Gov Patrick, Salem, and Franklin's situation

Governor Patrick, cutbacks and the saga in Salem

As the city of Salem roils over layout notices, and other towns struggle with tight budgets, Gov. Deval Patrick told municipal leaders Friday that he feels their pain. Patrick said he understands that they are experiencing tight fiscal times.

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Click through to read the details in this Override Central story in the Boston Globe.

Franklin is not that far away from Salem in this case. Financial mismanagement created their shortfall. The Forensic Report was presented Wednesday night to the joint Town Council and School Committee, as I re-read the report and listen to the presentation again, I am not convinced that we are out of the woods on this episode.

"The deficits in 2006 and 2007 raise concerns over the School Department's level of spending in fiscal 2008. There will be more Circuit Breaker available in 2008 than in 2007, as there is no carry over deficit to be applied to the 2008 expected receipts. However, there was a deficit in Special Education Tuitions even with the full Circuit Breaker receipts for both fiscal 2006 and 2007.
In addition, certain other accounts have been in deficit during both fiscal 2006 and 2007. We have prepared the three-year budget analysis, and provided a copy to the interim Director of Financial Operations. That analysis will assist in identification of potential budget shortfalls. However, the schedule is prepared based upon the inclusion of negative revenue items, which needs to be taken into consideration in evaluating the 2008 budget."

From the Forensic Report, page 10. Bold for my emphasis.

Mr Sullivan - Part 4 (audio)

Mr Sullivan discusses the accounting for the Medicaid reimbursement which even after the transfer of some expenses to other accounts still has a deficit. He summarizes the total deficit as

Attrition impact - $200,000
Medicaid double posting - $300,000
Athletics revenue deficit - $150,000
Insurance deficit - $195,000
Tuition deficit - $671,898
Total - $1,516,898

Appropriation surplus - ($662,296)

Final deficit - $854,602


This section includes questions and comments with Bartlett, Feeley, Nutting, and Susan Gagner - Town Comptroller.

Time: 6 minutes, 15 seconds



MP3 File

Mr Sullivan - Part 3 (audio)

Mr Sullivan reviews the details of accounting for attrition. Attrition is expected. School departments can take advantage of it. Franklin had used anticipated savings in attrition to help prepare the budget up until Fiscal 2008.

This portion includes Q&A with Councilors Whalen, Feeley, McGann, Pfeffer, Doak, and School Committee Chairperson Jeff Roy.

Time: 9 minutes, 36 seconds



MP3 File

Joint Town Council/School Committee Meeting Summary - 1/9/08

The opening remarks by the Attorney (audio) Mary Joann Reedy

Mr John J Sullivan, CPA explains the findings - part 1 (audio) (initial deficit and circuit breaker accounting)

Mr John J Sullivan, CPA explains the findings - part 2 (audio) (using negative line items)

First set of questions for Mr Sullivan (audio)

Mr John J Sullivan, CPA explains the findings - part 3 (audio) (accounting for attrition)

Mr John J Sullivan, CPA explains the findings - part 4 (audio) (Medicaid reimbursement)

Mr John J Sullivan, CPA explains the findings - part 5 (audio) (covering the deficit)

Mr John J Sullivan, CPA explains the findings - part 6 (audio) (more questions on the deficit)

Mr John J Sullivan, CPA explains the findings - part 7 (audio) (last questions on deficit, Falvey tries to speak for the first time)

Mr John J Sullivan gets to the recommendation section of the report, first: hire the right skill set (audio)

Mr John J Sullivan gets to the recommendation section of the report, second: School Committee approves budget transfers (audio)

Mr John J Sullivan gets to the recommendation section of the report, third: Concerns over 2008 budget (audio)

Mr John J Sullivan gets to the recommendation section of the report, final: multiple items (audio)

After the recommendations there is a series of Q&A sessions

Q&A 1 - Whalen, Pfeffer (audio)
Q&A 2 - Zollo (audio)
Q&A 3 - Jeff Roy (audio)
Q&A 4 - McGann (audio)
Q&A 5 - Doak (audio)
Q&A 6 - Cafasso (audio)
Q&A 7 - Bartlett (audio)
Q&A 8 - Gagner, Feeley (audio)
Q&A 9 - Frank Falvey (audio)

meeting took a break for 2 minutes, the School Committee left, the meeting resumed with the normal Town Council agenda

Tax & Title properties (audio)

Four Corners RFP (audio)

Three items: Exemption for police to be FHS coaches, snow budget almost expended, Fire station will be ready early but doesn't have budget to do so (audio)

Old & New Business (audio)

Councilor closing comments (audio)

The full audit report is available on the Franklin Schools page (left menu item) or via this link (PDF). Note, the PDF file is quite large, it may be slow opening depending upon your connection.


This completes the recordings for the meeting 1/9/2008

In the News - Molasses, twin violins, financial fiasco

Franklin Library looks to get town On the Same Page

By Michael Morton/Staff writer

At first, library staff worried that an initiative to get all residents to read the same book on a sugarcane product would prove slower than molasses.

