep them from ever succeeding in this state as they do it. Because I really had I thought you were going to be wrong, you know, that Mo was going to get bumped up, but now honestly I I it it sucks, but I've got my doubts. I think she's going to get in because the Republican party are run by a bunch of morons. The entire Republican leadership has just turned around and pummeled Brian Shortleeve and Sean Oliver with stakes. Now, how do they fix that? Do you think that they're going to go forward enthusiastically now and endorse these people and work with them and and work to get them elected? I mean, even No. And and even Conneal is weighing in on this, you know, bagging um short sleeve. Oh, short sleeve is nothing but this that and the other thing. It's like, dude, shut up. You lost. You got 14%. Nobody likes you. Nobody wants to hear from you. Shut up and go away. But to me, Connealy, you know, and I' I've said this on your program, but I never heard of a guy until January of this year. And and and short sleeve, I heard of him on on Facebook back in September, October. I'm going, who the heck is this guy? And going, what? We're talking about elections already. I mean, to me, this guy wants it. Hey, let me let me do this. I'm going to ask you I'm going to I'm I'm going to get get rid of you right now because I've got Sean Oliver on the line. I want to get him on right now and priorities. All right. Thank you, my friend. Appreciate it. 5089960500. We have Sean Oliver with us on the line right now. W three city councelor and uh the only Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Massachusetts to survive signature gate. And uh Sean, what do you make of all of this? Am I wrong here with my my take on this? Hey Barry, how are you? Uh how's first how's the volume? I'm in I'm I'm outside of uh the state house right now. Are you hearing me? Okay. Yeah, I can hear you fine. Yeah. Oh, okay. Good. Yeah, we uh we're up at the state house today. Uh we're launching our uh municipal um partnership initiative where in my first year of office, I plan to visit all 351 cities and towns. So, there'll be something coming out about that, I'm sure, today. But yeah, I heard that you were talking about um kind of like what's going on. Well, Sean, my signature gate. My my take on this, Sean, is the Republican party has just imploded in Massachusetts. They are uh turning on you and blaming you for the fact that the two ants were unable to get the required number of signatures that you were a party to wanting to expose fraud dead people that that signed ballot signatures and and so on and so forth. Hello. And somehow or another this is your fault. And we're hearing this from Amy Carnabel. We're hearing this from Manog. We're hearing it from Connealy. anybody who's a Republican right now that the two ants are out of the race and it's all because of Oliver. Yeah. And uh you know obviously they're trying to paint some a select few are trying to paint the narrative and I refuse to let them do that and that's fine. I I I can be your pick or not your pick. But right now I am your choice for change and I've done it the right way. I got into the race a little later. I was the last one to to join the the race and join the ticket with Brian. I thought uh uh Brian was um uh the only chance that we had to uh win in November and I was I was uh honored to join the ticket with him. So when I stood on the stage uh at the convention less than a month before getting in the race, um I knew the cards were stacked against me from the beginning, but we went in there, we got our over 15%. Uh I I I which is part of the process. Another part of the process is collecting 10,000 verifiable signatures which we were able to do and we've learned that obviously it's a tough benchmark for people or maybe they were taking it for granted and they farmed it out which is which isn't you know we got um we hired some folks as well because it is a huge undertaking but you have to vet these people Barry you have to stay up on it you have to get the updates you have to manage the process. You you you you would like to think if you find yourself in the governor's office or the lieutenant governor's office, you're going to be in charge of hiring people and managing people and making sure that you know there's there's no fraud. And you know, when I joined the Republican party last year, that was one of my things was they were the party that was standing up for election integrity and safe and fair elections. And here we are because um they may not agree with the process. It's um you know vilifying Sean Oliver right now. Sean the these people had to have known that those signatures were fraudulent. The two ants Brensley and uh um Martin Manning, they had to know that there was problems with those signatures. In fact, I know they know because they were told about it. And you know, so this isn't something that all of a sudden you went over there on Friday and dropped a bomb on their heads. This is something that they've known about and they tried to pass off bad signatures. That's corruption. This has been going on for over a month now and the media hasn't really um taken to it. I mean, obviously now they they have because um it's it's changed the shape of