You would think that when a developer gets called out in a public hearing as a "crook" by the screaming widow of a former business associate — really, it happened —  that officials might just pause and look into his background some more.

But no, not in Groton.

That same developer, who waved a finger at some members of the public at that hearing, has demanded and will get an expedited vote on his unpopular, tax-free, environmentally problematic development.

Wow.

Only three town councilors, Republican Scott Westervelt and Democrats Aundré Bumgardner and Portia Bordelon, have publicly advocated for slowing down the town's review of the latest controversial data center.

This one is proposed by Thomas Quinn and his company, NE Edge LLC, which was only formed in December, after other data center development companies he previously worked with, including one he headed, began imploding with lawsuits.

Indeed, Groton already has signed a host agreement with one of these, before anyone was paying attention, and it is now ensnared in a bankruptcy.

Now Quinn, jumping from one sinking ship to a brand-new legal entity, tells councilors to hurry up and vote on this new deal, and they salute back and say yes sir.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

I called the session with the outburst by the Quinn associate's widow a public hearing, because that's what was promised.

It was actually a parody of a public hearing, with not only Quinn but the hearing chair, from the town's Economic Development Commission, berating members of the public who dared to offer an opinion.

Those were the bizarre ground rules: the public could only ask questions, with strict time limits, while the developer could endlessly pontificate and sneer at the questions.

There may be public comment before Wednesday's short-noticed emergency meeting of the Town Council, but if councilors vote later that night, they can't explore issues the public raises. It's a sham.

I would say this is Groton government at its worst, but it's not.

Consider that City of Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick wrote an email blast to town councilors on Friday, saying Councilor Bumgardner should recuse himself from voting on the data center host agreement because he expressed an opinion about data centers at a recent General Assembly hearing on the potential pollution from their generators.

Even the state's environmental commissioner testified about her worries about the environmental harm from the centers.

I am not sure whether to attribute Mayor Hedrick's preposterous notion, that Bumgardner should not express his opinion on something pending before the Town Council, to animosity toward someone who dared run against him for the job of mayor or some strange advocacy for the developer.

Honestly, who ever thought a politician should withhold opinions until they vote on something? The whole point of a democracy and voting for elected leaders is for them to share opinions on as many topics as possible.

Politicians should encourage and participate in as much public discussion as possible before an irrevocable vote. Bravo to Bumgardner for learning about the issue and testifying before a General Assembly committee considering it.

Apparently, in Groton, not only is the public not allowed to comment or offer their opinions, to exercise their right to free speech, but neither are some objection-raising elected officials.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com