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HYANNIS – [HN NOTES & MULLINGS ON THE MATTER] – Let me just start by saying,

“I just – I just can’t!”

I can’t handle this violent downtown bullshit anymore! And it could be quickly stopped if the Town of Barnstable actually gave a [bleep] about the downtown Hyannis area and the people who live and work here. But they don’t… and it’s quite evident to anyone who has lived here for any period of time!

Every single summer it’s the same damn thing. The town’s administration, quite pleased with themselves – having pulled off a couple feel-good festivals on the town green – merrily go about their summer by ignoring a looming, perennial situation… by hoping that nobody notices that violence will inevitably rear its ugly head again… because it always does, for a litany of reasons – and blindly hoping nobody actually gets stabbed to death on the steps of town hall this year. Let’s not forget that.

It was actually in May of 2020, on the walkway leading up to the town hall steps where the last village green murder took place. CLICK HERE and read all about it… or don’t, I’m starting to wonder why I should care anymore… and why anyone should care about the violence in the Main Street area anymore. The town doesn’t … so why should anyone else?

BUT alas, I’ll tell you EXACTLY why you SHOULD care. Because you’re getting ripped off! That’s why. The town administration is simply not doing their job. First and foremost, they are not making people feel safe in the downtown area. And why would anyone feel as safe as they should here? Year after year, there’s simply too much violence. The town’s administration is not doing their job, (but still collecting their big fat salaries… it’s funny how that works)… and laughing all the way to the bank… (because they are not elected… so, no worries…) and nobody really seems to care enough to do something about it… because nobody really knows who can, or should, be held accountable…

… because in the Town of Barnstable’s government administration, nobody has ever been held accountable. (It’s a wonderful, wonderful racket!)

Did you know that Mark Ells, our Town Manager, is not elected? No, he’s hired by a town council. Did you know that in 2018, Ells made $190,911 and 32 cents? He did, according to town records, and he probably makes a lot more than that now. Now, close your eyes and just imagine how much safety two hundred thousand dollars a year could buy for a careful Barnstable fella… Two hundred thousand per year is also a really healthy-looking pile of chedda to rake in, day after day, year after year, with benefits, pass or fail. You’re basically your own boss and the town of Barnstable is your money-making machine. I’ll say it again; it’s a really, really nice racket, if you’re ever lucky enough to score such a gig!

Just do what you want and collect that heaping pile of scrilla year after year, pass or fail! Who wouldn’t want a job like that? I’ll tell ya, a poor Barnstable fella could get really used to such a thing! (IF he could live with himself…)

BUT HERE’S THE BOTTOM LINE: Ells is the town’s top administrator. The buck should stop with him. If people don’t feel safe (or aren’t safe) in the downtown area, that should be on Ells… but it’s not and he’s consistently failing, year after year.

So, what is Ells actually “administrating” when in reality there’s a daily orgy of drugs and violence right outside his corner office window? Easily seen just by looking out onto the town green every single day. Or on the bandstand. Or on the surrounding streets. Or the woods near the ball fields, beaches, and playgrounds. Maybe Ells and his cohorts in that big red brick building on the town green are not seeing or experiencing what the residents of Hyannis are actually seeing and experiencing every day.

And to be fair, maybe they can’t see it. Maybe they’re blind.

(I’ve heard of blind justice… but “blind administrating?”)

The first, very basic job of any town manager is to ensure the streets and neighborhoods surrounding the town’s seat of government are safe for everyone, 24/7, no exceptions. (It’s not.) The town manager is failing at his first, very basic task… and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it because Ells, the guy with all that perpetual chedda, cannot be voted out of his corner office!

He would have to be fired by the town council, many of whom do not live in Hyannis. Many of whom really don’t care, or so it seems. And by the way, the town council system is what got us to this point in the first place… (and I’ll just leave it at that, for now…) But in short, the town council system is most definitely a “really messed up system.” And in reality, there’s actually no accountability for any of them to reasonably ensure one of our most basic needs, safety.

Any system that allows its top administrator to go on for years and years without the direct oversight of the citizenry, and the possibility of him being voted out of office if and when he fails, is definitely a “really messed up system.”

Don’t get me wrong, I find Mark Ells to be a really pleasant, congenial fella… hell, there have been times I’ve sincerely enjoyed chit-chatting with him. But as our top town administrator? The one in charge of getting Hyannis back on track? To make Hyannis the logical choice for working families with children? To facilitate an environment conducive to doing business? To simply make Hyannis live up to its unique potential for someday being one of the nicest destinations in the country, the way it used to be? Is Mark Ells that guy? And has he done his job thus far? No, he hasn’t. And no, he’s not that guy. We need a person of action. We need results. And we need to have our very basic need of safety met forthwith! We need a pitbull. We need someone who first and foremost is here to keep us safe in the downtown area, the seat of town government… the heart of the Cape. We need someone to do their job or else face being fired by the voters – not a town council, but ALL of the voters.

In short, we need to change the town’s charter.

In the meantime, and as a resident of the downtown area (the place where I grew up and still love, despite its challenges), here’s my message for dear, sweet Mark Ells:

“Mr. Ells, I’m tired of this bullshit! The downtown area is definitely not as safe and “family friendly” as it could be on a consistent basis… and it has not been so for a very long time. You’re the top town administrator. GET ON IT!”

And here’s a little HN Video that’s pretty much self-explanatory. It covers a brief period of about one hour or so last evening in Hyannis… just a brief little vignette, or a thin slice of the daily Hytown experience for those of us who live and work here…

(oh, and I can go on and on… so stay tuned.)

[HN VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]