Franklin, MA: Election 2010 - Ballot Questions

The five ballot questions can be found here: the first three are state-wide ballot questions. The last two are specific to Franklin and the proposed changes to our Charter.

QUESTION 1

Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or House of Representatives before May 4, 2010?

*** This proposed law would remove the Massachusetts sales tax on alcoholic beverages and alcohol, where the sale of such beverages and alcohol or their importation into the state is already subject to a separate excise tax under state law. The proposed law would take effect on January 1, 2011.

A YES VOTE would remove the state sales tax on alcoholic beverages and alcohol where their sale or importation into the state is subject to an excise tax under state law.

A NO VOTE would make no change in the state sales tax on alcoholic beverages and alcohol.

QUESTION 2

Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or House of Representatives before May 4, 2010?

*** This proposed law would repeal an existing state law that allows a qualified organization wishing to build government-subsidized housing that includes low- or moderate-income units to apply for a single comprehensive permit from a city or town’s zoning board of appeals (ZBA), instead of separate permits from each local agency or official having jurisdiction over any aspect of the proposed housing. The repeal would take effect on January 1, 2011, but would not stop or otherwise affect any proposed housing that had already received both a comprehensive permit and a building permit for at least one unit. Under the existing law, the ZBA holds a public hearing on the application and considers the recommendations of local agencies and officials. The ZBA may grant a comprehensive permit that may include conditions or requirements concerning the height, site plan, size, shape, or building materials of the housing. Persons aggrieved by the ZBA’s decision to grant a permit may appeal it to a court. If the ZBA denies the permit or grants it with conditions or requirements that make the housing uneconomic to build or to operate, the applicant may appeal to the state Housing Appeals Committee (HAC). After a hearing, if the HAC rules that the ZBA’s denial of a comprehensive permit was unreasonable and not consistent with local needs, the HAC orders the ZBA to issue the permit. If the HAC rules that the ZBA’s decision issuing a comprehensive permit with conditions or requirements made the housing uneconomic to build or operate and was not consistent with local needs, the HAC orders the ZBA to modify or remove any such condition or requirement so as to make the proposal no longer uneconomic. The HAC cannot order the ZBA to issue any permit that would allow the housing to fall below minimum safety standards or site plan requirements. If the HAC rules that the ZBA’s action was consistent with local needs, the HAC must uphold it even if it made the housing uneconomic. The HAC’s decision is subject to review in the courts. A condition or requirement makes housing uneconomic if it would prevent a public agency or non-profit organization from building or operating the housing except at a financial loss, or it would prevent a limited dividend organization from building or operating the housing without a reasonable return on its investment. A ZBA’s decision is consistent with local needs if it applies requirements that are reasonable in view of the regional need for low- and moderate-income housing and the number of low-income persons in the city or town, as well as the need to protect health and safety, promote better site and building design, and preserve open space, if those requirements are applied as equally as possible to both subsidized and unsubsidized housing. Requirements are considered consistent with local needs if more than 10% of the city or town’s housing units are low- or moderate-income units or if such units are on sites making up at least 1.5% of the total private land zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use in the city or town. Requirements are also considered consistent with local needs if the application would result, in any one calendar year, in beginning construction of low- or moderate-income housing on sites making up more than 0.3% of the total private land zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use in the city or town, or on ten acres, whichever is larger. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.

A YES VOTE would repeal the state law allowing the issuance of a single comprehensive permit to build housing that includes low- or moderate-income units.

A NO VOTE would make no change in the state law allowing issuance of such a comprehensive permit.

QUESTION 3

Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or House of Representatives before May 4, 2010?

*** "This proposed law would reduce the state sales and use tax rates (which were 6.25% as of September 2009) to 3% as of January 1, 2011. It would make the same reduction in the rate used to determine the amount to be deposited with the state Commissioner of Revenue by non-resident building contractors as security for the payment of sales and use tax on tangible personal property used in carrying out their contracts. The proposed law provides that if the 3% rates would not produce enough revenues to satisfy any lawful pledge of sales and use tax revenues in connection with any bond, note, or other contractual obligation, then the rates would instead be reduced to the lowest level allowed by law. The proposed law would not affect the collection of moneys due the Commonwealth for sales, storage, use or other consumption of tangible personal property or services occurring before January 1, 2011. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect. "

A YES VOTE would reduce the state sales and use tax rates to 3%.

A NO VOTE would make no change in the state sales and use tax rates.

Franklin Charter Question 1

Shall sections 1 to 7, inclusive, sections 10 to 13, inclusive, and sections 15 to 25, inclusive, of an act passed by the General Court in the year 2010 entitled ‘An Act Relative to the Charter of the City known as the Town of Franklin’, be accepted?

*** The proposed changes to the Franklin Charter contained in Sections 1-7, 10-13, and 15-25 of the Home Rule legislation include updates to various provisions to comply with existing law or to reflect current municipal practice; they also include several technical corrections. The major changes are summarized as follows: redefining duties of Town Council Clerk to comply with Open Meeting and Public Records laws, providing the Town Council with the ability to reorganize itself and flexibility in scheduling meetings, clarifying the Town Administrator's authority and duties including his appointing authority, updating the listing of standing committees and appointed positions to eliminate obsolete ones, provision for both a temporary and acting town administrator if the town administrator is absent or the position is vacant, reduction of the finance committee from eleven to nine members and updating of the process for their appointment, updating of annual budget and financial planning processes, elimination of obsolete section governing personnel suspension and removals, and elimination of obsolete transitional provisions in connection with charter's original adoption and prior amendment.

