HopNews
After voters elected her on May 15, Ilana Casady took her seat on the Hopkinton Housing Authority board last night. “I’m very much looking forward to serving Hopkinton,” said Ms. Casady, after the meeting was called to order.
Moving on to the first item of the agenda, HHA Chair Nancy “Punky” Drawe admonished residents for not respecting the time of the office staff at the Housing Authority.
“As you all know, we have not had a Director for the past month. Mary in the office has been totally amazing. I’d like all tenants to respect her time. Don’t march into the office constantly; she has a lot of work to do. If you don’t need something done right away, try to stay away.”
Drawe then advanced the agenda to discuss improvements to the Housing Authority. On May 15, Hopkinton voters approved a $350,000 appropriation to build an outdoor structure at the Housing Authority. Board Member Darlene Hayes, who is also on the Community Preservation Committee, was the point person on this project and spoke. Hayes described the upgrades, including new patio space with plantings and furnishings, a covered space, outdoor electrical and outdoor lighting. An architect has been engaged to create the space. Hayes introduced a motion to approve Luke O’Neil as the project manager, who will receive a stipend paid by CPC funds. The amount of the stipend has not been negotiated yet because O’Neil’s contract has not been finalized. The motion was approved.
Other agenda items were discussed covering laundry, inspections and attendee participation.
As the meeting was opened to public comment, Casady spoke:
“My name is Ilana Casady. I want to clarify that I am speaking as a private citizen and not as a member of the Housing Authority. I would like the Hopkinton Housing Authority to recognize that I do not condone the unethical behavior of Darlene Hayes that took place during the recent election. These actions do not reflect the values of the Hopkinton Housing Authority. Darlene premeditatively violated the trust of the community. Her actions unfortunately have tarnished every good contribution she has made to this town, which include many for the Hopkinton Housing Authority. It tarnishes every good contribution she will make going forward. Her actions also damaged the reputation and credibility of every board and committee she sits on. Regardless of my opinion, at this point Darlene does not wish to resign her position, and as an elected official, it is her right to continue. I hope she will complete her elected term with integrity and the best interest of all Hopkinton residents, and I ask the Chair to incorporate my statement into the minutes.”
One resident responded that “Darlene has been a staunch supporter of Housing. So we don’t want to slip it under the rug and have people talking about ‘should we get rid of her, or shouldn’t we’. I think it’s good that it’s out.”
Drawe turned to Hayes and asked if she would like to make a comment, but Hayes declined. Her voice noticeably quieter, Drawe adjourned the meeting.
Outstanding public comment by Ms. Casady. Truly wild that Ms Hayes remains on any board in town.
How can our community ever trust anything she is involved in going forward. The right and only thing is for her to be removed from any and all town positions. Otherwise it will be more of the same.
In a prior comment I asked Ms. Hayes to show a shred of decency (aka self respect) but most people know she has none. Now I know as well. Her less then heartfelt apology to the town the other day was most revealing about the true nature of her weak and selfish character.
This woman is an absolute cancer in this community and needs to be removed from every chair/office/position immediately. Surely there must be some remedy to remove this vile person?
Ilana Casady you are so brave and full of integrity. You are all that’s wonderful in this town.
This is what bravery looks like. This is speaking truth to power.
Thank you to Ilana Casady for representing the community. I cannot imagine the difficulty of making this statement at the first meeting after the election – a display of incredible integrity and strength.
Unfortunately, without the Select Board exercising its right to intervene, there is little the voters can do about elected officials who are shown to be unqualified for their positions after appointments and elections. It appears a couple of folks will not resign when they clearly should. I do not know the best path forward but I am beginning to doubt that those who can and should do something actually will. What to do Hopkinton residents?
Thank you Ms. Cassidy for your bravery and standing your ground.
I’m so sorry you were so rudely interrupted during your time.
We need more people like you in leadership. Thank you for your service and integrity.
I am baffled and sickened by what I am seeing. Zero ethics from the people I expected to hold themselves to a higher bar. It’s just so deeply disappointing when people have the opportunity to do the right thing, which in this case would be supporting their friend to get some help, but also acknowledging the damage done and insisting the person take a long, if not permanent break from politics and step down from their elected positions. Instead the town Dems are circling the wagons and trying to sweep it under the rug . It’s the exact behavior they were decrying the right doing in the last presidential administration. Thank goodness for folks like Ms. Casady or I would feel utterly hopeless.
It appears Miss Hayes shares a common link with the out-of-control teenagers ransacking downtown businesses: a total lack of shame.
Darlene is a disgusting human being .
She is only out to push her own agenda . Wake up Hopkinton !
Time for change !
Due to the fact and Hayes is in charge if the Housing Project upgrades and credibility seems to be sn issue perhaps the entire proposal for upgrades should be reviewed by the entire committee again.
