If you are looking for work or are considering going into business for yourself either as an entrepreneur or with a franchise, the speaker at the Hopkinton Networking Group meeting Friday, June 11 is one to catch.
Suzanne Gray gave a presentation on this topic at the recent Job Search Jam Sessions and it was well received.
If you missed that, you get another chance today!
When: 10:00 AM - Noon
Where: St John's Evangelist Parish Center, 20 Church St, Hopkinton
Cost: $1
Note: this was also posted on the Job Search Jam Session site here
Franklin, MA
Friday, June 11, 2010
Farmers Market - today - noon to 6:00 PM
The Farmers Market opens today from noon to 6:00 PM on the Town Common
Fresh local produce!
Franklin, MA
Fresh local produce!
Franklin, MA
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Live reporting - Town Council - FY 2011 Budget Hearing - Part 2
Present: Kelly, Jones, Vallee, Whalen, Mason, Pfeffer, Powderly
Absent: McGann, Zollo
Jeff Nutting, Susan Gagner, Jim Dacey
no questions or comments before going through the budget line items, items can be held for discussion
Hold on police expenses - Vallee
My priority is health, safety and education
We are down to 45 with a population of 33, 000
I don't feel comfortbale with that
Vallee - how many on a shift?
Williams - I try to run 6-8 on a shift
Sooner or later we are going to get caught, I don't want anyone pointing fingers
We do 42,000 incidents, almost 6,000 - 911 calls
When the economy turns down, the activities turn up
There are more stress levels in the home environment, it takes an officer longer to resolve the issues
Am I comfortable, no
Vallee - I think we should have cut other departments to maintain staff here
Williams - We are also loosing three dispatchers this year, I will only have two people during the peak times
there will be times when citizens will call and they will wait, can't be helped
Vallee - Hold on fire salaries
McCarragher - with 12 per shift, and one off, we could still staff two vehicles
with 11 on shift, and one off, we can only staff one vehicle
it is a very complex event, 50% of our calls are coming in back-to-back
we need to figure out how to staff and not tax our surrounding help, it won't help them and it won't help us
What's going to happen on July 1, I still don't know yet
Vallee - I am getting complaints about too many people showing up on an ambulance call
McCarragher - the most important service is responding to the next one, we are living within the means we are given, we are relying upon partners and we are trying to figure this out
Vallee - I am unhappy with the situation, it is getting worse every year
McCarragher - yes, I can agree with you on that point
Jones - Is there a standard
McCarragher - we are staffed for 2 minor emergencies to handle at once, or one major emergency
With the budget being voted on tonight, I have nine instead of ten
Kelly - Hold on OPEB
our responsibility is a whole lot more is this just a place holder?
Nutting - yes, this is a start, I will be coming back with a more complete analysis we can transfer other monies there and invest a little more aggressively
-----
Resolution on Elected Officials Salaries
Motion to approve, passed 7-0
MA general law have to be voted separately, they deferred their salaries last year and this get them whole this year like everyone else
(see document on link for full details of resolution)
Resolution on Town Budget for FY 2011
motion to approve, passed 7-0
Sewer rate increase likely next year
-----
Council Comments
Powderly - Bellingham police office struck on traffic duty
Fire statistics are showing a decline in response
Vallee - can we take some money from the Stabilization fund to provide more safety
Nutting - the Council can do that at any time with a two thirds vote, taking money for one time events will create further problems down the road
Whalen - with regards to the Police and Fire budget cuts they should not be a surprise to anyone
They were well notified during the recent discussions
Taking money from the stabilization fund, we should not take that for operational deficits
If we did so, as we eventually go for financing the high school renovations, that would on an out of pocket calculation about a $2 million increase that we can avoid.
Mason - I spoke to a gentleman today who thought the best idea was to reduce the overtime
when staff goes down the overtime goes up, coverage is still required
The Budget hearing document for Thursday can be found here (PDF)
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2010tc/06102010budgethearing.pdf
Franklin, MA
Absent: McGann, Zollo
Jeff Nutting, Susan Gagner, Jim Dacey
no questions or comments before going through the budget line items, items can be held for discussion
Hold on police expenses - Vallee
My priority is health, safety and education
We are down to 45 with a population of 33, 000
I don't feel comfortbale with that
Vallee - how many on a shift?
