Report: Beautification Fund Dissolves, President Blames Stoneham Selectman

STONEHAM, MA—A nonprofit group of Stoneham High School Alumni who have invested into numerous projects around the city has dissolved, citing offensive treatment from Stoneham’s Board of Selectmen.

According to a report by the Stoneham Independent, Christine Oneschuck, the president of the SHS 1982 Beautification fund, claimed that Slectmen Chair Thomas Boussy of sabotaged their plans to construct a water fountain in the middle of Town Common.

Reports Patrick Blais, who broke the story exclusively in the Stoneham Independent:

According to the non-profit leader, when she returned from a private sit-down with Boussy last fall and relayed the message to other Beautification Fund volunteers, the band of past and present town residents were so insulted they refused to work any longer on behalf of their hometown.

“He showed us a design of the proposed [outdoor] skating rink and talked about all the events being held on the common. He then said, ‘Two of the selectmen, including myself, do not want this,’” she recalled.

“We decided if three selectmen are against us, then we didn’t have a prayer of making this happen. The committee decided they had had enough and were ready to walk away from the Town of Stoneham,” she added. “It is with much disappointment that I come before you tonight to let you know the 1982 Beautification Fund will no longer exist.”

In response to the news this week of the non-profit’s disbanding, of which every selectman said they were completely unaware, Boussy and Selectman Ann Marie O’Neill suggested the hurt feelings stemmed from a big misunderstanding.

“It sound like a series of miscommunications. You would never be rebuffed for trying to spend money and investing in our town,” said O’Neill. “I’m sorry to see you go. I sounds like a terrible misunderstanding.”

According to Boussy, he makes no qualms about the fact that he approached Oneschuck to notify her about growing opposition to placing the so-called splash fountain on the Town Common, but he insisted his intent was to inform the group about those objections, before the SHS alumni raised thousands of dollars for the undertaking.

At no point, the selectmen chair furthered, did he intimate that he and other selectmen had met prior to the sit-down to vote against the project, and he apologized if Beautification Fund members walked away with the impression that he was trying to bully them into walking away from the investment.

“I had been receiving phone calls from many people. They didn’t want the fountain. It was that simple,” he remarked. “Rather than you working to raise $250,000… that’s why I met with you and asked you to go get public support.”

Initial support evaporated

Blais’ full report can also be found here.