the election. Um but this has been going on for a month and um with almost little to no coverage and it started with the town of of of handover. They were very public very early in in the process with a statement on their social media page on their town clerk social media page talking about the concerns uh that they had with a substantial number of signatures uh about 35 plus sheets uh for each candidate. Um and you know when when they started blowing the whistle with a couple of other towns um also followed suit with the secretary of state when one person um is um not able to get on the ballot because of known signature fraud or at the time was alleged but now we know it to be true. um and another candidate who used the same consultant or same firm somehow finds their way on the ballot. Um it it it draws the question of the validity of these signatures. So what I did was part of the process and for them to or a select few uh to say that I'm colluding with the Democrats or uh or I had no chance of winning and it's shameful or this that and the third. The process is the process for a reason, Barry. And if we did what most of the party was calling for to unify after the convention, you'd have no lieutenant governor candidate right now if I had dropped out of the race. Yeah, that's a solid point, Sean. Hadn't even thought of that. So, you know, here's the thing that that's really pissing me off, too. Sean, is, you know, I mean, I'm I'm reading all of the comments in uh in Tim Dunn's piece in the Boston Herald and everything. Are these people really that stupid that they think that somehow or another those bad number one those bad signatures were going to get through um the the state inspection, you know, the board that looked at them. And number one, and number two, it's it's as though um they're saying that if you hadn't filed a complaint to have those signatures inspected, somehow another that these people would have been on the ballot. And they wouldn't have. If if you disappeared, if you evaporated tomorrow, they're still not going on the ballot. They had bad, fraudulent signatures and they tried to pass them off as legitimate. They wouldn't be on the ballot with or without you. Well, they're trying to paint it as a Republican on Republicans type crime, Barry. And um that's what we have primaries for. We have primaries to put the best candidate forward whether it be through a culmination of good ideas and good leadership and good management skills and the way to, you know, way to organize. That's what campaigns are all about and that's what we've been doing since day one. Uh hitting the ground running, building an infrastructure, making sure that we've got a good team around us and and that's crucial for a good candidacy and then hopefully a good lieutenant governor and governor. And I think folks right now are, you know, because we haven't been talking about it, they're kind of a lot of folks are hearing about this for the first time. And hopefully when they learn a little bit more, it's all public. All the information is out there and they can really um wrap their um their um thoughts around what really transpired. This wasn't Republican on Republican time. This was a Republican who was pointing out election integrity. And I don't care if you're Democrat, unenrolled, or Republican. What's right is right. Fraud is fraud, Barry. Well, they got they got caught they got caught trying to pull one over on people and and they're blaming you for it and and I think that is, you know, unconsciousable. I I I just think it's it's it's it's but you know, the other thing too, Sean, is how do you go forward now? Because the entire weight of the Republican party has just climbed on your back. You got Manugg, you got uh Connealy, you got Amy Carnival, you got the uh the letter with 18 different uh you know, Republican committee members, committee chairman in Massachusetts, all jumping on your back blaming you for something that you had nothing to do with. How do you go forward now and and and expecting these people to have your back because obviously they don't. Do you think they're going to go out now and try to work to get you in and short sleeve elected? Uh it's it you know Barry me as a candidate it's my job to do it to get out there and that's exactly what I'm doing. Like I said, I was in Sir Haven uh this morning, the state house today, this afternoon, and getting ready to go out to Chapi and I'm going to get out there and I'm going to make the best case for myself, for the Republican party, for the short sleeve all over ticket, the only unified ticket to survive everything, to survive the uh the convention still intact, to survive the uh ballot um access uh with the signatures still uh intact and still here today. the only ticket that's putting out policy, not platitudes. And that's what I'm going to do, Barry. I'm gonna let my work show for itself. This is a even though it's it's really around the corner, it's slow and steady wins the race. We're hitting all of our benchmarks. And I couldn't be prouder than uh than I am right now with the integrity around the short sleeve, all of the things. Well, you're I got to tell you what, you're a statesman and you're being very kind today because I'd be I'd