Citizens Against Waste: Check book online

The most recent question came in from "Anonymous":

"Asking residents to identify waste before providing them modern transparency tools puts the cart before the horse; it unfairly transfers the onus of accountability onto busy taxpayers during difficult fiscal times. 

When will the Town of Franklin take steps to implement 21st century transparency, such as Worcester doing? It should be even easier for a small city to post all its expenditures online than for a large city."

As noted in the NECN story, Worcester is the first community to do this in MA.

I sent this question to Jeff Nutting who replied:

I do not know what is involved and how much time it would take but we can check it out. I will note this is an good example of how town and the school departments continue to get greater demands for services from all directions ( Federal and State laws, regulations, citizens) while we continue to shrink the staff. We try our best to accomplish all that is asked but at some point we will have to start making decisions on which requests we can accomplish and which one we will have to say no to. Clearly we must meet our legal obligations first. This means each time the Federal and State governments mandates a new program without any resources we have to divert staff time and money to meet that obligation. Just think how many hours we have spent over the last few years just on the Stormwater issue. When we start the next fiscal year in July I think we will have eliminated close to 40 municipal jobs in the last three years (maybe more). This does not count jobs eliminated in prior years. Yet folks will expect the same level of service. If you put is terms of a baseball team we would only be able to put seven players on the field to play the game.

From my own point of view, I wonder if looking at the check book is the best way to be transparent. Franklin already makes its information and budget planning process accessible. Very few folks actually participate in person at the budget hearings. These are the best times to really get the full story on what is being spent, how and why.

The budget hearings for FY 2012 will be coming soon. The School Committee has held their budget hearing and budget workshop. The Finance Committee will meet with each department to review their individual budgets line by line before the Town Council will cover the same ground (usually over two nights) and then vote on the final amount.

Stay tuned here and to the Franklin website for the schedule of budget hearings.

Financial audit of FY 2010
Management letter:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Admin/Audits/FY10%20Franklin%20Management%20Letter%202.pdf

Detail document:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Admin/Audits/Franklin%20Final%20FS10.pdf


FY 2011 budget summary
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Comptroller/Budget%20Summary%202011.pdf

FY 2011 budget detail
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Comptroller/budget%20voting%2011.pdf

FY 2011 budget funding
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Comptroller/FY%2011%20REVENUES.pdf

The FY 2011 budget workshop was recorded and documented here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html


The FY 2012 budget collection can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/fiscal-year-2012-budget-information.html



Franklin, MA

Friends of Franklin Library meeting, Apr 6

The Friends of the Franklin Library (FOFL) will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of the library, lower level. Members and the public are welcome to attend the meetings. FOFL is always looking for new ideas, opinions and comments to help make its efforts more successful.

The Friends of the Franklin Library is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of the nation’s first public library. Meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month, September through June. Membership is open to everyone.

For information about the Friends, call 508-528-6624.

The Franklin Public Library is accepting donations for its spring 2011 book sale in May. Donations may be dropped off at the library on the lower level during regular business hours.





Franklin, MA

"You can't just keep coming back with ideas and ideas"

The hearing has now been closed and the Planning Board will vote in April.

"We feel like we have given as much as we can on this project and (limiting the development to only) right turns out is a significant concession because it impacts his property and impacts his relationship with tenants," said Craig Ciechanowski, a Franklin attorney representing Daddario. 

But Yadisernia maintained that two fast food restaurants with drive-thrus would create too much traffic because the restaurants peak at the same time as the numbers of vehicles using Rte. 140 is the greatest, from 4 to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. 

And drivers might still illegally make a left turn out of the development or turn into other private businesses to reverse direction. There could also be problems at the light at Franklin Village Plaza because people exiting the new development would make a legal U-turn at that light to go toward downtown, Yadisernia said. 

"My contention is what's really hurting this project is having two (fast food) restaurants in this location," said Yadisernia, who reiterated his recommendation not to approve the project unless a fast food establishment is removed or its use changed. "That's where the stumbling block is. I personally think two fast food restaurants is too much."

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x1840140563/Franklin-Wendys-Taco-Bell-proposal-tweaked#ixzz1Hym9DrWt


Franklin, MA

Franklin Food Pantry - Spring Update

Thank you for your interest in the Franklin Food Pantry.  Spring is here and we are looking forward to the beginning of our local, fresh produce season!

You are invited to join us for an Oxfam Hunger Banquet this Tuesday, March 29th, 7pm @ Dean College Campus Center (invitation attached).  This event is a simulation  of the reality of hunger in the world, with people eating a meal that corresponds to their randomly assigned income level. Suggested donation is non-perishable food items to be donated to the Franklin Food Pantry.

Many of you have been asking how to get more involved in the Giving Garden and/or the Franklin Community Gardens that will be located at the King Street Playground.  Plans are progressing quickly and many volunteers are needed.  Please email franklincommunitygardens@gmail.com to join this exciting community group.

Are you a backyard gardener (or do you know a backyard farmer)?  Do you want to plant an extra row this year to help our neighbors in need?  We are starting a Plant a Row program and are getting ready to open registration and distribute row markers and brochures.  If you are interested in participating, please email PlantARow@franklinfoodpantry.org.