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Music in double time

By Heather McCarron/Staff writer

Sasha and Sally Gorski share a lot in common, not the least of which is a passion for music. And every day, they get double the pleasure out of pursuing it.

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Franklin financial fiasco prompts more criticism

By By Michael Morton, DAILY NEWS STAFF

FRANKLIN - With the inquiry into a $580,000 budget gap over, school officials say they are moving forward by instituting new oversight controls and seeking a finance director to replace the recently fired Delores McCoy.

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First Set of Questions (audio)

Mr Sullivan pauses to answer several questions from Councilors Doak, Bartlett, Zollo, Pfeffer, and Feeley.

Time: 8 minutes, 33 seconds



MP3 File

Mr Sullivan: Explains the problem - Part 2 (audio)

Mr Sullivan continues his detailed explanation of the findings covering the negative line items in the budget up to the June 2007 report without a cover letter.

Time: 8 minutes, 25 seconds



MP3 File

Mr Sullivan Explains the problem: Part 1 (audio)

John J Sullivan, CPA explains the audit findings in great detail. This section covers the initial Fiscal 2006 deficit, the circuit breakers, and starts to review the negative line accounting.

Time: 10 minutes, 39 seconds



MP3 File

Opening Remarks by Attorney (audio)

The opening remarks by Mary Joann Reedy, Attorney highlighting the findings of the forensic audit.

Time: 3 minutes, 34 seconds




MP3 File


Updated 1/19/08 with attorney's name obtained from the full copy of the Forensic Report

Details on the Forensic Report

The school finance director, recently fired for improper budgeting, did not hold the state certification required for her job, a town councilor indicated last night while discussing the results of an inquiry.

Referring to former Finance Director Delores McCoy, Councilor Joseph McGann asked whether the town had erred by not employing someone in the post with Department of Education certification.

He was told by auditor John Sullivan of Melanson Heath & Co. that the qualification is required unless the state grants a waiver. The DOE does not appear to have done so in this case.

Read more in Michael Morton's write up in the Milford Daily News

School Finance Director let go, basketball hoop falls

School finance director fired after budget mishap

By Michael Morton/Daily News staff

Finance Director Delores McCoy has been fired as a result of an investigation into school finances, according to a letter released ahead of tonight's Town Council meeting.

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Basketball goal crashes down

By Michael Morton/Daily News staff

FRANKLIN - A recently repaired basketball goal at the high school unexpectedly swung down from its raised position near the field house's ceiling yesterday, crashing into the bleachers before a game but missing spectators.

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Joint Town Council - School Committee - Part 2

TC_SC_80109b, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The second picture of the joint Town Council and School Committee to hear the Forensic Report.

Joint Town Council - School Commitee

TC_SC_80109a, originally uploaded by shersteve.

All hands (well almost) were on deck for the joint Town Council and School Committee meeting to hear the Forensic Investigation Report.

This is one picture of the group.
There is a second picture available.

The report audio will be available here this week.
The report will also be available on the town web site soon.

Attention Franklin Train Commuters

Amtrak strike would rock T

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The threat of a national Amtrak strike later this month is prompting Boston-area transit officials to prepare for potential chaos on commuter rail lines that would trickle down to subways, buses, and highways.

---------------------------

In part from the article, we read:

A strike would virtually shut down South Station, forcing rail passengers to transfer onto subway lines at the Back Bay, Braintree, and Forest Hills stations. The MBTA would also have to shut down the Providence/Stoughton Line in all likelihood, forcing about 17,000 additional daily commuters to drive into town or to take alternate rail lines. North Station schedules would not be altered, but riders might see picket lines.

"There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. A strike that would shut down service in and out of South Station would severely hamper, perhaps even overwhelm, the subway system," said Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the MBTA.

The private company that runs commuter rail under a contract with the MBTA, Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., has been discussing contingency plans with the T and making recommendations that include running fewer commuter trains, virtually eliminating off-peak runs. The commuter service, which carries 72,000 riders in and out of Boston daily, is already drawing ire from passengers fed up with increasingly late trains.

No strike, a deal has been reached. Details here.

In the newspapers - Brick, Local Aid

Report: Majority of task force supports brick school

By Michael Morton/Daily News staff

FRANKLIN - The Brick School Task Force discussed its final report with the School Committee last night, with three members writing in the summary that their colleagues hadn't remained objective and had created a biased document.

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Local aid plan on the rocks

A plan by cities and towns to get a larger slice of the state budget appears dead, according to State House News Service. That could put more pressure on municipalities to cut spending or ask voters for a Prop 2...

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School Committee Meeting 1/8/08

The Brick Task Force presents their report (photo)

Brick report intro (audio)
Brick report presentation (audio)


As additional sections of the audio from the meeting are prepared, they will be posted here.

Brick Task Force Presentation (audio)

The presentation by the Brick Task Force lead by Sue Rohrbach.

Time: 9 minutes, 1 second



MP3 File

Brick Task Force Report Intro (audio)

Franklin School Commitee Chairman Jeffrey Roy with introductory remarks before the task force made their presentation.

