Franklin Matters: Vallee doesn't want the teacher layoffs

One in a series of podcasts on Franklin (MA) Matters. This one presents the New Business section of the June 18, 2008 meeting where Councilor Vallee objects to the "massive teacher layoffs".

Time: 6 minutes, 53 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

During the New Business section of the Town Council meeting of June 18, 2008 some interesting discussion occurred. I have captured the 3 and half minutes or so here for you to listen to. I’ll come in after this segment with my analysis.

Oh, one other item before you listen, only five members present (Feeley, Vallee, Bartlett, Pfeffer, McGann) and four absent (Whalen, Mason, Doak, Zollo), there is a procedural discussion on what vote is required to bring the item to an agenda item. A simple majority ultimately is required, or 3 of the five present.

after listening to the segment

Okay, so what has just happened?

Vallee for all his experience shows his lack of knowledge of the protocol required. While I would love to find money to save the layoffs, Vallee would have been better off spending his time on the circuit with the other members of the Town Council, School Committee and Finance committee explaining the override.

The recent audit report (also covered in a recent podcast) reiterates the need to keep the savings account at around 5-10% of our annual budget. We are slightly under that already. It is fiscally irresponsible to take more money to avoid the layoffs. It would have been fiscally responsible for Vallee to have expressed his support during the override campaign.

Coming in now, after the decisive vote. Sorry, it is too little, too late in the game.

A nice recap of the situation was presented in the Milford Daily News. The link is available in the blog post that accompanies this podcast.

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This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow Franklin citizens and voters by Steve Sherlock

For additional textual information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve dot gmail dot com

The musical intro and closing is from the Podsafe Music Network
Jon Schmidt - Powerful Exhilarating Piano Music

Where in Franklin? #50

Where in Franklin? #50, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I was riding around town looking for pictures for the Rainbow Challenge and found this as an entry for "blue".

The guidelines to play Where in Franklin? can be found here .

Enjoy!

Where in Franklin? Answer #49

Pine Woods along trail, originally uploaded by lastonein.

Yes, after some time focused on the override, the Where in Franklin series will resume.

This entry had been provided by Susan Speers. The location was identified by Joel D'Errico. Susan described the location as:

"It's on one of the trails on the protected open space around Franklin Woods, off Lincoln Street. Land owned by Metacomet Land Trust, which links with Conservation Commission land."

Thanks for playing!

Stay tuned for the next opportunity.

"It doesn't get more exciting than this"

By Krista Perry/Daily News correspondent

Milford Daily News

Posted Jun 21, 2008 @ 11:26 PM

---

FRANKLIN —

Many high school students sit in class all day dreaming about getting their big break into stardom and touring Europe in a bus with their own band. Now, 15 students at the Franklin School of the Performing Arts are living that dream.

Electric Youth, a group of 14- to 18-year-olds, is performing their Broadway hits and American popular music for audiences in Austria, Slovena and Italy during its 7th annual one-month European tour. The group recently completed its third concert in Obergrafendorf, Austria, just outside of Vienna, in front of a very zealous audience.

"American music plays very well in Europe,'' said Raye Lynn Mercer, founder and director of the Franklin School for the Performing Arts, in a telephone interview.
"The audience in Obergrafendorf was so enthusiastic. We did three encores.''

Andrew Holmes, a senior member of Electric Youth from Holliston who will attend the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music next fall, said that he loves the idea of being on tour in Europe.

"I love going from place to place with 15 of my best friends. I love being able to wake up and be somewhere completely new,'' said Holmes, in a telephone interview. He is on his third trip to Europe with Electric Youth. ``At first it was scary but I learned to love it.''

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

For more about the Franklin School for Performing Arts visit their website.

Spreading the word

The podcast is now available via iTunes. There is a box on the right column so you can subscribe and listen via your iPod or other MP3 player as well as clicking on the individual links in the posts here at Franklin Matters.

I have created a group in Facebook: "I Believe Franklin (MA) Matters". For those who use Facebook, this will provide an opportunity to spread the word.

Town Council Mtg Summary 6/18/08

Franklin Matters: Fiscal Year 2007 Audit Report

"it's a discussion worth having"

"We just can't lay off 45 teachers"

Audit report due at Town Council

FRANKLIN TOWN COUNCIL - agenda - 6/18/08

Franklin Matters: Fiscal Year 2007 Audit Report

One is a series of podcast on Franklin (MA) Matters. This episode presents the Fiscal Year 2007 Audit Report from the Franklin Town Council meeting of June 18, 2008.

Time: 45 minutes, 4 seconds



MP3 File

Session notes:

This is Steve Sherlock with another in a series of podcasts for Franklin Matters.

The Town Council meeting of June 18, 2008 featured a presentation on the audit results for fiscal year 2007. It is interesting for a couple of points.

Here it is June 2008 and we are getting the results of the fiscal year that ended fully one year ago.

Why the delay? Partially priority. Partially schedule conflict.

