By William Tauro 

Did you ever wonder how and why was the “Director of Fleet Management” position was created and was it created for Ron Bonney at the Somerville DPW?
In Somerville’s 175 year history, a director of fleet management has never existed nor even needed. 
Many have speculated that the position was created by Mayor Curtatone to accommodate the mayor’s campaign financial supporter Ronald Bonney who is the President of Bonney Automotive. Bonney Automotive is an automotive repair shop that was located on the Somerville/Medford line on Boston Avenue in Medford. 
Locally Ron has served on the Somerville Financial Advisory Committee, Parking Solutions Task Force, Somerville Visioning Committee and Somerville Jobs Advisory Committee. Ron is also a Little League and Youth Hockey Coach, and a Hockey Coach at the same ice rink where the mayor’s best friend Igor Gratchev of the Boston Stars play, who coaches the mayor’s four sons. 
Most of the unanswered questions have risen as some speculate that the position for Ron Bonney was created for him as an incentive to close his business down and put up his garage property as part of a deal as well as a buy into a partnership of a group of three or four politically connected locals who formed a development team. 
The position also would allow him to compensate for closing his business down and to have a $82,150.35 a year city high-paying position and reek the benefits of Somerville’s political cash cow ventures while the properties are being developed on the taxpayers dime and all complements of the guy in the corner office. 

Could all this also have something to do with local Curtatone campaign financial supporter Developer Peter Miller who is also a partner in the Boston Avenue construction project? Please note that we were informed by his own councle that Peter Miller is also a lifelong childhood friends of the mayor with plenty of influence and we were also told that “He used to play in Joe’s kitchen as a child.”
Some people even speculate that Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone is the third and silent partner and whether that be true or not it’s up to you to decide?
if all this is found to be true, could this have something to do with many of the stalled development projects within the city? Also if this is found to be true could it have anything to do with the mayor referring and recommending these developers as alternatives to their current plans and as shoe-ins to get to make the proposed development work?
Could another one of the players be a former Somerville alderman who’s job is to broker the deals?
How about those two henchmen that occupy the Somerville Planning Department and the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development are they being brought to life with a political grand puppeteer to purposely stall these developments which planned stall tactics and to open the path for these partner’s developments to go through?

Could this be why the Mayor is alegedly purposely shooting down proposed development in the city that our residents are being deprived of benefiting tremendous tax revenues?

Could this be an elaborate plot designed to discourage developers that have valid developments so that these partners can move in with a sure deal?

The motive and intent certainly seem to be there put in place and it sure looks like a plot in the making but anything is possible. 
All the while these properties remain vacant and just sit there stalled while a plot could be brewing is in excusable and un acceptable. 
Where are the majority of your eleven board of alderman members during all this with the exception of one or maybe two alderman who can’t they see that something is not right. Were they all silenced? Why weren’t they raising eyebrows and issues over these red flags?
Last year when we uncovered an potentially alleged overtime scandal at the DPW garage, not one alderman has ever come forward, raised the issue nor even mentioned or done a darn thing about it. It just got quietly swept underneath the political rug. 
When situations like this get ignored by elected officials usually it could mean one of two things. Either they don’t care about doing their job looking out for the taxpayers of Somerville’s best interest or maybe they’re just part of the problem. 
Maybe it’s time for a change in our board of alderman as well?
Maybe it’s time that we pull the plug and drain the swamp then look into hiring a city manager and positioning a city Council in place?

The taxpayers who are mostly the citizens of Somerville are hoofing this expense while these games are being plotted and put into place right under your noses and right before your eyes and behind your back’s. 
We here at the News find it highly peculiar that earlier last week, that the mayor would place a eyebrow raising call to a local Boston talk show host who occasionally criticizes the mayor to no end, and asked the question “Are you and The Somerville News Weekly doing a story on me?” Now if that’s not a sign of insecurity or a guilt trip in the making or both what is?
We here at the News are also awaiting on any retaliatory attack ads on us from the mayor via the other local newspaper, the mayor’s unofficial hired mouthpiece, who currently gets around $1,500.00 for some weeks for City of Somerville legal ads from the city at the expense of the taxpayers complements of the mayor. 

$1,500.00 a week is a substantial more of an amount than the other two local papers get all combined. The amount which should be actually fairly split between all three news publications to avoid this very type of conflict and accusations, but its not. But on the other hand we refuse to NOT to report these stories, we refuse to be the mayors cheerleader and we refuse to be the mayor’s puppets! 
We are also interested to see and anticipating if the mayor or anyone from the development team plans to file any lawsuit against this paper for bringing this information out. We welcome any lawsuits because that will give us an opportunity to put all the players on the witness stand and find out the real story what’s going on under oath. And if and when it makes it to court, we’re pretty sure that the Director of Fleet Management Ron will probably start crying again and the two henchmen on the top floor of City Hall in the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development and the Director of Planning will sing like little yellow canaries along with many others. 
Maybe this is why the mayor recently last week as well as this week again issued a nine paragraph explanation on his Facebook page. The explanation is regarding Federal Realty Investments’s (FRIT) hearing that was recently before the planning board on their request for a waiver on providing affordable housing units in their development project which was allowed in favor of FRIT. Much of the explanation coincides with what we are referring to in this article as well. 
Maybe we should also urge local city vendors to request paid out/payment information from the purchasing department regarding their contracts? Maybe they should check into that none of their contracted services weren’t illegally diverted and tampered with and sent out and paid out to other contractors who are affiliated with the administration?
Maybe in the next episode series of these articles we should discuss on how the mayor allegedly hid behind a DPW employee and let him take the blame for some dirty dealings regarding diversions of a vendor’s contract? And even though a DPW worker took the rap for the mayor and was heavily scrutinized by this very news paper, why wasn’t the DPW employee prosecuted or fired?
We are already in possession of one case of these circumstances that has surfaced  regarding this and we will save it for another issue for our part three of our ten part series-story of this article. 
Could this be a case of out-of-control-political-corruption or racketeering brewing at its very best?

Maybe the citizens of Somerville should Speak Up and ask questions about this?
Maybe it’s appropriate that this matter be held by a higher power and no I don’t mean God which wouldn’t be a bad thing but I’m talking federal authorities getting involved to investigate and check for any possible wrongdoing. 
So now it is election time in the city of Somerville. Make time and call your Alderman. You have the right to demand answers and demand change. Don’t wait for your politicians to fix this mess on their own. The power is in the hands of the people of Somerville to solve this mess. Make the calls and get it done.