Marisa Jones there is always the use of recall petitions………..
My name is John Morris. I want to clarify that I am speaking as a private citizen and not as a member of the Hopkinton Housing Authority. Like Illana, I also do not condone the alleged behavior of Darlene Hayes that took place in the run up to the recent town election. I strongly disagree though, that this tarnishes “everything” Darlene can do moving forward and find the string of comments here to be abhorrent. Darlene is a wife, mother, and a human being. She is one of the strongest and most caring people I have ever met. No human being is incapable of redemption and if we truly want to create a more civil discourse and come together as a community, we shouldn’t prevent someone from said redemption. Continuing to serve is her path to redemption. In my time on the board, Darlene has been a valuable contributor dedicated to the residents and the Housing Authority. She has volunteered countless hours of her time to this community as an unpaid volunteer. Darlene issued a public apology and is facing the consequences. The notion she should be cast aside and tormented lacks the very compassion folks claim to want to restore in our politics.
Having stated the above, I would also like to call out a questionable statement of the facts from last evenings meeting. To the best of my knowledge, the Chair did not explicitly ask Darlene to comment after Illana’s statement but instead stated there would be no further discussion and did not address Darlene or anyone else directly for comment.
It is my sincere hope this was an error and not a deliberate attempt to withhold context or misstate facts.
Regards,
John Morris
[RECORDING REDACTED PER LEGAL DEMAND OF HHA LAWYERS]. Chair: “Darlene, um, comment? No? OK.”
Thanks for providing the recording. I have listened to it and cannot quite make out the Chair saying Darlene’s name at 51:41 but close enough and will take your word for it. On a side note, I encourage you to attend our future meetings and write a story on the challenges affecting senior housing in Massachusetts. The lack of state/federal funding etc., That could make an impact for our seniors in Hopkinton and across the Commonwealth.
John, it was not “alleged” behavior. Did Darlene deny it? No. She gave a forced apology. To describe it as insincere is generous. You talk about redemption. How do the people whose reputations she has sullied get redemption? We can forgive but should not be expected to forget.
It is naive to point out all “good” without considering possible bad actions may have (and have been alleged) during her times of service. What does being a wife, mother and a human have to do with any of this? People are outraged at her behaviour and bad actions. Wake the hell up.
John, I understand you care for your friend and I think that’s good thing, but I think it is also making it hard for you to acknowledge the depth of breach of trust many are feeling. You have Ms. Fogg and her supporters who were victimized by the many many false comments made by Ms. Hayes. You have loyal Democratic party members who feel lied to and manipulated both to feel negatively toward Ms. Fogg and vote for a potentially unfit or un-vetted candidate. And you have Republicans who didn’t trust Dems before and now have very clear evidence that their worst assumed accusations were indeed true. All three of those groups will carry this with them for years to come.
That said, despite public humiliation for being caught and a brief written apology, I don’t see a lot of repercussions for Ms. Hayes for the behavior of concern. She still sits in all of her elected positions and how long will her separation from HDTC last? I’m already seeing comments from her friends that she should be let back in. We’re seeing no actions from HDTC (beyond a weak statement) to show they are responding to this in a serious way. In fact, it’s just the opposite as it seems from Connor Degan on down the message is, “Hey, cut her a break and let’s move on.” That feels a lot like tacit support for this behavior.
If Ms. Hayes really wants to take responsibility for this then she must step away from political life and work elsewhere in the community to rebuild trust. There are no shortage of Not-for-profits that are desperate for volunteers with her better skills. It’s not banishment it’s just acknowledging that her very intentional actions have had many negative consequences for others and now there is no public trust. And as we see all over this country when the public lose faith in the government only bad things happen.
I posted as “Deeply Concerned” before, but further considering Ms. Casady’s example I will use my name moving forward. I consider myself a loyal liberal voter but moving forward I am going to have a really hard time trusting the HDTC unless some concrete actions are taken to address the current situation with the newly elected School Committee member and making sure these smear campaigns never happen again.
Thank you for saying this Aaron
Thank you John Morris for saying everything many of us have been feeling and thinking. It’s time for healing as a community. We are all still neighbors, parents, co workers and friends at the end of the day.
Beth, your friend should have remembered that we are all neighbors and friends this whole time. Her calculated premeditated meddling behavior, which has clearly been long term and habitual based on the extent and sheer volume of public outcry over they past few weeks, is totally unacceptable. The public trust that was lost over the years and most recently needs to be earned back. Only then can the healing that you and John are talking about can take place. It’s up to those that were harmed to determine their path to healing, it’s not up to Darlenes best friends and closest colleagues.
I don’t know Ms. Hayes, or Ms. Fogg for that matter. I have been following this story though since before the election. It certainly is the never-ending story. It almost reminds me of driving by a dead skunk; it smells terrible but you can’t help but breathe in the awful odor.