Time: 3 minutes, 33 seconds



MP3 File

Brick Task Force Presentation

BrickTaskForce_80108, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Members of the Brick Task Force made their presentation to the School Committee meeting Tuesday, January 8th.

Their report can be found here.

Audio files from the presentation and question answer period will be made available here during the week.

Per Chairman Jeffrey Roy before the presentation was received: The School Committee would not be taking a vote or action on the report tonight. Any decision on the Brick classroom will be "resolved in due course during the budget process".

Level service, school job cuts in the news around the state

Level-service budgets may no longer be practical

By Aaron Wasserman/Daily News staff

MEDWAY - As they start preparing for the next fiscal year, town officials said yesterday the level-service budgets they have used the past few years are hurting municipal services.

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Welcome to Lawrence's budget woes

More than 40 city workers were laid off last month to close a budget deficit. Then the outgoing City Council failed to approve new tax rates and declined to raise the water rates before leaving office. Now the city assessor...

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Job cuts announced for Salem's schools

By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff

The equivalent of about 80 full-time Salem Public School jobs need to be cut as a result of a $4.7 million deficit caused by underbudgeting and a former business manager's practice of paying old bills out of the current year's budget, Superintendent William J. Cameron Jr. said last night.

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Help is needed for the 4th of July

Yes, the call for help is going out. The long time volunteer effort from Deborah Pellegri and Charles Oteri has come to an end. They are both stepping aside from their leadership roles in coordinating the 4th of July celebration for Franklin.

For more than two decades, Pellegri has served as either the chairwoman or a co-chairwoman of the town's Fourth of July celebration, begun in 1982 to provide a family venue for the holiday to keep the community's children safe. Last year, the six-day event included fireworks, a parade and daily entertainment, and was touted in Family Circle magazine when Franklin was named one of the top 10 places in the country to raise children.

But during a November thank-you party for volunteers, Pellegri announced she would no longer be organizing the event, sponsored the past three years by the town's Lions Club. Oteri, a fellow Lions officer, followed suit, leaving the celebration without leadership or a sponsor.

"We're ready to retire," Pellegri said, agreeing with Oteri that it was time for new blood.

"Fresh ideas," Oteri added.

To that end, Pellegri and Oteri plan to hold an information session Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall for members from other clubs willing to take over their duties.

Read the full article by Michael Morton in the Milford daily News.

If you can step forward as a volunteer, consider attending the information session on January 17th.

Educational Quality Accountability results coming 1/22/08

From the Franklin School Committee blog:

In April and May 2007, the Massachusetts Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA) conducted an independent examination of the Franklin Public Schools for the period of 2004–2006. The EQA analyzed Franklin students’ performance on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests and identified how students in general and in subgroups were performing. The EQA examined critical factors that affected student performance in six major areas: leadership, governance, and communication; curriculum and instruction; assessment and evaluation; human resource management and professional development; access, participation, and student academic support; and financial and asset management.

On Tuesday, January 22, 2008, the audit report will be presented to the School Committee.

and:

The state report finds that, on average, three-fourths of all students in Franklin attained proficiency on the 2006 MCAS tests, much more than that statewide. More than four-fifths of Franklin students attained proficiency in English language arts (ELA), more than two-thirds of Franklin students attained proficiency in math, and nearly two-thirds of Franklin students attained proficiency in science and technology/engineering (STE). Ninety-seven percent of the Class of 2006 attained a Competency Determination.

The report also pointed to shortfalls in school funding, which was “insufficient” to fully fund costs associated with increased enrollment, additional special-education teachers, contractual salary increases, and utilities. But the report praised Franklin for passing a $2.7 million property tax increase last spring, which “solidified the community’s commitment to the school district and the educational needs of the children in Franklin.”

And:

The EQA was created by the Massachusetts Legislature in July of 2000, to provide independent and objective programmatic and financial audits of the 350-plus school districts which serve the cities and towns of Massachusetts. The agency is the accountability component of the Education Reform Act of 1993, and was envisioned in that legislation. The complete standards can be read by clicking here.

The full 28 page EQA report on Franklin can be read by clicking here.

Mark your calendar for the Jan 22nd meeting!

Holliston tackles teenage substance abuse

Ellen Freedman, coordinator of Holliston's Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative, says she is encouraged by parents' response to last month's presentation of a survey that showed they underestimate marijuana use and binge drinking among local teenagers.

Rather than responding with denial, she said, parents have said they want to work together to curb the behavior.

Freedman said they applied the survey results to their own situation. "I don't think there was quite as much denial as 'This information is going to help me talk to my kids.' "

The Boston Globe reports that Holliston is tackling the recent survey results on teenage substance abuse. Franklin's School Committee received a similar report recently. The School Department has not completely spread the information in this report. Please be aware that information sessions will be held via PCC and other channels in the near future. The police chief is also reported to come to the School Committee to provide the "town impact" side of the information.