The report for Fiscal 2006 was presented in June 2007 so there is a history of taking time to prepare the audit and review the results.

One key item driving this is people. The Town of Franklin, contrary to what some folks believe is not over staffed or over manned. There are only a few people involved and they can only do so much. As a result, the schedule conflict created by the school audit which was discovered approx in Sep 2007 and took place during Sep – Dec 2007 prevented the normal fiscal year audit from taking place.

I have chosen to present the full segment from the Town meeting here. It is important and will help place the financial foundation for everything else that goes on. Frank Falvey comments towards the end of this segment to reinforce two points; first, the recommendation made by the auditors to put in place an internal audit process and second for the Town Council/Town Administration to process these audits in a more timely fashion.

The full audit report is available in a PDF format on the town website. You can follow along fairly well with the auditors comments to the pages he is talking to. Be aware there there is a preliminary section with pages 1-3, then the full audit report section also beginning with page one. As I understood it, the references were all to the pages in that second section.

The segment lasts about 40 minutes. Enjoy!

--- after the Town Council segment ---

This has been another podcast in series on Franklin (MA) Matters. You can visit the web site at Franklin Matters blogspot dot com. If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve dot gmail dot com

The musical intro and closing is from the Podsafe Music Network
Jon Schmidt - Powerful Exhilarating Piano Music

"it just takes a little planning"

Residents get a free ride

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Fri Jun 20, 2008, 05:50 PM EDT

FRANKLIN -

For the past few months, Franklin resident Janaina Santos has been "out-and-about" - shopping, taking trips to the library or to Boston - more than she has in a while, thanks to the new public bus, she said.

The Franklin Area Bus, operated by the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority and funded part by a grant program, has only been in town three months, but Santos is already a regular, she said.

"I think it's awesome. It's good - I'm satisfied with it," said Santos, smiling and taking a seat on the bus beside her daughter after picking up a few groceries at the Stop & Shop on Rte. 140.

Instead of walking or getting a ride with a friend, Santos rides the bus nearly every day now to go to work at the Franklin Senior Center, when she needs to run errands, shop, or get to the train station to head to the city, she said. Her children take the bus to the library, Santos said.

"It's very good. I think it's going to be helpful in the wintertime, for everybody. They should continue to have it," Santos said.

Santos is one of about 25 Franklin residents who now regularly benefits from the town's lengthy battle to bring the public bus to town, and who took advantage of GATRA's one-day, nationwide campaign, "Dump the Pump," and got a free ride yesterday.

Read the full story in the Franklin Gazette here

Have you ridden the bus yet? The schedule is available on the Town website.

"You are all truly blessed"

By Jeff Ghiringhelli/Daily News correspondent

GHS

Posted Jun 20, 2008 @ 11:34 PM

---

FRANKLIN —

The town's oldest residents were honored yesterday at the seventh annual Nonagenarian Tea, held at the Franklin Senior Center.

Seniors age 90 and up gathered in the morning, surrounded by their families, to celebrate their gifted lives.

Thirty seniors were given a rose and a citation, with Franklin Town Council member Bob Vallee present to hand out the citations.

"Congratulations to all of you," Vallee said. "You are all truly blessed."

Senior Center Director Karen Alves served as master of ceremonies and gave special recognition to the two centenarians present at the tea.

Helen Beghosian, 104, who still cooks and goes for walks, and Lilian Pisani, 100, were given bouquets to recognize their vitality.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"it's a discussion worth having"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Jun 20, 2008 @ 11:28 PM

---

FRANKLIN —

The school district could save up to 20 teacher jobs, officials say, if Town Council agrees to Councilor Robert Vallee's request to give schools $1 million from the stabilization account in July.

Taking action to prevent 47 teacher layoffs is "critical," Vallee said at the council's June 18 meeting, then making a motion to put the subject on Town Council's July 9 agenda for discussion. Only five councilors were present for the meeting, and the item barely made it on the agenda.

In anticipation of possible pressure from various town departments for further funding for operational costs from the stabilization account, the Finance Committee at its June 17 meeting unanimously voted to send a strong message to Town Council that such action is "inappropriate," except for unemployment costs, said Finance Committee Chairman Jim Roche.

The cost of laying off 45 people is about $675,000 in unemployment costs, according to Superintendent Wayne Ogden.

Bonding companies downgrade towns that continually use stabilization funds, Roche said, noting that Franklin has been taking money from that account for operational expenses for the last four years.

"We can't afford our interest rate to go up because we're foolishly spending our stabilization funds," Roche said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Local Scenes

Dipping into the archives, this was originally posted a year ago.


The Flickr photo set can be found here


The blog postings can be found here:

Landscape Changes

Parmenter School gets ready

Planning Board is hard at work

Free stuff

St Rocco - Fund Raising

St Rocco - Ferris Wheel

St Rocco's - and the band played on

New Fire Station

Angles

Stone Wall creator

Stone Wall

MBTA Station 2

Union St Paved

Main Street Construction

Korean War Memorial

Persian Gulf Memorial

Vietnam Conflict Memorial

detritus from Honey Dew

Got enough signs?

