Business Roundtable - November 14

Good Morning: As you hopefully already know, the Town of Franklin has scheduled a Business Roundtable for November 14th at Dean College. (See embedded file below.) The workshop is in support of an economic development study focused on three of Franklin's older commercial areas:

• The Downtown Franklin Commercial District;
• The Crossing, a smaller commercial village near Union and Cottage Streets; and
• The Mixed Business Innovation District (Hayward & Fisher Streets Priority Development Area), an industrial neighborhood recently rezoned to increase the number and type businesses.

I hope you are able to attend. It doesn't matter if your business is in one of the three commercial districts mentioned above. Among other things, we'll be discussing how the Town can better support and grow local businesses, so any business owner or manager, property owner, organization, or individual interested in Franklin's economic future are invited to attend. If you can think of an individual or business that should be at the event please contact them directly or let me know and I'll send an invite.

If you know for sure you'll be attending please RSVP by email to me (btaberner@franklinma.gov), or Raul Gonzalez of MAPC (RGonzalez@mapc.org). I'm trying to get a rough number of probable attendees for planning purposes. Whether you RSVP or not I hope to see you at the Business Roundtable. Let me know if you have questions. 

Thank you. 
Bryan.

Bryan W. Taberner, AICP
Director of Planning and Community Development
355 East Central Street
Franklin, MA 02038-1352

Phone: 508-520-4907
Fax: 508-520-4906
Email: btaberner@franklinma.gov

Business Roundtable - November 14

Get your copy of the flyer shown here as a reminder
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczQjJTaDBtZlNrTG84RWJEbzFrTTBCQVVuWTRR/view?usp=sharing

Peter Willis Photography - show and items for sale - Nov 3

Need to get Gifts for The Holidays? The Vendor Fair this Sunday, Nov 3 can help.

Sponsored by The Lions Club Franklin MA
Raffle Basket and Vendors from 10 AM to 3 PM

$5 Entry Fee, Children under 12 Free

The 2020 calendar is available for purchase, $20 dollars for the calendar. Notecards and coasters are also available too

Can’t make it to the event, you can still chat with Peter and place your order at https://www.peterwillisphotography.com anytime and get you favorite image delivered to your door.

Thank you in advance for your support!!!! 😃📸

The address for the VFW
1034 Pond St
Franklin, MA 02038

Peter Willis Photography
https://www.peterwillisphotography.com/

 Peter Willis Photography  - show and items for sale - Nov 3

"we allow our signs to share our message"

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

"As the 2020 presidential election year nears, Democrats in Franklin and those who share their views are continuing to mount demonstrations in protest of the Trump administration. And they’re not the only ones, as like-minded people in neighboring Medway have begun to speak up, too.

Members of the Franklin Democratic Town Committee began occasionally holding peaceful protests earlier this year, and are planning their next gathering on Nov. 16. The effort has now been taken up by the Medway Democratic Town Committee, which held its first demonstration on Oct. 6 and is organizing a second from 10 a.m. to noon on Sunday on the sidewalk in front of the Medway Place shopping plaza.

“It looks as if our protest efforts are becoming contagious,” said Sue Cass, a member of the Franklin Democrats who has been a lead organizer of the Franklin efforts."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191101/franklin-medway-democrats-speaking-out-in-protest-of-trump-administration

Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA: FRI - Nov 1 to THU - Nov 7

Fri Nov 1, 2019

10am	Franklin Art Association’s Showcase
10am	Knitting Group
3:30pm	Chess Club for Kids

Sat Nov 2, 2019

9:30am	St. Mary's Women's Faith Formation Group
10am	Franklin Historical Museum (Always free)
10:30am	Baby Sensory!
8pm	Freebo, Alice Howe, KIrsten Maxwell: Circle of Friends Coffeehouse

Sun Nov 3, 2019

	Daylight Saving Time ends
1pm	Franklin Historical Museum (always free)
3pm	Deb's Sing and Swing!
3pm	LiveARTS String Quartet 10th Anniversary

Mon Nov 4, 2019

10am	Franklin Art Association’s Showcase
10:30am	Move Along
3:30pm	D&D for Kids
7pm	Friends of the Franklin Library Meeting

Tue Nov 5, 2019

6am	Franklin Election
9:30am	Cool Cruisers
10am	Franklin Art Association’s Showcase
10:30am	Get Ready for Kindergarten
1:30pm	Storytime STEAM
4pm	Code I.T.
6:30pm	Foreign Film Night
6:30pm	Franklin Garden Club - Climate Reality
6:30pm	Tri-County Open House - Gr 7 & 8 Students
7pm	Friends of the Franklin Library Book Group

Wed Nov 6, 2019

10am	Franklin Art Association’s Showcase
10:30am	Terrific Toddlers
5pm	Construction Junction
6pm	Artist Amigos! For Teens
7pm	Franklin Art Assoc - Monthly Meeting
7pm	Jeff Belanger: Ghosts & Legends

Thu Nov 7, 2019

9:30am	Baby Tummy Time
10am	Franklin Art Association’s Showcase
10:30am	Story Xplorers
4pm	Bookworm Bounce Storytime!
5:45pm	FAA Booster Mtg
6pm	Volunteens

For the interactive version, please visit

https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/blog-page.html

For the Town of Franklin Public Meeting Calendar

https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar

Submit an event for the Community Calendar, please use this link

https://www.franklinculture.org/things-do/links/submit-event

Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA: FRI - Nov  1 to THU - Nov  7

Franklin Downtown Partnership - General Meeting - Nov 7

Plan to spend an hour with the Franklin Downtown Partnership (FDP) on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 8:30 AM for the next FDP general meeting. The meeting will be held in the Campanella Board Room in the Dean College Campus Center.

