Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Attention Franklin: Override ballot question coming

Per Chris Feeley this evening, there will be a new Town Council meeting added on April 30th to vote on the override ballot. Between now and then various subcommittees and committees will be working on what number should be put forward to address this town problem.

The vote should occur in June, I heard him say June 15th, that is a Sunday so it is likely he meant either June 14th to go with a Saturday vote, or June 17th to stay with a traditional Tuesday vote.

Either way, the voters of Franklin will have an override to decide to maintain their Top 10 rankings or not.

Our choice. Listen. Learn. Be prepared to cast an informed vote!

Councilor Comments: Shannon Zollo (audio)

From the Franklin Town Council meeting 4/16/08, Shannon Zollo lays out the argument for the override vote so the town can decide and recommends how each can prepare for the vote.

Time: 11 minutes, 42 seconds



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Editorial Comment: Remember this one, come back here to listen to this often. I have not heard as complete and compelling an argument put forth as convincingly as this was. Thank you Shannon!

Town Council Mtg Summary 4/16/08

Attention Franklin: Override ballot question comin...

Councilor Comments: Shannon Zollo (audio)

--- 2 minutes break ---

6 - Citizen's Comment: Andy Donaldson (audio)

5 - Citizen's Comment: Kaitlyn Cronin (audio)

4 - Citizen's Comment: Jim Roche (audio)

3 - Citizens Comment: William Hawes (audio)

2 - Citizen's Comment: John Niece (audio)

1 - Citizen's Comment: Jeff Roy (audio)

Town Council Agenda 4/16/08


additional segments of the meeting will be posted as I have time to process them.

Citizen Comments: Andy Donaldson (audio)

From the Franklin Town Council meeting on 4/16/08, citizens comment. Andy was the last of the citizen comments, the council took a two minute break after this.

Time: 1 minute, 5 seconds



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Citizen Comments: Kaitlyn Cronin (audio)

From the Franklin Town Council meeting 4/16/08, citizens comment.

Time: 35 seconds



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Citizen Comments: Jim Roche (audio)

From the Franklin Town Council meeting of 4/16/08, citizens comment. Jim Roche of the Finance Committee advocating for an override vote for the town wide problem for the full set of voters to decide.

Time: 1 minute, 45 seconds



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Citizen Comments: William Hawes (audio)

From the Franklin Town Council meeting 4/16/08, citizen comments

Time: 55 seconds




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Citizen Comments: John Niece (audio)

From the Franklin Town Council meeting of 4/16/08, citizens comment. A Benjamin Franklin Charter school parent speaking for an override vote to be held.

Time: 59 seconds



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Citizen Comments: Jeff Roy (audio)

From the Franklin Town Council meeting on 4/16/08, Jeff Roy, School Committee Chair, addresses the Town Council during the citizen comments portion of the meeting advocating for an override vote to be put before the town so the town can decide what level of service they want for their schools and other services.

Time: 5 minutes, 25 seconds



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The text of the full statement can be found at the School Committee blog here.

Town Council Agenda 4/16/08

The agenda for the Town Council meeting can be found here

Proposed FY 09 budget (PDF)

Proposed budget information page

FINCOM Meeting Summary 4/14/08

FINCOM votes to adjourn (audio)

FINCOM: Mike D'Angelo's statement (audio)

FINCOM: School Budget vote (audio)

FINCOM: Ken Norman (audio)


Additional segments from the meeting will be posted as I have time to prepare them

FINCOM: Ken Norman

After the 5 minute break, the Franklin Finance Committee returns to business missing two members. Ken Norman opens the discussion on the override with his statement calling for a multi-year plan.

Time: 2 minutes, 24 seconds



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In the News - override, Council meeting

GHS
Posted Apr 15, 2008 @ 09:36 PM

FRANKLIN —

Tonight, Councilor Joseph McGann and School Committee Chairman Jeffrey Roy will both urge the Town Council to put an override question before voters this year to prevent layoffs and cuts in schools and town departments.

"I would like to see the people express their voice on it," said McGann, adding, "I don't think it's going to fly."

Still, McGann wants the council to put feelers out in the community to get a sense of whether people want to pay more to keep the 45 teachers and school staff expected to be laid off in the budget proposed by Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting, which the Finance Committee voted to support Monday night.

Individual members of the Finance Committee supported a tax increase. Chairman Jim Roche and Pat Goldsmith both made motions to recommend the Town Council place a $1.5 million override question on the ballot. The board as a whole, however, did not take action because they had no time to prepare an adequate plan, they said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

FINCOM: Mike D'Angelo's statement

From the Franklin Finance Committee meeting of 4/14/08, this segment is the statement (very well done, by the way) of Mike D'Angelo laying out what is really going on with the schools providing the support for the town wide facilities already and recommending NOT to go ahead with the consolidation.

Time: 8 minutes, 20 seconds



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My notes made during Mike's statement:

One facilities dept already, the school manages the town facilities
Four people on facilities, all happen to be school employees
Part time custodians and trade staff are town
1M vs. town 200,000 sq ft
School required to for certifications, schools are in a lot of business
Tim (Raposa) runs town technology
School runs the food services
Town gets a lot of benefit from the schools
School grounds staff does a good job
Took town employee to a seminar for the first time
Schools are a different entity, 38 folks work hard today
Reduced staff from last year, work around children every day
They want to be involved in schools, cleaned areas that are larger due to cuts
Folks are working harder

Reality is school is doing a lot for the town
Really is the tail wagging the dog

Jeff Nutting knows my opinion
School guys there to do the floors
Debate on the 29th will be good
No MOA to let Mike do what he is doing
His recommendation is not to move, to keep it as is
All this was done out of good will for last five years

FINCOM: School Budget vote

From the Franklin Finance Committee meeting on 4/14/08, this segment skips ahead of all the discussion and get right to the motion for the School Committee budget. They approved the Town Administrator recommended level funded budget with this vote.

Time: 3 minutes, 2 seconds



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