Franklin Candidate Interview Questions Being Formulated

For the candidate interviews, I have dusted off questions from prior elections to bring them up to date for this 2019 Election.

My draft choices are shown below:

General question for candidates:

1. What experience or background will help you to serve in this role? Or what do you bring to the table that helps to set you apart from the others?
2. What do you see as your role's biggest challenge?
3. Do you have any suggestions on how we should resolve it?

Town Council / School Committee:

1. Franklin is facing a budget deficit next year, what do think we should do to resolve the deficit?

Town Council:

1. Social media channels from time to time are full of comments like ‘stop the building’, how do you address those?

Do you have a question to ask a candidate? Use the form to submit a question for consideration. 

I'll publish the final set of questions to asked.

What one question would you ask the Franklin candidates?

I posted my offer to the candidates here earlier. Now that the line up has been determined, we can prepare for those who chose to have an interview. One regular reader has already submitted a question around the empty storefronts downtown. What would you ask your candidates?

You can submit multiple questions. You might want to ask a different question of a Town Councilor than that of a School Committee person.



The candidate offer
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/08/offer-to-candidates-for-election.html

The final line up for those candidates to appear on the ballot
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/09/franklins-election-lineup-set.html

Survey says: Treasurer/Collector should be appointed

The sample size is small (only 15) so this may or may not be a good barometer for how the real ballot question will be answered in November.

Question: Should the Treasurer/Collector position be changed from elected to appointed?
Yes - 9
No - 6

The question opened on August 4 and closed on August 18.

Other survey question results over the years that you have participated in Franklin Matters can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2009/12/survey-says.html

Survey Says: No to Mayor

The survey question was posted:

"Would you be in favor of further amending the Franklin Home Rule Charter to provide for the election of a mayor to govern the city known as the town of Franklin?"

There were 44 responses and the vote was decidedly No = 27, Yes = 17

While was a survey question here, the Franklin voters will see this on the November ballot. What will happen between now and then will help to determine the fate of the question.

Those for the exploration of changing to a mayoral form of government would need to outline the proposal more distinctly. There are different forms of mayoral government, would saying "Yes" mean one of those in particular (no). It should really mean that the Town Council would then start the process of setting up a Charter Commission to determine what the change would be like. Ultimately, nothing would happen right away. It would still be sometime off before a fine tuned proposal would come back to the voters.

Want to know more about the forms of municipal government?

1 - You can visit the National League of Cities site here

http://www.nlc.org/build-skills-and-networks/resources/cities-101/city-structures/forms-of-municipal-government

(Note, we already operate legally as a city with a council and manager - coincidentally this is the most popular form of government. )

2 - wikipedia has a worthy entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor%E2%80%93council_government

3 - Strong Mayor Council Institute has some good information

http://strongmayorcouncil.org/structures.html

For other survey or quick poll questions that Franklin Matters has conducted over the years, you can visit the collection here   http://www.franklinmatters.org/2009/12/survey-says.html

Should Franklin Have a Mayor?

Among the many items discussed in the often tense Town Council meeting Weds, they did decide to put forward the non-binding question.

According to the resolution approved by the council, the question will read: "Would you be in favor of further amending the Franklin Home Rule Charter to provide for the election of a mayor to govern the city known as the town of Franklin?" 

There will be a note on the ballot specifying the referendum is non-binding. 

"I’m always in favor of a non-binding question to get a feeling of what citizens want," said Vice Chairwoman Tina Powderly. 

The council has debated the question since last month. Chairman Robert Vallee proposed the referendum at the council’s May 10 meeting, saying he would like to see where residents stand on the issue. Over the years, he has said, many have suggested to him that the town and its citizens would benefit from having a mayor in power.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1484776430/Non-binding-referendum-on-mayor-placed-on-Franklin-ballot#ixzz2WkXqzPuA

To get a sense of whether this proposal is desired or not, I have set up a poll question with a yes or no answer and will leave it open until July 1. You can view the poll on the top right corner of the home page for Franklin Matters.

