Ever Wonder who you're voting for? What is their past? Are they good for the future? Let's look at Blackstone's candidates for Board of Selectmen for 2023. Some are what the town needs, but one is just no good for the future of the Town of Blackstone.

Dan Keefe Background

We'll start with Former Board of Selectman (BOS) Chairman, Dan Keefe  who would like to regain his seat after losing to current BOS Chairman, Ryan Chamberland in 2021. He currently serves on the current BMR School Committee but ran unopposed. Time and time again, Mr. Keefe has been accused of nepotism, cronyism, abuse of power, and violations of ethics. How does a person like this still feel relevant?

Here are few facts that we can say about Mr. Keefe. He 100% believes in nepotism, cronyism, and does not work well with others if they do not agree with him.

Nepotism: Not only was his wife hired by the town at some point but both of his sons. Some forget about this and the more you dig into the facts around his family, the more you realize that Mr. Keefe certainly raises questions about the employment of his family members.

Cronyism: Mr. Keefe believes that positions should be voted upon because he believes that tax paying citizens should have a say when it comes to certain positions within the town's government. One thing that he forgets is that the Taxpayers VOTE the selectmen in to make decisions that they feel are in the best interest of the town! Mr. Keefe's ideas would allow the most popular person to be elected to a position even though they are NOT qualified!

As most people know, Mr. Keefe owns his own business and is used to doing things his way but as proven in the ethics violation, he needs to learn to work with others. If you look back at past (2018-2019) BOS meetings when Mr. Keefe lost the Chairmanship to former BOS member, Robert Dubois, he would become very disruptive and highly unprofessional when things didn't go his way. Can you imagine how he would be if he serves on the current BOS with a younger and more talented person serving as the Chair who is also the person that dominated him in the last election when they went Head-To Head?

A quote from the "Pollack Solomon Duffy LLP Investigation" dated October 22, 2020.

2 According to minutes, at a meeting on June 16, 2020, the Board of Selectmen voted Robert Dubois as the new
Chair to replace Mr. Keefe. The dynamic at the Board of Selectmen by then and since has not been an entirely
friendly one. As a general matter, to say the least, Mr. Keefe and Mr. Dubois do not have a healthy working relationship.

For instance, reports suggest that Mr. Keefe has led efforts for a possible recall of the vote for Mr.
Dubois, and Mr. Keefe has engaged in significant and public efforts to challenge Mr. Dubois’ registration or
licensing of his business. These matters go beyond the scope of the investigation and need not be resolved in terms
of which, if either, individual is right or wrong in these positions. This dynamic is mentioned in part to indicate that
the two of them do not have the sort of relationship that would likely lead them to work secretly together for their
mutual benefit.

An ironic factor in the above statement is that Mr. Keefe "led efforts for a possible recall for the vote for Mr. Dubois". Didn't some town residents just attempt to do this to 2 current BOS members? We all know that Mr. Keefe had his hands involved with this. It doesn't take much asking around to know that Mr. Keefe had a very close relationship with the former town employee who was justly terminated in 2022 named Colleen Straponi. One odd story was how Mr. Keefe would spend entire Saturdays at the recycling center when Ms. Straponi was working there in her capacity as the manager of the facility or how he would spend hours just hanging out at town hall conducting business with Ms. Straponi. 

In the recent Blackstone Enlightener April edition, there is a great point by the writer Connie Pereault that appears on page 11,

"And then, there is yet another candidate running
who is already serving on another elective board, the
School Committee. At this point, the question must be
asked, Where will his allegiance be placed? With
the School Committee or the Board of Selectmen?
Having personally served on the School Committee
for 10 years and then on the Board of Selectmen for

15 years, I feel that it will be a difficult task to under-
take, in particular, at this time. It is said in the Good

Book, “No one can serve two masters. He will either
hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one but
despise the other.” Will this be the case?"

Let us not forget how Mr. Keefe just hates to pay his taxes! It's no wonder that he has done nothing during his term to help keep people in their homes and not allow tax rates to become outrageous! Just for true "transparency" The following information is public record and it doesn't take much to find some interesting tax liens that he has had that have been in the $20k range just from 2022 for 2016 and another whopping lien for $89,504.48 for years 2013-2015! How is this person going to run a town when he can't even control his own finances?  