Within Franklin, while "the budget, budget, budget" is very important, the reason the budget is important is that much of the money is used for educational purposes, like this!

Where in Franklin? #26 Picture 2

Where in Franklin? #26 Picture 2, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Maybe the first picture did not reveal enough detail to help you figure out where the topped spire brick was located.

Maybe this second chance will help you!

Brick Report - scheduled for Tuesday

The Brick School Task Force will present its report to the School Committee on Tuesday, January 8, 2008. The group, which has been working diligently since July, has produced a four inch thick binder full of information and data on the school and issues presented by the charge.

Read the remainder of the post on the School Committee blog.

The task force report is available here.

Task force wants Brick to stay open

A task force mulling the fate of the Red Brick School recommended last night to keep the historic building open, with supporters gaining the majority but failing to convince other members.

Red Brick Task Force members Francis Molla, Paula Sandham, Joseph Kapples and Town Clerk Deborah Pellegri all voted in favor of the school. But Paula Scafati recommended that it be closed because of her continued concern over future funding and accessibility for the physically disabled, while Kevin Walsh, Carole Geer and Lisa Oxford abstained from voting.

"I came in here with an open mind, contrary to what people think, what I've heard around town," Scafati said.

Walsh said he abstained from the vote because the Brick School Association, a nonprofit group that has promised money for future school operations, declined to provide financial information he asked for. Geer and Oxford, meanwhile, did not offer an explanation but might do so before the task force goes before the School Committee Tuesday.

4-1 with three abstentions.

Read the full Michael Morton article in the Milford Daily News here.

Out of Africa, and on a mission

Gabriel Dut Bethou doesn't take his education for granted, nor the knowledge that he'll have enough to eat when he wakes up each morning.

Bethou, 23, is one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," a name given to the thousands of youths who were displaced or orphaned in the Second Sudanese Civil War, which broke out in 1983 and lasted until January 2005.

Thanks to the United Nations and the International Rescue Committee, Bethou was able to come to America in June 2001. He now works in Dean College's information technology department, and is enrolled in a program that allows students to attend classes at Dean for credit toward a four-year degree at Suffolk University.

Read more of Gabriel's story here in this Boston Globe article.

If you would like to contribute to his fund raising efforts to bring his family out of Sudan, you can visit Out of Sudan.

We're not alone

Across the Commonwealth, cities and towns are considering laying off staff, cutting services, and preparing to make cuts to school sports programs as they struggle to close multimillion-dollar budget deficits in the coming fiscal year. Some municipalities are once again considering property tax overrides, even though voters in a majority of towns have rejected tax increases over the last two years.

And it could get worse, officials say, if a state budget deficit projected at more than $1 billion in fiscal 2009 gives communities even fewer dollars to pay for the services that people have come to expect.

"The writing on the wall, to me, is that we shouldn't be looking to the state for any additional aid, so it's a little sobering," said Tom Koch, who will be sworn in as Quincy's mayor next Monday. "It's a challenge to run local government without hitting the citizenry for increases in taxes, and that's always going to be a challenge, whether it's Quincy or Weymouth or Boston or wherever you go."

The remainder of the Boston Globe article continues here.

Where in Franklin? #26

Where in Franklin? #26, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Where would you see this?

Guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.

Enjoy!

Where in Franklin? Answer #25

Where in Franklin? Answer #25, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Ken Norman hinted that this building would be quite busy today as the children returned to school from their winter break.

The answer to picture #25 is the Davis Thayer Elementary School. The original doorway pictured was partially re-done when the modular rooms were added on.

There are a number of these modular rooms added to existing schools. They will need to be replaced. A line item for their replacement was put on the Town Council meeting capital requirements outlook as discussed in the 12/19/07 meeting.

If you missed the meeting (and the re-broadcast via local cable) you can still listen to the meeting at this link here. The meeting is broken up into sections so you can get to listen to the part you want to.

Tough choices this year

"I think that it'd be optimistic to get a level-funded budget," Nutting said of Franklin's finances. "In other words, I anticipate the town will have to make some very difficult choices about where cuts will be made."

Read the Milford Daily News article about local town leaders and what 2008 will bring here.

Happy New Year

Thank you for coming here to read and continue the conversation.

Wishing you and yours all the best this year!

old - 'Why Franklin Matters' text - now retired

The 'old' Why Franklin Matters page text that was retired on March 29, 2015

You can find updated text here  http://www.franklinmatters.org/p/why-franklin-matters.html


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What do you do?
I attend as many Town Council, School Committee, and other Franklin meetings as I can. I usually will report on the full and complete meeting publishing my notes as the meeting progresses. Weekly, I create a summary of what happened the prior week including an outlook on the coming week. You can subscribe to the daily newsletter delivered to your email address. Spend about 10 minutes a day to keep up with what matters in Franklin.

Franklin Matters

Why do you do this?
This is my public service effort to give back to Franklin because accurate information matters. All too often a conversation or opinion includes incomplete or inaccurate information. I find that the local newspapers cover very little of what actually occurs at a meeting. That won’t change, their objective is to sell papers and advertising. I don’t have that objective so I can focus on the complete story and all the details that go with it.