Do you have a question to ask the candidates?

Round two of the Democrat debate is coming up on Tuesday, Aug 21st. You did very well helping prepare the questions for the debate. If you listened to the debate, you would recognize that many of the questions were indeed asked and answered. If you have any questions remaining to ask, please use the form below to submit them. Alternatively, you can also send me an email.

I'll write up the questions you submit and I craft to post here before the debate. The questions are not as important as the answers. The answers are what should help the voters make a decision.

More questions for Democratic Debate

The debate this evening will NOT be available live via cable. It will be recorded and available for replay. So you'll have a choice of watching the Olympics, the Red Sox or coming out to the debate in person!

In addition to the questions posted yesterday, I have come up with some more.

Why am I posting the questions in advance?
One, the issues we face shouldn't be a secret.
Two, it is more important to find out what the answers to these questions are.

Franklin and most MA communities are faced with Other Pension and Employee Benefits (OPEB) requirements that are underfunded. What is your position on what the Legislature can do to help?

Gov Patrick is reported to be signing the Casino proposal for Taunton today. At least one news article says it will be challenged because the return to the state is “excessive”. Whether you’ll get a chance as a legislator to have a vote in that matter is open right now. What do you think about casinos as a source of state revenue?

There has been talk of the Legislature revising the Chap 70 funding formula. Franklin is a significant beneficiary of these funds. What would be your position on a revision of the formula?

What is your position on the State budget priorities? Should MA government focus on infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.) or education, or??

What is your position on taxes overall? How should the business of providing government services be funded?

What is your position on usage fees? Are there cases where it makes sense to use them in lieu of a more broadly based tax?

What is your position on the governance of utilities, their service rates and performance?

The Franklin library, along with other departments in Franklin, faces an annual budget issue. The MA Library Board of Governors is the body that provides oversight to the library systems. What is your position on what the Legislature should or should not do to help?

10th Norfolk: Collected questions for Democratic debate

My questions:

What have you done or are planning to do to prepare for serving Franklin in the Legislature?

Two part Q: What do you see as Franklin’s key issue at the State level and how do you plan to address it?

Do you have any relationships with folks in or around the State House or in the Legislature that you can leverage when you are in office to help serve Franklin? Please elaborate.

Based upon the flyer on the door, it seems like you are both walking the neighborhoods. What is one thing that going door to door does for your campaign?

How much will websites and other social media tools help your campaign?

Questions submitted by others in Franklin:

If elected what changes would you propose to help commuters from Franklin/Medway afford to get into Boston for work?

What are your thoughts about the MA higher education costs. Is there anything you would propose to help more students afford MA State higher education?

Local officials often complain to voters that costly state mandates tie their hands and prevent them from making common-sense fiscal policies for the town. What will you do as state rep to remove burdensome state mandates and un-tie local officials' hands?

What will be your priorities if you are selected to serve in the state legislature?

How can we make health care in Massachusetts more affordable for the commonwealth, cities, towns, businesses and individuals?

How do you feel about what Gov Patrick has done so far about containing health care costs?

My question to all is This... I think all of you are educated well, are lawyers and have held local seats on a board but what Policical experience so you have that I may not know about that you feel makes you qualified to be sucessful at this job?


Don't see a question topic here that you would like an answer to, add yours to the mix via email or the form here  http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/07/what-would-you-ask-candidate.html

What would you like to know?

When you have an election ballot in front of you, you have a list of positions, a listing of candidates and a marker to fill in a circle next to one or more names. How do you decide to make a choice amongst the candidates?

To help you make your choice, I have offered to meet with all the candidates. My purpose is hear directly from them about their background. To listen and share their views on the issues that that they will work to resolve on our behalf for Franklin.

This is not an endorsement of any candidate. This is an information sharing exercise.

I’ll ask the same set of questions of each candidate so that you will have some common ground to make your decision.

