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| More Perfect Union - wfpr |
FM #1472 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1472 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares our “Town Council Quarterbacking” with Town Council Chair Tom Mercer. We had our conversation via the Zoom Conference Bridge on Friday, June 20, 2025. Our conversation condensed the Town Council meeting of June 18, 2025.
We focus on two questions:
ok, what just happened?
What does it mean for Franklin residents and taxpayers?
Discussion items:
Fire Chief McLaughlin reads his statement announcing his retirement on or before Oct 1, 2025.
Electric Youth made their annual 'bon voyage' appearance to perform an a cappella number fittingly "Time of my Life" from the Dirty Dancing movie
Appointment to the Council on Aging: Elizabeth Sawyer, approved
Appointment to the Disability Commission: Cheryl Fisher, approved
Motion made and approved to create the Franklin 250 Celebration Committee
La Cantina was approved for their Farmers Market license
The Community Survey results were released and explained. Results can be compared with over 500 communities. Good response rate, among the best at 20%, effectively a better representation of the sense of the community with the random sample selection. Paid via Federal grant money as a pilot program. No definitive timeline for a next survey. Likely a discussion later this year on what the results can be used for
Resolution 25-39: FY25 Budget Transfers. Balancing the books better before they close out June 30. Out of $150m budget balancing on $40k is amazing
Council enters Executive Session shortly after to discuss contract negotiation. They returned approx. 15 minutes later to approve 7 motions certifying the contract with Town side bargaining units. All received the same 2.5% COLA that the School teachers agreed to, for a 3 year term
The conversation runs about 30 minutes
Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1472-town-council-quarterbacking-06-18-25/
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The Franklin TV video is available for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/live/RpRNbG1tXVw?&t=188
Agenda doc -> https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06182025-1788
Community Survey results
Report -> https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5956/8a-Polco-Survey-Final-Report
Presentation doc -> https://franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5945/Polco---The-NCS-Presentation-Franklin-MA-2025
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| Tom & I recap the Town Council Mtg of June 1 8 in this "quarterbacking" session (audio) |
All the details in the survey are posted on one Town page -> https://franklinma.gov/974/National-Community-Survey
My complete set of notes captured during the meeting
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bUOaCgv7a1pv5MHGIqweTwmKy2MkAEjW/view?usp=drive_link
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
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!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
a. This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 9 and Verizon Channel 29. This meeting may be recorded by othersb. Chair to identify members participating remotelyc. Upcoming Town Sponsored Community Events
a. Citizens are welcome to express their views for up to three minutes on a matter that is not on the agenda. In compliance with G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 20 et seq, the Open Meeting Law, the Council cannot engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during Citizen Comments. The Town Council may ask the Town Administrator to review the matter. Nothing herein shall prevent the Town Administrator from correcting a misstatement of fact
a. May 22, 2025 https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5939/3a-May-22-2025-TC-Meeting-Minutes
a. Proclamation & Performance: Electric Youth
a. Council on Aging - Elizabeth Sawyerhttps://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5912/5a-Appointments---Elizabeth-Sawyerb. Disability Commission - Cheryl Fisherhttps://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5913/5b-APPOINTMENT---Disability-Commission---Cheryl-Fisher
a. Farmer-Winery Farmers Market License - La Cantina Winery https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5943/7a-LICENSE-TRANSACTION---La-Cantina
a. Presentation: Polco National Community Survey Results - Sonya Wytinck, ExecutiveVice-President of Data & Insights with Polco/National Research Center with Kate Hinckley, Director of GIS and Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5956/8a-Polco-Survey-Final-Report
Polco National Community Survey Results