How did you get started?
The Sherlock Family moved here at the end of 1995. Franklin was a good choice to return to New England. Both Dolores and I grew up in Rhode Island so this is 'close' to home. We have enjoyed our stay here and plan on staying for sometime. As my daughters grew up, graduated from Franklin High, and went off to college, I had more time at night to find out how and why we had a budget problem. I started attending Town Council and School Committee meetings.

I had already begun blogging at Steve's 2 Cents in 2004. After attending PodCamp Boston in 2006, I realized that I had the tools available and could start writing and publishing my notes during the meetings. The timely publication of information is important. Decisions could be made with incomplete or inaccurate information and we would regret it.

I attended, wrote, and shared this information with my fellow citizens and voters up through the Town election in 2007 on Steve's 2 Cents and split off this site: Franklin Matters in November, 2007. I will continue to devote time and effort here utilizing the social media tools as they become available (and where appropriate) to help fulfill the information needs of the Franklin community.

But isn’t your wife a teacher?
Yes, you should be aware that my wife is a kindergarten teacher here in Franklin. She teaches at the Oak St School. But what has that got to do with my sharing information? I realized while my two daughters were going through Franklin High School that the students coming after them were not getting the same opportunities. So I believe that there are over 6,000 reasons for me to focus on the school budget. I also believe that there are over 30,000 reasons for me to focus on the Town budget.

Are you preparing to run for office?
From time to time, a number of folks have asked me if I would consider running for a local office (either Town Council or School Committee). The answer has always been “No”.  I do not expect that the answer will change anytime soon.

Community Information Director?
Yes, this is a title I assumed to reflect the role I see myself playing. Franklin could have someone doing this work, it is required but they can’t afford it. So I’ll volunteer my time and effort to do so.

How can you afford to do this?
I do this as my hobby. I am fully employed and do my blogging/writing, etc. in my "off hours". I expect to be fully employed again. Until that time, I will be working and networking to identify that opportunity.

Updated 9/28/09 - I have accepted a contract position with Veritude to work on a project at Fidelity Investments. As this is only a short-term contract position, I will continue to identify a longer-term position.

Updated 2/1/10 - The contract position has completed its term. I am back looking for full employment where I can add value.

Updated 9/9/10 - I have taken a contract position with Modis working on a project at Citizens Bank in East Providence, RI.

Updated 2/1/11 - I have successfully converted my contract project manager position to a full time management position at RBS Citizens Bank. I remain working at the East Providence, RI location.

Updated March 2015 - I have resigned my position with Citizens Bank to assume a new role with John Hancock in Boston, MA.

What are you doing with the Food Pantry?
I have accepted a role on the Board of Directors and created the title of Community Information Director. I will look to help the Food Pantry in a couple of ways. One, they have expanded the membership of the Board and are embarking on a strategic planning initiative. I believe my project management skills and my work creating a good customer experience can help in this effort. Two, I will work to help the Food Pantry in their communication efforts. Drawing upon the experiences I have had using and implementing social media tools, I will help to spread the word about the good work of the Food Pantry.

You can read the full announcement of my role with the Food Pantry here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/disclosure-announcement.html

My role with the Food Pantry changed in April of 2011 when I assumed the role of Chairperson of the Board of Directors. I have been re-elected as Chair each year since (2012, 2013) and have been chosen as well for the 2014 calendar year. 

In October 2014, we selected Chris Feely as Chair of the Food Pantry effective for Nov 2014. I remain on the Board as "Secretary" and still lead the Communications Committee.

Disclosure Statement

• This blog doesn't accept ads or sponsorships.
• I don't own stock or accept royalties from any company or product mentioned on this blog.
• I don't serve on the board of any ‘for profit’ company.
• If the occasion were to come up, I would consider accepting samples of stuff with a nominal value (under $20 or so).
• I will tell you that there is no correlation between mentioning stuff and whether or not someone sent it to me.
• I write about what I find and think matters in Franklin.

My goal in maintaining this blog is to share my ideas and create a conversation that will generate something more than we each started with.


I have received compensation for my monthly articles for the Franklin Town News that is delivered to each Franklin residence. This began with the inaugural December, 2010 issue and will continue for the foreseeable future. (Why only update now? I can confirm that I have received the first check. Small but significant in its own way!)

My success will be determined by your readership and comments (or lack thereof).

I consider myself an amateur semi-professional writer and a lifelong learner. I start each day to learn something new. I look to share something with someone in a way that matters. I also look to have a laugh during the day. The more I can do all these three things (Learning, Sharing, Laughing), the better my day is.

My LinkedIn Profile can be viewed here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephensherlock

If anything changes with what I have said here, I will let you know.

I promise.

Note: this was revised 2/2/11 11/17/13

Comment policy

I welcome your comments here at Franklin Matters. To maintain a respectful dialogue, I've posted the guidelines of the comment policy below.

