From the Town Council page
on the Franklin website comes the following:
1. A member of the Council, in relation to his/her community should:
A. Realize that his/her basic function is to make policy, with administration delegated to the Administrator.
B. Realize that he/she is one of a team and should abide by, and carry out, all Council decisions once they are made.
C. Be well-informed concerning the duties of a Council member on both local and state levels.
D. Remember that he/she represents the entire community at all times.
E. Accept the office as a means of unselfish service, not benefit personally or politically from his/her Council activities.
F. In all appointments, avoid political patronage by judging all candidates on merit, experience, and qualifications only.
G. Abide by the ethics established by the State and not use the position to obtain inside information on matters which may benefit someone personally.
2. A member of the Council, in his/her relations with administrative officers of the Town, should:
A. Endeavor to establish sound, clearly defined policies that will direct and support the administration for the benefit of the people of the community.
B. Recognize and support the administrative chain of command and refuse to act on complaints as an individual outside the administration.
C. Give the Administrator full responsibility for discharging the duties of his/her office.
3. A member of the Council, in his/her relations with fellow Council members, should:
A. Recognize that action at official legal meetings is binding and that he/she alone cannot bind the Council outside of such meetings.
B. Not make statements or promises of how he/she will vote on matters that will come before the Council until he/she has had an opportunity to hear the pros and cons of the issue during a Council meeting.
C. Uphold the intent of executive session and respect the privileged communication that exists in executive session.
D. Make decisions only after all facts on a question have been presented and discussed.
E. Treat with respect the rights of all members of the Council despite differences of opinion.
This is all good information. Let's hope all of the Councilors actually have recently read and actually follow this. The key for me is
"Remember that he/she represents the entire community at all times."
Why?
Word already is around that some councilors don't want to put an override question before the voters. No matter whether they think it should be passed is not the question. The voters are the ones who should make that final pass/fail decision with their votes. All we ask is to be given the opportunity, then let the majority rule.
To already have word that there is not a majority on the Council who would put the question before the voters, seems to be flying against the precept:
"Not make statements or promises of how he/she will vote on matters that will come before the Council until he/she has had an opportunity to hear the pros and cons of the issue during a Council meeting."
As citizens and voters, we should be well informed of what could occur during the Town Council meeting on April 28th. This meeting may be one to attend in person rather than from the couch watching the cable feed.
There is plenty of information amongst these pages on the budget and budget drivers.
You can review all or parts of the 3 hour budget workshop held in January
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html
You can review the Financial Planning Committee report here
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_BComm/financial%20planning%20committee%20report/
You can find out the latest on the School budget by either attending (or watching) the School Committee meeting Tuesday April 27th or visiting here later that night or Wednesday morning for the recap.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
Be informed! Ask for the opportunity to vote on an override!
Your vote should determine the services this Town will offer to all of us.