be pretty full of rage right now if I were in your shoes. I'm pissed off myself and I'm not in your shoes. But you know, the thing is I just I you know it it just I couldn't even imagine the Republican state Republican party screwing up something so easy. And boy, I'll tell you what, they are determined to screw up this race. They they seem to be uh you know doing everything they can in a race that should have been so easy to win. They seem to be doing everything possible uh to to lose this race in in in November. And I think that's a sad thing. I really do. Well, they have the opportunity to uh reorganize around the only unified ticket from the start. We've shown the willingness to work with others. We absolutely have the organizational skills to do it. Uh we're ready and I can't wait to uh step foot in the state house with Brian shortsleeve as soon as everybody comes around to the idea of we are the best option for change in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All right, Sean Oliver, go back to work. I appreciate your uh checking in with us from the state house. Thank you, sir. Thank you, buddy. Have a good day. All right, Sean Oliver checking in with us from the the state house on all of this. And um you know, it makes a solid point that um um had even I had even thought about this. if if you know the the Manugg people and the state Republican people and the committee people all across the Commonwealth. Oh, I said let's let's have unity after the convention. Remember, let's all get together behind Manugg and let's get behind Anne Brensley and so on and so forth. If that had been the case and short sleeve dropped out and Oliver dropped out, we would have no candidate on the Republican side for lieutenant governor right now because the other two couldn't get signatures. You know, the You know what really makes me angry here today is we sit here every day and we talk about the corruption on the other side. The corruption on the other side, the Democrats, the progressives. We see it. We talk about it with Mora Healey. We talk about it with Andrea Campbell. Uh we talk about it with the legislative leadership, you know, um Karen Spilka and um and Mariano in the House. We talk about the corruption that exists in this state. And you have two Republican candidates for lieutenant governor, the two ants, who get caught trying to pass off bad signatures. Signatures of dead people. This is the stuff that we accuse the other side of. And because they get caught and it kicked off the ballot, now it's Sean Oliver's fault. Because why? Because he was a he was a party to pointing out that this fraud was going on. Is that the this why I don't belong to the parties people? I don't belong to the Democrat or the Republican party because this is this is exactly why this stuff makes me angry and it should make you angry as hell. Quick break. We're coming right back. Tonight, you're planning on watching the ultimate soccer showdown. During the match, you'll probably drink vodka, which will lead to texting your ex and maybe dancing on the bar. You should be a little worried, but you aren't because you're not going to do any of those things. Tonight, you're going to drink differently with RK, the world's first zero proof spirit that tastes like the real thing. All the flavor, all the burn, none of the bad decisions. Drink differently and get some RK for the match at rkbeverages.com. Like the boys on the pitch, RK is redefining what alcohol-free can taste like. 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Check out tsa.gov/ID and see which TSA acceptable IDs make the grade, like a real ID or passport. Before you jet, do a little prep and you're good to go. Check out tsa.gov/ID or the My TSA app. You know the national parks, but you may not know that they're supported by a strong foundation, a foundation for the future. We are the National Park Foundation. And together with your support, we are building a bold future where national parks are vibrant, protected, and welcoming today, tomorrow, forever. Learn more at nationalparks.org. Back to Barry Richard on WBSM. Call 508996500. All right, welcome back into the program. It is 133 now on a Monday afternoon. 5089960500. Going to be a short week of course because the 4th of July is Saturday and it's celebrated um as a holiday on Friday and um all kinds of stuff going on that you can look forward to this week. You've got the New Bedford fireworks and um going to have a soundtrack to the fireworks. Uh Star Spangled soundtrack. Uh Friday 900 p.m. the city fireworks over in New Bedford Harbor will be synchronized to patriotic music and WBSM will bring you that playlist to the um well to the entire South Coast area. Uh whether you're downtown on your boat or backyard barbecue or watching from your favorite viewing point, tune in to WBSM1420 and 99.5 FM and experience every burst boom and of course the big finale perfectly timed to the music. uh celebrate America's 250th birthday with New Bedford and WBSM on July 3rd, which is Friday at 9:00 PM. And uh to help continue celebrating the 250th birthday of America, tune in at noon on Saturday, to uh hear WBSM's reading of the Declaration of Independence. So, a lot of cool stuff going on. I don't know about