Proposed Ballot Question: Treasurer/Collector appointed or elected?

Proposed ballot question text:

Shall the city known as the Town of Franklin approve the charter amendment proposed by the Franklin Town Council in Resolution 13-30 summarized below?

The proposed amendment eliminates the provision for election of the Town Treasurer-Collector and adds a provision for appointment of the Town Treasurer-Collector by the Town Administrator, with input from a selection committee and ratification by the Town Council; the amendment takes effect if and when approved by the voters, except that the incumbent Treasurer-Collector shall serve the remainder of his current term.

This seems like a good one to do a poll or survey question on. If you are reading this via email, please come to the Franklin Matters webpage:  http://www.franklinmatters.org/  You should find the survey question in the top right corner and submit your choice!

The survey will stay open for 2 weeks to allow sufficient time for folks to have their say given summer vacation time, etc.

If you have any comments on the topic, please feel free to leave them here or on the Franklin Matters Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/franklinmatters

'a long and winding road'

The Town Council and Administrator Jeff Nutting agreed to new language on the proposal to appoint future Treasurer/Collector positions.

Town Council on Wednesday approved, 8-1, a charter amendment needed for the change to become law should the ballot vote pass on Nov. 5. In 2010, a similar question failed. 

The amendment gives the town administrator power to pick a candidate for treasurer/collector. However, councilors must ratify the administrator’s selection before the appointment is official. 

The council struck down the amendment proposal in March because they believed it gave the town administrator too much power. They said at least one councilor should have a say in choosing a candidate. 

To address the council’s concerns, Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting added a clause to assure more officials take part in the selection. The town administrator can appoint a candidate only after consulting with at least one member of the council and at least one member of the Finance Committee.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1424275547/Franklins-vote-on-treasurer-collector-change-slated-for-November#ixzz2SmtqM2dO


Jim Dacey made his case in January and then again a couple of weeks later
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/01/live-reporting-treasurercollector.html
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/02/live-reporting-treasurercollector.html

A slidecast, combining the presentation document and the audio from the Town Council meeting allows you to hear the case for making the Treasurer/Collector and appointed position
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/02/jim-dacey-makes-case-for-treasurer.html

"I do support the notion of having the job appointed"

The quote is from Jeff Roy in the Milford Daily News recap of the Town Council meeting. The article is short on detail and one of the reasons why I attend as many meetings as I can. I did miss last night and will catch the video replay to find out the full story around this and what else happened during the meeting. The agenda was full but this is the only item in the new today.

As the amendment reads now, the treasurer/collector would shift under the section of the charter that governs the town administrator’s power of appointment, joining such positions as fire chief, police chief and comptroller. 

However, the Town Council would have to ratify any candidate the town administrator brings before it. 

While Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting said he would request guidance from councilors during the search process — given the importance of the job — the language in the amendment does not stipulate that future town administrator’s make the same gesture. 

By voting against the amendment rather than tabling it, the council sent a clear message that the appointment process needs to be reviewed. Councilors agreed to spend time doing so with Nutting before voting on the matter again next month.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x898156076/Franklin-council-votes-down-change-to-treasurer-collector-position#ixzz2OpIoBrY9

Reading between the lines, the Council will vote for an amendment to be put before the voters if the right process and language can be agreed to. While this had been discussed, the language brought before the Council last night was language some of them did not like. The article does mention that some of them will work with Jeff Nutting to draft better language to bring back to the Council.

In the News: charter amendment, culinary competition, Governor's case

Franklin council considers charter amendments

by Matt Tota/Daily News staff

Town Council on Wednesday night mulled amending the charter to pave the way for a November ballot question on whether the treasurer/collector job should be appointed.

Tri-County prepares for state culinary competition

by Matt Tota/Daily News staff

For more than a month, Seamus Geehan spent hours after school cutting smoked salmon into paper-thin slices, then rolling them into the shape of petite pink orchards.

Governor makes case for tax hikes, spending

by David Riley/Daily News staff

Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday said consensus is building around his major new transportation initiatives, but his equally ambitious education plan could prove to be a "harder lift."

Live reporting: Treasurer/Collector

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS 
Jim Dacey, Treasurer-Collector

Discussion on current proposal as drafted to start the work to move the position to an elected one

Kelly - can we handle this as we do the school principal?
Nutting - that is the recruitment process, does the council start getting involved every time something comes up. When I recommended the promotion of the current chief, we did that local as we had a candidate

Nutting - when someone comes in from the outside it is a different story, as soon as you get a committee it becomes an open meeting

Powderly - this is changing in general terms, the fine details of the process remain to be defined. While it is an elected position in some communities, the size of the budget does become the determinant?
Dacey - yes, the size of the budget is a key factor

Mercer - you get to choose the candidate and bring it to us?
Nutting - yes, there is a check in balance, we need to keep politics out of it. That would be true of any appointment

Dacey - to get the best possible candidate then we need to have it appointed

Jones - I think we need to let the voters determine this. I don't think we should take a position from the public.

