Tuesday, May 25, 2010

"It's an investment not just in our town, but in our kids"


In a forum to discuss the town's finances and the June 8 override vote, some residents asked what the cuts will really mean if a Proposition 2 1/2 tax override is not passed.
"It's cutting down to the bone. If the override fails, the (harm) will start (to show). If we want the (standards) to be maintained, we're going to have to invest more," said Town Councilor Shannon Zollo.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here:
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x88774700/Case-made-for-Franklin-tax-override


Franklin, MA


Monday, May 24, 2010

Charles River Watershed Assoc - Live broadcast

The live broadcast of the presentation and discussion began at 7:00 PM and ended a little after 8:00 PM. Unfortunately due to some technical difficulty, it is not available for rebroadcast.

Free live streaming by Ustream


Franklin, MA

follow the money

Remember that today you get to make a choice between water and money

1 - The open forum on the Franklin override vote for $3 million dollars will be held at the Horace Mann/Thomas Mercer Auditorium at 7:00 PM. Members of Town Council, and School Committee amongst others will be available for questions and discussion on the budget details.

2 - Also that same night at the same time in the Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of the Municipal Bldg, the Charles River Watershed Association will make a presentation on a storm water management plan to reduce phosphorus from the Spruce Pond Brook sub-basin.

As much as water is important, I had planned to "follow the money".
I just received an email that the cable folks are broadcasting the Town Forum at Horace Mann and I have been asked to broadcast the CRWA presentation at the Council Chambers. I really would like to be part of the Horace Mann discussion but Franklin would benefit more from having both available.

Stay tuned for a live broadcast of the CRWA presentation!


Franklin, MA

Franklin Facts: tax burden

Tax burden: Your property taxes fund less than half the Town budget – the rest comes from state aid and other sources. Our tax burden, defined as average property tax bill divided by median family income, ranks 26th out of 30 comparable towns. This means that in only four of those 30 peer towns do the residents contribute less of their income in the form of property taxes to support their town than do the residents of Franklin.

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

The special election on June 8th gives Franklin voters the choice:



  • Increase taxes to continue to provide the services we have this year (and that does not restore any of the services already cut) 
Or


  • Continue to cut municipal services for all and cut educational opportunities for our children

I'll help to provide the information. You need to do two things:


  1. Make your choice
  2. Vote on June 8th

You get bonus points if you talk with your neighbors about this and get them to vote!



Additional information on the override can be found here:
http://investinfranklin.weebly.com/index.html

http://franklinschoolcommittee.wordpress.com/override-page/

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/budget-override-collection-fy-2011.html


Franklin, MA

HMEA: 5K, Walk and Family Fun day!

HMEA held their 9th Annual Independence 5K Run/Walk in the Park on the ground of EMC in Franklin on Sunday, May 23. 297 runners completed the 5K and hundreds of walkers came out for the event where the sun gradually brought thought the clouds.


Many volunteers came out early to set up for the family fun day. The mysterious Mr Cone Head Man even made an appearance:


Once the set up was complete the volunteers were busy distributing race day packages and t-shirts. The opening ceremonies were held on the main field then everyone moved out to the balloon arch for the start of the 5K and walk. Gene Lavanchy was master of ceremonies:


After the race and walk finished, the clouds looked like they were going to rain on the festivities. Franklin Fire Dept's Tower 1 unit was sent up to check out the situation.


Many kids were attracted to the fire truck as it reached great heights. They lined up to get a view from the tower platform when the unit returned to ground level.


The kids race on the field awarded lollipops to the finishers. Soon the full set of 5K Race age category winners were announced.


WalMart presented a donation. Derek Bergeron of the Plainville Redemption Center program was recognized as the winner of this year’s Kelly Mendall Spirit award.




All those who participated in Franklin on Sunday had a great day. Why?




"We believe in the power of dreams and not the limitations of disability."


If you have not made a contribution to HMEA yet, there is plenty of time.


If you'd like to contribute as part of my fund raising, follow this link:  http://www.firstgiving.com/stephensherlock



Or go directly to the HMEA website here HMEA.org.




Franklin, MA

In the News - forum, teenangels

Franklin forum tonight will focus on override

by 


Franklin anti-bullying group to visit Washington, D.C.

by 



Franklin, MA

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Franklin, MA: the choice we have

There is a lot of good information in this presentation.

Of particular interest:

Slide 6 - which compares the student population and the number of teachers. This means class size will increase. This means children will get less direct and personal attention from the one person in the classroom that should be providing it. We have already seen a decline in some areas of the student population on the MCAS results. Those student populations are the early warning signs. We can either listen to the "canary in the mine" or ignore it and suffer the consequences.

Slide 9 - which shows the growth of the special education funding as a percent of the over all school budget. Bill Glynn raised this point in his essay on Friday.

Slides 10-15 - which cover aspects of the educational programs that have been cut over the years to make ends meet. This is how I got involved in reporting and sharing information here. My daughters were fortunate to graduate from FHS in 2004 and 2006. While there were changes in what was available to them during their time in the school system, the changes since then are more drastic. The education kids in the Franklin schools are getting today is NOT what my daughters got just a few years ago.

The special election on June 8th gives Franklin voters the choice:

  • Increase taxes to continue to provide the services we have this year (and that does not restore any of the services already cut). 
Or
  • Continue to cut municipal services for all and cut educational opportunities for our children.

I'll help to provide the information. You need to do two things:

  1. Make your choice
  2. Vote on June 8th

You get bonus points if you talk with your neighbors about this and get them to vote!


Note: updated with audio to accompany the slides

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. I'll make time to review what I know to help you.

Franklin, MA