The questions I propose to start with are as follows:

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

2 - 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?

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

If you have some questions you'd like to ask, I’d like to hear them. Send me an email or leave a comment here.

I may find during the course of the interviews that I 'tweak' the questions. If I do that, I’ll post the updated questions here.

I have five candidates lined up thus far. Up to 37 total for this election are possible so we'll see how many take advantage of this.



The Election 2011 collection of posts can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/08/election-2011-summary.html

Town Council and School Committee attendance records (Nov 2009 to present)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkwjbnXDBhczdEZSWlZLTFVqNmcxZWFTNDNxNk5PZkE&hl=en#gid=0

How will you decide?

When you have an election ballot in front of you, you have a list of positions, a listing of candidates and a marker to fill in a circle next to one or more names. Or you may have a ballot question to answer yes or no. How do you decide to cast your vote?

To help you make your choice, I have offered to meet with all the candidates. My purpose is to hear directly from them about their background and their views on the issues Franklin faces that that they will work to resolve on our behalf.

This is not an endorsement of any candidate. This is an information sharing exercise.

I will ask the same set of questions of each candidate so that you should have some common ground to make your decision. The questions I propose to start with are as follows:

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

2 - 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?

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

If you have some suggestions, I’d like to hear them. I may find during the course of the interviews that I should tweak the questions. If I do that, I’ll post the updated questions here.


Election information
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/08/franklin-election-details-are-now.html

Citizens Against Waste - The question collection

The question form and guidelines

• The trash fee question
• The substitute pay question
• The check book question
• Athletic field lights question
• 
  

Franklin, MA

Massachusetts ballot questions announced by secretary of state

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Massachusetts ballot questions announced by secretary of state

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc. on 7/15/10

Expect to hear a lot in the coming months about Questions 1, 2 and 3.  Massachusetts voters in November will decide the fate of questions slashing the sales tax rate to 3 percent from 6.25 percent, overturning last summer's new tax on retail alcohol sales and repealing the state's comprehensive permit law known as Chapter 40B.
Secretary of State William Galvin on Thursday announced the numbers attached to each question.

• The alcohol sales tax repeal question will be Question 1,
• The comprehensive permit law repeal is Question 2 and
• The initiative petition to reduce the sales tax to 3 percent will be Question 3. 

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

Poll question results

IF THE OVERRIDE WAS SPLIT INTO 2 SEPARATE QUESTIONS, WOULD YOU HAVE APPROVED THE SCHOOL OVERRIDE? Q1 - $2.1 MILLION FOR SCHOOLS Q2 - $900K FOR ROADS/THE TOWN

Yes - 33

No - 22

Total - 55

Franklin, MA

Reminders

Farmers Market - today - noon to 6:00 PM on the Town Common

Office Hours - come sit and talk Franklin matters with me on the Town Common - 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Poll question - What does the survey say? (see the center column) - stays open until midnight tonight!



Franklin, MA

What if? - poll fixed

Update: Google was having a problem with the poll question. It was resolved on 6/17/10. The question is now available and open until midnight on June 25th.


Based upon the discussion around the article in the Milford Daily News on Tuesday 6/15/10, a new poll question has been added to the center column.

The question asks if the override question had been phrased differently would the results have been different. In particular the question is:

If the override was split into 2 separate questions, would you have approved the school override? Q1 - $2.1 million for schools   Q2 - $900K for roads/the town

Yes

No

The article and full comment stream can be found here:

http://www.milforddailynews.com/topstories/x1602636112/Franklin-proceeds-with-layoffs

Frequently asked questions: the full listing

Frequently Asked Questions: (each line is a link to the question and answer)