you, are you disappointed in um did you think expect there to be more? I remember the 200th and it just seems like there was a lot more going on than there is for the 250. I don't know, maybe 250 doesn't mean as much. Um, but I mean I remember there was a lot of stuff going on right here in the New Bedford area for the 200th and just doesn't seem to be as much going on even at the state level. I mean there's some stuff there's the sale Boston event going on. Uh we've got the um Sagris coming into New Bedford in July as well, but just doesn't seem to be as much stuff going on. Uh you got the the mall celebration of the state fair in uh in Washington, but you got a handful of governors, including our own uh uh not so bright Governor Mora Healey, refusing to participate. And um Pennsylvania, refused to participate as well. But the two senators, the Republican and Democrat US senators, uh have decided to team up and they're putting on something anyway to represent their state uh because they were embarrassed by Governor Shapiro's lack of interest. And um I don't know, it just doesn't seem to be as big a deal for the 250. You're seeing a lot of merchandise out there. People are merchandising the hell out of it. But um I don't know. Speaking about things not being the same as they used to be. I went yesterday to um Demeris Lloyd State Park. Anybody been there recently? I can sit here and tell you it has probably been 30 years since I've been to Demeris Lloyd State Park and I've been meaning to go, meaning to go, meaning to go and um I went yesterday and finally got over there and um we're looking for we're looking for a nice place like a beachy kind of place that we can take my mother-in-law to. Uh we have to take her out in a wheelchair. She's 95 so you know tra traversing the sand is not really doable. Doing rocks is not really doable but um she can walk but limited and sand is not good for walking and the rocks are not good for rocking and neither is good for hauling a wheelchair over. And I seem to remember um again a long time ago, 30 years probably, Demeris Lloyd State Park, uh had a beautiful um picnic area that was, you know, like right near the water and everything. And we went out there yesterday and I got to tell you, I was like so disappointed. First of all, there was like nobody there. Hardly anybody there at all. and you drive in and the sign says, "Well, $12 a day from Massachusetts residents and the whole list of things." Nobody was there collecting money. So, anybody who wanted to could just drive in and um I had my senior pass anyway. I don't know if you know about the senior pass to the state parks. You get in for free if you're a senior. All you got to do is pay 10 bucks for your pass and it's good for lifetime. If you don't know about it, go on wbsm.com. I've got all of the details and the information how to get it. Uh, if your parents love to go to Horsene Neck, but can't afford to pay the outrageous amount of money they charge or any of the state parks in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, get them the pass. It's 10 bucks. They can go anytime they want to go and as often as they want to go and just hang the little pass from their their rearview mirror and they're golden. And um they get treated like celebrities when they arrive and they when the when the folks my my buddy Bobby Dus over at Horsene Neck when he sees you coming in with your senior pass he uh he rolls out the red carpet for you. But um anyway, back to uh I I don't know what I was expecting to see, but it just wasn't it just wasn't what I remembered it being. I seen it being a remember being a really nice place and it didn't strike me as that yesterday at all. I that's run by the state and I didn't see any state employees there. Again, nobody was there collecting the fees or whatever. Um, so I don't know is does anybody know anything about it? Whether it's been this way for a while or or what's going on. We went from there over to Horsene Neck. Well, first of all, we couldn't even access the beach there. There was the rocks on the beach were so big and so we walked and this is just my wife and myself. We walked in walked down a path and it was just so rocky that we just was ah let's go let's get out of here. This isn't this isn't too cool. And there was a family of people who had come too and they they got there the same time as us and they got in their car and left too. But um you know I'm just wondering if anybody else has normally goes there or stopped going there for some reason. It really I remember when we'd go there years ago, you'd pack your picnic lunch and you'd go and you'd have to go early in the morning in order to get a good spot, you know, in the picnic grove and all that. Today, I mean, sat yesterday, Sunday, every single table was open. And um so you could you had your pick. And we drove to Horsene Neck and Horseneck was empty, too. I couldn't believe how empty Horses Neck was for a summer Sunday that was pretty warm. But anyway, just wondering if anybody knows anything about uh why nobody does does people just not go to the beach anymore. Um or what has happened to Deis Lloyd. Does any is anybody a regular there or did he stop going for some reason or whatever? Um all