When the Sierra Club agreement went before the city council I learned that he also has the patience of Job. No matter how many times aldermen and others asked him to repeat something he just explained, or when some grandstanded like fools, he was calm, clear and respectful. It didn't take long for me to notice that, no matter what political axe people had to grind, everyone respected Jay's professionalism and honesty.
The only time I heard Bartlett complain was when he spoke about the political climate in Springfield and the local press. I'd love it if he gave a final TV interview to say everything he keeps to himself about local politics.
But he's probably too classy for that so I'll copy one quote from the SJ-R last July, shortly before CWLP lost their project manager Brian Fitzgerald.
Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards, who opposes the raises, scoffed at the notion the city would lose engineers if the ordinance doesn’t pass tonight.Anyone who knows how few coal power plants have been built in the U.S. in the past 20 years should have known better. The council voted against offering contracts to CWLP's top engineers and we're seeing the consequences of those who play political games with our public utility.
“I don’t believe that for one bit,” Edwards said. “This just happened too quick. How many years have we been working on building this plant? Now, here come all these offers.”