Ethan Hartley
Medford Transcript
Instead the citizens got this from Mr. Rumley, Medford City Solicitor "I'M THE CITY SOLICITOR...I will not be insulted..."
https://youtu.be/Mvu3Y27DPZ8 - No self confidence. Zero humility at the City Council 2/14/17
Reportedly the $121,878.64 (2017) per year City Solicitor was MOONLIGHTING in Somerville as a bill collector for credit card companies, while taking money from the citizens of Medford. The Transcript should ask Mr. Rumley if this is true, and why a huge city like Medford should have a part-time solicitor - if the allegations are true.
City Solicitor Mark E. Rumley / Medford Daily Mercury on or about Nov. 16, 2008 (quoted from the 2nd Judge Jackson-Thompson hearing)
Medford deserves better. Where is our access TV station, Mr. Rumley? Plain and simple, Rumley's thin skin can't take criticism, so he allows cable tv subscribers to pay millions of dollars while DENYING them access TV (Rumley's false opinion is that it is "obsolete" while it flourishes in other cities and towns; children and seniors learning computer skills - services Rumley refuses to acknowledge and offer Medford residents,) failing to investigate the very board he sat on at Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. with so much money not accounted for it makes one wonder why Rumley is dragging his feet and being so cordial to his TV3 colleagues Harvey Alberg and Arthur Deluca in a courthouse on 9/1/16 rather than demanding loudly that they show him the financial records of the board of directors Rumley sat on. No, instead, Rumley yells at Michael Marks begging respect that Mr. Rumley has not earned. Far from it.
Medford Transcript
Hello Mr. Hartley,
After you and the citizens of Medford witnessed City Solicitor Mark E. Rumley declaring "I'm the City Solicitor, I will not be insultedt" in yet another hissing contest with a city councilor, and in light of the Medford Mercury's demise making this a one print newspaper town, you have an obligation to investigate alleged unethical conduct by city officials.
The city website states: " Law Department Personnel are committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in its representation of the City of Medford." ( http://www.medfordma.org/departments/law-department/ )
Instead the citizens got this from Mr. Rumley, Medford City Solicitor "I'M THE CITY SOLICITOR...I will not be insulted..."
https://youtu.be/Mvu3Y27DPZ8 - No self confidence. Zero humility at the City Council 2/14/17
In 2014 Rumley earned 112,183.000http://medfordinformationcentral.blogspot.com/2016/10/2014-top-100-salaries-for-medford.html
For Mark E. Rumley's $121,878.64 this year, doesn't it make you wonder how much $$$$ solicitors in other cities and towns might be earning? And how they behave when taking so much money from the public they are supposed to serve.
We deserve a LOT more respect from a PUBLIC SERVANT.
We deserve a LOT more respect from a PUBLIC SERVANT.
I'm a citizen of Medford, I will NOT be insulted by the likes of a small man such as Mark Rumley, and neither should you or anyone else.
An article on PayScale.com (Exhibit A, below) notes that the average solicitor makes 83k a year. With our streets broken, our public access TV missing in action for years and years, taxes going up and services going down, can't we find a more professional lawyer to work in Medford for over forty thousand dollars less?
"This lack of transparency in the legalese is one of the many flames that can fuel the fires of litigation on which, historically and even today, lawyers make their livings... I can safely say that few people have less respect for the law than lawyers." http://www.duhaime.org/LawMag/LawArticle-1557/The-Secret-Language-of-Lawyers.aspx
Mr. Rumley has not displayed respect for the citizens (certainly not THIS citizen,) for the law, for Medford's progress. He is a stain on our city's reputation and the sooner he resigns or is removed by the authorities, the better off our city will be. So much damage has been done by Rumley - especially in the area of public access TV - that it will take years for this city to recover.
Doesn't Mr. Rumley's term expire next week, the last day of February? Isn't this the right time to change course and hire a less self-aggrandizing individual? Someone who is professional and who cares about the city where we live.
Senator John McCain is right in pointing out how such repression of the press - which Rumley and his accomplice, City Council President Rick Caraviello engaged in - is the foundation for a dictatorship, and that's what the Muccini-Burke Administration wants.
Which is why their media blackout silenced access tv.
This journalist prevailed over their chilling, phony charges designed to censor a resident of this city on January 31, 2017 in a court of law' this victim had a judge call Rumley's testimony "irrelevant" and remove Rumley from a witness stand Sept. 1, 2016:
Which is why their media blackout silenced access tv.
This journalist prevailed over their chilling, phony charges designed to censor a resident of this city on January 31, 2017 in a court of law' this victim had a judge call Rumley's testimony "irrelevant" and remove Rumley from a witness stand Sept. 1, 2016:
Arizona Sen. John McCain strongly criticized President Donald Trump‘s repeated attacks against the media during a new interview with NBC News.