Franklin MBTA 2

Franklin MBTA Station

Stone wall creator

Stone wall

Angles

New fire station

Main St construction

Summer St Fountain

Water cell

Franklin Welcome

WW II Memorial

WW I Memorial

Spanish-American War Memorial

Civil War Memorial

Revolutionary War Memorial

Main Street View

Oak St School

Penny Lane

Senior Center (new)

Senior Center (current)

Dean College

Public Library

Franklin Town Common 1

Franklin Town Common 2

MBTA Station downtown

The Rome Restaurant

Isabella's Groceria

St Mary's

Enjoy!

"We just can't lay off 45 teachers"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Jun 18, 2008 @ 11:04 PM

---

FRANKLIN —

At Councilor Robert Vallee's insistence, Town Council last night voted to discuss at their next meeting, on July 9, giving schools $1 million to avoid some of the massive teacher layoffs.

"I'm very concerned about 47 layoffs at the schools," Vallee said, suggesting the council consider taking $1 million out of the town's stabilization account to fund teachers' jobs.

Earlier in the budget season, Town Council agreed not to tap into stabilization this year for operational costs such as teacher or staff salaries in order to keep sufficient funds in that account.

Vallee made the same proposal in budget discussions prior to the failed $2.8 million Proposition 2 1/2 tax override ballot question on June 10.

"I think it's critical. It's irresponsible for us to do nothing about this. We just can't lay off 45 teachers without the town taking action," Vallee said.

Councilor Joseph McGann seconded Vallee's motion, and after a few moments of looking around at one another and some raised eyebrows, Chairman Christopher Feeley said he would vote to put it on the July 9 agenda.

"I'm always in favor of a good debate," Feeley said, but noted he will not support the move.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"I know what I want to do now"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Jun 17, 2008 @ 10:12 PM

---

FRANKLIN —

Three months ago, 19-year-old Kristin Graci's life was "pretty crazy, always busy" as a typical college student in the middle of her second semester at Arizona State University.
The former Franklin High School varsity softball starting pitcher was still figuring things out - like what path she wanted to pursue in life. She was enjoying college, spending time with her boyfriend and was looking forward to summertime.
In April, she contracted the flu, which Graci and her loved ones soon discovered was merely a harbinger of a much more foreboding illness.
When two viruses immediately followed, doctors thought Graci might have mononucleosis, but suspected worse, she said.
Graci moved out of her dorm, flew back home on a Sunday, and started undergoing tests at Dana Farber on Monday, she said.
In two days, doctors told her she had leukemia. She spent the next five weeks in the hospital.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Kristin's obituary can be found here:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=kristin-e-graci&pid=141427072

"We're pretty excited about that"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Jun 18, 2008 @ 12:06 AM

---

FRANKLIN —

With a $15,000 donation from the Lions Club, the Franklin Fourth of July Coalition no longer has to worry about how to pay for the fireworks at this year's five-day celebration.

The gift fully funds the fireworks, said Lions Club President Mark Sawyer.

"Everything's really come together in the last month-and-a-half, two months. Everything's pretty much all set," said coalition co-Chairman Michael Kelly.

"We've all worked together ... (former event co-Chairman) Charlie Oteri and (Town Clerk) Debbie Pellegri have helped us tremendously in the transition. I'm excited about ... the whole thing," Kelly said.

The first day of festivities, on Wednesday, July 2, will include rides and a disc jockey from 5 to 10 p.m. on the town common, said Warren Revell, coalition secretary.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Franklin Center Commons: roof's on

Franklin Center Commons: roof's on, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I did not get around to posting this picture from our walk Saturday morning but the roof is now on the condominium building located down behind the store fronts along Main St.

King Street - sidewalk detour reasons gone

King Street - sidewalk detour reasons gone, originally uploaded by shersteve.

When King Street was re-done, the sidewalk took a turn to go around two stately trees.

Alas, the trees are no longer.

The sidewalk however, still makes the curve around what used to be.

Audit report due at Town Council

The Town Council agenda package for Wednesday's meeting is now available for download here (PDF).

Pages 5 through 54 cover the audit report for the fiscal year ending 6/30/07.

Yes, it took a while to prepare the report. This was Frank Falvey's point during his recent citizens comment.

Read the report, go to the meeting prepared with one or two questions.

Ask them. Yes, you can do it.

Do it for me. Unfortunately, I won't be there.


If you need a question or two, let me know (via comment or email).

Meetup.com

Continuing our series on understanding Web 2.0 tools, the good folks at Common Craft have a new video this time produced specifically for Meetup.com.


What's Meetup? from Meetup HQ on Vimeo.


FYI - there are 6 groups within 5 miles of Franklin and 29 groups within 10 miles. Quite a variety with room for more.

Enjoy!