Franklin Charter Question 2

Shall the Town Treasurer-Collector be appointed, as provided in Sections 8, 9, 14 and 26 of that act, rather than elected?

*** The proposed changes contained in Sections 8, 9, 14 and 26 of the Home Rule legislation eliminate Treasurer-Collector as an elected position and make it an appointed one; the appointment will be made by the Town Administrator and ratified by the Town Council as is presently the case for all other town officers except the Town Clerk. A transitional provision allows the incumbent Treasurer-Collector to continue in office until the end of his elected term.


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You can find the complete set of ballot questions and candidates for office on the Secretary of the Commonwealth's web site here:  http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php


You can put your Franklin address into this form and receive a full set of the candidates and ballot questions (3 state wide and 2 specific to Franklin).




Please Note: This is NOT a valid official ballot. Candidates for some local and county offices are not reflected in the ballot above. These offices may, however, appear on your ballot when voting.



Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: Election Nov 2 - Franklin Question #1

Shall sections 1 to 7, inclusive, sections 10 to 13, inclusive, and sections 15 to 25, inclusive, of an act passed by the General Court in the year 2010 entitled ‘An Act Relative to the Charter of the City known as the Town of Franklin’, be accepted?

*** The proposed changes to the Franklin Charter contained in Sections 1-7, 10-13, and 15-25 of the Home Rule legislation include updates to various provisions to comply with existing law or to reflect current municipal practice; they also include several technical corrections. The major changes are summarized as follows: redefining duties of Town Council Clerk to comply with Open Meeting and Public Records laws, providing the Town Council with the ability to reorganize itself and flexibility in scheduling meetings, clarifying the Town Administrator's authority and duties including his appointing authority, updating the listing of standing committees and appointed positions to eliminate obsolete ones, provision for both a temporary and acting town administrator if the town administrator is absent or the position is vacant, reduction of the finance committee from eleven to nine members and updating of the process for their appointment, updating of annual budget and financial planning processes, elimination of obsolete section governing personnel suspension and removals, and elimination of obsolete transitional provisions in connection with charter's original adoption and prior amendment.


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You can find the complete set of ballot questions and candidates for office on the Secretary of the Commonwealth's web site here:  http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php


You can put your Franklin address into this form and receive a full set of the candidates and ballot questions (3 state wide and 2 specific to Franklin).


Franklin, MA

Charter Changes - ballot question text

Jeff Nutting sent this along to share with you. This should be the text for the two ballot questions that Franklin voters will get to cast their ballot on in November:


SUMMARIES FOR TOWN OF FRANKLIN BALLOT QUESTIONS, RE: CHARTER AMENDMENT PER G.L. CH. 54, §58A (LAST SENTENCE)


Question #1 Summary:

The proposed changes to the Franklin Charter contained in Sections 1-7, 10-13, and 15-25 of the Home Rule legislation include updates to various provisions to comply with existing law or to reflect current municipal practice; they also include several technical corrections.
The major changes are summarized as follows: redefining duties of Town Council Clerk to comply with Open Meeting and Public Records laws, providing the Town Council with the ability to reorganize itself and flexibility in scheduling meetings, clarifying the Town Administrator's authority and duties including his appointing authority, updating the listing of standing committees and appointed positions to eliminate obsolete ones, provision for both a temporary and acting town administrator if the town administrator is absent or the position is vacant, reduction of the finance committee from eleven to nine members and updating of the process for their appointment, updating of annual budget and financial planning processes, elimination of obsolete section governing personnel suspension and removals, and elimination of obsolete transitional provisions in connection with charter's original adoption and prior amendment.


Question #2 Summary:

The proposed changes contained in Sections 8, 9, 14 and 26 of the Home Rule legislation eliminate Treasurer-Collector as an elected position and make it an appointed one; the appointment will be made by the Town Administrator and ratified by the Town Council as is presently the case for all other town officers except the Town Clerk. A transitional provision allows the incumbent Treasurer-Collector to continue in office until the end of his elected term.




Franklin, MA

Charter Changes - Approved by Governor

The changes to Franklin's charter were approved by Governor Patrick and are confirmed to be on the November ballot. The November election will give Franklin voters the chance to approve or reject the changes as proposed.


The actual PDF (Chapter 331 Acts of 2010) as signed by the House, Senate and Governor can be viewed here:





This will result in two ballot questions to appear on the November ballot. The text of those questions will be published here as well.


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My reporting from Town Council meetings earlier this year on the Charter changes can be found here

1 - Charter revisions reviewed by subcommittee
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-55-review-of-week-ending-12410.html 

2 - Charter revisions got a formal hearing
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/03/fm-60-week-ending-31410.html 

3 - Charter changes approved by a 6-2 vote (Jones, Zollo, voted no – Vallee was absent)
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/04/fm-64-week-ending-41110.html 




Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the document.

