Franklin Matters

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Insights on "What do we do to get out the vote for November 5th?" (audio)

FM #174

This internet radio show or podcast is number 174 in the series for Franklin Matters.

This recording shares insights gathered with candidates for the Town of Franklin to be held November 5. Conducted over the two evenings when the candidate meet and greet events were hosted by LaCantina Winery (Oct 3) and Pour Richard’s Wine and Spirits (Oct 10).

This recording is the first product of the collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio and not the last.

Given the social nature of the meet and greet, we did not want to get into great details on positions for one topic or another so we decided that we could address one topic in common with all the candidates: What do we do to get out the vote for November 5th?

For reference, and for the period from 2003 to 2018 specifically, I developed a general rule that in round numbers for

a local elections, we get about 20% turnout
an override or school debt exclusion we get about 40% turnout
a State office election we get about 60% turnout
a national or Presidential election, we get 80% turnout

The details that led to this generalization can be found
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/11/franklin-ma-official-results-for-110618.html

Let’s listen in to the insights shared by the candidates on “how to get out the vote for November 5th?” The recording runs approx 31 minutes.

Note: there is one person (Representative Jeff Roy) who willingly shared his insights who is not a candidate running in this election.

Follow this link, or click on the button in the image
https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HZXBB6mX

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This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can always use your help.

How can you help?

Overall:
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors.
If you don't like this, please let me know.

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements.
Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes = search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters on iTunes

Town Administrator's Statement on the old turf and water quality issue (audio)

FM #175

This internet radio show or podcast is number 175 in the series for Franklin Matters.

This recording shares Town Administrator Jamie Hellen’s statement on the ‘hot topic’ around the old turf carpet stored at the Beaver St field since the new turf was replaced in 2017.

This is one of the shorter podcasts I have shared recently but as Jamie mentions in his statement

“as we've been advised by the town attorney, will not be making too many more public statements other than what I'm am able to say tonight”

I thought it important to share his audio as extracted from the Town Council meeting Wednesday, Oct 16, 2019. The statement runs approx 6 minutes.

The show notes summarize what we know and what we do not know as well as provide the link to the text document with the transcription of Jamie’s statement.

https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HNppT7dX

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bags of the acrylic coated infill ready for install at FHS in August 2017

new turf carpet being installed at Beaver St field in 2017

new turf carpet being installed at Beaver St field in August 2017

What we know:

The prior conversations around the field replacements (completed in 2017) were centered around the crumb rubber infill. The Town spent more for an acrylic coated infill (which apparently was installed), the issue now is not with the infill but the with chemicals used to treat the carpet itself.
A third party filed a complaint with DEP about the old turf stored at the Beaver St fields
Article in TheIntercept about PFAS found in the turf itself https://theintercept.com/2019/10/08/pfas-chemicals-artificial-turf-soccer/
Article in the Boston Globe alleging potential issues with the water supply and shared via Franklin Matters https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/10/we-will-work-with-dep-to-resolve-matter.html
The Franklin community on Facebook reacts in the conversation around the article and issue
Town Administrator Jamie Hellen makes statement at Town Council meeting 10/16/19 https://drive.google.com/open?id=14VSvuZvTifTbeHO4bWFtIy2YxVdjRF4O

What we don’t know:

What happened to the Conservation Commission mitigation measures from when the field was first installed (in 2004?)?
Where was the old carpet and bags of unused infill taken?
While PFAS in the water supply was tested by Town of Franklin in 2018 and is not mandated by Fed/State for testing now, is PFAS still being tested by ToF now?
What will the State and/or Federal agencies do with PFAS and the recent revelations (if anything)?

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

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can always use your help.

How can you help?

Overall:

If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors.
If you don't like this, please let me know.

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements.
Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes = search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters on iTunes

“I want people to be able to see it’s possible"

Josh Perry, Managing Editor of HockomockSports.com, writes about the female golfers in the Hockomock League. FHS sophomore Caroline Woelfel was mentioned in the Golf Season Preview article but has not appeared in the individual match results as posted.

"On Thursday morning at Blue Hill Country Club in Canton, the best golfers in the Hockomock teed it up for the league’s annual championship tournament. Among the league’s elite were three female golfers, seniors Tate Hadges of Oliver Ames, Jillian Berand of North Attleboro, and Kayla Schuberth of King Philip, which several of the coaches believed was the most girls to take part in the tournament in a single season.

Not only did the trio qualify for the tournament, Hadges and Berand were the top golfers on their respective teams and Schuberth’s average score was among the 20 best in the league coming into the week. For each of the three, and for Mansfield’s Ava Haggis who was not at the Hocks but was also one of the league’s top performers this season, being the lone girl on the boy’s team didn’t stop them from reaching their potential.

“I’m so happy when any of the girls play really well,” said Schuberth. “It’s just fun to see some of us dominating the guys’ league. It’s pretty cool.”

“It was weird coming in thinking I’m going to be in one of the top spots on the team and that’s something I hadn’t really done before,” Hadges said. “Coming off a strong summer gave me more confidence to say, yeah I’m a female on an all-boys team but I have the ability to do it and to compete against all of them.”