• Stay focused. All viewpoints are welcome, but comments should remain on the topic set by the original blog post, discussion question or other type of initial entry.
• Be respectful. Ad hominem or personal attacks, profanity, and aggressive behavior are prohibited. Instigating arguments in a disrespectful way is also prohibited.
• Tell the truth. Spreading misleading or false information is prohibited.
• No spam. Repeated posting of identical or very similar content in a counter-productive manner is prohibited – this includes posts aggressively promoting services or products.

I retain the discretion to determine which comments violate this comment policy.
I reserve the right to remove violations.
I expect all contributors to be respectful.

This comment policy is valid for all discussions hosted on the Franklin Matters website and/or Facebook page.

Thank you for taking the time to review our comment policy. I encourage your participation in a healthy and respectful discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.

This comment policy is valid for all discussions

This comment policy was modeled after that for Change.gov which can be found here
http://change.gov/page/content/commentpolicy


Franklin, MA

Franklin in the News

In Michael Morton's recap of top stories on the political front during 2007, Franklin finds a couple of entries amongst them; the first operational override passes, agreement is reached with the developer on the Center Commons project, and the school departments fiscal woes continue.

Read Michael's full story here.

wikis in Plain English

Continuing our series on web 2.0 tools, we have this one from the folks at Common Craft on wikis. The most common wiki is wikipedia which has more entries and is more accurately updated than a printed encyclopedia.





How could Franklin use a wiki? If we created our own, we could do any number of things with it.

You could create an account on wikipedia and edit the entry for Franklin, MA.

Franklin Center Commons - east bound view

Franklin Center Commons - east bound view, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I don't know. I think the building looks like dirty snow.

How will it look in summer?

What do you think?

Franklin Center Commons - west bound view

Franklin Center Commons - west bound view, originally uploaded by shersteve.

November home sales hit 13-year low in MA

Home sales dropped 12.6 percent in November compared to a year ago as the residential real estate market continued a sluggish autumn stretch.

The Massachusetts Associated of Realtors yesterday reported that 2,986 single-family homes were sold last month, compared to 3,416 sold in November 2006. It was the slowest November since 1994, when 2,847 home sales were recorded.

The statewide median home price held steady at $330,000 compared to October but was down nearly 3 percent compared to a year ago, the Waltham-based trade group said yesterday.

You can read the details online at the Milford Daily News

20 Reasons to Not Implement a Dual Tax Rate

Thanks to the President of the United Chamber of Commerce, for providing this information:

20 Reasons to Not Implement a Dual Tax Rate

The issue of whether or not to have a dual tax rate is extremely complex, and can be deceptive. Unfortunately, the way a business is taxed is integrally different from the way a resident is taxed, which results, in itself, in a great deal of confusion. Many proponents do not have all the data needed to be fully informed concerning the long term (and often negative) effects a dual tax rate could consequently have on our local economy and home real estate values. The perception of immediate tax relief to homeowners often overshadows the true downwardly spiraling “ripple effect” such a move typically has on the local economy over time.

The United Chamber of Commerce ask that you help us in our efforts to educate residents and businesses alike concerning the impact of a dual tax rate by reading the attached, which is a partial listing of the some of the many reasons why a dual tax rate would be a very bad idea in Franklin.

1. 
   
   A dual tax rate raises no additional money for essential Town services. NONE WHATSOEVER. The total tax levy in any city or town in Massachusetts is set by “Proposition 2 ½” regulations and the level of new growth in a town. Again, the total amount of overall tax dollars raised does not change in any way under a dual tax rate system.
2. 
   
   When property valuations increase overall, the dollar tax rate is lowered. Noting an often increasing valuation every three years, residents can become fearful that their overall tax bills will increase dramatically and in proportion to the amount their assessed value has been raised. However, this is not the case. The tax rate is, of necessity, lowered when this happens, as a direct result of the higher valuations, due to a fixed set total tax levy end amount. Indeed, in the last fifteen years in Franklin, the real value of the average single-family home in Town has more than doubled (from $175,000 to 385,000, or about 200%). Yet the tax bill of the average single-family homeowner has only increased by about 50% (from $2,406 to $3,530).
3. 
   
   Of 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, only about 100 or so, at any given time, have a dual tax rate in effect. There are many reasons why less than 30% of towns and cities in the state opt for a dual tax rate, some of which are detailed here.

4. 
   
   There is a known statistical ratio of number of for profit businesses to number of taxable residential units that should trigger a close look at whether a dual tax rate starts to make sense or not for a certain community, which is 30% business to 70% residential. Only if a town has reached the well-documented 30% level, and has among its major business taxpayers businesses that are difficult to move - such as power plants, or vast shopping malls - only then does it make sense to consider a dual tax rate. Franklin meets neither of these criteria.
5. 
   
   The current tax system is already neither fair nor equitable for businesses, for businesses pay toward such items as the Town’s school system and trash pick-up services, which they do not use. Residents have always received a greater value, dollar for dollar, from their tax payments, and still do so even now. Going to a dual tax classification system would further increase the inequity, would be a great injustice, and additionally continue to skew the ratio of payments made to services and benefits received.
6. 
   
