Armstrong loses it!
In an unprofessional display, Don Armstrong, town attorney, lost his temper last night.

Special Town Board Meeting about the Knapp rezone lawsuit. 8/9/1

8 PM: All board members present. Don Armstrong, town attorney, arrives wearing a tie but left his suit coat off. Ann Brennan comments about how cute he looks. (Gag me with a spoon. I'm in shorts and a tee shirt.) Sharon Flint is doing the secretary duties tonight. In the audience are Stan Kogut, Ed Jenney, Barb Frier and myself.

8:05 PM: John calls the meeting to order and reads the public notice. Don Armstrong recommends going into executive session and they all vote for it.

8:10 PM: We leave the room.

The following is short but what a show.

After we came in and sat down John spoke very briefly

9:50 PM: John: "On our discussion and ah so forth and pending litigation Don (Armstrong) will have a statement to make at this time."

Don Armstrong: "Just that the record should reflect that the (tape garbled for a second) discussion was regarding pending litigation about my representation for the town in that regard, no actual statement. That should do. After discussion the board adjourned from executive session."

Frank Hogg: "Did you make any decisions about your. . ."

"EXCUSE ME, YOU'RE OUT OF ORDER… SIR!" Don bellowed. (Hey Don, switch to decaf.)

Whoa I muttered to myself. Talk about over reacting. I was so shocked by this uncalled for outburst that I was momentarily speechless. John took that opportunity to ask to adjourn the meeting with Betty Ann quickly making the motion and Kate seconding it while both grinned in approval. (They really shouldn't grin like that, not very appealing.)

Funny thing about this is that it is NOT Armstrong's position to tell me or anyone else in the audience anything. Any competent lawyer knows that. Probably explains Don's lack of knowledge on the subject. HE was the one who was out of order and he is 'supposed' to know the law. It is Supervisor John Steger's position to run the meeting and it is he who should have spoken, not Armstrong. If Armstrong knew his job, a fact that I seriously doubt, he should have advised Steger that I was out of order (if indeed I was) and it would have been Steger's job to tell me that.  Don Armstrong is the lawyer for the board; it is not his place to talk to the public. He should know that.

It reminds me of the last public hearing when all the disturbances were coming from the back of the room. There was Don Armstrong in his Ken Doll suit with he shiny shoes and his pursed lips smirking like a Cheshire cat while the hooligans were making nasty comments from the back of the room. He didn't say anything about them being out of order then, not a word, he just smiled in approval. Hypocrite.

Don Armstrong's actions and comments were unprofessional, irrational and immature. He lost control of the situation in a split second. He should have let me finish the question and then advised Steger that the question was out of order and that would have been it. Instead he lost his temper and made a fool of himself. His actions did not speak well for his legal knowledge, his abilities, or reflect well on his law firm.

Otherwise it was just another rainy night in Preble.

Frank Hogg