Franklin, MA

In the News - Charter changes

Franklin town treasurer position may switch to appointment

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

My reporting from Town Council meetings earlier this year on the Charter changes can be found here

1 - Charter revisions reviewed by subcommittee
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/01/fm-55-review-of-week-ending-12410.html 

2 - Charter revisions got a formal hearing
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/03/fm-60-week-ending-31410.html 

3 - Charter changes approved by a 6-2 vote (Jones, Zollo, voted no – Vallee was absent)
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/04/fm-64-week-ending-41110.html 


Note: there is a date error in the report, the discussion referenced as occurring on May 10th actually occurred on March 10th.

Franklin, MA

4th of July - links of interest on this historic day

From the Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

History of the 4th of July (wikipedia)

From the Franklin Charter:

We, the people of the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts, in order to form a more perfect community, reaffirm the customary and traditional liberties of the people with respect to the conduct of our local government and take fullest advantage of the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, do ordain and adopt this Home Rule Charter for our Town.

Read more of the charter here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_TownCharter/preamble

There will likely be an opportunity for Franklin voters to accept or turn down changes to the charter later this year. The proposed changes are into Boston for legislative approval before returning for the Franklin voters to have their say.

Reporting from the various Town Council discussions about the proposed changes can be found here:

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/03/charter-revisions-lessons-learned.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/live-reporting-legislation.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/fm-63-week-ending-4410.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/03/live-reporting-charter-changes.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/03/franklin-ma-town-council-charter.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-charter-revision-updates.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/09/live-reporting-charter-changes.html



Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: Town Council - inside the agenda

If you have sometime today in and around your family activities, you should check out the full agenda document for this Wednesday's Town Council meeting. You can find the PDF for the document on the Town website here.

Items of interest

1 - the changes to the Charter (pages 25 - 29)
2 - Capital budget ($2,019,000) (page 30 - 40)

Charter revisions - lessons learned

We seem to be close enough to finding out what the final charter revisions will look like to reflect on what we can and should learn from this process to improve it for next time. I won't get into the nature of the changes themselves but stick to the process as observed over the past couple of years.

1 - Situation: Not everyone knows of the two methods to change the charter.

One method is with a elected Charter Commission and one is with a citizens committee appointed by the Town Council. 

Both groups effectively do a study, solicit opinions, do some fact finding, and make a recommendation on what should be changed.

The prior charter changes were performed under the elected Charter Commission process. Hence, a number of folks remember this as "the way it was done last time."

The current charter revisions were made under the appointed citizens committee process and complicated by the Town Council using a subcommittee of members to fine tune the results. 

In both cases, the voters of Franklin have the final say.

Is either process better than the other? There are pros and cons to each.

The major similarities are a group does a study, makes some recommendations, and bottom line the voters still have to accept the changes by voting in a general election.

Lesson Learned: In the beginning, the Town Administrator/Town Council should make a clear explanation of the process chosen and why, and provide periodic reminders on what is being done and why. Or at least ensure that the committee (or committees) involved have a detailed communication plan as part of their objectives.

 

2 - Situation: Different level of understanding of what was done and being done in the committee and subcommittee work process.

Given the length of time taken by the first committee and lack of periodic updates back to the Town Council to ensure that all were kept abreast of what was going on. The folks coming recently to the issue were unaware of all that had gone before. There was a stack of documents, meeting notes, research, etc. produced or obtained by the Citizens committee. The final report of recommendations from the citizens committee could have done more to bring the level of effort to the table.

The second subcommittee also could have done better with their report. Given that the first had produced such output, they chose not to go that route and should have more clearly stated their rationale for doing so in their recommendation drafts.

Lesson Learned: The detailed communication plan (referenced above) should address this.

3 - Situation: The level of detail in the report needs to be understandable by the average citizen. 

For example, the technical changes need to be spelled out why they are "technical" so that the common folk can understand. Those heavily involved in the day to day operations already know, as this is what they are dealing with, while the rest of us have no clue. It does come down to determining whose line of argument we agree with. One where we can see and fully understand the logic or one where the money line sounds great but in reality means nothing. Emotions need to be kept of out business discussions. They only create problems by clouding or distracting from the issue at hand. 

Lesson Learned:  The detailed communication plan (referenced above) should address this in two ways; one by making periodic updates and two by addressing the level of detail in the final report itself.

4 - Situation: The Citizens Committee and the Council subcommittee addressed different items. 

The citizens committee did acknowledge that technical changes were needed to be made but left that work for someone else to do. The subcommittee did get into those details. The recommendations on the Town Clerk and Treasurer/Collector were heavily debated within the Citizens committee and also within the subcommittee. The subcommittee added the Board of Assessors, Board of Health and constables into the mix where the prior committee left them alone. There should have been a better explanation of what each did and why.

Lesson Learned:  The scope and objectives of the committee should be clear to the committee and to everyone else as to what they should be addressing and why. If there are changes to the scope, the change should be acknowledged in one of the periodic reviews and either approved as an accepted change or not.

5 - Situation: The final report discussion ended up being this convoluted mess, with emotions and sides drawn, arguments made by tossing about sound bites without substance. It becomes really hard to make sense of the issue because of the claim that 'voters are being left out'. Wrong! As mentioned above, when all is said and done, whatever the recommendations turn out to be, the voters will get their say at the ballot box.