right, we're talking about the um shenanigans with the Massachusetts Republican Party. You know, Tim Dunn touched on this on Friday when he was on the program um and he's got a piece that you can check out. He says after three proposed Massachusetts ballot questions were struck down, there are those who are speculating whether errors quote unquote errors made by the state attorney general could be used as a vehicle for Beacon Hill leadership to kill proposals that they find unfavorable. And boy, that's a damn good question, huh? Because you got to wonder, is somebody like DeAndrea Campbell that stupid that she writes a uh a disastrously flawed description for the uh what was it? The the rent control. No, it wasn't the rent control. It was the one before rent control that got tossed out. It was the um income tax one. I mean, she's had she's had some pretty bad luck this season. Um, you know, the state supreme court struck down from the November ballot an initiative that would have gradually lowered the state income tax from 5 to 4% citing misleading summary of proposal authored by the uh Campbell's office. This was followed by the high court's ruling that Campbell's office screwed up even certifying a ballot initiative that would have implemented a statewide rent control policy uh citing religious exemptions. In May, the court struck down a ballot initiative regarding legislative stipens again opining that it should never have been certified. Uh several organizations, political candidates, and elected officials released statements following the decision on the income tax ballot question slamming the high court's decision while insinuating the entire tax ballots snafu could have been orchestrated behind closed doors. None of these things were wanted by the Democrats. the um you know the the tax roll back. They campaigned against it and they said if you if you if the voters pass it, we're only going to uh counter it with uh huge tax increases in other areas. Uh they didn't want the rent control. They didn't want the uh the um um stipen question to go forward. I mean, is it possible that the power brokers that be in Beacon Hill pick up the phone to Andrea Campbell's office and say, "We don't want this question on the ballot. Do what you got to do to sabotage it." Is that possible? Some people are thinking that. I mean, this being the most corrupt little state in the country, it's it's it's not far-fetched to believe it, and you can see why people would. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but boy, I'll tell you. You know, I'll tell you. And this is why it is so alarming and so shameful that the Republican party has just absolutely exploded again in Massachusetts. Um because we should have had this. I'm not a Republican, but I mean the opposition of Bor Healey should have should have had this. We should have won this year. It's going to be a very tough struggle. You got one You got two candidates one won't even debate. I don't know. Is is Manogga plant for for the Democrats, too? I I mean, I don't know. I just don't get what's going on. I just All right, let me get the break in. 5089960500. We're coming right back. Stay with us. You're listening to WBS hot. 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I took my granddaughters the summer before last. We found only a spot of sand not covered in rocks the size of a towel. We had to eat at my Jeep in the parking lot. It was so disappointing. I'll never go back. And um she said, "I have no idea what happened. If I'd known, I never would have bothered. We used to go there all the time years ago. What a shame." I don't know. Anybody else have been recently to Demorris Lloyd State Park and been disappointed or maybe you go and you love it. I don't know. I just um it just, you know, I it just first thing I noticed as we were going down the road is how how the grass was all burned like it's now been watered and and all that. And um and then I noticed how empty it was. It was like there's not a single person sitting at any of these picnic tables and then you couldn't access the water. It just then nobody was collecting money at the gate. It just it all just seemed like uh yep, okay, nobody cares about this place anymore. And I thought that was pretty sad because I do remember going there years ago. But um I don't know, things change, I guess, right? 5089960500 is our phone number and you are next on WBSM. Good afternoon. Is that me? Hey. Yes, sir. Well, I was up Demerest about a month ago and it's just not the same. It was dead and it was it looked like nobody takes care of the place. Yeah, it's very sad. I used to love going out there. Any idea what happened to this? Was there any kind of an announcement that we're not going to care for this place anymore or uh budget cuts or I'll tell you what it is. It's called Mara Healey syndrome. When did it start to go downhill? Because like I said, it's been 30 years since I'd been there. But well, I went there maybe about five or six years ago and it wasn't in the state of disarray as it is now. There was actually someone at the at the thing where you go in, you know. Yeah. So, I I I figured within the past five or six years, I guess. Yeah. What a shame. What a beautiful location, too. I wonder