One thing I could guess early on was that no matter what Ms. Hayes’ apology said, it would not be accepted. I knew from the comments that no matter what she said, It would not go far enough or be sincere enough, so I understood when she kept it brief.
It now seems that nothing less than banishment is deserving. I think it says a lot. Not about Ms. Hayes but about how many of the commenters want to be judged on their own judgement day. Not by their best days but by their worst days? Is this how they want their family members to be judged as well? Their children? My own faith teaches me that you forgive those who ask for forgiveness and even those who don’t.
What Ms. Hayes did to Ms. Fogg is obviously irreprehensible and it seems as though she is paying a price for it. Maybe some need to consider their own past life and think if they would like some of their worst actions to be drawn out in a public forum even after they apologized. If the answer is no then maybe it’s time to move on.
Ms. Fogg can and hopefully will run in the next election with some momentum, if she wants Selectperson – I would think its obtainable. I hope her campaign will be a positive one that talks about what she can do for Hopkinton and the people who reside in it and doesn’t drum up the nastiness that she endured in the last one.
Just one outsider point of view
Since you brought religion into it, um, God banished Cain.
In respond to the post by John Morris:
“…and find the string of comments here to be abhorrent.”
—— JOHN, REALLY??? You find THESE comments “abhorrent!!! This is nothing. YOU SHOULD REVIEW THE STRING OF COMMENTS DARLENE HAYES POSTED REGARDING THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE CANDIDATES — all focused on one candidate. Posted under her 24 pseudonyms. Now, THAT was abhorrent.
“Darlene is a wife, mother, and a human being. She is one of the strongest and most caring people I have ever met.”
—- JOHN, WHY should this even be brought up when the same could be said about the woman Darlene Hayes went after? You are forgetting that none of this mattered to the 24 versions of Darlene Hayes.
“No human being is incapable of redemption and if we truly want to create a more civil discourse and come together as a community, we shouldn’t prevent someone from said redemption.”
— JOHN…Darlene Hayes and her 24 versions of Darlene HAYES had ZERO interest in creating a civil election and did everything OPPOSITE of bringing a community together. She’s also under the impression that her politically-worded non-apology is sufficient.
“Continuing to serve is her path to redemption.”
—- Oh, dear lord, I hope Darlene Hayes won’t continue to think she’s “serving” Hopkinton. She should actually “be served.”
“The notion she should be cast aside and tormented lacks the very compassion folks claim to want to restore in our politics.”
—- JOHN — Darlene tried to do exactly that to Ashley in the last election. Sounds like she’s just experiencing what she dealt.
“Having stated the above, I would also like to call out a questionable statement of the facts from last evenings meeting. To the best of my knowledge, the Chair did not explicitly ask Darlene to comment after Illana’s statement but instead stated there would be no further discussion and did not address Darlene or anyone else directly for comment.”
— JOHN – especially since you’re not correct, the only thing “questionable” is your lack of understanding of the depth of what Darlene Hayes has done. It’s a pretty big deal.
“Thanks for providing the recording. I have listened to it and cannot quite make out the Chair saying Darlene’s name at 51:41 but close enough and will take your word for it.”
— Really, John??? How convenient.
“On a side note, I encourage you to attend our future meetings and write a story on the challenges affecting senior housing in Massachusetts.“
— JOHN, nice try to deflect. This is a very passive/aggressive way to tell them they should focus on something else. Why don’t you write the story and submit it.
Bravo Ilana Casady! Your bravery to speak out and say what so many are thinking is admirable. I have been astonished by the lack of response from the committees and groups Darlene continues to be a part of. The fact she continues to serve on any town committees is concerning and tarnishes the good work these groups strive toward. Her continued moderator status of The Real Housewives of Hopkinton Facebook page, the page’s lack of acknowledgment of this situation, and the overall filtered content, led me to leave the group. Darlene’s lack of integrity and malicious behavior is reprehensible. As a 4th generation Hopkinton resident, I am embarrassed to have an individual with a demonstrated lack of ethics and humanity representing the town in any capacity.
Is it possible that her colleagues are accepting her apology, recognizing her body of work, and graciously allowing her to make amends by serving the committee? Have you ever made a mistake, acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness and an opportunity to move on?
The problem is, this was not a mistake. 24 aliases is a planned event. Also, this is not the first “mistake” she’s made, it’s just the first one she’s been held accountable for. There are many, many people in this town who have dealt with her lying, bulling, threats & deceit for years. Her friends support and make excuses for all of it. It needs to stop.
The fact that the residents of the Housing Authority were chastised by Ms Drawe in her opening statement is beyond sad. They are the people that the Housing Authority should be serving.
It seems that patios and bike lanes have become the focus of attention in our town, rather than actual humans.