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Posted by: kwflatbed

By Howie Carr
Boston Herald Columnist




Hey Mark, where’s my windmill at? (File)


Friday, January 19, 2007

A former state rep with a dodgy past is back in the news, with “unhappy customers” calling the local cops and the district attorney’s office - stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
This time it’s a one-term boob named Mark Howland, a retired trout farmer who was elected in 2002 after his opponent, an ex-con named Jailbird George Rogers, was ensnared in a probe involving gay pornography (450 videos) and a male teenager whom he was, ahem, advising.
Stop me if you’ve heard that one before. The only difference between the Rogers scandal and so many others in Massachusetts is that Jailbird George was not re-elected. But Howland lasted only two years and is now in the windmill business.

Apparently this new operation is as fishy as the trout farm. It seems, according to the local newspapers, Howland takes the money and then, well, when the phone don’t ring, you’ll know it’s him.


A call was placed yesterday to Howland’s home, and his phone message said it was “WindTech Co.” I asked Howland whether, given the current flurry of probes about him, he was perhaps planning to apply for a job as a talk-show host at my radio station, WRKO. The call was not returned.


According to newspaper stories from last year, Howland was selling the windmills to, say, dairy farmers. Investing thousands in a windmill pays off it you can cut your electric bill by 80 percent.


Some people got the windmills they paid for, and others - well, he is a former state rep, after all. Caveat emptor. The good news is, he’s probably not going to prison. Maybe he’s just gotten a little behind. So it looks like more of a job for the bunco squad than the FBI.


Here are some testimonials from less-than-satisfied customers who spoke to the New Bedford paper:


“I have lost total respect for the man.”


“He led us down the wrong path from day one.”


“One person has given him as much as $48,000, and (the solon) has given him nothing.”


Is it possible for us to go one week - just seven days - without a state rep in trouble with the law? Two weeks ago, it was Felon Finneran. Last week, it was Rep. Paul “I have a disease” Kujawski, fined basically for stealing money from his own campaign account.


And now this Howland character. Too bad Felon Finneran hasn’t started working yet. I’m sure he’d like to go on the radio on behalf of this “good man” (as the Felon once described Kujawski).


Howland’s wife, Bonnie, is technically the president of WindTech, and she, too, has an impeccable resume for the windmill racket. She used to run an astrology Web site, where for $15 she would chart “Your Sexy and Naughty Natal Report - what do the stars say about your sexual preferences?”


Bonnie is Rep. Windmill’s second wife. The first Mrs. Windmill divorced him after, as the divorce papers put it, “He left his wife a threatening note when they separated.”

Some of the unhappy WindTech customers would be happy even with a threatening note. The owner of one dairy farm in South Westport wrote the Freetown Democrat a check for $32,000 last September, and that was the last he saw of the guy.


In a story in this newspaper last August, Howland said the windmills were “selling like hotcakes.” Invisible hotcakes, apparently. Like Howland himself, now you see ’em, now you don’t.


Finneran, Kujawski, now Dr. Howland, and the new year is only 19 days old. The faster you knock these state reps down, the faster they pop up, like ducks in a shooting gallery. How many sleazy new talk-show hosts can local radio absorb?


And warming up in the bullpen is none other than Billy Bulger. Come on down, Corrupt Midget. No need to bring a reference letter, a target letter will suffice. If you’re indicted, you’re invited.

Note:
This @$$wipe has scammed some of my friends who are hard working farmers in Westport, as farming is hard enough in todays world they don't need this.
Harry

Windmill dealer complains of 'smear campaign'