Association With Attorney Dan Doyle

He also aligns himself very closely with a Blackstone Atty named Daniel T. Doyle who has no problem suing the Town of Blackstone costing the town thousands of dollars! He was retained to represent Mr. Keefe's wife as well s other town employees and currently represents the justly terminated, Colleen Straponi. Apparently, Atty Doyle has served the town as a Town Administrator and attempted to run for office some years ago but was unsuccessful. 

A quote from the "Pollack Solomon Duffy LLP Investigation" dated October 22, 2020.

"Compounding these issues, in an odd conflict, Mr. Keefe has affirmatively participated in the
recruitment of potential claimants against the Town of Blackstone. Of course there is no
prohibition on him or his wife consulting with their own counsel. He has, however, invited others
to consult with his wife’s counsel about their employment-related issues against the Town of
Blackstone. It is axiomatic that, as a member of the Board of Selectmen, he should not be participating in the advocacy on behalf of others on employment issues against the Town of
Blackstone, by working to combine their efforts or otherwise, concerning matters that could fall
within the jurisdiction of the Board of Selectmen. Nevertheless, he has done so by recruiting
claimants and/or facilitating group claims behind the scenes. For example, on September 15,
2020, Mr. Keefe wrote an email to a former employee of the Town of Blackstone, stating in part:
I spoke to attorney Doyle today and he has asked that all parties involved email a
description of the events in relation to the town that have affected them. I have
cc’d attorney Doyle so you may send to him directly. Once all parties have
emailed attorney Doyle a meeting will be set up"

This Atty also serves on the local board of directors (BOD) for the Blackstone Valley Boys and Girls Club, BVBGC, and had served as the organization's Chairman, Treasurer, and Legal Counsel all at the same time! That sounds like a conflict of interest! Now, Mr. Keefe is the Chairman but Atty Doyle still serves as the treasurer and legal counsel. The ironic thing is that Atty Doyle will sue the town cost the tax payers thousands of dollars then ask its residents for donations for the Boys and Girls Club.

After during a little research on Atty Doyle's involvement with the BVBGC, we uncovered that Former Chairman, Treasurer, Legal Counsel engaged in some unethical practices with his role(s) within the non-profit organization. How does an organization run when you have 1 person wearing various hats especially as a chairman and treasurer? It's like the fox watching the hen house.  In fact, an internal issue surrounding Mr. Doyle's inappropriate behavior and some issues with financials came up when he apparently forgot that the club was supposed to be run by By-Laws and not one person's will and purpose. When he did remember, he called for a special meeting filled with people using the cronyism concept that was NOT approved by the then Board of Directors NOR did he follow Robert's Rules of Order at the meeting NOR did he allow for any questions from any of the concerned parents that were in the room. Instead, Mr. Doyle just did what he wanted and avoided questions despite some questions and facts that came from another attorney that was present named Robert Laren, Esq. of Blackstone, MA.  I guess you could call that a Captain Kangaroo Court. For those in question, any non-profit organizations meeting minutes and financials are public record and all you need to do is ask for the information or speak the previous BOD members. You can find their info from the state filings.  

Former Blackstone Police Officer David Laudon

Another issue that was uncovered is that both Mr. Keefe and Atty Doyle served on the BOD of the Boys and Girls Club with a "Former" Blackstone Police Officer, David Laudon, who was the club's Vice Chairman. Laudon had been accused of sexual assault in 2010 while he was a UMASS police officer and was asked to resign due to the allegations. Ironically, this information was made public in 2022 but despite this being public knowledge, he was never asked to step down from the club's BOD until recently in 2023! Mr. Keefe is currently serving on the Town of Blackstone's School Committee and knew of the accusations against Former Officer Laudon as early as August of 2022 when Laudon was removed as the SRO "Student Resource Officer" for the BMR School System but yet, Officer Laudon remained as a member of the BOD for the BVBGC until the beginning of 2023 when he so happened to "resign"! What is going on in the club? 

Just to validate this point, the BVBGC only changed their State Filings Recently under the direction of the club's CEO, Bruce Paterson: MA SOC Filing Number: 202390179470 Date: 3/28/2023 1:18:00 PM.

Media and Reports

Dan Keefe Articles and Media

David Laudon Articles and Media