Lesson Learned: With a better starting point, a clear explanation of the process chosen and why, periodic updates on what is being done and why, scope changes reviewed and approved or denied before the final report, the final report should have a better reception enabling a fair and open discussion on its details. 

Franklin, MA

FM #60 - Week Ending 3/14/10

This internet radio show or podcast is number 60 in the series for Franklin Matters.
We close it out the week ending March 14, here in Franklin, MA and review the School Committee meeting, the Charter Revisions meeting and the Planning Board starting the review process for the Big Y Supermarket coming to RT 140.

Time: 10 minutes, 27 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:


This internet radio show or podcast is number 60 in the series for Franklin Matters.

A notable week this is as we close it out here in Franklin, MA on Sunday, March 14th
The mathematicians celebrated Pi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi

Monday, March 15th is the Ides of March http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March

Wednesday, March 17th is St Patrick's Day for the wearing of the green, let the Irish luck be with us all!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick's_Day

enough of the special days, in this session I’ll cover the

• School Committee meeting March 9th 
• Special Town Council Charter Revisions meeting on Wednesday, Mar 10. 
• announcement about Big Y and the rumor about Price Chopper coming to town

Amongst the most note worthy events of the School Committee meeting on March 9th
the presentation of the budget, as previewed last week, it is not a level service budget as it adds back the late bus the full budget book can be found here
http://www.franklin.k12.ma.us/co/supt/budget/FY2011Budgetbook.pdf

The bullying task force was proposed and accepted to proceed. I had sent in some minor modifications to their wording and was busy with reporting so I did not pursue during the meeting. As the Task Force begins work, I hope to report on some of the meetings and will share that effort here. If you do want to get involved, please contact either Maureen Sabolinksi or Jeff Roy.

The third item slipped by me during the meeting. Tucked away in the listing of the action items was the Franklin Arts Academy. The action item had been removed from the agenda of the 2/23 meeting to be brought for further discussion at a future meeting.
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=w%2fkMd8zDPRPv8O4nCbU6og%3d%3d

Well it appeared here, came up for vote, was not discussed and passed unanimously.
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=MWYnjQjW1LRBYWUjvTPCPw%3d%3d

What occurred during the time between the meetings for the item to have moved from a discussion for future to no discussion? Anyone with insights on that? I haven't a clue.

Let's move along to the Special Town meeting to review the Charter Revisions.

For something as important as the Charter revisions, I was disappointed with the lack of notification for the meeting. As mentioned last time, it wasn't mentioned during the prior TC meeting when there was plenty of opportunity for a short meeting to do so. Nothing was posted to the Town website until Monday when after some prompting, the changes were posted.

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=634042645862047645&indexSessionSKU=m3Pu2/LKnH5Ic7kDprt0hw%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D


The discussion during the meeting was enlightening as usual. Some councilors spoke carefully and thoughtfully about the issues, some were content to create soundbites with no sustenance. We'll get a chance to review the changes again at this week's Town Council meeting as the listing of changes is up for discussion. The Council should come to some consensus on which way to proceed on which items so the document can be drafted for approval and vote.

The process seems to be the following:

• Council determines changes to be pursued 
• Document drafted for review and approval by Council
• Approved document submitted to State Legislature for approval
• Assuming the Legislature approves, the document returns to the Franklin voters to decide at a future election (i.e. Nov 2010)

As this document defines our way of governing ourselves, I would approve of the following.

Moving the following elected official positions to appointments
Town Clerk, Treasurer/Collector
Board of Assessors, Board of Health, Constables

This would ensure the City of Franklin (while continuing to choose to call itself a Town) would at least be better prepared to handle the future. The future being a state of affairs where it is much more critical to operate as a business with the appropriately qualified people in the proper roles.

• The Town Council (elected by the voters) would have an oversight on all appointments. 
• The Town Administrator should be provided guidelines for determining the qualifications.
• The job requirements for each position would be spelled out with appropriate success measures and periodic performance reviews.

The Planning Board heard the proposal for a new supermarket, The Big Y to come in to the Chinese Buffet restaurant location across from the Municipal Bldg. You can view the full session (approx 1 hour) via the video archive at this link
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=55FJjJb0jPfz1ZmnwcdVbw%3d%3d

It was interesting to hear as the meeting goes into a recess, someone says “I heard Price Chopper and Middlesex Bank”

March 22, the hearing and process will continue at the Planning Board meeting that night. There are also Design Review meetings and Conservation Commission meetings on aspects of the proposal.

Stay tuned to the developments along RT 140.

In summary, this week, we talked about the School Committee meeting nd the FY 2011 budget, Charter revisions and the Planning Board review underway on the Big Y supermarket

Looking ahead, this week the Charter revisions continue at the Town Council meeting on Weds

For the full schedule of Franklin Meetings, check out the town website
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_MeetingsCal/?formid=158


As I close this session this week, let me remind you that

• If you like what I am doing here, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don’t like something, please tell me

Thank you for listening!

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For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

"It is very difficult to think straight about well being"

The difference between our experience and our memory is fascinating. The colonoscopy patient example is a wonderful story. Not so much about the colonoscopy itself but for what the ending is and how it determines the memory. A story is a combination of changes, significant moments and endings. The ending determines the remembering self not the experience self.

