“As you all know, [she] is an unpaid coach for the girl’s cheering squad, along with the paid coach Kelly Pugliese. Last fall, Arlington hosted a regional tournament. Mahon used her position to successfully get the schools to buy $3,000 worth of new pads.
“I’d like our local blogger to verify this story and to point me to the public hearing where this appropriation was discussed. Of course, there is nothing illegal about this favor, but in the context of highest in the nation sports fees for mostly boy sports and nominal fees for cheering, it does smack of an elected official getting a favor.
“In the same vein, Cindy Stark, school committee person, is also heavily involved in the Arlington-Belmont crew club, a non-MIAA sport that pays nothing to the athletic budget. Yet during tours of the high school one could not help but notice that the crew club stores their shells over the winter on AHS property.
“Blogger, find out how much rent they paid. Someone told me that the same SC member got the use of Ottoson space when she was involved in running an after school program through a private non-profit. There are three examples of favors. I could give you one hundred.”
I tracked down the facts behind the charges “Stephen” made.
Asking questions to substantiate claims can mean finding a different story. Here’s the bottom line: Selectman Mahon did not use her position to gain a favor; neither did School Committee member Starks.
If questions had turned up evidence of influence, I would report it. In the cases cited, the facts are less salacious.
Starks, others respond about crew
Consider first the claims about Starks.
Told with the Patch comment May 4, Starks wrote:
“Wow, first I have heard of this. My kids have not been in crew for 3 years, so I have certainly not done anything for the team since that time.
“I had nothing to do with the crew shells getting stored at AHS, although why it is favoritism if AHS supports the crew team and allows them to store boats there? (I personally don’t think so.)
“The space was not being used for anything else — they are in the old auto shop, vacant for many, many years.”
This writer saw the shells there when I toured the high school last December.
Starks wrote that she had “no idea” if rent is paid, but as a taxpayer the complaint “seems absurd as they are an AHS sport, even if they are club.
“I don’t think other sports pay rent to store their equipment in off seasons, so not sure why crew should.”
She added: “Although I am founder of the Ottoson after-school program (Arlington Enrichment Collaborative or AEC) and still serve on their board, there was no deal in getting that program into Ottoson.
“It was stand-alone and off site for 2 years before we got the OK to rent the space at $38,500/year inside the Ottoson – more money than any other after-school program paid in any other school before this year!
“So, yeah, no favors were pulled, went through the same process as all other non-profit after school programs in the district and continue to do so.”
Melissa Dlugolecki, director of athletics, was asked whether any sport at AHS pays rent to store equipment. She responded May 6:
“Arlington-Belmont Crew is not an AHS sport, and I am not sure about what fees or expenses they may have associated with their program. Our athletic teams do not store equipment in the Auto Shop but rather in the locker rooms and equipment rooms in the athletic wing.”
On May 6, Diane Johnson, the schools’ chief financial officer, was asked whether any sport at AHS pays rent to store equipment, and if any does, what the sport pays.
She responded the same day: “I have checked, and to my knowledge no one pays to have the crew equipment stored at the high school in the off season. Since we have the space, it doesn’t seem like such a problem to provide that modest support to a student activity.”
I followed up and asked whether any AHS sport pays rent? Johnson’s answer: “Not to my knowledge.”
Cheerleading for Mahon?
As to the claim about Mahon, the responses from the selectmen were slower in arriving. Over two weeks, I sent five requests for comment via email and made one phone call.
In the meantime, the original false-named poster who made the claim about influence — not “Stephen” — asked in a Patch comment where my story was.
Indeed, silence suggested there might be some substance to the charge, but I did not respond. I don’t provide public updates about stories in progress.
At length, I waited for Mahon outside the selectmen’s meeting room following the May 19 board meeting, so we could talk face to face.
She said she had not seen my emails, likely because of computer issues.
She explained in person what happened with cheerleading equipment, and I asked her to put it in writing.
On Thursday, May 22, Mahon wrote, referring to the claim about “pads”:
“Sorry if I repeat myself, but regarding the cheerleading pads, we don’t use pads.
“We did receive new replacement cheerleading mats to replace the very-worn mats that were well overdue and unsafe. The original mats — which belong(ed) to the APS Athletic Department were privately fundraised, in total, by me.
“When it came time to replace the mats, because of so [much] fundraising I had been doing for the AHS cheerleaders ($5,000 for AHS cheering uniforms and $6,000 for AHS competition uniforms which, again APS Athletic Department considered their property), I asked if I had to fundraise for this new set of mats. The AD said the APS would pay half and I would only have to fundraise the other half $3,000.
“However, when the invoice reached Diane Johnson and Kathie Bodie on the 6th floor, they determined since it was a necessary part of the sport and they were paying half — which was a testament to the validity of the mats — that the APS Athletic Department should pay the entire cost of the mats ($6,000) and that the mats would, once again, be the property of the AHS Athletic Department.
Of this issue, schools’ CFO Johnson wrote May 6: “… the purchase of the mats for cheerleading was done because the old ones were badly worn and in need of replacement, as we have replaced chairs for basketball, a springboard for gymnastics, etc. It is the athletic director who brings such needs to my attention, and we fund them as best we are able.”
Asked directly whether she had used her influence in the matter, Mahon wrote May 22: “At no time have I ever stated or indirectly or directly cited my role as a Selectman when acting as an Asst. Varsity Cheerleading Coach.”
Perhaps “Stephen” can pass along another tip among his “hundred” that might turn into a real story. I’m open.
Asking questions, pursuing facts and getting the “targets of investigations” to respond does not amount to cheerleading for officials.
This explanation was published Tuesday, May 27, 2014. Your comments are welcome at the link below. You must include your full name.