His supplier says customer deposits fully refundable
By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — Money that windmill customers paid to former state Rep. Mark A. Howland was handed over to the manufacturer of the wind turbines and is fully refundable. It is unclear, however, whether all of the money that some customers claim they gave Mr. Howland is in the hands of the manufacturer.
Mike Bergey of Bergey Windpower Inc. in Norman, Okla., said his company has $65,000 worth of deposits from Mr. Howland's customers for wind turbines. He said the turbines had been on back order but are now available, as soon as Mr. Howland asks for them to be shipped and pays the remainder of the cost.
"The equipment is available on relatively short notice," said Mr. Bergey, president of Bergey Windpower. "We're waiting for Mark to say, 'OK, I'm ready to take one or two or three or four.'"
This week, a number of Westport farmers complained they have given thousands of dollars to Mr. Howland for windmills that have not been delivered.
Mr. Howland, speaking on the issue for the first time yesterday, said he does not have the money.
"The money is where it's supposed to be," he said. Mr. Howland's company, WindTech Co., took deposits from a number of customers and placed orders with Bergey Windpower.
Mr. Bergey said he believes the holdup is being caused by issues with local permits, or poles, neither of which is within the control of Bergey Windpower.
"Our deposits are fully refundable," Mr. Bergey said. "We will send the money back to Mark or to the customer."
But Mr. Bergey said his company does not have anything like $32,000 for Karl Santos or $48,000 from another Westport farmer.
"Our deposit is 30 percent of the total cost. We only ask for payment in full when the product is shipped," he said. Mr. Bergey said he has not shipped any wind turbines for Mr. Howland since November.
Last week, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which controls a subsidy that is paid to people who pursue alternative energy like wind and solar power, issued a cease-and-desist order against Mr. Howland. Bergey Windpower also removed Mr. Howland from its list of authorized dealers, and Mr. Bergey said last week that he would not ship any more product to Mr. Howland. Yesterday, he indicated he would ship wind turbines that Mr. Howland had already ordered on behalf of his customers.
The Standard-Times has spoken to about a dozen angry customers and three who were happy with Mr. Howland's work. Mr. Howland took orders for 80 windmills, and about half of those have been delivered and installed. Three customers have poles that bent under strong winds, and a number of others have complained that Mr. Howland inflated their expectations or made promises he did not deliver. Nearly every customer complained that Mr. Howland was not available to them.
Although the collaborative has referred the matter to the Attorney General's Office, it is unclear whether the attorney general is pursuing an investigation. District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter's office referred a reporter to Westport police.
Westport Deputy Police Chief John Gifford said the town is not pursuing a criminal investigation.
"It appears to be a civil matter, and as long as it stays that way, we'll stay out of it," Deputy Chief Gifford said. "When it turns the corner, we'll jump in with both feet."
Mr. Howland said, "In my opinion, the (Massachusetts Technology Collaborative) is on a witch hunt against us because we refuse to become a general contractor or overall project coordinator."
Mr. Howland also said he is the victim of a "smear campaign" by the collaborative, which he said is denigrating him to his customers and asking them leading questions.
Mr. Howland said he never presented himself to his customers as the one person who would order the turbines, install poles, erect the turbines and deal with local permitting issues.
"I said I would provide the product. I said I would apply to the MTC for subsidies for people," he said. "I always presented people with options. I let them know what they could get, what was allowed by local permits. It was always me saying to the customer, 'What do you want to do?'"
Mr. Howland also complained that the two stories in The Standard-Times were "increasingly negative" and "one-sided."
When The Standard-Times began trying to contact Mr. Howland last week, a reporter left numerous messages on his cell phone, home phone and work phone. The reporter then contacted his sister in Fairhaven and received a cell phone number for Bonnie Howland, Mr. Howland's wife, and she issued a statement. The family was on vacation in Florida at the time and had not seen the cease-and-desist letter from the collaborative.
For a story yesterday on angry customers demanding refunds, Mr. and Mrs. Howland were contacted on their cell phones. Mr. Howland did not respond until 3 a.m., long after the newspaper's deadline, with two e-mails to the reporter. He also appeared on radio station WBSM yesterday and fielded questions from radio talk show host Ken Pittman, who is a friend of Mr. Howland and a customer of Mr. Howland's wind turbine business.

Contact Aaron Nicodemus
at anicodemus@s-t.com

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