Daniel Kahneman shares his insights on this in this TED Talk.

"Below an income of $60,000 per year, American people are unhappy."




Now moving from happiness to optical illusions. If the visible error can be seen, how can we deal with those other logic errors that don't appear so visible?

Dan Ariely asks "Are we in control of our decisions?"



Why explore these studies on irrational behavior, experience and memory? We are in the budget season. There are a number of discussions underway around priorities. We also have a significant discussion underway on the Town Charter. The charter changes should be done with a good deal of thought for the future. Those who seem to be stuck with people in roles, or people making proposals, are falling into the traps outlined in these talks. Their thoughts are being colored, even coerced in ways that if they were to reconsider, there might be a different result.

Will taking the time to think about this change the way we do things?

There is always hope.


Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the two videos here.


Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: Town Council - Charter Revisions 03/10/10

The collected posts from the Special Town Council meeting to discuss the proposed Charter Revisions can be found here:

• Live reporting - discussion resumes
• Live reporting - Charter revision - elected vs. ap...
• Live reporting - Franklin, MA: Charter Review

Franklin, MA

"As the town grows ... it becomes more complicated"

Last night, the Charter Review Subcommittee suggested making the town treasurer, clerk, assessors, Board of Health and constables appointed instead of elected posts.

"As the town grows ... it becomes more complicated and a bigger and bigger business," Vice Chairman Stephen Whalen said. "It's more important to be appointed and evaluated on a skill set qualified for those specific functions."

Whalen said not only does appointment ensure the most qualified candidate, but it allows people who may have been turned off by an election process to come forward.

Last night's discussion came during a hearing at which the Town Council discussed several suggested revisions to the town charter - its governing document.

Read the full article here:

Views differ on appointing vs. electing positions

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

Franklin, MA

Live reporting - discussion resumes

Nutting - there are two ways to amend the charter, with 9 folks elected to make the recommendations. The other way is the way we are about, is to make the homerule changes, petition the legislature, and then it comes back to the people for their vote.

Vallee - I need to do some thinking about this.

Pfeffer - you shouldn't do this next meeting as two councilors will be missing

Dacey - I think we should address the qualifications. IT would have been a growth from 17 to 21 due to the population growth. They made the change to reduce it to nine. I came in off the street and started doing the finances. Thank God I had two good assistants who helped me tremendously. That may not be the situation the next time around. As far as the schooling goes, it took me six years to get them through training and classes that I go to each year. My review is every four years. I think that is too long. I think it should be every year. A long list of appointed Treasurers. Only a few of our neighboring communities have elected officials.

Whalen - I'd like to respond. Perhaps those words I chose I would change today, the sentiment is there. The Treasurer is a specific qualification position. The Council brings varied backgrounds to the role. That someone of a technical background should chose the council I don't think would be good. The number of candidates who would be qualified would be larger if we did not submit them to the requirement of an election.

Cheli - the Citizens committee reviewed the documents from Bauer and Lanza (from 1995) and we reviewed the Nutting and Cerel documents, separated by some 15 years, they are essentially the same. They are issues of accountability between the Council and the Administration.

Nutting - there are a number of minor technical changes we should make

• Change from the first Weds to second Weds for the first meeting after election of new council
• with compelling reason, the council should be able to change chair by super majority vote
• change from journal to minutes
• council needs to meet more than once a month but does it need to be every month?
• changes the role of administrator to executive, only in regards to signing of documents, some specifically require that authority and it should be clear in the document for what is in fact in practice
• remove restriction of the Administrator to sit on boards and committees, key to current requirements of the position (with Council approval)
• change of language on personnel records to personnel system
• change purchasing agent to??
• ratifying positions that we no longer have like wiring inspector, etc. The Council still ratifies the key positions. We don't have some boards and committees, these are all language clean ups
• change to reflect that the Administrator can act on their behalf, to make it more clear than it currently is stated. The Council appointment process should be extended from 120 to 180 days, still has extension.
• Finance Committee reduce from 11 to 9 members, lengthen term from one year to two years, all other appointed terms are currently three years.
• changes the school committee budget to school department budget, technical change only
• clarifies that the Council should act on the Administrators budget
• eliminating Chap 7.7.1 of the charter as this exists in the personnel bylaws and conflicts with the bargaining agreements in place
• Chap 8 would still need to be addressed depending upon what changes are agreed upon.

McGann - we would be doing this review and discussion again when we vote on this
Mason - undoubtedly

McGann - is the Treasurer of the Commonwealth elected or appointed?
Dacey -  elected (side note, the state position is one of title only, he/she has staff to perform all the necessary functions, the local Treasurer is a hands on role, there is no comparison with the State level)

Zollo - I think we can choose to have the elected approve the appointments for the benefit of the people

Norman - I think you need to define in that where you need a 2/3 vote on bond and other major issues
I would like to see a change where incumbents are required to declare at some point certain and then others would have sometime to make a decision. I think there is a reluctance to run against incumbents. I think there should be a prohibition with candidates puling papers for two different positions. I think that would help increase the number of candidates.

5-2-5  25% of qualified should be reduce to 20%, given the history of the voting for this town. It is a barrier.

