Thursday, November 10, 2011
In the News - SchCom, precincts, dancers
Franklin School Committee picks new leaders after election
Ross to get two of Spilka's Franklin precincts after redistricting
Franklin dancers perform in Boston
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Live reporting - workshop - part 2
Nutting - anything that you would like done, please go through Maxine or the Chair. We are available for questions, etc. but we'd rather not have 9 folks directing our people.
Budget
Capital
Senior Outreach
Economic Development
really open to what the Council needs to operate
electronic agendas were requested by last council, will provide inexpensive laptops to bring to the meetings
ultimately will save a lot of trees
Financial summary, FY 2012 budget as amended last week; current account balances
enterprise accounts are not part of the general funds, they are sustained by the fees generated for that service
TA puts the budget together with the department heads, makes a recommendation to the Finance Committee which in turn makes a recommendation for the Town Council which votes on it.
Calendar of fiscal events for the Town Council(copy to be added later)
TC Workshop 111109
No word from the State on the budget for FY 2013, they need to see what the Federal government will do first
School Building committee wants to get everything into the MSBA for Dec 9 so we can get a decision on their Jan meeting. Debt exclusion requires a 2/3 vote of the Council to put on the ballot. If the time line holds could have the override in Mar/Apr.
Storm water regulations are coming, sometime.
all debt currently is declining principle level interest, the high school is proposed to be level/level
cable access corporation being set up; once corporation is set up, transfer of money and potential for leasing space to be worked out. $1.5M in the cable account currently with more coming in. Agreement likely to be for five years between Town and cable access with renewal options.
collective bargaining update coming during an executive session, nine units with contracts
Copies of reports from the department heads are provided for review, if you have any questions, please let us know.
When you get phone calls, there are three sides to the story.
Pictures for the website needed for next time.
2 ways to get something on the agenda, talk to the chair or you can make a motion (and need five votes - majority)
next meetings are the 16th and 30th
Budget
Capital
Senior Outreach
Economic Development
really open to what the Council needs to operate
electronic agendas were requested by last council, will provide inexpensive laptops to bring to the meetings
ultimately will save a lot of trees
Financial summary, FY 2012 budget as amended last week; current account balances
enterprise accounts are not part of the general funds, they are sustained by the fees generated for that service
TA puts the budget together with the department heads, makes a recommendation to the Finance Committee which in turn makes a recommendation for the Town Council which votes on it.
Calendar of fiscal events for the Town Council
TC Workshop 111109
No word from the State on the budget for FY 2013, they need to see what the Federal government will do first
School Building committee wants to get everything into the MSBA for Dec 9 so we can get a decision on their Jan meeting. Debt exclusion requires a 2/3 vote of the Council to put on the ballot. If the time line holds could have the override in Mar/Apr.
Storm water regulations are coming, sometime.
- Zoning changes some coming next week to add more bio-tech overlays
- DelCarte dam engineering effort underway, how it will be fixed and how we will fund that remains to be figured out. Two dams are registered.
- Downtown Project on schedule for 2013, public hearing to be scheduled
- Trash fee for FY 2012 - may be a minor adjustment
- portable classrooms plan being put together on removal over time
- David Thayer renovations on the horizon (get an architect to do an assessment first) what are the enrollment projections, by removing the modular unit you will need the room for the students
all debt currently is declining principle level interest, the high school is proposed to be level/level
cable access corporation being set up; once corporation is set up, transfer of money and potential for leasing space to be worked out. $1.5M in the cable account currently with more coming in. Agreement likely to be for five years between Town and cable access with renewal options.
collective bargaining update coming during an executive session, nine units with contracts
Copies of reports from the department heads are provided for review, if you have any questions, please let us know.
When you get phone calls, there are three sides to the story.
Pictures for the website needed for next time.
2 ways to get something on the agenda, talk to the chair or you can make a motion (and need five votes - majority)
next meetings are the 16th and 30th
Live reporting - Town Council workshop
Present: Vallee, Pfeffer, Roy, Jones, Kelly, Dellorco, Bissanti, Powderly
Nutting, Cerel, Kinehart
Absent: Mercer
Workshop - first year with the charter change that the Council doesn't get sworn in until next week.
Copy of charter provided. Bylaws are online. Mark Cerel undergoing a review of the bylaws to bring them up to current terminology
Council procedure manual - typically approved at one of the first meetings
Mark Cerel to touch base on open meeting law, conflicts of interest, etc.
open meeting law presentation
memo addressing email use
quorum in case of council would be five members, meetings doesn't have to be in person to qualify, email qualifies whether in serial or all at once. There is case law on this with a Boston case where their council was shuffling in and out of the meeting.
demands for public records do include personal email if referencing town business
think twice before email
commenting on public internet sites you are representing yourself as an individual citizen, not a representative of the position
posting does require 48 hour notice although there can be an emergency but there are requirements around what constitutes an emergency
sanctions for open meeting law can be significant civil fine as well as possibly setting aside the law/resolution that was the result of it
issuance of a new alcohol license or for a violation, know what is relevant and not, allow for an impartial hearing. even when you do everything right, you may still end up in litigation. We have insurance for this but the first 10,000 is still on us with the deductible we have.
Ethic law was passed in 2009, what changed was the penalty. Ethic law is a criminal statue. This is serious business. Upon swearing in, you will be given an online requirement for training. The training that was initially released was something not pertinent to local town business. A revision should be ready for the next cycle.
