Showing posts with label Bartlett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bartlett. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Deborah Bartlett answers 3 questions


One of the more interesting races in the Franklin election November 8th will be that of Deborah Pellegri and Deborah Bartlett running for Town Clerk. I spent some time with Deb Bartlett to find out how this came about. It turns out that Deb did not ‘just’ decide to run for Town Clerk. Deb has been planning to run for this office since she stepped down from her Town Council position two years ago.

FM - Tell me a bit about yourself, your family and your life here in Franklin?

DB - I moved to Boston from New York to attend to college and stayed in the area. I have volunteered extensively as my kids moved through the Franklin schools. I was part of the Kennedy PCC, then Horace Mann, and eventually Franklin High School I volunteer for the Franklin Education Foundation (FEF). I was on the building committee for both the West Central Fire Station and the Horace Mann Complex renovations. In addition, I served three terms (six years) on the Town Council and am currently on the Long Range Financial Planning Committee. (FM - This committee, you may recall, was revamped two years ago and is now comprised of all citizen representatives.)

While I was part of the Town Council, the charter changes came through for discussion and to be voted on. At that time, there was discussion that Deb Pellegri would be stepping down some time soon. I was aware of bylaw that you can’t work for the town within a year of holding an elected office. So during these past two years, I have taken several steps to prepare myself for Town Clerk. I recently completed getting certified as a notary public. I scheduled time and met with two other town clerks to review their operations. I have also met with many of the department heads to get their insights on their interaction with the Clerk’s office.

FM - What experience or background will help you to serve in this role? or What do you think makes you a good candidate to fulfill this role?

DB - Effectively I have been preparing for this role all my life. I believe there are three main areas that have prepared me to serve as Town Clerk.

1 - My professional work as an office manager in a physicians office and in information technology
2 - My various volunteer positions where I had frequent contact with the Town Clerk’s office
3 - My customer service skills

My ability to build relationships and my desire to help people will serve me well in this position.

FM - What do you see as your role’s biggest challenge and do you have any suggestions on how we can resolve it?

DB - There will be a learning curve, no doubt about it. The office staff is phenomenal so I will learn from them and there shouldn’t be any negative difference in service. I’ll spend some time observing the operations before making any changes. I think we can do better on the communications front. Two quick examples; one, the verbiage in the annual report hasn’t changed much in years and two, the announcement that candidate papers were available for the November election came out after the period had started. I want to explore what technology improvements we can make.

I am not running against Deb Pellegri (she has a wealth of experience) as much as I am running for the Town Clerk role. At some point in time, Deb will be stepping aside. I want to provide a choice to the Franklin voters. I want to bring a different view to the Town Clerk’s office. We’ll see what the voters want.


For additional info on Deborah Bartlett you can visit her campaign website
https://sites.google.com/site/debbartlettfranklinma/

**** Note: you can find all the information for the Nov 8th Election collected here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/08/election-2011-summary.html

Thursday, January 15, 2009

"everything that's simple we've already done"


Last spring in Franklin, residents voted against a $2.8 million override, after approving a $2.7 million tax increase the year before. This year, a financial plan committee is preparing a three-year projection to better prepare for the town's fiscal needs. An initial draft should be available by early next month, according to the Town Council's vice chairwoman, Deborah Bartlett.

Bartlett wouldn't rule out the possibility of an override request, saying, "I don't think we're thinking that far ahead yet." However, "it's hard to know, with everything so volatile at this point," she said. "I think people are scared . . . and we don't know how they will feel about committing to more money than they're currently committing."

It's clear that revenues in Franklin will once again fall short of expenses, Bartlett said, and "without more money, we're not going to be able to provide the same level of service as today."

Officials are searching for ways to consolidate services and save money, but "everything that's simple we've already done," she said.

Read the full article in the Boston Globe West section here

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Live reporting - Town Council meeting 7/23/08

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - June 4, 2008
approved

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
none

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Joshua Phillips, 472 Maple St
raised an issue with the current by-law restricting cuts in the street after paving which restricts his and other homeowner capabilities to connect to natural gas lines and avoid increasing heating oil costs. Updated with name and address 7/27/08

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 08-50: Authorization to Petition General Court for Special Legislation – Underground Utilities
approved
3. Bylaw Amendment 08-627: Chapter 4, Public Notice and Advertising of Public Hearings – 1st Reading
approved for second reading

Discussion on by-law amendment 08-627 to reduce the amount and timing of notifications for municipal communications and actions.
Bartlett - questioned reducing the number from 2 to 1; what would be examples of the type of notifications that would be changed?
Nutting/Cerel to come back with more information on examples
Doak - questioned how much money would be saved?
Nutting to come back at second reading with more information


Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Town Administrator's Report etc. (audio)

The Town Administrator, Jeff Nutting, makes his report, followed by old business (none), new business (one), and councilor comments before the meeting adjorns.

Time: 8 minutes, 38 seconds



MP3 File

Approval for backup generator at the High School (audio)

The replacement for the failed backup generator at the high school was finally approved by the Town Council.

Time: 11 minutes, 34 seconds



MP3 File

Discussion on proposal for sign on the Town Common (audio)

Franklin Town Council discusses the proposal for a sign on the Town Comon. Proposal was eventually withdrawn before a vote was taken as there were objections from some of the Council.

Time: 10 minutes, 56 seconds



MP3 File

Habitat for Humanity presentation (audio)

The Franklin Town Council hears presentation from the Old Colony Habitat for Humanity which just expanded their scope to include Franklin and Bellingham.