5-3-6 should consider lowering this to 20%

5-4-1 5% of signatures be collected within 14 days, maybe increase to 21 days.

5-4-4 another 25 to 20% recommendation

Powederly - Given the amount of discussion, how do we get to a point with some language that we are voting on? I would ask the council to consider separating the change of Treasurer and Town Council from the Planning Board, etc.

Nutting- the Council needs to take a vote on a home rule petition, so that language needs to be precise. If you decide on what you want to do, then we can prepare the language accordingly to help the process. Mr Norman made some recommendations that should be considered. You would need to decide amongst yourselves to reach a consensus.

Mason - is the council in general agreement at that that is the way to proceed?
heads nodding yes in agreement

Pfeffer - we are a city that calls itself a Town

Vallee -motion to adjourn

Franklin, MA: Charter Revisions - available for review

You can prepare for the special meeting Wednesday evening by going to the Town website to download or at least read the proposed Charter Revisions here (PDF file).

The meeting will be held in the Council Chambers, Municipal Bldg beginning at 7:00 PM.

In the News - charter proposals

"Any time you make changes to your charter, even if it's minor, it's important because that charter is what governs the town," Mason said.

Franklin residents urged to attend charter change hearing

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff


------

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce will host its first Franklin networking event of 2010 at Dean College Thursday night.

The Business After Hours event invites area chamber members and nonmembers to socialize and talk business from 5-7 p.m. at the Library Learning Commons.

Chamber holds Franklin networking event

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

FM #59 - Week ending 3/7/10

This internet radio show or podcast is number 59 in the series for Franklin Matters.

The Oscars are underway, on the West Coast as I record this session. Let's just take about ten minutes to keep current with what matters here in Franklin, MA as the week ends March 7, 2010

Time: 9 minutes, 59 seconds


MP3 File

Session Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 59 in the series for Franklin Matters.

The Oscar's are about to begin on the West Coast as I record this weekly review. Let's take about ten minutes to keep current with what matters here in Franklin, MA as the week ends March 7, 2010. As a reward for paying attention to this session you can give yourself an Oscar for civic engagement!

In this session I’ll cover the Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Mar 3. The meeting lasted only one hour and is available for review via video on demand on the Town website here.

During this quick and effective meeting, three major items occurred that you should be aware of.

1 – for senior citizens, there were four changes made to four items that should help cash flow

• Property Tax Deferrals For Seniors – Gross Receipts Limit is now indexed to the State/Federal Cost of living calculations.
• Exemption amount for those who are blind, is raised from 437 to $500
• Property Tax Exemption is increased from $500 to 750
• Senior Citizen Property Tax Work-Off Abatement Program, the hourly wage is raised to equal the minimum wage at $8. 

If you are a senior citizen, you can check with Karen Alves, Bob Fahey, or the Board of Assessors for further details on how you may qualify for these changes.

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/02/live-reporting-senior-outreach.html

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/03/live-reporting-actions.html


2 – The bio-tech changes to the zoning bylaws were reviewed in a formal hearing and moved to a second reading. Assuming passage at the second reading, which is likely during the meeting March 17th, they will go into effective and help improve Franklin's ability to attract bio-tech business to our two industrial parks.

3 – the third major item covered was the audit report for Fiscal Year 2009. The audit was clean, there were a couple of minor items recommended, they did not rise to a level of significant or of any serious nature. This is very good for Franklin, The process and procedures put into place with the new accounting system, and especially since the School Dept problem that occurred in FY 2005/2006, the town audits have been clean. It will still take some time for some folks to truly believe that the Town is operating fiscally responsibly but for the rest of us, we can rest easier.

So that was the week that was!

Looking ahead
Two major meetings will happen this week that you should be actively involved with.

First up, the School Committee meeting on Tuesday. Aside from the normal school business, a lot of good does happen in these meetings, the single major item to be concerned with is the first look at the FY 2011 school budget.

The proposal is for $1.9 million more than last year (which is the current operating school year) or a 3.9% increase. Amongst the many details is only a 2.5% increase for salaries which is what they are already obligated to based upon the teacher contract deferral for the current year. You may recall that the teachers, administration and other school district employees did defer their scheduled cost of living increase this year. Does it really mean the Sch Com is going to negotiate with the teachers for no increase for FY 2011 and beyond as part of the new contract? This should be interesting to see.
Another item that caught my eye is why you won't hear the budget called a “level service” budget. There is a proposal to restore the late bus. Now you should be well aware that while this made it into the 2008-2009 calendar year at the last minute, it fell out of the current 2009-2010 budget. For now, it is proposed to return for next September.

The final item that caught my eye was the lack of a starting point tying this budget to last year. They mention the Town funded amount as a starting point to calculate the basis for the 3.9% increase. You may recall, the School Budget for this year was referred to as “level funded plus”. Plus because the influx of Federal and State stimulus funds were all added to the budget that those of us in the Town funded. This created the disconnect last year where they were going to be cutting up to 60 teaching positions and ultimately ended up cutting 23. Now don't miss-read that this was not a good thing for the school system, the teachers and students. It did significantly cut into the trust factor that the School Committee has worked hard to build.  

