Franklin Matters

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Now hiring - Artistry Kitchen

We are looking for people who understand and appreciate the art of hospitality and recognize the

importance of being involved in our community. If you are a motivated, service-oriented team

player who is ready to be part of the pre-opening team of this property, please forward your resume

AVAILABLE POSITIONS
Line Cook, Prep Cook, Bartender, Server, Greeter, Busperson, Runner, Dishwasher

BENEFITS
• Competitive Compensation
• Health Insurance
• Paid Time Off

VISIT US AT OUR JOB FAIR!

When: Wednesday, November 13 from 12 PM to 8 PM

Where: Rockland Trust Bank, 58 Main St., Franklin MA

RSVP: info@artistrykitchen.com

Apply at www.artistrykitchen.com

Artistry Kitchen is part of an emerging multi-faceted hospitality company in Massachusetts called
Artistry. In addition to Artistry Kitchen, the organization is comprised of The Inn at Hastings Park,
a boutique inn and restaurant, as well as a full-service catering and event planning company.

The Artistry Kitchen flyer:

Where is Artistry Kitchen?
in downtown Franklin on the corner of Cottage and East Central

Senior Center introduces Companion Caregiver Program

Funded by a grant from the MetroWest Health Foundation, Franklin's Senior Center is offering a program to provide some off time for care givers. For those caring for the sick and elderly, the job is 24x7. To get a break, you can now get some qualified help at a reasonable price.

The Companion Caregiver Program is designed to provide a regular break (respite) for unpaid caregivers of elders, aged 60 and over, in Franklin and Bellingham. Care recipients must have a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, a related dementia, or a significant chronic medical condition. This in-home respite service is provided by a trained companion employed by the Franklin Senior Center. The program provides socialization and stimulation for the care recipient, through an activities plan developed for that individual, based on his or her interests and abilities. It also provides affordable respite for caregivers.

The details are contained in the flyer shown here:

Franklin Library: Air - Is it really there?

For children in the 1st through 4th grades, the next program in Silly Science and Mystical Math is scheduled for Friday, Nov 15th.

Registration is required as space in the class is limited. You can register here
https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e8ft554ybc860073&oseq=&c=&ch=

Additional information can be found in the flyer:

Air: Is it really there?

This was shared from the Franklin Public Library page
http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/2013/11/silly-science-mystical-math-air_6.html

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Town Of Franklin has gone GREEN with UniPay Gold

Are you tired of receiving bills in the mail, putting them down somewhere until you cannot find them when you are ready to pay them? Have you ever paid a late fee and/or interest charges because you misplaced a bill? Then you are ready to take the next step to bill presentment or paperless billing.

The Town of Franklin offers you the convenience of paperless billing through UniPay’s new electronic billing feature. Managing your bills online has now become faster and easier. With electronic bill presentment you will receive an email notice as soon as your bill is available for payment. With paperless billing you will no longer receive those paper bills to save.

It’s easy as 1, 2, 3~ …. Register, view, and pay….. And you are using the same trusted, dependable UniPay product. Your bills are stored electronically on UniPay and your payment history is also available. You can retrieve them by logging in. If you need a copy, just print it out. If you need to know what you paid for taxes for income tax purposes, just look them up.

No searching for paper copies.
No forgetting to pay.
No hassle.

And it is available 24 hours a day/365 days a year so you can manage your Real Estate and water/sewer/trash bills when you want to.

Use our on-line bill payment link to get you there to register. The link is on the Town of Franklin
Home page. franklin.ma.us/

or go directly here

It is easy to “be green”.

As posted by the Treasurer to the Franklin webpage
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_News/01BF8971-000F8513

MassBudget: Mass. Leading the Way in Kids Mental Health Screening + New KIDS COUNT Report

MassBudget		Information.
MassBudget		Participation.
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center		Democracy.

KIDS COUNT

Mental Health Screening for Moms and Kids

To ensure that all kids across the Commonwealth have the chance to reach their full potential, Massachusetts has introduced a number of programs that support children's behavioral development.

The success of some of these efforts is reflected in a KIDS COUNT report released today by the Annie E. Casey foundation which finds Massachusetts leading the nation in providing screenings that assess whether a child is at risk for developmental or other behavioral health concerns and that allow for timely intervention.

MassBudget's new brief, "It's a Family Affair: Massachusetts Leading the Way in Mental Health Screening for Moms and Kids," describes these initiatives and shows how the combination of early screening and effective intervention can work together to help children. We find that:

Two-thirds of young, low-income children in Massachusetts get early, developmental screenings, compared to just one-third nationwide.

Massachusetts is making major strides in the assessment of post-partum depression.

Making sure that mental health screenings are followed up by community-based treatment and family supports could help improve outcomes for children.