“That’s how dictators get started,” McCain told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd in response to a number of comments Trump has made attacking the media, including a series of recent tweets calling the industry “fake news.” https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/dictators-started-john-mccain-slams-153041419.html
Mr. Rumley's antics, hyperbole and histrionics are a black eye on Medford. He is a public embarrassment when he tangles with the councilors he is supposed to represent. It is unethical, in this writer's opinion, and worth investigating by the weekly newspaper.
Go to the city website:
"The duties and responsibilities of the City Solicitor and the Law Department can be found in the Revised Ordinances of the City of Medford in Division 4, Sec. 2-651 (Appointment and qualification); Sec. 2-652 (Term); Sec. 2-653 (Chief legal adviser; assistants; acting solicitor); Sec. 2-654 (Duties as to legal instruments);"
Reportedly the $121,878.64 (2017) per year City Solicitor was MOONLIGHTING in Somerville as a bill collector for credit card companies, while taking money from the citizens of Medford. The Transcript should ask Mr. Rumley if this is true, and why a huge city like Medford should have a part-time solicitor - if the allegations are true.
Was Mr. Rumley conducting his own personal business in Somerville District Court and - if true - how many days a week, how many years did this go on, and how much money did he earn? Sharing an office with State Rep Donato, which Paul Donato told me some years back when I visited him on Spring St.
Then Rumley has the audacity to make this statement to a retired judge in 2008, the hypocrisy palpable, ugly and a threat to every citizen who is forced to pay in to Rumley's bloated and undeserved salary:
“The one sentiment that I have heard that I take great exception to is that the city is trying to limit speech,” said Rumley. “The notion the city would censor or squelch free speech is baseless and as city solicitor I would find any such effort repugnant.”
City Solicitor Mark E. Rumley / Medford Daily Mercury on or about Nov. 16, 2008 (quoted from the 2nd Judge Jackson-Thompson hearing)
Mr. Rumley and his cronies have victimized this editor.
It is time that the weekly paper investigate why Rumley used his city e mail on a church website, if he went to Somerville District Court during city hall business hours while holding/sharing an office with State Rep Paul Donato on 271 Spring St, Haines Square, and why citizens are forced to pay such a staggering amount of money for such a self-centered, self-serving, obnoxious individual whose unseemly actions reflect poorly on Medford and are not in line with the honesty, integrity and professionalism we see from lawyers representing neighboring cities and towns.
It is time that the weekly paper investigate why Rumley used his city e mail on a church website, if he went to Somerville District Court during city hall business hours while holding/sharing an office with State Rep Paul Donato on 271 Spring St, Haines Square, and why citizens are forced to pay such a staggering amount of money for such a self-centered, self-serving, obnoxious individual whose unseemly actions reflect poorly on Medford and are not in line with the honesty, integrity and professionalism we see from lawyers representing neighboring cities and towns.
Medford deserves better. Where is our access TV station, Mr. Rumley? Plain and simple, Rumley's thin skin can't take criticism, so he allows cable tv subscribers to pay millions of dollars while DENYING them access TV (Rumley's false opinion is that it is "obsolete" while it flourishes in other cities and towns; children and seniors learning computer skills - services Rumley refuses to acknowledge and offer Medford residents,) failing to investigate the very board he sat on at Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. with so much money not accounted for it makes one wonder why Rumley is dragging his feet and being so cordial to his TV3 colleagues Harvey Alberg and Arthur Deluca in a courthouse on 9/1/16 rather than demanding loudly that they show him the financial records of the board of directors Rumley sat on. No, instead, Rumley yells at Michael Marks begging respect that Mr. Rumley has not earned. Far from it.
Mark Rumley has worn out his welcome. It is time for the city solicitor to apologize to this city, give the money back, and go find a job in the private sector where a boss would NEVER tolerate the nonsense Rumley has subjected the city of Medford to.
EXHIBIT A
City Attorneys in the United States can expect wages of $83K per year on average. Something to celebrate is that most people in this position are highly satisfied with their jobs. Making up 75 percent of those who took the survey, male City Attorneys greatly outnumber their female counterparts. This report is based on answers to PayScale's salary questionnaire.
Appointment of City Solicitor (usually up for reappointment March 1 of every year)
the Revised Ordinances of the City of Medford in Division 4, Sec. 2-651 (Appointment and qualification);
Medford Mass Law Dept.
Frequently Asked Questions
Boston.com 2009 salaries
77 Medford city workers topped $100,000 in 08; 47 were police
Posted by Marcia Dick May 27, 2009 10:47 AM