They did commit to providing a single page summary sheet to keep track of the budget changes as the budget season progresses, I was hoping they would start with a reconciliation from last time which we did not get.

You can review the budget document details on the School Committee blog:
http://franklinschoolcommittee.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/fy11-budget-to-be-presented-at-next-meeting/

2 – the second meeting of importance this week is a new one on the calendar. It was apparently added after the Town Council meeting last Wednesday which is why they missed an opportunity to advertise it. There  is a special meeting on Wednesday March 10th in the Council Chambers to review and discuss the proposed charter changes. Exactly what the charter changes are remains to be seen. There is not yet a document posted and hopefully there will be something to review before arriving at the meeting.

Why is the Charter so important? Let me read the preamble:

We, the people of the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts, in order to form a more
perfect community, reaffirm the customary and traditional liberties of the people
with respect to the conduct of our local government and take fullest advantage of
the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, do ordain
and adopt this Home Rule Charter for our Town.

Please participate in this meeting, this is how we decide to do business.
If we don't like it, our time to change it is now.

We talked about the Town Council meeting of 3/3
Tax relief for seniors, bio-tech zoning changes move along the process and the audit came out clean.

All reasons for Franklin voters to celebrate!

And we talked about the two important meetings this week, the School Committee meeting on Tues, the  Charter review meeting on Weds

I look forward to your active participation in both meetings

As I close this session this week, let me remind you that
If you like what I am doing here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don’t like something, please tell me
Thank you for listening!

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Ben Franklin Classical Charter School - Admission lottery Feb. 24

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Charter school lottery Feb. 24

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports on 2/17/10

The Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School will hold its admission lottery for grades K-8 on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m., in the school library, 201 Main St.
New this year, the lottery will be shown live on www.ustream.tv. To see this site, visit the school's Web site www.bfccps.org for further instructions.
Applicants do not have to be present at the lottery. Letters to all applicants will be mailed on Feb. 28, indicating whether students have been accepted or wait-listed.
Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School was founded in 1995 and currently enrolls 415 kindergarten through eighth-grade students. The school is offers a challenging core knowledge curriculum with French in K-8 and Latin in grades 3-8, a strong fine arts program, and physical education twice per week.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to The Milford Daily News News RSS using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Live reporting - Charter Revision Updates

Steve Whalen, Shannon Zollo

categorize at a high level some substantive changes
redline copy of charter provided to Council for review

Charter is the Town's governing document
4-5 major recommendations
Citizens committee had made recommendations, those were considered in this review

1 - appointed Treasurer (elected today)
allow the Administrator to appoint, for efficiency and skills

2 - appoint Constable, Board of Health, Board of Assessor positions (elected today)
there are likely highly qualified individuals who could serve but do not want to run an election campaign in order to serve in these roles.

Q - Mason - Would you include the Town Clerk in the appointed slots or maintain it as an elected position?
A - Zollo - We will make no recommendation on this position, there was discussion but no consensus so with no recommendation for change, it would remain an elected position.
A - Whalen - I approached this by not considering the current people in any position, I would make this an appointed position

3 - We chose not to recommend staggered terms, if the Town is willing to go through the hassle of setting it up, there are benefits to go forward that way. Both Zollo and Whalen feel the same on this item. There is no compelling reason for recommending this.

Clarification - Mason - purpose of this evening is to hear the report recommendation. There will be a public workshop and public hearing on these so all will have a chance to get their say on these matters.

4 - Administrative changes - clean up for more efficiency
allow new Council to have a week between the election and their first meeting
Council should have an ability to re-organize with a term if it had the 2/3 votes to do so
Administrator is currently not allowed to chair subcommittees, should be allowed to do so if appropriate
add recommendation of a temporary Town Administrator to cover for an unexpected absence or to find an appropriate replacement

5 - language to be removed from Charter covering the removal of employees. these items are already superseded by existing bargaining agreements or employee policies

Q - Pfeffer - Were any considerations from the prior report not addressed in this set of recommendations?

Q - Pfeffer - What of the recommendation to change the number of meetings per month?
A - This is a recommendation to meet a minimum of once vs. the requirement today of being required to meet twice.

Nutting - If you'd like to get this on the November ballot, we'd need to move this along.
Mason - let's set the workshop for February, the public hearing in March

Nutting - the home rule charter changes would be submitted to the legislature, they would act upon it and either send it back for revision or approval. The piece that is not included in this document yet is a transition plan, for example, moving to an appointed Treasurer when would the appointment take effect and the election process stop. Hoe rule petitions are pretty routine.

In the News - charter proposals

Should you care about the Town Charter?


Does the US Constitution matter to you? It should. It provides the guidelines within which our Federal government operates. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are generally referred to as the "Bill of Rights". 


The Town Charter is the same document but focused on how our the local government will operate. The Preamble to the US Constitution reads:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Preamble to our town charter reads:

We, the people of the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts, in order to form a more perfect community, reaffirm the customary and traditional liberties of the people with respect to the conduct of our local government and take fullest advantage of the Home Rule Amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, do ordain and adopt this Home Rule Charter for our Town.

The Milford Daily News covers the charter discussion from the Town Council meeting here:

Franklin may make some positions appointed

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

Town Council duties

With the potential for a number of new Town Council members, the Charter outlines in Article 2 the Town Council.