Continue reading about the Hockomock League female golfers
https://hockomocksports.com/female-golfers-conquering-hockomock-league-courses/

Tate Hadges of Oliver Ames (left), Kayla Schuberth of King Philip (center), and Jillian Berand of North Attleboro competed in the Hockomock championship tournament this week. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

FHS football tops Attleboro 37-7 on Saturday

Josh Perry, Managing Editor of HockomockSports.com, provides the football game recap:

"If there is a question about whether or not Franklin can challenge the top teams in Div. 1, it centers on the line of scrimmage and whether the Panthers are capable of winning the battle in the trenches. On Saturday afternoon at Tozier-Cassidy Field, Franklin may have provided an answer.

The Panthers bounced back from last week’s loss to Mansfield, dominated the line on both sides of the ball, held Attleboro off the scoreboard for almost the full 48 minutes, and improved their chances at a home playoff game with a convincing 37-7 victory.

“With the guys that they have, I knew it would be tough,” said Franklin coach Eian Bain. “It was a key to our game to try and out-quick them, out-technique, because just the sheer size and ability they have we had to find another gear. We had a lot of success up front today.”

Attleboro tried to show off its power running game, led by junior Michael Strachan (12 carries, 37 yards), on the opening drive and got down to the Franklin 34-yard-line. A snap slipped through quarterback Jason Weir’s hands for an 11-yard loss, senior Austin Jordan stuffed Strachan for a two-yard loss, and the Panthers forced a turnover on downs. That set the tone for the game."

Continue reading the football game recap
https://hockomocksports.com/franklin-football-bounces-back-with-big-win-at-attleboro/

For a photo gallery from this game
https://hockomocksports.smugmug.com/2019-2020/Fall-2019/Attleboro-Franklin-Football-10-19-19/

Franklin linebacker Austin Jordan (3) chases down an Attleboro running back during the Panthers’ 37-7 win at Tozier-Cassidy Field. (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)

CORI-Friendly Career Fair - Nov 13

CORI-Friendly Career Fair - November 13, 2019

Open to Veterans and Other Job-Seekers

CORI-Friendly Career Fair - November 13, 2019

This will be held at the VFW Post 2452 in Norwood

Shared from the Town of Franklin Veterans Service page

https://www.franklinma.gov/veterans-services/news/cori-friendly-career-fair-november-13-2019

Franklin Public Schools: Website Email Subscriptions Update

Website Email Subscriptions Update

A recent update in our website e-subscriber notification system has improved the communications between our families/community and the School District.

These website communications are OPT IN/OPT OUT. If you have ever subscribed to news or alerts from one or more of our schools on our website you will now be receiving these emails. You can change your subscription by adding notifications (perhaps your child has moved on to Middle or High School) or you can unsubscribe from notifications.

Please visit our website at www.franklinps.net/subscribe to make any changes to your current e-subscription.

Please note, these notifications are NOT the Regroup alerts you may have subscribed to from individual schools. These are notifications from the Franklin School District website when News, Urgent Alerts and/or School Committee information is posted.

If you have any questions please reach out to us at 508-553-4819 and thank you for your patience as we adjust to this change.

Thank you again!

Franklin Public Schools

Franklin Public Schools: Website Email Subscriptions Update

In the News: Economic Development Workshop Tuesday; State providing aid for cyber-security

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"The Town of Franklin and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council will hold an economic development visioning workshop for residents from 6-8:30 p.m. next Tuesday in the third-floor training room of the Franklin Municipal Building, 355 East Central St.

The public comment session will feature a presentation by an MAPC representative on goals of the town and MAPC’s development project and the current state of economic activity in Franklin.

The town and the MAPC are undertaking a business development strategy to support business growth in Franklin’s three strategic growth locations: the downtown Franklin Commercial District; the Crossing (near Union and Cottage streets); and the Mixed Business Innovation District (near Fisher and Hayward streets).

The main goal of that project is to increase the economic activity within those older commercial areas and the town as a whole. The resulting market analysis will guide the development of a business recruitment and retention strategy including the future creation of business recruitment materials to capitalize on the market potential of these districts."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191018/franklin-hosts-development-workshop-on-tuesday

Get your copy of the flyer
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/news/econ._dev._event_10222019_flyer.pdf

Economic Development Workshop Tuesday

"As more and more aspects of daily life and business become connected through the internet, and as cities and towns increasingly find themselves the targets of cyberattacks, the Baker administration has announced a new effort to help each of the state’s 351 cities and towns bolster their cybersecurity readiness.

The effort will be backed by $300,000 in funding managed by the MassCyberCenter at the MassTech Collaborative, which plans to host a series of statewide workshops at which communities can get assistance developing or reviewing their cyber incident response plans and can collaborate with neighboring communities.

Speaking at the Massachusetts Cybersecurity Forum, Gov. Charlie Baker said it is critical that the state, local governments and the private sector make cybersecurity part of everything they do in an increasingly technological world.

“Most people, when they think about cybersecurity, think it’s primarily or exclusively about your phone and your laptop and your iPad and all the rest. But as we digitize more and more of our other building infrastructure - our heating systems, our cooling systems, our ventilation systems - those become, for all intents and purposes, targets,” he said. “And one of the things that we in state and local government need to do as well as our colleagues in the private sector need to do is make sure that as we digitize and electrify a lot of these processes that have typically been mechanical that we’re doing the work we need to do to ensure that they’re secure because they can be attacked.”