Research has shown that maternal depression affects the well-being of kids. According to Liz Friedman, Program Director for MotherWoman, "There are serious implications for children who are born to mothers with untreated depression or anxiety such as being more likely to experience social, emotional, and cognitive delays, have the potential of facing unintended neglect and can have lifelong increases in medical care utilization and expenses."

The national KIDS COUNT report, "The First Eight Years: Giving Kids a Foundation for Lifetime Success," presents a strong case for investing in the early years of a child's life. The report details the many, long-term benefits of investing in the early years of a child's life. For children to succeed, classroom learning should be integrated with other aspects of child development, such as social, emotional and physical development, to create opportunities for children to develop the full array of competencies they will need in life.

"All children need nurturing and plentiful opportunities to develop during their crucial first eight years," said Patrick McCarthy, president and CEO of the Foundation. "Today's complicated world can strain families' ability to ensure their children are receiving all the stimulation and care they need to develop to their full potential."

Read IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR: MASSACHUSETTS LEADING THE WAY IN MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING FOR MOMS AND KIDS and THE FIRST EIGHT YEARS: GIVING KIDS A FOUNDATION FOR LIFETIME SUCCESS

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts.

MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER

15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700

BOSTON, MA 02108

FHS playoff teams had mixed results on Tuesday

FHS Girls Soccer: Franklin vs. Marshfield
The Franklin High School girl's soccer team beat Marshfield 2-0 Tuesday night under the lights at Pisini Field.

The Lady Panther's went into half time with a 0-0 stalemate, but seventeen minutes into the second half junior Taylor Cogliano slipped one past Marshfield on an assist by sophomore Victoria Stowell to give Franklin a 1-0 edge. Ten minutes later Cogliano tallied another to make it the 2-0 final.

The defending state champs continue their 2013 tournament run on Thursday November 7 at Medway High School against number five seeded Needham. Time is to be announced.

FHS Girls Volleyball

"The Franklin volleyball team had its season come to an end in a 3-1 (23-25, 20-25, 25-22, 19-25) loss at Natick on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the Division 1 Central-West tournament."

Read the full article on HockomockSports.com
http://www.hockomocksports.com/1/post/2013/11/panthers-season-ends-at-natick.html

FHS Boys Soccer

Déjà vu isn't always a good thing - just ask the Franklin Panthers boys soccer team. Franklin tied #3 New Bedford 1-1 in regulation and the score stayed the same through the two overtime periods before the Whalers escaped with a 6-5 win in penalty kicks - the same manner Franklin was eliminated last year.

Read the full article on HockomockSports.com
http://www.hockomocksports.com/1/post/2013/11/penalty-kicks-end-franklins-season-again.html

“Clara’s Tea Party” - Nov 17th

Dress up in your Holiday best and enjoy an afternoon of tea, crafts and fun with Clara and her friends. The cast of Patti Eisenhauer Dance Center’s “The Nutcracker” invites you to celebrate the season with them on Sunday, Nov 17, 2013, at its studios on 31 Hayward Street in Franklin, MA.

“Last year was such a success! Our guests really enjoyed meeting the cast of the show and asking lots of questions. They sipped ‘tea’ together, enjoyed Sugarplum Sweets, made crafts and enjoyed dancing with Clara, the Sugarplum Fairy, the Dew Drop Fairy and the Snow Queen,” said Patti Eisenhauer, owner of PEDC. She added, “This year we are offering two seatings. The first seating, from 1 to 2:15pm is for our youngest guests to participate with a parent or guardian. Our second seating is from 3 to 4:30 for our older guests that can attend alone or with a friend.”

Included in the $25 ticket fee is a digital photo with Clara, as well as a small gift from her to each child.

“I am so excited to have a Tea Party with the children all dressed up in their holiday clothes!” said Sarah Finamore, who is hosting the Tea Party, along with Ainsley McStay, as both girls will dance the role of Clara in PEDC’s upcoming Nutcracker production on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15. “It is so much fun to see how excited the kids are when they see us in our beautiful costumes and crowns. It really is magical,” said Sarah. Ainsley added, “I really enjoy doing crafts with the kids and showing them some of our dances from the show. I hope that when the see the show live, they will remember our tea party.”

The “Nutcracker” Box Office is also open and tickets for the Saturday, Dec. 14 show at 5:30 and for the Sunday, Dec. 15 show at 1pm are available. Ticket prices are $15 and $12. Tickets are available by calling PEDC.

In its 33rd year of dance education, Patti Eisenhauer Dance Center is a state-of the art Dance Center offering tap, ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop and gymnastics classes, as well as birthday parties. Classes are held for each age group from pre-school children through adult. Children are taught the discipline of tap, ballet, jazz and tumbling during their class each week. The center offers air conditioning and springboard flooring.

For more information or to purchase tickets, email: pedcnews@gmail.com or call the studio at 508-520-7873.