Williams - I try to run 6-8 on a shift
Sooner or later we are going to get caught, I don't want anyone pointing fingers
We do 42,000 incidents, almost 6,000 - 911 calls
When the economy turns down, the activities turn up
There are more stress levels in the home environment, it takes an officer longer to resolve the issues
Am I comfortable, no
Vallee - I think we should have cut other departments to maintain staff here
Williams - We are also loosing three dispatchers this year, I will only have two people during the peak times
there will be times when citizens will call and they will wait, can't be helped
Vallee - Hold on fire salaries
McCarragher - with 12 per shift, and one off, we could still staff two vehicles
with 11 on shift, and one off, we can only staff one vehicle
it is a very complex event, 50% of our calls are coming in back-to-back
we need to figure out how to staff and not tax our surrounding help, it won't help them and it won't help us
What's going to happen on July 1, I still don't know yet
Vallee - I am getting complaints about too many people showing up on an ambulance call
McCarragher - the most important service is responding to the next one, we are living within the means we are given, we are relying upon partners and we are trying to figure this out
Vallee - I am unhappy with the situation, it is getting worse every year
McCarragher - yes, I can agree with you on that point
Jones - Is there a standard
McCarragher - we are staffed for 2 minor emergencies to handle at once, or one major emergency
With the budget being voted on tonight, I have nine instead of ten
Kelly - Hold on OPEB
our responsibility is a whole lot more is this just a place holder?
Nutting - yes, this is a start, I will be coming back with a more complete analysis we can transfer other monies there and invest a little more aggressively
-----
Resolution on Elected Officials Salaries
Motion to approve, passed 7-0
MA general law have to be voted separately, they deferred their salaries last year and this get them whole this year like everyone else
(see document on link for full details of resolution)
Resolution on Town Budget for FY 2011
motion to approve, passed 7-0
Sewer rate increase likely next year
-----
Council Comments
Powderly - Bellingham police office struck on traffic duty
Fire statistics are showing a decline in response
Vallee - can we take some money from the Stabilization fund to provide more safety
Nutting - the Council can do that at any time with a two thirds vote, taking money for one time events will create further problems down the road
Whalen - with regards to the Police and Fire budget cuts they should not be a surprise to anyone
They were well notified during the recent discussions
Taking money from the stabilization fund, we should not take that for operational deficits
If we did so, as we eventually go for financing the high school renovations, that would on an out of pocket calculation about a $2 million increase that we can avoid.
Mason - I spoke to a gentleman today who thought the best idea was to reduce the overtime
when staff goes down the overtime goes up, coverage is still required
The Budget hearing document for Thursday can be found here (PDF)
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2010tc/06102010budgethearing.pdf
Franklin, MA
Franklin, MA: Town Council - Budget Hearing 6/10/10
The Town Council met on Wednesday and will meet again today (Thursday, 6/10/10) to finalize the budget for fiscal year 2011. The Finance Committee has already held their budget hearings to prepare for these meetings. The decision to hold an override vote to help balance the budget given the shortfall projected and real had been made. The vote was held on June 8th and there won't be additional tax revenue from the residents to work with for FY 2011.
The budget hearings will finalize the budget cutting personnel and services.
The Budget hearing document for Thursday can be found here (PDF)
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2010tc/06102010budgethearing.pdf
My notes on the hearing Wednesday can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/06/live-reporting-town-council-fy-2011.html
For reference the Finance Committee budget hearings can be found here:
May 4th http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-050410.html
May 6th http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-050610.html
May 10th http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-051010.html
The Budget Workshop held on January 25, 2010 can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html
Franklin, MA
The budget hearings will finalize the budget cutting personnel and services.
The Budget hearing document for Thursday can be found here (PDF)
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_CouncilAgendas/2010tc/06102010budgethearing.pdf
My notes on the hearing Wednesday can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/06/live-reporting-town-council-fy-2011.html
For reference the Finance Committee budget hearings can be found here:
May 4th http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-050410.html
May 6th http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-050610.html
May 10th http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/finance-committee-051010.html
The Budget Workshop held on January 25, 2010 can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/budget-workshop-collection-12510.html
Franklin, MA
"you need to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable"
In this 12 minute video clip, John Perry Barlow says:
the internet is enabling the possibility of collective human thought
it was going to be a difficult road
it was going to question every system of authority
political process, you need each other
you need to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable
all politics is local
it is possible to see the future where money didn't matter in an election
the internet has made it practically impossible to govern something like the nation
we have to use the same mechanism where we ran a campaign from the bottom to run the government from the bottom
A worthy lesson given the recent events around the override vote
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the video clip.
Franklin, MA
the internet is enabling the possibility of collective human thought
it was going to be a difficult road
it was going to question every system of authority
political process, you need each other
you need to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable
all politics is local
it is possible to see the future where money didn't matter in an election
the internet has made it practically impossible to govern something like the nation
we have to use the same mechanism where we ran a campaign from the bottom to run the government from the bottom
A worthy lesson given the recent events around the override vote
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the video clip.
Franklin, MA
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