what the There are beautiful houses and farms all around there. I wonder what those folks think. Maybe they're happy because there's not so much traffic going in. Maybe. But it was never like really that bad out there. So it was always like a little less crowded than say Horsene neck was. You know, my wife had never been there. My wife is originally from Rhode Island and she's, you know, we always go to Bristol uh when we go, you know, Cole State Park when we go to a place like that in Rhode Island. So this was her first time being there. She was so disappointed because I was telling her, you know, on how good this this place was going to be. And I'm saying, "Yeah, we'll be able to take your mom here in a wheelchair and uh you know, we'll be able to Not anymore. Not anymore. And it was like wow. So we I mean we didn't even we got out of the car for like all of five minutes. We got back in the car and left again. Yeah. I saw Crosby Stills and Nash at Colt State Park. Did you really? Yeah. Probably about 30 years ago, maybe more. Wow. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. I'll bet it was. Yeah, that would have been a great show. And there were, you know, how the boats can they're right offshore there. Yeah. where the stage is. People were jumping off their boats and swimming into the concert. It was awesome. You're talking about Colt State or you talking about Fort Adams? I'm talking about Colt State. Oh, wow. I can't picture a stage at at uh at Colt State. Oh, this was a long time ago. Maybe it was set up differently. Oh, yeah. You said 30 years ago. Yeah. So, it was probably maybe more than in the late 80s. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, it was probably a different setup now. Yeah. But I understand it's they've they've renovated it and but they still have concerts there. I seen that Marshall Tucker Band was coming there. I think they were coming there. Wow. They're still they're still performing, huh? Unreal. I think you're getting old, my friend. Well, I saw I saw them in 2000 at the feast. Oh, wow. the uh the Portuguese went on the bus in Metamal and they were all pretty old already then. Yeah. All right, let me hold you right there. I got to grab I want to grab a couple more before the news break. Thank you, sir. 5089960500 is the number and uh thanks for hanging on. You're up next on WBSM. Hey Barry, how you doing today? Pretty good. How are you? Yeah, so you know what you're running into at Lloyd Deer State or Demer Lloyd State Park. It's called DCR, Department of Conservation and Recreation. And the DCR, now I have a real bone to pick with the DCR because I spent more time in the Freetown State Forest than the puck wedgies that they talk about there. Spent hundreds of hours in the the state park. And um the DCR is supposed to be managing this. So DCR has a budget in Massachusetts of $104.6 million. They you want to guess what the salary uh part of the budget is? So the 104 is their total budget. Their salaries are at 74.8 million of the 104. Um and okay, so you only have 25 million left to maintain parks, which is, you know, you could say is a lot, but you they have a look they got a lot of parks. They they start they go to Savoy Mountain out in Pittsfield all the way October Mountain, Pittsfield Mountain. you you just you name them all and then bring it all the way back to you know Freetown and uh Demeris Lloyd State Park DCR sucks. They they suck so bad. Like I used to like I used to ride my motorcycle in Freetown State Forest and there were people lost out there and then one time I ran into this you know woman and her two kids and they were lost in the middle of the forest because there's no signs, there's no arrows, nothing. So I I called up the DCR, the local one that's at Freetown at the the main cabin there, and there's no one there. It goes to voicemail. So I'm like, you can't come out and help these people get out of the woods. So I had to walk my bike out with the people to help them get out of the forest. And uh they're they're literally useless. A lot of the jobs are given to them by uh their you know, a state rep's son gets the job or right. Uh but that's what you ran into. They're zero maintenance DCR. Unless a sign that's there fell on somebody, they're not going to address anything. They suck. That is so sad. Totally suck. That is so Well, you know, DCR was uh operated the the state pier in New Bedford and and you can't even go on the state pier now and run one half of it because it's uh collapsing under the water. Um yeah, right. They have no meaningful projects. I mean, if you go to Massasoya, which is in Taton, which is an awesome park, it has some lakes, has a lot of hiking trails. You and your wife would like Massoya. If you if you park on the outside, and nobody knows this, but when the park the park closes at like 5:00. Well, in the summertime, sun doesn't go down till 9:00. Yeah. People park, you know, on the outside. Well, DCR is attentive enough to come at back after after 5:00 and write tickets on all the cars that are outside parked instead of just letting people go for a walk. Wow. I mean, it's it's incredible. Barry, they they're the wor they are the worst of Massachusetts government because we have so many great