You can visit the PEDC webpage here http://www.pedancecenter.com/Home.html

"paltry turnout at the polls"

Milford Daily News writes on the Franklin election results:

Turnout proved slow throughout the chilly, sun-splashed day and never picked up. Roughly 2,527 people filed into the polls, a little more than 10 percent of the town’s 22,000 registered voters, according to Town Clerk Deborah Pellegri. That number stands as the lowest recorded at a town election in a decade.

In addition to voting for the council seats, voters weighed in on two ballot referendums.

For the nonbinding question, they rejected the idea of amending the town charter to allow for the election of a mayor, with 1,374 residents voting yes and 936 voting no.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Franklin Election results - Nov 5, 2013

Town Council results

Padula *	1667
Williams *	1622
Vallee *	1431
Mercer *	1383
Kelly *	1378
Pfeffer *	1347
Bissanti *	1318
Jones *	1249
Feldman *	1041
DelFino	953

Top 9 are elected *

School Committee results

Douglas *	1439
O'Malley *	1410
Trahan *	1387
Jewell *	1213
Rohrbach *	1196
Clement *	1168
Mullen *	1154

All 7 are elected

Constable results

McCahill *	1265
LaRosa	685

Board of Assessors (4 year term)

Feeley *	1343
Ballinger	694

Board of Assessors (2 year term)

Neas

1464

Planning Board results

Padula *	1407
Halligan *	1282
Arora	862

Board of Health

Hunchard *

1583

Ballot Question #1 (Franklin will appoint the next Treasurer)

Yes	1177
No	1118

Ballot Question #2 (Franklin will not explore a Mayor)

Yes	936
No	1374

Remember to vote today - 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM

At the Franklin High School field house, the following positions are up for election.

There are ten candidates for nine Town Council positions

Brett S. Feldman
Glenn F. Jones
Thomas D. Mercer
Andrew M. Bissanti
Judith Pond Pfeffer
Matthew T. Kelly
Stephen T. Williams
Peter E. Padula
Robert R. Vallee
Charles F. Delfino, Jr.

no school today, go and vote!

There are seven candidates for the seven School Committee positions

John S. Jewell PhD
Cynthia J.Douglas
Roberta D. Trahan
Paula T. Mullen
Susan T. Rohrbach
Kevin P. O'Malley
Trevor A. Clement

There are two candidates for the one Board of Assessors position for a four year term

Christopher K. Feeley
Daniel B. Ballinger

There is one candidate for the one Board of Assessors position for a two year term

John H. Neas

There is one candidate for the one Board of Health position for a four year term

Bruce J. Hunchard

There are two candidates for the one Constable position for a two year term

Rancourt LaRosa
Daniel S. McCahill

There are three candidates for the two Planning Board positions for a four year term

Joseph F. Halligan
Anthony D. Padula
Navdeep S. Arora

There are two ballot questions, one to change from elected to appointed the Treasurer/Collector and one non-binding question on exploring a mayor form of government.

Ballot question text: (binding)

Shall the city known as the Town of Franklin approve the charter amendment proposed by the Franklin Town Council in Resolution 13-30 summarized below?

The proposed amendment eliminates the provision for election of the Town Treasurer-Collector and adds a provision for appointment of the Town Treasurer-Collector by the Town Administrator, with input from a selection committee and ratification by the Town Council; the amendment takes effect if and when approved by the voters, except that the incumbent Treasurer-Collector shall serve the remainder of his current term.

Ballot question text: (non-binding)

"Would you be in favor of further amending the Franklin Home Rule Charter to provide for the election of a mayor to govern the city known as the town of Franklin?"

Other information on the Nov 5th election can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/10/franklin-election-2013.html

Voter history for Franklin local elections 2003 - 2011

What kind of turn out will the voters make on Tuesday? If history is any guide, it will be low.

Franklin Election History 2003 - 2011

The elections of 2005, 2009 and this year 2013 are comparable. The elections of 2003, 2007, and 2011 are also comparable. The difference between the two sets is that the Town Clerk and Treasurer/Collector are up for election in the later set (2003, 2007 and 2011) and with their election on the ballot there has shown a growth in voter turn out.

With this this election excluding those positions, it will likely be in the 15-18% range. I would hope it would be more like 2011 given the ballot questions: one binding to change the Treasurer/Collector to an appointed position and one non-binding to consider a mayor. We'll see what happens on Tuesday

The full workbook with the official statistics can be found here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczbWllZDI1MzA4Sjg/edit?usp=sharing

Franklin Garden Club - "Gardening for a Lifetime"

The Franklin Garden Club is meeting Tuesday, Nov 5th at the St. John's Episcopal Church, Pleasant Street, Franklin, MA at 7:00 p.m. Betty Sanders is will be doing a presentation about Gardening for a Lifetime! Betty is a member of the Landscape Design Council, the Gardening Study Council and a student Flower Show judge. She has designed and built the Master Gardener exhibit at the New England Spring Flower Show and the Boston Flower and Garden Show since 2006 and has lectured at the New England Flower Show.

