FM - What is your Franklin story?
Glenn Jones - I have lived in Franklin now for a little over seventeen years. Shortly after we moved here, we had our first daughter, Dakota, then along came Jillian, Simon, Rebecca, and lastly Sabrina. We live in the center of town and enjoy it very much. It is where a lot of fun places to visit are; Franklin Public Library, Historical Museum, Davis Thayer Elementary School, the Commons and so many other enjoyable places. We have embraced Franklin as our home. Our children consider themselves true Franklinites!
I am big on people getting involved in their community; whether it’s volunteering for the Franklin Food Pantry or the community gardens, helping out with children’s activities – (school based or not). We need to support and promote the overall health and wellbeing of the community.
I grew up in a family of educators. My mom was a teacher. My sister is a teacher. I am a licensed Vocational Electrical Teacher. I currently teach at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School. Education is probably without a doubt THE most important thing we can do for our community, our children and our country as a whole. Keeping our children well educated will ultimately help the United States and our community be key players in the world and global economy. It all starts with education.
FM - What do you see as a challenge for the position of Town Council?
Glenn Jones - What needs to be continuously addressed, and this is speaking as the former Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, are the underutilized available resources that are right here in the Town of Franklin. What I mean by that is, we have a current commercial and industrial base that if built upon, not expanded, would dramatically increase much needed revenues. This would bring new jobs to the Town of Franklin, which has always been a major goal of mine.
Franklin has a very reasonable tax rate. We get so much with a comparably smaller tax rate in comparison to the other peer communities. However, the wonderful services that we have come to enjoy will be challenged in the near future due to the towns pressing OPEB (other post-employment benefits) obligations. Our pension obligation has yet to be paid out of the town’s budget. We will have to find creative ways to start and continue funding this line item out of future budgets. It will be a large burden for our citizens. It doesn’t take much for these kinds of issues to have a negative domino effect.
I can also understand the passion that our Pond St neighbors have. I grew up in a small home in Watertown with a commercial property abutting my backyard. The last thing I want to see is commercial development interwoven with residential zones. Our family home was in a residential neighborhood but the City of Watertown zoned a portion of the neighborhood block as a commercial zone. That resulted in my house backing up to a double high fence topped with razor wire. The commercial property (car stereo installer) that was immediately behind the fence had no respect for the neighbors. It was an unattractive and noisy commercial building and the surrounding property was very unkempt and not well cared for. It wasn't really the ideal situation for my family.
My goal is to work with residents of abutting neighborhoods, together we can find a viable community solution to source revenue while keeping our neighborhoods attractive and our residents satisfied. The last thing we want to see is our property values diminish. I am a no different than my Pond street neighbors. I am a Franklin tax payer and share their passions.
FM - What do you bring to the position that would set you apart from the other candidates?
Glenn Jones – What makes me a significant candidate for this particular role in town government, is that I am experienced, I carry no special interests, I don’t bring a bias to the table, and I have no personal political agendas other than to serve my community. My feelings have been and always will be to remain a solid voice for the people of Franklin. I want to be part of a group that can work collaboratively, make the right decisions, and serve as a dedicated representative of the people of Franklin.
My reputation is that of a dedicated, honest, hardworking volunteer. I have the track record to back it up. If anyone has questions or would just like to voice their thoughts and opinion, I will always make myself available to them.
It has always been my opinion that the more voices we get around a particular issue, the more we can accomplish, ultimately coming to a consensus and/or at least a compromise. I know I can make that happen as a team oriented member of the town council.
If elected I would propose the hiring of a full time public relations officer and the establishment of a Communications Committee made up of real citizens, the PR Officer and two Town Council Liaisons. The monies could be raised through adoption of House Bill - H 1566 - An Act relative to electronic publication of certain legal notices. This bill proposed by State Rep. Jeff Roy and endorsed unanimously by the Franklin Town Council (resolution 14-03) will allow for Franklin to stop having to pay pricy fees to local newspapers to post legal notices.
If you have any follow up questions for Glenn, you can contact him via:
gf_jones@verizon.net
You can also visit his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Vote-Glenn-Jones-Franklin-Town-Council-1646758335567720/timeline/
For reference, Glenn was also interviewed in 2011
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/glenn-jones-answers-3-questions.html
and in 2009
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2009/10/town-council-candidate-glenn-jones.html
Noteworthy: This information is intended to help the Franklin voters when we all head to the ballot box on November 3rd. The interview candidates have had an opportunity to review the text before publishing to ensure the accuracy of our discussion.
No comments:
Post a Comment