We are celebrating a recent grant received from the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation to launch our Produce Points program at the Franklin Farmers Market in June 2011.  Produce Points is modeled after the Double Value Coupon Program developed by Wholesome Wave.  Stay tuned.  We will be looking for a summer intern (college student) to assist with the development of this program (15-20 hours a week, May - Aug).  Please email annemarie@franklinfoodpantry.org if interested in learning more.

Michelle Clay of Franklin has generously volunteered to create a food resource cookbook for the Franklin Food Pantry and is inviting you all to be recipe testers.  You can find more information and many recipes here  (Thank you Michelle!)  http://pantrycookbook.blogspot.com/

Mark your calendars - Saturday, May 14th is Stamp Out Hunger day. More information will be in our April newsletter.

Good food nourishes the body and the spirit. With regular, nutritious meals, we are free to grow, to think, to smile, to live.  In 2011, we will expand our capacity to provide our clients with a wide range of opportunities for gaining access to local, fresh, nutritious food.  Our free Farmer's Market for clients was a great success in 2010 and thanks to generous Donors we look forward to working with Grateful Farm to continue this program beginning in June 2011.

Thanks to the generosity of our community, we distributed more than 14,000 bags to more than 800 neighbors in 2010. We received more than 50,000 lbs of food and non-food donations and also many monetary donations.  Thanks to our relationship with the Greater Boston Food Bank a $20 donation can provide up to 100 meals and we are excited to now be able to accept donations online at our website www.franklinfoodpantry.org

Gratitude Hugs to all those who donated more than 500 canvas grocery bags.  We are again humbled by the generosity and support of this wonderful community.

In 2011, we hope to continue to learn with you, our community, the many elements of nutrition, food systems, local resources and to explore the questions, "What is food?" and "Where does our food come from?".   We believe everyone has the right to access healthy, affordable food choices. 

Please contact annemarie@franklinfoodpantry.org if you are interested in working together on any of the programs mentioned or if you have a great idea that may align well with any of the above.

Current Needs 

Donations accepted Tuesday thru Friday 9am - 1pm 

or can be placed in collection bin on our front porch anytime

Cleaning Products – Laundry, Dish, All Purpose

Paper Products – Toilet Paper, Kleenex, Paper Towels, Feminine

Health & Beauty – Shampoo, Pump Soap, Body Wash, Deodorant

Canned Meat / Fish

Broth / Beef Soup / Dry Soup

Canned Pasta (chef boyardeeish)

Baked Beans

Potatoes

Cereal

Chili / Taco / Meal Helpers

Condiments / Dressings

Flavored Rice and/or Pasta Side Dishes

Baking Mixes and/or Spices

Fresh and Frozen Produce always welcome!

Thank you for making a difference!

(Please check expiration dates)

Anne Marie Bellavance
Franklin Food Pantry
43 West Central Street
PO Box 116
Franklin, MA  02038
(508) 528-3115
www.franklinfoodpantry.org

Franklin, MA: Town official vehicle listing

The listing of vehicles used by Franklin employees to conduct town business has been updated for 2011. Thanks to Jeff Nutting for providing the information.

Franklin 2011 Vehicles Miles


Related posts
Milford Daily News article during Sunshine Week
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/03/most-can-be-reimbursed-by-mile-when.html

The 2010 vehicle listing
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/06/franklin-ma-town-official-vehicle.html

Franklin, MA

Dean College - James Roosevelt, Jr.

Dean College invites the public to its

5th Annual Dean Leadership Institute Executive Lecture

James Roosevelt, Jr.

President and CEO, Tufts Health Plan

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

5:30 p.m. Networking Reception

6:30 p.m. Presentation

Dean College Campus Center, 135 Emmons Street, Franklin

RSVP to: alumni@dean.edu or 508-541-1612

James Roosevelt's presentation at the Dean Leadership Institute Executive Lecture will be on Social Security and Medicare. Mr. Roosevelt joined Tufts Health Plan in 1999 as senior vice president and general counsel, and became president and CEO in 2005. As general counsel he presided over the legal department and the company's compliance, privacy and government relations functions. In November 2008 President Barack Obama appointed Mr. Roosevelt to his transition team to co-chair a review of the Social Security Administration.

This was shared on the Downtown Partnership webpage

"Franklin has historically been very proactive"

Franklin, Wrentham, Norfolk and Plainville received a $44,000 grant to study regionalizing dispatching. Franklin has applied with Millis, Walpole and Foxborough for a $40,000 grant to evaluate regionalizing some health services, town leaders said. 

Regionalization "is where it needs to go at least for certain services," Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting said, noting efforts to form multi-town partnerships have been slow throughout the state. "There's a lot more ownership at the town level than other parts of the country and there's a fear of loss of control. There's just a litany of barriers that have to be overcome to make this a success." 

Fire officials met Thursday in Wrentham to kick off the study, which will be performed by Pennsylvania consulting firm L.R. Kimball. While the other three towns are examining regionalizing fire and police dispatch, Franklin is only looking at fire dispatching, Fire Chief Gary McCarraher said. 

"There is a lot of commonality and the fact of the matter is we're all in the same scenario in that we need to be doing more services for less money," McCarraher said. "Is there any potential savings in joining together in dispatch? I think we'll explore all those options in an attempt to provide faster, better services."

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x1840140403/Franklin-considers-regionalizing-some-services#ixzz1Hsz2sVvB



Franklin, MA