Betty volunteers at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, where she helped design the 6,000-square-foot vegetable garden that supplies crops for three area food pantries. For more information, please visit her website, www.Bettyongardening.com
Like the Franklin Garden Club on Facebook

FYSA - Soccer playoff fever continues... Come on out this Tuesday!

The FHS varsity teams are still going strong! Both teams have made it to the quarter-final round of the D1 South Sectional playoffs.

FHS Soccer

Thanks to all of you who have come out to support the players. Having those large crowds at the games really make a difference!!

The FHS Varsity Girls will play Marshfield on Tuesday at 4pm at FHS turf field.

The FHS Varsity Boys will play New Bedford on Tuesday at 6pm at New Bedford.

Please come out and support the girls...give them a great local crowd for an awesome home field advantage!

If you're up for a road trip, the boys would love the support as it's going to be a tough game on the road.

GO PANTHERS!!

Franklin Youth Soccer Association, 256 Cottage Street
, Franklin, MA, 02038
http://franklinyouthsoccer.org, info@franklinyouthsoccer.org, (508) 520-4070

Candidates for Town Council (part 3)

Monday, November 4, 2013

Voices of Franklin: Powderly -> Appoint the Treasurer/Collector Position

Friends and Colleagues

Tomorrow is election day, and I respectfully ask you to VOTE YES on Question 1 to make the Treasurer/Collector position in Franklin an appointed position, not an elected position as it currently stands.

Moving the position to an appointed position does not indicate a loss of faith or trust in the voters. The move recognizes that Franklin has grown to a $100 million+ business, with complex debt management and cash flows, and that an election does not necessarily allow one to properly vet candidates for such a critical position. The process for hiring our next Treasurer/Collector should include interviews, references, requirements for certifications, prior experience, assessment of ability to work with other Franklin departments, at a minimum. Indeed, the likes of General Motors or IBM or Pepsi do not choose their CFO based on a poll of their staff because although their staff may be well-informed and well-intentioned, the dynamics of an election do not automatically mean that a rigorous full review of the candidates takes place.

Please note that our current Treasurer/Collector, Jim Dacey, has lobbied for a change to an Appointed position for years. He has done a phenomenal job for the Town and is the one most qualified to comment on the rigors of the position. Please read his editorial below for his reasoning, and note that last week Milford approved by Town Meeting this same change.

http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x915438136/Dacey-Make-Franklin-post-appointed

Please support the Treasurer/Collector position as Appointed for the long-term financial health and stability of Franklin.

Thank you.

Tina Powderly

Conversation with Brett Feldman - Town Council Candidate

Brett Feldman is attempting to step up to the Town Council after 8 years with the Finance Committee. Brett will be one of 10 candidates for 9 positions on the Town Council. Aside from the existing Councilors, his experience on the Finance Committee has probably best prepared him for what will be needed to serve on the Town Council.

By the time, Brett and I got together earlier this month, he has already met with Town Administrator Jeff Nutting to review the listing of the topics Jeff had prepared for the candidates to be aware of. There were no surprises on the list. Brett was already familiar with the issues around the funding for the roads, the schedule for the downtown project, and Davis Thayer’s status, to mention just a few.

Brett’s eight years on the Finance Committee has provided him a good knowledge of the overall business of Franklin. He understands the budget process. He has worked with the various department managers and other committees.

Brett is an energy professional with experience working for energy companies. He lives in Franklin with his wife and two children. The oldest of his two children is in elementary school and youngest is about to enter. He is a civic minded volunteer looking to be ‘part of the solution’ for Franklin.

You can also find Brett’s input during the Candidate Forum on Oct 23rd here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/10/live-reporting-candidates-forum-town.html

Election sign collection - 2013

The photos of the election signs that I found around Franklin can be found here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_sherlock/sets/72157637276276744/

If you find a sign for a candidate that I missed please send it to me so I can add it to the collection.

Thanks

"We are hoping that it will be good"

The Milford Daily News writes about the local Franklin election happening on Tuesday, Nov 5th

The ballot includes races for Planning Board, Board of Assessors, constable and Town Council.

Voters are to decide whether to make the treasure/collector position appointed through an amendment to the town’s charter. And they will see a non-biding referendum asking if the town should adopt a mayoral form of government.

Ten candidates, six incumbents and four hopefuls, are vying for the nine available council seats.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x825427347/Election-day-is-Tuesday-in-Franklin#ixzz2jfnSzSy1

The candidate profiles are posted to the Wicked Local Franklin page and summarized here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/11/candidates-for-town-council-part-2.html

and here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/11/candidates-for-town-council.html

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

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