   Under a dual tax rate system, because there is a ratio of approximately 80 homeowners per every 20 businesses in Franklin, homeowners would only see a small decrease in their taxes, whereas businesses would see a raise of some four times that, due to the 4 to 1 ratio.
7. 
   
   Over time, a dual tax rate may well decrease the amount of money available to the municipality for essential Town services, because it is a strong disincentive to local economic development, which is the real backbone of the overall tax base.
8. 
   
   Almost all local professionals and businesses have already suffered greatly from the poor economy nation-wide.
9. 
   
   Businesses and professionals have many costs of doing business that are invisible to the consumers, such as ever-increasing insurances costs (for property, errors and emissions, and health insurance coverage); licensing fees; innumerable additional taxes and fees; etc., on all levels, town, state and federal.
10. 
    
    In fact, Massachusetts is now known as one of the worst states, and many say the worst state, to do business in within the nation.
11. 
    
    If you look around Town, you will see many underutilized buildings and vacancies in our office parks and our Downtown; vacancies that are often of a long-term nature. You do not, however, see many houses vacant for long; houses turn over relatively quickly in Franklin, despite higher home values.
12. 
    
    A split tax rate is a significant sign to new and existing businesses that a Town is not “business-friendly”. It is often one of the first, if not the first, question that new businesses ask when looking to locate in a particular town.
13. 
    
    Conversely, a split tax rate is also an incentive to build more residential homes in a Town, which further increases the demands and burdens on a Town’s resources, such as the schools; whereas business growth adds to the tax base without utilizing a lot of these already limited resources. Overcrowding of schools is only one impact, although one of the most visible, of adding more homes in a town.

14. 
    
    Franklin does not face competition solely from other in-state communities to attract and retain necessary professionals, businesses and retail operations. In fact, many states in the country “court” our existing businesses and offer special incentives for them to relocate there. Furthermore, many businesses are moving entirely to other countries, whose governments are also courting them, such as Mexico, India or many of the Asian nations, where the cost of labor and other normal costs of doing business are so much lower. It is a fallacy to think that companies cannot or will not “jump ship”. They have and will.
15. 
    
    Some 80% of U.S. businesses are considered “small” businesses. Over 85% of United Chamber of Commerce members have five employees or fewer; and many are family run. Yet, because of triple-net leasing, unless a business or professional owns their own building (and most do not) they would most likely not be exempted from paying the burden of an increased dual tax rate under a split tax system. Also, even If they do own their own building, but do not solely occupy it, or do not meet other strict requirements, they might well have to pay the higher tax rate. The often cited “exemption for small business” - sometimes mentioned by proponents of a dual tax structure as a panacea for smaller businesses - goes only to those who meet certain low numbers of employees or low business values.
16. 
    
    Going to a dual tax rate can initiate a viscous cycle. Because business taxes are based differently from residential taxes (which are based on real estate property values), when the value of a business goes down – which it often does because of a higher tax rate – the commercial/industrial property tax base itself erodes, resulting in less and less tax dollars emanating from businesses. It is important to note that due to the nature of the commercial tax structure - which is mandated by law - the real value of the very entity that the commercial taxes are determined by often then decreases, and can continue to decrease, each year under a split tax rate system. As the overall commercial tax base erodes, it is entirely possible that the entire tax base could slowly erode with it, yet the need for critical municipal services, including police, fire and school departments, is still strong. Ultimately, home values can suffer over the long term, as a town becomes known as a less desirable place to live. While a dual tax format may seem as though it is a good way to temporarily “spread the pain” or “soften the blow” of increasing residential taxes, in the long term, it generally is not.
17. 
    
    Families in Franklin utilize local stores, businesses or professionals, who could then be forced to increase their pricing of goods and services to help combat their payment of any extra taxes. Town residents, in turn, would then pay more for these items. Ironically, the cost of these goods or services often has no tax deductibility, whereas property taxes do.
18. 
    
    Many area families are employed by local businesses, and employees suffer when their employer suffers, usually through loss of income and/or benefits.
19. 
    
    The vast number of local companies contribute greatly to our local youth and civic programs currently. Yet, when they are struggling to exist, they often cannot afford to give generously; and, if they are out of business, or have moved out of town, they will not be here to give anything at all.

20. 
    
    Assessed real estate values have escalated only because the true worth of residential property values in Town have escalated sharply. Home equity is a real and viable asset to homeowners, and companies doing business in our Town should not be penalized because of this; the values of their businesses have traditionally not gone up in times of a sluggish national marketplace, but rather down.

_____________________________________________________________________________

United Chamber of Commerce / 620 Old West Central Street / Suite 202 / Franklin, MA 02038

Ph: (508) 528-2800 / Fax: (508) 520-7864 / Web: www.unitedchamber.org/

Franklin Industry: The Boston Group

In a retail era dominated by big-box stores, area independent appliance dealers credit the Boston Group - and its seemingly endless supply - as the reason why they're able to stay in business.