• What is a Prop 2 1/2 Override?
• What other federal and state funds support the school department’s operating budget?
• Can the town guarantee that the funds from the override will always be spent exactly the same way?
• Why do some citizens disagree with rating agencies about Franklin’s debt?
• How does per pupil spending in Franklin compare with spending in other Massachusetts communities?
• We wouldn’t be in a crisis if we hadn’t spent money on the senior center, fire station and new ball fields.
• Pension costs are killing us, so why don’t town employees fund their own pensions?
• What in the world is free cash?
• I have heard some people suggest we should adopt a split tax rate that makes businesses in Franklin pay more property taxes. Wouldn’t that solve the problem?
• Why do parents pay fees for their children to ride the bus or participate in athletics?
• Can’t we keep using money from the stabilization fund to get rid of our budget deficits?
• My children are in the Charter School. Will the override affect them?
• The town officials have found money in the past. They’ll find it again this time, won’t they?
• What has the town done to try to eliminate waste and bring spending under control?
• I have heard people criticize the way the town is run. If that’s true, why should I give the town more of my hard-earned money?
• Why is the school district continually facing a budget gap?
• When would the impact of an override take effect in Franklin?
• Has Franklin really laid off teachers?
• Why have my taxes gone up so much in the last four years?
• Is it true that we have too many overpaid administrators?
• Why should the community support the school budget?
• Will the override solve all of our fiscal problems?

If there is another question you would like answered, please ask.


Franklin, MA

Survey says

This entry will keep track of the final results on the Franklin Matters poll questions.

Question: Should the Treasurer/Collector position be changed from elected to appointed?

Yes - 9
No - 6
The question opened on August 4 and closed on August 18. The question will be on the November 2013 ballot for Franklin voters to really decide.

Question: "Would you be in favor of further amending the Franklin Home Rule Charter to provide for the election of a mayor to govern the city known as the town of Franklin?"
Yes - 17
No - 27
The question opened on Jun 20 and closed on June 30th. It will be a non-binding question on the November 2013 ballot.


Question: "Should the Wadsworth Diary continue to be shared daily for February?"
Yes - 13
No - 10
The question was introduced and then closed on Jan 31, 2012


Question: "Do you think the school committee earns an 'almost very high' level of engagement with the Franklin community on school issues?"
Yes - 12
No - 13
The question was introduced and then closed on Nov 29, 2010.


Question: "Would you pay approx. $70 to put the utilities underground?
Yes - 22
No - 44
The survey was introduced in this link and closed on Aug 28, 2010.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/franklin-ma-underground-utilities.html


Overall - is the curbside trash/recycle process better than before?
Yes - 69
No - 17
The poll question closed at midnight August 14, 2010.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-trashrecycle-status-survey.html


If the override was split into 2 separate questions, would you have approved the school override? Q1 - $2.1 million for schools Q2 - $900K for roads/the town
Yes - 33
No -  22

This question comes out of the post-override discussion referenced here. The poll closed at midnight on June 25, 2010.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/06/poll-question-results.html




Do you think the new trash/recycle process will be a good thing for Franklin?

Yes - 8

No - 11

This question comes out of the decision to lower the annual curbside fee and implement the new process in July 2010. The summary of the changes can be found in here: FM #58 - Week ending 2/21/10

Should the Town consider saving money by plowing the streets less well than they currently do?

Yes - 5

No - 14

This question grew out of the discussion at the Town Council meeting on 1/6/10 concerning the sidewalk snow removal plans. The poll will close 1/15/10 at midnight.

Do you find that the Franklin School District (across the School Committee, Administration, and individual school web pages) provides the information you need in a way that is easy to find?

Yes - 3

No - 12

The post that lead to this survey can be found here

Will you get the H1N1 vaccine when it is available?

Yes - 2

No - 10

Should Franklin remain with a single tax rate?

Yes -11

No -5

The article that explains the background for this question can be found here

Who is in the best position to control bullying?

Parents - 7

Schools - 3

The article that drove this question can be found here

Should your school measure Body Mass Index (BMI) to report to you and your physician?

Yes - 5

No - 12

The article that drove the question can be found here
The issue came out of the School Committee meeting on 10/27/09

If you have a suggestion for a simple question poll, feel free to send it to me.