natural well, not me. You guys have so many great natural resources and they're they squander it. I mean, I used to have to go in with my friends with chainsaws to clear the trails in in Freetown. I mean, they would have trees down and you go by like after two months and the trees are still down. You can't even walk through them. We would just go in with our chainsaws and clear the trails. I found trails in the Freetown Forest that are listed on the map that were unrecognizable like like you would look at it as a gigantic forest of branches over your head and everything. And if you look up on the tree, you see the little white arrow. When did all this begin? Where is the trail here? When did when did this neglect start to begin? Oh, it's been it's been years, Barry. I would say it's at least 20 years in because again, I'll use Freetown as an example. When I first moved to Freetown in 2003, I would take the kids in my four-wheel drive um monto especially wintertime in the snow and we'd go drive the trails. So, all those fire roads were open. Then they started closing the fire roads off like they would close the gates and lock them and you didn't know why. And then I just realized, you know why? because they're freaking lazy. They don't they don't want to maintain. They don't want to drive through maintain anything. Um there was where the big uh cliff is in Freetown. It's the famous cliff there with a big lake below it or the pond. Um there was a pile of trash. People were walking and piling the trash near a garbage can that started in April and it went all the way to like September and the pile was really big and no one from DCR even picked it up. Like even like and they're not clearing brush. They're not clearing brush. letting the brush. So, this sounds like a a huge, you know, we're looking at the uh the big forest fire right now in Colorado and the one in Utah. I mean, sounds like we've got a a perfect recipe for for that kind of disaster right here. Well, well, actually, well, I will I will take that back a little bit because the Freetown Fire Department along with there is a uh there is a uh DCR fire contingency at the forest and they do clear the fire uh they have these fire lanes that are different than the fire roads. They will go in annually and do a brush burn on certain areas. So, they do that, but um the other maintenance is not there and and you know, I mean, you're on your own if you walk in the forest. you could get lost and and no one would you couldn't call anyone so no one will pick up a phone so you have to call the Freetown police and they're the only ones that can find you. What a shame. What a I mean you know and when you when you think about the stupid stuff that we spend money on and you know stuff like that for for the people to go out and enjoy themselves and get exercise we can't be bothered. Well, they I mean it's I mean the forest you just it's simple maintenance which is you make sure all the trails are open and you make sure that there's good signage and the most part that's good. But if you don't do any of those things and it's like well we're you're spending 75 million on salaries and 25 million uh is basically the rest of the budget for maintaining the the the the all the there's a lot of forest that DCR manages. Western Mass has three, four forests, Savly Mountain, you know, uh, October Mountain, uh, Beartown, State Forest, and Pittsfield. And I've done it all. Been to all of them. And, uh, those guys just sit in the hunt and do nothing. So, yeah. Thanks, Steve. Appreciate it. You bet. All right. 5089960500 is the number. And, uh, we're going to be hitting the news in just a couple of seconds. And um you know it's I I I think it's really sad when you think about the money that we spend on idiocy in this state. Yeah. Really dumb stuff. and we don't have the money to maintain trails and we don't have the money to maintain um you know public lands in public spaces. We brag about all the public space and all the public land that we have and we don't do anything to to maintain it whether it be Freetown or whether it be Demer Lloyd or whether it be uh you know the uh parks out in the western part of the state. I mean they're all over the state. My wife and I, we go, we've been to a number of them because again, I have my senior past. So, we go um and we like to go to, but I've not seen anything, this is my first experience seeing anything as neglected as Demeris Lloyd. And um I think it's a shame. I think it's a sad uh state of affairs. And um you know, I I will say that we were at Horseneck yesterday and there were a lot of people around. Not a lot of maintenance people, but there were a lot of people uh working there. not a lot of beachgoers, but a lot of people that work there and um so that gave me some heart anyway. But uh you know, we need to shift our priorities. We really do. Um and this is so unfair. Again, you think about the the crazy foolishness that we blow money on in Massachusetts and yet we never seem to have money for the stuff that is worthwhile that the tax. Today on the pod, we're talking to Megan, trapeze artist and scratchers enthusiast. So, Megan, what do you like about playing scratchers? 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