Milton Voters:

Read the below Paul Moore’s letter blasting Council Member Rick Mohrig about lack of ethics, backroom politics, non-transparency, and operating outside of the rules . . . and about the imperative to vote Mohrig out of office.  I strongly agree on all counts. (This letter was posted by the Moore at a public political blog.)

Two versions of the letter are posted. The first version below redacts some names and other information to give you the full effect of Moore’s scathing criticism of Mohrig.  The entire un-redacted letter is provided at the bottom.

Moore’s letter was written in 2007 when Moore was chairman of the Planning Commission.  The letter was published at the popular (but now defunct) Access Milton blog just one day before the 2007 municipal elections.  At the time Mohrig was running against Alan Tart in the only competitive race of Mohrig’s political career. 

Previously, in 2006, Mohrig slithered onto council without any competition in Milton’s first-ever election.  Based on Mohrig’s conduct while on council (i.e., the sort of stuff Moore mentions in his letter), Alan Tart challenged Mohrig in the 2007 election.  Despite Mohrig running a very dirty campaign (including appeals to partisanship . . . which I believe he will try again in desperation), Mohrig was resoundingly defeated by Tart. Unfortunately, Mohrig returned to council through appointment (when a seat was vacated by Lance Large due to a job relocation) and then ran unopposed in 3 elections.  We’ve now been stuck with Mohrig for over a decade and the lack of accountability at the ballot box shows in his poor performance and unethical conduct . . . and his general disconnectedness from the concerns of average Miltonites.

Why is this email important?  For the past 2+ years, Moore and Mohrig have been joined at the hip and engaging in the same misbehavior that Moore describes in his 2007 letter:  secret Election Feasibility Committee (EFC) meetings; backroom machinations in developing EFC recommendations and in hiring an elections consultant; Moore’s conviction on 3 ethics charges; intrusion into trivial HOA issues; etc.

In the period 2006 to at least 2017, Moore and Mohrig were bitter rivals.  They were members of the two opposing factions that have been battling each other since Milton was founded.  These factions spent more time fighting each other and advancing personal and special interests’ agendas than effecting citizens’ priorities.  Dirty politics were the norm.  Often it was positively middle school . . . silly non-stop drama.  Neither side cared much about the rule of law and both sides promiscuously approved zoning variances.  Regrettably, I was duped into helping the Moore-Bentley faction.  However, I broke with Laura Bentley and Moore, when upon Bentley’s election, I witnessed Moore and Bentley resorting to same misbehavior they accused their rivals of engaging in . . . actually much worse misbehavior.  That was the Old Reality (that Moore, Bentley, Mohrig, and Lisa Cauley longingly pine for).  That was Milton 1.0. 

I find it interesting that Milton’s two long-warring blocs are now aligning with each other.  Politics certainly does make for strange bedfellows, but the Moore-Mohrig snuggle-up is the strangest I’ve ever witnessed in Milton’s political history.  However, it makes sense in the context of power politics.  Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.  Both of Milton’s ancient factions are so weakened that their mutual survival requires they become kissin’ cousins.  It is a classic case of the enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend.  And in this case, the enemy is (positive) change in Milton . . . a third way forward that forever excludes Milton’s endlessly antagonistic and tiresome factions.  Moore, Mohrig, Bentley, and Cauley are fighting a losing battle against the tides of change.  Just like the real dinosaurs 65 million years, Milton’s political dinosaurs are doomed . . . a meteor of change has struck Milton . . .

. . . Phil Cranmer and Doug Hene offer a clean break with the past (that hopefully the remaining members of council will embrace).  They offer a new generation of forward-thinking leaders with fresh ideas and strong moral compasses.  Both are senior business executives who will bring much needed expertise and experience to council.  Milton desperately needs Principled Leadership in Milton, characterized by respect for the rule of law, integrity, accountability, transparency, process rigor, fairness, courage, and a strategic mindset.  No more wading into trivial HOA issues.  No more shameful ethics problems.  No more elections interference.  No more extensions of sewer.  No more hyper-partisanship.  Now is the time for Milton 2.0.  Citizens, that is the NEW REALITY.  Out with the old, in with the new.  Onward and upward Milton . . .

I love ending this post with the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds . . . a true team of rivals!