The group lets them buy more merchandise for better prices then they could individually. The warehouse holds the discounted merchandise for the independent stores and the stores in turn pass the savings on to their customers.

The group, founded in 1963 by Jerry Ellis, now the president of Building 19, is a cooperative of about 75 independent appliance stores throughout New England that have joined to leverage their buying power and warehouse space. Members say their combined market share attracts manufacturers' interest in a way they could never do alone, while helping them compete against big-box stores' prices and selection.

Read more about this operation based here in Franklin that the Franklin Gazette profiles.

Top Stories of 2007

The Franklin Gazette reviews 2007 and the top stories from the local area. The Franklin contributions to the listing are:

• The new Fire House
• Central Commons project stalled
• Brick classroom facing closure
• passing the first operational override
• named one of the Top 10 in Family Circle
• new Senior Center opens

Read the full article here to see what Plainville, Medway, Wrentham, Millis, and Foxboro contributed.

Where in Franklin? #25

Where in Franklin? #25, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Here is the next picture in the series "Where in Franklin?"

Where is this door?

Guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.

Enjoy!

Where in Franklin? Answer #24

Where in Franklin? Answer #24, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Susan provided the answer to picture #24. Apparently she did not need to use the second clue to determine that the picture showed the main entrance driveway to the Horace Mann Plaza.

Thanks for playing "Where in Franklin?"

Stay tuned for picture #25.

Franklin Train Crossing

Before the snow came, I was out running and got stopped by the train crossing at Union St. Camera handy, I caught this video segment.



Enjoy!

Marry Christmas

1 - This Christmas enjoy the holiday trains from South Station:



2 - follow this link to a great Christmas story (be patient for the first commercial, the story is worth waiting for)

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4003490&affil=wpvi

3 - and to recognize our countrymen and women serving in the military:



Merry Christmas to one and all!


PS - thanks to Joan at Songs of Experience for the link to ABC News

Attention Franklin Commuters

The MBTA/MBCR introduced the T-alert service recently. You can have an alert sent to your email so you can find out when your line is experiencing a delay for your normal commute period. This sounds good and should work. In the first couple of weeks since I enabled it, it has been fairly accurate. "Fairly" meaning the timing of some of the alerts could be better. Recall this is the same organization that manages the electronic sign boards at each station. Those are incorrect and or late most of the time, how are they going to be more accurate with another method?

It would be better if someone would set up a Twitter account so those on the line could provide updates. We, the commuters, would be able to share what we see happening. It makes sense to know that the train is running late. It doesn't always help to know why. The "why" almost doesn't matter, unless it has something to do with when it will arrive. And even then, in many cases, it takes too long to find out the why.

The Boston Globe writes today of a commuter service started in the NY/NJ area that is now expanding to Boston (amongst other areas). It is a moderated service that depends upon the commuters for updates. Moderated being the operative word here. Moderated means that spammers and nonsense messages will be filtered from the stream.

I just signed up. I can't wait to see how this will work out. The goodness of the more real time updates from fellow commuters will be a great benefit. The peer pressure of fellow commuters to silence the spammers and nonsensical messages will be helped with the moderation.

The Globe article is here.

MBTA T-Alert service can be found here.

Clever Commute can be found here.

Santa Foundation - based in Franklin

On the night before Christmas, Santa has already paid a personal visit to more than 700 families in the Milford area and MetroWest thanks to husband and wife team Bob and Elaine Sullivan who head the Santa Foundation.

In its 21st year, the charitable organization spreads holiday cheer by delivering gifts to families in need.

"We have always felt that at least on Christmas Day these families should be like every other family," said Sullivan.

Read the remainder of this good news story by Michelle Laczkoski's in today's Milford Daily News.

RSS in Plain English - Common Craft

I encourage you to view the brief video explaining "RSS in Plain English" by the wonderful folks at Common Craft. Click on the link here.

The video was created in April 2007 and is still very much accurate. I had used Bloglines as my reader of choice. I had started playing with the Google reader but never really got it set up. As I have little time to play, I haven't messed too much with this. Bloglines works very nicely. I did play with Google Reader and it gradually took over as it added more features so that I could send an item to a blog, to someone else via email, or to Twitter.

You can subscribe to this site via RSS. The orange button is on the right column below my Town Common Gazebo photo.

You can also subscribe to this site to receive updates via email. There are options to set to receive an email each time something is posted or to receive an email once a day. You can choose the frequency for what works for you.

Enjoy!

Updated 10/20/10

Snow Bound Walkway -

Dolores and I took our usual Sunday walk around town. Our route took us up to the Dunkin Donuts in the plaza off King St/Upper Union. We usually use the sidewalk entrance to cross the drive-thru line and enter Dunkin. This was not to be today. The walkway which also serves as a handicap access is still snow bound.


We walked into the driveway that serves Joe's American Grill as well as access to the Dunkin Donuts. There we found a beaten path, tricky to walk but a short cut to Dunkin.

Updated: The location is formally called "Silver Maple Commons".