Franklin Matters

Monday, November 4, 2013

Candidates for Town Council (part 2)

The Milford Daily News is posting their candidate profiles to the Wicked Local webpage.

Judith Pond Pfeffer
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/topstories/x915439608/Judith-Pond-Pfeffer-Candidate-for-Town-Council

Andrew Bissanti
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/news/x915439617/Andrew-Bissanti-Candidate-for-Town-Council?rssfeed=true

Glenn Jones
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/news/x915439619/Glenn-Jones-Candidate-for-Town-Council

Matt Kelly
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/news/x915439623/Matthew-Kelly-Candidate-for-Town-Council?rssfeed=true

Peter Padula
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/news/x915439625/Peter-Padula-Candidate-for-Town-Council?rssfeed=true

Stephen Williams
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/news/x915439629/Stephen-Williams-Candidate-for-Town-Council?rssfeed=true

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Conversation with Andrew Bissanti - Town Council Candidate

Andrew Bissanti is up for his second term on the Town Council. His first two years went by quickly. Andy spent the time doing a lot of learning. He expects that he will be more active in this next Council assuming he is re-elected. We sat down recently to discuss the top questions facing Franklin.

Q - Now that the Master Plan has been approved, what do you think will happen to it?
The previous Master Plan sat on a shelf and was referenced from time to time but that was about it. There was a good team that worked on this plan. The skills and abilities in the room were impressive. I am all for this plan, it needs to work for us..The Master Plan was well presented by the team and should be good to work with.

Q - Do you think the Treasurer/Collector should be appointed or elected?
I think it should be appointed. Franklin is a $100 million dollar business. We need the expertise to manage the money properly. There should be a search committee. I expect that there will be some good candidates. If the individual is a Franklin resident, all the better. That should be our #1 option.

Q - What do you think of the non-binding question for mayor? Should we have one?
The first question is what kind of mayor? There are different kinds. We pretty much have the structure today, just change the name from Town Administrator to Mayor and that is one of the possibilities. We need to look at what we want. Where are the strengths, where are the weaknesses?

From this point the conversation turned to related matters. Andy feels there should be a joint session with the Planning Board and Town Council. There needs to be a better understanding of the “Special Permit” criteria. A lot of what has been set up was done years ago. Franklin needs to grow again. How do we do that? We should look at ‘net equity yield’. Andy says he hears of folks saying we can’t have more kids here. Look around you. We have good schools, look at all the youth programs, there are lots of families here. I don’t think it has to be growth without kids. We are a top community to raise a family. We can continue to be that and grow.

Related Links
The 2013 election collection can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/10/franklin-election-2013.html

The 2011 election collection can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/08/election-2011-summary.html

The 2009 election collection can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2009/10/2009-election-collection.html

Conversation with Judy Pfeffer - Candidate for Town Council

When Judy Pfeffer and I sat down recently to talk about the election Nov 5th, we realized that the last time we had got together was prior to the election in 2009. My how time does fly? Without letting too much more time go by, we got into a series of questions which Judy answered.

Q - Now that the Master Plan has been approved, what do you think will happen to it?
A - The Master Plan needs an implementation committee to do the work. It took a whole lot of good work by a lot of people to put the Master Plan together. It will take some work to put into action.

Q - Do you think the Treasurer/Collector should be appointed or elected?
A - I had been on the side to have the position appointed. I have changed my mind and it should remain elected. It is the only way to keep the position with a Franklin resident. And with the size of the budget, it really should be managed by someone local. I have long advocated for Franklin residents to be first inline for town positions. Keeping the position elected will do that.

Q - What do you think of the non-binding question for mayor? Should we have one?
A - How will the mayor be set up? It depends. I don’t want to be mayor. Some others might but not me. people need to know that this won’t happen anytime soon. It will take another charter commission to study, make a proposal, go through the approvals and require another vote before we see it.

After these questions, our conversation vered to cover other Franklin topics. Judy thinks the Citizens Committee is shaking things up a bit. Attention needs to be paid to some things where it hasn’t been. The downtown train station got fixed up recently due to their efforts. What will we do with the old municipal building? It needs repair because nobody was paying attention to the building. That should not happen. Judy would like to return to the Town Council to help address these things.

Related Links
The 2013 election collection can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/10/franklin-election-2013.html

The 2011 election collection can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/08/election-2011-summary.html

The 2009 election collection can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2009/10/2009-election-collection.html

Franklin, MA: School Committee - Agenda - Nov 6, 2013

WEDNESDAY - November 6, 2013
Municipal Building – Training Room - 7:30 P.M.
This meeting will not be televised

Vision Statement

The Franklin Public Schools will foster within its students the knowledge and skills to find and achieve satisfaction in life as productive global citizens.

AGENDA

"The listing of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law."

ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

1. Action Items:
a. I recommend acceptance of two checks totaling $1190.00 from the Oak Street PCC for field trips.
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $472.00 from All American Publishing for FHS.
c. I recommend acceptance of a check for $800.00 from the Parmenter PCC for field trips.
d. I recommend acceptance of $10.00 from MIT for in house enrichment.

2. Adjourn

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Candidates for Town Council

Milford Daily News is starting to post profiles for the Town Council candidates

Charles DelFino
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/newsnow/x915439602/Charles-DelFino-Jr-Candidate-for-Town-Council

Brett Feldman
http://www.wickedlocal.com/franklin/newsnow/x915439604/Brett-S-Feldman-Candidate-for-Town-Council

"tax-free online purchases are unfair for local business"

When you purchase something from Amazon beginning Nov 1, you'll notice that you will have to pay a MA sales tax when you checkout.

"It's something we needed in Massachusetts because our Main Street businesses and local businesses have been at a disadvantage," said state Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin.

Roy said tax-free online purchases are unfair for local business that must pay the state sales tax.

"If somebody goes into a local store, they can effectively use it as a showroom, look at the items, talk to store owners, learn about the qualities of the merchandise, and then they can leave the store and order it online, and they will save 6.25 percent," he said. "I am glad to see it has finally been fixed."