Time: 25 minutes, 12 seconds



MP3 File

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Four Corners RFP Discussion (audio)

Jeff Nutting previews the proposed changes to the RFP for the Four Corners Building so that it will generate some offers. This item will be back on the agenda for the 1/23/08 meeting.

Time: 8 minutes, 39 seconds

Nutting, Pfeffer, McGann, Feeley, Doak, Bartlett, and Zollo speak



MP3 File

Monday, January 14, 2008

Mr Sullivan - Part 6 (audio)

Mr Sullivan answers questions from Councilors Bartlett, Whalen, Zollo and School Committee member Ed Cafasso.

Time: 7 minutes, 58 seconds



MP3 File

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Mr Sullivan - Part 4 (audio)

Mr Sullivan discusses the accounting for the Medicaid reimbursement which even after the transfer of some expenses to other accounts still has a deficit. He summarizes the total deficit as

Attrition impact - $200,000
Medicaid double posting - $300,000
Athletics revenue deficit - $150,000
Insurance deficit - $195,000
Tuition deficit - $671,898
Total - $1,516,898

Appropriation surplus - ($662,296)

Final deficit - $854,602


This section includes questions and comments with Bartlett, Feeley, Nutting, and Susan Gagner - Town Comptroller.

Time: 6 minutes, 15 seconds



MP3 File

Thursday, January 10, 2008

First Set of Questions (audio)

Mr Sullivan pauses to answer several questions from Councilors Doak, Bartlett, Zollo, Pfeffer, and Feeley.

Time: 8 minutes, 33 seconds



MP3 File

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Town Council Meeting 12/19/07 - Summary

The Town Council meeting of 12/19/07 was recorded and sections of the meeting are available as follows:

Announcement: Planning Board Positions (audio)

Proclamation: Carlo Geromini (audio)

Motion on License Renewals (audio)

Jeff Nutting on the Capital Requirements (audio)

Town Administrator's Report (audio)


Closing Comments


----------------------------
My notes taken during the meeting as it occurred:



Accepting applications for planning board up through Jan 9th, appointing Jan 29th to fulfill

Rep. Vallee – House Resolution in recognition of Carlo Geromini

Carlo’s comments, has been reading… currently in middle of Kerouac “On the Road”,

Discussion on Franklin Tavern, in bankruptcy, viewing with buyers, license up for renewal
Even with renewal the trustee can’t use the license until further proceeding are accomplished
Passed 7-0

Nutting – capital forecasts
Reference to gen fund debt worksheet “Franklin capital Plan, Dacey 11-29-07”

Bartlett, Q
1.4M debt currently in plan but not being used
Municipal parking used to leverage some grant application, several months application pending

Whalen Q
3.5 percent very conservative
As debt frees up, there will always be something else to spend it on, walk the balance
Policy and guideline, free to be changed

Doak Q
2010 or 2011 depending upon what you want to do
Council is authorizing projects
Staff or capital committee makes recommendation
Roads are not part of this capital planning
500-700,000 Chapter 90 money from state funds our road work
900,000 in 2001,900,000 in 2004 otherwise nothing from town funds, totally from the state
Pleasant St 9.5 million alone
One huge need unmet is roads, could suggest an override, cash or state


Capital requirements
Schools 3.5M for other non-HS repairs

Portables lifespan remaining 5,6,7 years; cost over 2M
Population continues to increase, they need the space

HS – renovate or replace, tens of millions, no specific game plan yet, not on state listing
No significant impact to tax bill

Library interior, next 3-5 years, outside priority

Need to cap landfill, trying to get a land swap to help the process

Underground utilities, should it be done at the same time? Open for discussion/decision

Recreation center (currently in Municipal building)

Open space – long term savings in this kind of purchase

Roads build up a fund year over year

Water – gone through the 15 m authorized years ago, still have miles of pipe to be replace, can pay as we go with cash

Sewer – unless Beaver St junction comes apart, can go with normal cash flow to cover

Delcarte property – unknown at this point

Whalen Q
DEP has been lenient on this issue thus far…
Expect best guess estimate in next couple of months
District Improvement Financing (DIF) – state process, up to 25% of the town
Economic development grants are possible, generally smaller amounts

We have done well with grants, some we are not eligible for due to the wealth of the community

Doak Q
Amounts in water/sewer for ongoing funds, what’s our capacity
Took money from water reserves, approx 2M in water account
Not making enough money on an annual basis thus far, so would need to use that to stabilize the rate before we raise it

Earliest would be for 09 or 2010 for additional water/sewer projects, probably next 60 days come forward with a plan

Bartlett Q
Policy versus advice, need some assistance from the appropriate parties

Zollo Q
Getting the other assets on the sale front is important, we will need to get that revenue sooner than later

Pfieffer Q
Library, should not be considered last on the listing

RFP received no bids
Should consider changes to go back out again

Nutting – Admin Report
Kudos to DPW, snow blowers travel slower, plows can go quicker but couldn’t handle the depth of the snow

Ryan Jette awarded Heights award
Nice award from an outside group

Holiday on Monday, Tuesday, Christmas, New Year day before as well

Councilor comments
Zollo, quality of rec program, convinced that we have one of the best programs
Creating an inflationary bid process by publishing estimates before hand

2 phase project
17 trades bid on amount of work for their potion, collated with those numbers, then general contractor takes that to include his portion to come back with the total

Various estimates will come in but bids will not come in with the inflation
Filed sub records are public record, according to specs
Seems counter intuitive, public bid law
Seems to be a recurring theme if we did not have to abide by the state laws