Of special interest is item 2-1-3. I guess those who have asked how much the Town Council is paid for their service are not aware of this section of the Charter.

THE TOWN COUNCIL

Section l Composition and membership

2-1-1 The legislative body of the Town shall be a Town Council whose members shall be elected to meet, deliberate, act and vote in exercise of the corporate pokers of the Town.

2-1-2 Nine (9) council members shall be nominated and elected from the Town at large, all for two year concurrent terms of office.

2-1-3 Town Council members shall receive no compensation for service but may be allowed expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.

2-1-4 The term of office of the Town Council shall begin on the first Wednesday following the election and continuing until their successors are qualified.

Section 2 Eligibility

2-2-1 Any registered voter of the Town shall be eligible for election to Town Council membership. However, no person holding an elective office of the Town as established in general law, Article Three of this charter, or bylaw, shall take the oath or affirmation of office as a Town Councillor.

2-2-2 No town councillor shall, while a member of the town council, hold any other compensated town office or position. No former councillor shall hold any compensated appointive office or employment until one year after the expiration of service on the town council. This provision shall not prevent a town officer or employee who has taken a leave of absence from such duties in order to serve as a member of the town council from returning to such office or employment following service as a member of the town council.

Section 3 Chairman, Vice Chair-on and Clerk

2-3-1 At the first Council meeting following each regular town election, the Council shall choose from its membership a Chairman and Vice-chairman each to serve for a one-year term of office. The Chairman shall preside at meetings of the Council and perform such other duties as provided by this Charter, by-law, or Council vote. The Vice-chairman shall act as Chairman during the absence or disability of the Chairman.

2-3-2 The Council shall also appoint a Clerk of the Council, who shall give notice of all Council meetings to it's members and to the public, maintain a journal of all Council proceedings and perform such other duties as may be assigned by this Charter, bylaw or other vote of the Council.

2-3-3 Vacancies which occur in the offices of Chairman, Vice

Chairman or Clerk shall be filled at the next regular Council

meeting following the vacancy. Al1 appointments to fill vacancies

in Council offices shall be for the remainder of the original one-

year term of office.

Section 4 General powers and duties

2-4-1 Except as otherwise may be provided by this Charter, all general, corporate, legislative and appropriations powers of the Town shall be vested in the Town Council.

2-4-2 The Council may enact bylaws, rules, regulations, and other orders, not inconsistent with this Charter, governing its own proceedings, town functions, and all matters bearing on the exercise of its powers and duties.

2-4-3 The Council shall provide for a journal of its proceedings to be kept and maintained as a public record in the office of the town clerk.

2-4-4 The Council shall have the power to appoint the following:

(a) a Town Administrator, as provided in Article Four; (b) a Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council, as provided in Section 2-3-1; (c) a Clerk of the Council,. as provided in Section 2-3-2; (d) a Finance Committee, as provided in Article Six; and (e) special study committees the composition of which shall be determined by the Council.

Section 5 Procedures

2-5-1 The Town Council shall meet regularly at least twice in each month. Special meetings may be held at any time if called by the Chairman or by four (4) members of the Council, provided that for any special meeting at least twenty-four (24) hours personal notice shall be given to each Council member. A1l Council meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the open meeting provisions of general law.

2-5-2 A majority of the full Council membership shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting business.

2-5-3 Except as otherwise may be provided by general law provisions respecting closed sessions, all meetings of the Council shall be open to the public, and residents and employees of the Town shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at any such meeting.

Section 6 Town bylaws

2-6-1 Proposed bylaws shall deal with one (1) subject only andshall be introduced in writing and in the form necessary for finaladoption.

2-6-2 Any bylaw which amends or repeals a portion of the Town bylaws shall set out in full the portion to be so amended or repealed, by the use of strikeout type, brackets or underscoring.

2-6-3 Prior to final passage, each introduced bylaw shall be read at two (2) separate Council meetings, except in cases of special emergency involving the health or safety of the people or their property. No bylaw shall be declared an emergency unless such an emergency is defined and declared in a preamble thereto, separately voted on and receiving the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the full Council membership.

2-6-4 The affirmative vote of a majority of the full Councilmembership, except as otherwise provided by general law or thisCharter, shall be necessary for the final passage of any bylaw.

2-6-5 A1l votes on regular and emergency bylaws shall be taken byroll call and shall be recorded in the journal.

Section 7 Action requiring a bylaw

2-7-1 In addition to other acts required by statute or this Charterto be accomplished through bylaw, those acts of the Town Councilshall be through bylaw which: (a) adopt or amend administrativebylaws or establish, alter or abolish any town department, office or agency; and (b) provide for a fine or other penalty, or establish a rule or regulation for the violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed; and (c) establish all fees which are not set by general law.

Section 8 Vacancy

2-8-1 Unless recalled in accordance with Article Five, Section 4 of this charter, a vacancy in the office of Councillor at Large shall be declared by the Town Clerk following notification of the death, permanent disability to serve, resignation, and/or failure to maintain a permanent residency within the Town of Franklin.

2-8-2 Vacancies shall be filled by special election to be called within ninety (90) days of said vacancy unless a regular or special town election shall occur within one hundred twenty (120) days.