By definition of the statue, council members are "municipal employees" - statue applies to you and your immediate family... The family definition is extensive. Need to be aware of the prohibitions. Bribery or gifts and solicitations are targeted. Public official are prohibited from accepting or soliciting.
Compensation can be goods or services. The council is a licensing authority, if you are out to dinner and the owner of the establishment sends over some freebies, be careful. Can't do that. There is a fine line between the actual gift and the perception of a gift.
Ethic Commission has two functions, one is as an adviser. You can provide a circumstance and they can let you know what the situation would be. The safest way to go is to check with them. The Ethic Commission will take anonymous tips. They have the ability to fine up to $25,000 as well as imprisonment.
You can't use your position to gain a benefit. "Do you know who I am?" are the six most dangerous words.
The general improvement of downtown is one thing but if the benefit would be substantial for an individual, then that would be dangerous and the individual should recuse themselves.
The standards now include prohibitions on the following:
Nutting, Cerel, Kinehart
Absent: Mercer
Workshop - first year with the charter change that the Council doesn't get sworn in until next week.
Copy of charter provided. Bylaws are online. Mark Cerel undergoing a review of the bylaws to bring them up to current terminology
Council procedure manual - typically approved at one of the first meetings
Mark Cerel to touch base on open meeting law, conflicts of interest, etc.
open meeting law presentation
memo addressing email use
quorum in case of council would be five members, meetings doesn't have to be in person to qualify, email qualifies whether in serial or all at once. There is case law on this with a Boston case where their council was shuffling in and out of the meeting.
demands for public records do include personal email if referencing town business
think twice before email
commenting on public internet sites you are representing yourself as an individual citizen, not a representative of the position
posting does require 48 hour notice although there can be an emergency but there are requirements around what constitutes an emergency
sanctions for open meeting law can be significant civil fine as well as possibly setting aside the law/resolution that was the result of it
issuance of a new alcohol license or for a violation, know what is relevant and not, allow for an impartial hearing. even when you do everything right, you may still end up in litigation. We have insurance for this but the first 10,000 is still on us with the deductible we have.
Ethic law was passed in 2009, what changed was the penalty. Ethic law is a criminal statue. This is serious business. Upon swearing in, you will be given an online requirement for training. The training that was initially released was something not pertinent to local town business. A revision should be ready for the next cycle.
By definition of the statue, council members are "municipal employees" - statue applies to you and your immediate family... The family definition is extensive. Need to be aware of the prohibitions. Bribery or gifts and solicitations are targeted. Public official are prohibited from accepting or soliciting.
Compensation can be goods or services. The council is a licensing authority, if you are out to dinner and the owner of the establishment sends over some freebies, be careful. Can't do that. There is a fine line between the actual gift and the perception of a gift.
Ethic Commission has two functions, one is as an adviser. You can provide a circumstance and they can let you know what the situation would be. The safest way to go is to check with them. The Ethic Commission will take anonymous tips. They have the ability to fine up to $25,000 as well as imprisonment.
You can't use your position to gain a benefit. "Do you know who I am?" are the six most dangerous words.
The general improvement of downtown is one thing but if the benefit would be substantial for an individual, then that would be dangerous and the individual should recuse themselves.
The standards now include prohibitions on the following:
- Accepting compensable employment which is "inherently incompatible" with one's public responsibilities
- Soliciting or receiving anything of substantial value (value of $50) or using official position to secure favorable treatment
- Acting in a manner which would cause a reasonable person to conclude that official can be improperly influenced. (Liability can be avoided by filing of written disclosure.)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Election results - Nov 8, 2011
Updated 11/9/11: Precinct totals added
Updated 11/11/11: link added to view directly in Google Docs
As an alternative, you can follow this link to view the spreadsheet in Google Docs
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkwjbnXDBhczdEdVeU5CTlo3ano3QU5EX3d0dHloZGc
Updated 11/11/11: link added to view directly in Google Docs
As an alternative, you can follow this link to view the spreadsheet in Google Docs
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkwjbnXDBhczdEdVeU5CTlo3ano3QU5EX3d0dHloZGc
Election day
Today, you get to vote.
The voting booths open on at 6:00 AM and close at 8:00 PM.
If you need to review who the candidates are, and for what positions they are running for, I have the information all in one place. The election collection can be found here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/08/election-2011-summary.html
Want to review the candidates during the Candidate Forum recorded and broadcast by Franklin on Oct 24th?
Town Clerk Treasurer/Collector
Board of Health Town Council
School Committee
Note: the Forum was only for the contested positions. The candidates for Constable declined to appear.
Where is the high school field house?
218 Oak St, Franklin, MA 02038
View Larger Map
The voting booths open on at 6:00 AM and close at 8:00 PM.
If you need to review who the candidates are, and for what positions they are running for, I have the information all in one place. The election collection can be found here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/08/election-2011-summary.html
Want to review the candidates during the Candidate Forum recorded and broadcast by Franklin on Oct 24th?
Town Clerk Treasurer/Collector
Board of Health Town Council
School Committee
Note: the Forum was only for the contested positions. The candidates for Constable declined to appear.
Where is the high school field house?
218 Oak St, Franklin, MA 02038
View Larger Map
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