Bissanti - do you feel that on a day to day basis, that you need to be in the trenches?
Dacey - my role is very hands on, there are things I do that no one else in the office does. Tax taking, investment choices, it is very hands on. My assistant is buried right now with the work that she has to do. If she would be the one to support the new treasurer, she would be hard pressed

Powderly - while moving from elected to appoint, the residents don't loose their voice. The Councilors hear from folks all the time. That won't change. I will always favor a Franklin resident, if I have to choose between three Franklin resident and some one who is very well qualified, for the stability of town I would go outside. It is a hard choice. No one can tell us more accurately than you what is needed. That is the most convincing argument. It can be seen as taking power away from people but I don't see that.

Jones - I think the voters are smarter than we think

Dacey - the problem is when someone is in for a week and messes things up, you won't be able to recover from it. It was almost three years before I go the job down pat.

Jim Dacey makes the case for Treasurer-Collector as an appointed position

This internet radio show or podcast is number 102 in the series for Franklin Matters.

In this session, we synchronize the audio and presentation document on the major arguments for moving the Treasure/Collector position to an appointed rather than elected position.

You may recall that there were Home Rule charter changes on the ballot for the Nov 2010 election. The technical changes to the charter were passed by better than a 3-1 margin while the question to move the Treasurer/Collection position to an appointed one failed by almost a 2-1 margin.

Question 4 - technical changes to the charter
Yes - 8443
No - 2596
Blanks - 1790

Question 5 - switch to appointment of Treasurer/Collector
Yes - 4339
No - 7421
Blanks - 1069

The full set of results from Nov 2010 can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2010/11/charter-question-4-yes-question-5-no.html

Now that sufficient time has passed, Jim Dacey the current Treasurer/Collector is bringing the discussion forward again. His presentation to the Town Council on Jan 23, 2013 laid out the arguments to have the next Treasure/Collector appointed by the Town Administrator and voted on the by Town Council rather than determined by the Franklin voters.

I have taken the recording of Jim's presentation and synchronized it with the presentation document so you can follow along. I also included the question and answer period that was part of the meeting.

So without further ado, here is Town Council Chair Bob Vallee introducing Jim Dacey:

FM #102 treasurer-collector from Franklin Matters

The reporting from the Town Council meeting on Jan 23 can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/01/live-reporting-treasurercollector.html

Notes of the full Town Council meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/01/town-council-012313.html


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Thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
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!

"We have to make another attempt"

One of the important discussion items on the agenda of the Town Council meeting was the presentation by Jim Dacey, the Treasurer/Collector. The Milford Daily News gets around to reporting on that section of the meeting that you read about here already.

"The next treasurer/collector should not be decided by who has the most signs, biggest newspaper ads, and most people standing at the polls during Election Day, handing out trinkets," said James Dacey. "I was elected. That’s how I got the job. But after being here 13 years, I’ve seen the job evolve tremendously." 

Most of the towns that surround Franklin appoint their treasurer/collector, Dacey said. He said the towns that do not, tend to have relatively small populations. 

At present, the only qualifications to run for treasurer/collector are that the candidate be at least 18 years old and live in Franklin.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1503807295/Franklin-treasurer-collector-wants-position-to-be-appointed#ixzz2IzAReCxo

Live reporting - Treasurer/Collector

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS 
Jim Dacey, Treasurer Collector
overview of the duties of the office
showed the ledger used in 1877 and used in 2000 when he first came into the office

(will post presentation copy later)

lock box implemented in 2003
online bill pay started in 2009
collection rate over 99% consistently

electronic bill pay hopefully within the next several months, potential postage savings

multiple retirements coming over the next 5 years
opportunities for new staff
currently, a resident of Franklin and 18 years old is minimum requirement to win the election
time to put the measure on the ballot again in November to move it to an appointed position

"the position is really too important for politics"

Moddy's rating comes every year, important to have a strong team, helps the bond ratings

Jeff Nutting adds that Jim left out the transition to an electronic payment for all the employees, moved from a paper weekly system to an every two week, electronic deposit, web based payroll statement

Powderly - this doesn't question the integrity of any voter, it recognizes the specific tasks that are required

Cerel - as long it has been at least a year, it can come back to vote, it is considered a minor change, the council can take the vote to propose it, would go to the Attorney General for review and then to the ballot

Dellorco - who would appoint and approve?
Nutting - If we were consistent with other positions, I would say appoint by Town Administrator and review by Town Council. The Council can decide how to put it together on the ballot but it needs to be defined.

Bissanti - Do folks really check out the resumes of the candidates?
Dacey - I can't speak for all the voters, some do, based upon some of the comments I think the prior vote was misunderstood. This isn't about appointing me as the Treasurer/Collector, it is about appointing the next person.

Roy - one of the other things you didn't mention, you provided some input to the new Representative on some bills, I wan to publicly thank you for that