Where in Franklin? Answer #36

Where in Franklin? Answer #36, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The correct answer to #36 was the Ben Franklin Bank branch office located on East Central Street next to Honey Dew Donuts.

Thanks to ljsts for providing their third correct answer (I had miscounted last time).

Thanks to all for playing!

Stay tuned for the next chance to find "Where in Franklin?"

A process to reach agreement on joint maintenance

Following up on the issue and need to reach an agreement raised earlier, I have the following as a process to achieve this. There are other ways but we just need to execute on one that will allow the key stake holders a say in the process.


Using the talking stick concept, the stake holders should come together in a circle.

Stakeholders:

• Town Council
• School Committee
• School Administration
• Dept of Public Works
• Town Administration
  
• parents
• principals
• custodians
• tax payers
• are any left out?
  

Sitting in a circle with two representatives from each group. Representatives can not sit next to another of their own group.

Several white boards or flip charts to record the key points

Volunteers solicited to assist in the recording of the key points

First round records all the objectives, or goals, or constraints of each group that they feel need to be part of the ultimate agreement. Let's get all the issues on the table.

For example:

• cost savings
• principals control people working within their school
• education reform act requirements
  
• labor contracts
• etc.

Second Round prioritizes the goals, objectives, constraints as outlined in Round One

Third Round entertains proposals from each stake holder group on how they would meet the overall goals as outlined in Round One and prioritized in Round Two

Fourth Round works to build consensus on the proposals from Round Three

There should be a break between the second and third rounds to provide time for the individual stake holder groups to prepare their proposals

There may need to be more than four rounds but that will depend upon the openness of the discussion and how well the group is able to come to a consensus

It may be required to review the current maintenance agreement which the town believes is working and at least from the point of view as expressed by one custodian, clearly isn't. We will need to address any and all issues with this process. We need a working process, not a broken process. If the current process has some flaws, let's address them, agree to fix them and then agree to move on. If we don't fix them, we will not be able to make significant progress on a new process for the custodians.

Cost savings or power struggle?

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

FRANKLIN —

School and town officials battling for control of the School Department's $5 million maintenance account will continue to duke it out this month, according to Town Councilor Robert Vallee.

The account has traditionally been managed by schools, but Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting has proposed the town's Department of Public Works take it over for to eliminate duplication of jobs and maximize cost-efficiency, Vallee said.
Nutting, Vallee, Town Councilor Shannon Zollo, Councilor Deborah Bartlett,
Chairman Chris Feeley, School Superintendent Wayne Ogden, and several other town officials debated the issue at a joint budget subcommittee meeting last week, Vallee said.

``Nothing was accomplished, but we exchanged thoughts,'' said Vallee.
School officials still need to ``clearly understand'' why Nutting is seeking the change, said Ogden. Nutting could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Read the remainder of the article at the Milford Daily News here

My two cents:

If Franklin is going to make any significant progress on the growth of costs, tight cooperation needs to take place amongst the Town functional organizations.

This may be "low hanging fruit" but it needs to be handled properly. The Town does not need to split over issues that could save money. It is incumbent upon the Town to clearly explain what it would look like to have the two departments combined. This future vision would help to focus the discussion properly on who would do what, how school building issues would be handled, how the school and their important daily functions would operate so that the most important function of delivering a safe, efficient and highly qualified education to our children.

The current education reform act requirement that the school principals are responsible for everyone who works in their building is a potential road block. If properly addressed, it should be a key reason for crafting an agreement that will satisfy all parties.

Communication and open discussion are critical. Let's get all the parties to the table, not just a few. Include the custodians in this discussion. Include some parents. Bring in a moderator to facilitate the discussion and agreement if necessary.

Above all avoid the negatives. Avoid name calling. This is not an 'us' vs. 'them' situation. This affects all of us.

I need your help on this one

I received this email from a reader:

Your web site came up in a Google search and I was wondering if you
might be able to provide some information about Franklin. I just came
across an old family photo and was wondering if you had fairly recent
historical information about a farm in Franklin. Was there ever a Dacey
Brothers Dairy in Franklin that made home milk deliveries? We lived in
Wrentham.

Does anyone have some information that you can share?

You can leave a comment here or send an email to me => shersteve at gmail dot com

Project Mayhem foiled at FHS

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Mar 14, 2008 @ 11:09 PM

---

FRANKLIN —

Police foiled students' apparent plan to wreak "chaos and mayhem" in the style of Project Mayhem from the movie "Fight Club" at Franklin High School yesterday, officials said.

Seven students were suspended indefinitely, pending further investigation, Superintendent Wayne Ogden said.

"In Fight Club, there's Project Mayhem, a group of guys who want to do things to cause chaos and mayhem to the establishment. From the best police can figure, that was kind of the express purpose of this group of kids - to create chaos and confusion," said Ogden.

Read the remainder of the article in the Milford Daily News here.

Town Hall wins Trivia Bee

Town Hall triumphant at Trivia Bee

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Thirty-six teams were tested on their movie mettle at last night's Trivia Bee at the Horace Mann Middle School, and in the end, knowing the name of Humphrey Bogart's club in "Casablanca" determined the victors.

Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting and the "Franklin Munibees," (aka Town Hall), Town Attorney Mark Cerel and Treasurer Jim Dacey, won a spot on the Bee trophy when they correctly answered "Rick's American Cafe."

Read the full article in the Franklin Gazette here.

Common Craft on Photo Sharing

Continuing the Web 2.0 series on new technologies and how to use them, the wonderful folks at Common Craft have this explanation on photo sharing:





Enjoy!

PS - You may have noticed that most of the photos I post here are from my Flickr account. You can also click through to see the full slide show of all my Franklin photos by clicking on any one of the photos. I also use a little widget in the right column to scroll through the photo collection.