a. Resolution 25-38: Establishment of Franklin’s 250th Anniversary Celebration Committee (Motion to Approve Resolution 25-38 - Majority Vote) https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5957/9a-25-38---250th-Anniversary-Celebration-Committee
b. Resolution 25-39: FY25 Budget Transfers(Motion to Approve Resolution 25-39 - Majority Vote) https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5936/9b-25-39---FY25-Budget-Transfers
c. Resolution 25-40: Increased Expenditure Limits For FY2026 on Certain Departmental Revolving Funds Established By Franklin Town Code Chapter 73, As Provided in MGL Chapter 44, Section 53 1/2, As Amended (Motion to Approve Resolution 25-40 - Majority Vote) https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5942/9c-25-40---Increased-Expenditure-Limits-FY26
d. Resolution 25-41: Acceptance of Gifts - Senior Center ($95)(Motion to Approve Resolution 25-41 - Majority Vote)https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/5935/9d-1---25-41---Gift-Acceptance---Sr-Ctr
a. Capital Budget Subcommitteeb. Economic Development Subcommitteec. Joint Budget Subcommitteed. Police Station Building Committeee. GATRA Advisory Board
a. Resolution 25-42: Ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Town of Franklin and the Library Union - Franklin Public Library Staff Association, Massachusetts Library Staff Association (MLSA), Local 4298, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFT Massachusetts (AFL-CIO)(Motion to approve Resolution 25-42 - Majority Vote)b. Resolution 25-43: Ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Town of Franklin and the DPW Union - AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Local 1298, Department of Public Works (Motion to approve Resolution 25-43 - Majority Vote)c. Resolution 25-44: Ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Town of Franklin and the Custodians Union - AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Local 1298, Custodians (Motion to approve Resolution 25-44 - Majority Vote)d. Resolution 25-45: Ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Town of Franklin and the Public Facilities Union - AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Local 1298, Public Facilities Employees(Motion to approve Resolution 25-45 - Majority Vote)e. Resolution 25-46: Ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Town of Franklin and the Professional Firefighters of Franklin - International Association of Firefighters, Local 2637(Motion to approve Resolution 25-46 - Majority Vote)f. Resolution 25-47: Ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Town of Franklin and the Franklin Police Association(Motion to approve Resolution 25-47 - Majority Vote)g. Resolution 25-48: Ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Town of Franklin and the Franklin Police Sergeants Union(Motion to approve Resolution 25-48 - Majority Vote)
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| PFFM: "Vote YES on the override to support Franklin Fire and EMS!" |
Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts
"On June 3rd vote to keep Franklin safe. Vote YES on the override to support Franklin Fire and EMS!"
Brian Hamann, President
Professional Firefighters Of Franklin Local Joshua Impey. Vice PresidentDavid Ogilvie, TreasurerMichael Mcconaghy. Secretary
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| MA Attorney General: "If you're enjoying Labor Day Weekend, thank a union" |
"EVERY LABOR DAY working people celebrate the countless contributions the labor movement has made to improve the lives of working people. We reflect on the past and present to organize a better future for all.
Right now, working people are frustrated. Many are struggling to afford the basics, much less save for college or retirement. Amidst this, corporate special interests are lining their pockets off the backs of working people. In 2021, the CEO pay at S&P 500 companies rose 18.2 percent, faster than the US inflation rate of 7.1 percent. In contrast, US workers’ wages fell behind inflation, with worker wages rising only 4.7 percent in 2021. This is not “inflation.” It is “greedflation” — when companies take advantage of consumers by using their market dominance to increase prices and boost corporate profits. We’ve seen this with Uber surge pricing during times when people are most desperate for a ride, little of which goes to the actual drivers."
"FIVE OF THE SIX New England states have launched an effort to better coordinate the process of bringing ashore electricity produced by offshore wind farms and feeding the power into the regional grid.Currently, states contract with offshore wind developers and the developers select where they want to bring their power ashore and are responsible for all transmission system upgrades needed to make that happen.The process has gone fairly smoothly so far, with developers picking interconnection points on Cape Cod, in Somerset, and in Rhode Island."
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| "5 New England states seek info on transmission issues" |
"In a surprise, Baker says taxpayers could receive ‘north of $2.5 billion’ in tax relief under little-known law"
"With state coffers overflowing, Massachusetts taxpayers could receive nearly $3 billion in tax relief under an obscure 36-year-old law, Governor Charlie Baker’s administration said Thursday, surprising lawmakers just as separate tax relief talks seemed to be reaching a crescendo.The likelihood of a decades-old law forcing the state to give back billions to taxpayers quickly shook Beacon Hill on the same day data showed the economy had edged closer to, if not officially in, a recession.It also complicated legislators’ negotiations over a $1 billion package of tax breaks and rebates — a mammoth proposal lawmakers pursued to help ease the pinch of ballooning inflation but were still scrambling to complete before their legislative session ends Sunday night.How much the state could ultimately hand back to taxpayers is unclear. But Baker said Thursday that the state appears poised to trigger a 1986 voter-passed law that seeks to limit state tax revenue growth to the growth of total wages and salaries in the state."
Nearly four months after legislative staff in the Massachusetts Senate formally asked President Karen E. Spilka to recognize them as an employee union, Spilka rejected the effort.“The Senate does not at this time see a path forward for a traditional employer-union relationship in the Senate as we are currently structured,” she wrote in a staff email on Thursday evening.Staffers expressed dismay at her decision.
"This month, 5,800 Amazon warehouse employees in Bessemer, Alabama, will be voting on whether or not to unionize with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in what could turn out to be the most important election of the year.
While the Bessemer fulfillment center itself is a drop in the bucket when compared to Amazon’s roughly 500 facilities around the country, this could be the ballot heard around the world. If successful, this election would mark the first unionized Amazon facility in the US.
Over the past 26 years, Jeff Bezos has built himself a private empire. Amazon is now the second largest employer in the US, after Walmart, and the fifth largest in the world. The more than 800,000 Amazon employees across the country represent a population between the size of Maine and Montana. Globally, the company employs more than 1 million workers."
"State regulators on Wednesday lifted their moratorium on National Grid gas work, infuriating locked-out gas workers, but ordered the utility to adhere to what officials called “an unprecedentedly high standard,” including a new requirement to have work plans approved by a certified professional engineer.
The order from the Department of Public Utilities would essentially apply the parameters of Gov. Charlie Baker’s gas safety bill and other new safety protocols to National Grid while also easing the moratorium on all non-emergency and non-compliance work across the utility’s service territory, an administration official said.
Commercial real estate industry officials have said the moratorium was having a “huge impact” by preventing properties from obtaining needed gas hookups."
"Unable since Nov. 1 to shake his popular bill out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Mark Montigny on Tuesday has taken his case directly to Senate President Karen Spilka, urging her to help advance legislation ensuring benefits to workers locked out by their employers.
A New Bedford Democrat, Montigny asked Spilka in a letter Tuesday to force action on a bill providing extended unemployment benefits to locked-out workers, such as the more than 1,200 gas workers who have been engaged in a labor dispute with National Grid since June. Gas workers lost their health insurance and paychecks and have turned to public insurance programs and unemployment benefits to get by during the lockout.
Montigny said the Senate should pass a bill expanding the scope of a House bill approved Dec. 6 and correcting a portion of the House bill."
"The state Department of Public Utilities on Wednesday lifted a moratorium on gas work by National Grid, but a series of new regulations means it’s unlikely development projects that have been stalled for months will be able to resume any time soon.
Quincy is one of a handful of cities and towns that imposed its own local moratorium on all non-emergency gas work by National Grid after the company locked out 1,200 workers in June when contract negotiations broke down. It’s also a city in the midst of a massive development boom that is suffering as developers wait to finish projects that require gas connections.
The state followed suit with its own moratorium on Oct. 8 after state regulators were spooked by an incident in Woburn in which gas lines were over-pressurized. A series of explosions in the Merrimack Valley a month earlier were also blamed on excessive pressure."
| 1. Resolution 16-58: Request for Legislation |
Exempting all positions in the Fire Department from Civil Service Law
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| one of the new ball fields at Franklin High School |