Meet Partnership members, network with other business owners, and hear updates about the town, state, and Downtown Partnership. If you're concerned you don't have time, remember the meeting only lasts an hour, from 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM. The hour will be well worth your time investment!

Franklin Downtown Partnership - General Meeting - Nov 7

This was shared from the FDP web page

https://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/2019/10/next-fdp-general-meeting-nov-7.html

Did you know residents can be members? You do not need to be a business owner. Individual membership costs only $25 per year. $15 for students and senior citizens. Additional member info and application found on the FDP web page

https://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/p/membership-info.html

Franklin Candidate Interview: Ann Bergen

This interview with Dr Ann Bergen, candidate for Franklin School Committee in 2019, was collaborated on via email. We reviewed the following questions, some of them were ‘crowd sourced.’ Some of you may remember the call for input solicited in August 2019 for this election. Thank you for your contributions.

Hopefully, the information provided here, and in the other interviews, will enable the Franklin voters to make a good choice among the candidates for each position.

For the following FM presents the question. AB represents Ann’s response.

FM = There are and have been many opportunities to volunteer with community groups in Franklin. Have you taken advantage of any of these? Which ones, and why did you choose that/those?

AB = I have been a School Committee member for two terms; the last term (2 years) as its chair. I ran because my whole professional life has been devoted to advocacy of public schools. I truly believe that education is the great equalizer.

Social/emotional well-being is the foundation of a happy and fulfilling life; to that end I created and host a cable access TV show: It Takes a Village: Raising Resilient Kids in Today’s World. Because the disease of substance use disorder is impacting so many young lives, I joined forces with Jim Derick from the Safe Coalition and co-host a Franklin a cable access TV show: SAFE COALITION: Confronting our Crisis. In addition, I am part of the Franklin Public Schools Substance Abuse Task Force. 

I will also be serving on the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Task Force on Juvenile Substance Abuse and Mental Health. The Franklin YMCA is the largest charitable organization in our community. The work they do in our community is incredible. Because I believe so much in all they do, I serve on the Board of Managers.  More and more people are living with the disease of Dementia; Karen Alves and Maggie Gundersen from the Senior Center are committed to raising awareness and inspiring empathy and compassion. I serve with them on the Dementia Friendly Franklin Steering Committee.  In addition, I believe there must be a place in our community for local programming on TV and radio. We are so fortunate to have a state of the art cable access studio in our community. I serve on the Board of Directors of Franklin Cable Access TV.

FM = Where do you get your news about Franklin?

AB = I check in with Franklin Matters every day; read the Gazette and the monthly Franklin Town News.

FM = The possibility of a change in school start times was a recent controversial topic taken up by the School Committee. Where do you stand on the issue of school start times in Franklin and what actions do you plan to take around this issue during the next term of the School Committee?

AB = When virtually every major medical and psychological association in the country recommends adjusting start times for our adolescents, our School Committee along with so many across the country and the state voted to investigate; it would have been irresponsible not to. A task force made up of educators, parents, business leaders, etc. spent over a year researching this issue and made a recommendation. 

Based on community impact and our own study of the ramifications of the recommendation, we decided as a committee that we were not yet ready to move forward. For me there were too many unanswered questions (impact on teams, clubs, after school activities). I was left confused by the panel who presented on “the research”. They actually did not address the sleep research, but spoke anecdotally. 

I am looking forward to getting more information from Dr. Judith Owens, a well-known expert on the sleep research. She will be speaking on November 19. We are gathering more data from our schools relative to tardies/absences and are exploring the impact of social media and homework demands on sleep as well. 

We have never been able to match school times to work schedules; that will always be an issue. Just ask the hundreds of families who drop off their kids in day care every day. We have to do the best we can to mitigate the impact on families, but our main goal must always be on what is best for the emotional, social and physical well-being of our students.

FM = While the current School Committee has attempted to reach the community through various forms of communication including coffee chats, email newsletters, attending events such as the farmers market, etc., they have been generally unsuccessful at increasing the engagement with important issues related to the schools. What actions will you take to increase citizen engagement with the School Committee?

AB = It is very important for people to understand that a School Committee is bound by the Open Meeting Law to conduct all business at public meetings. We must deliberate as an entire committee in public, not through social media. We meet twice a month and encourage people to come and engage with us directly. Franklin Cable Access TV broadcasts all of our meetings and rebroadcasts during the week. Franklin Matters also reports on our meetings. Unfortunately, the local newspapers no longer cover our meetings. We have updated our website and all of our contact information is available. We encourage direct contact. We send out a newsletter to the community at least four times a year.

It should be noted that since January alone of this past year, we have provided more than TWENTY-SIX opportunities to engage with us. We have held community coffee hours every month at different times to accommodate work schedules! We have been at the Harvest Festival, Farmer’s Market, Strawberry Stroll, Senior Center, and sporting events! 

We already met twice with Davis Thayer families to address concerns relative to the closing study! We arranged for our state senators and state representative to address concerns relative to funding and issues such as time on learning ; we have arranged for them to return on Feb. 4, 2020. I say with great pride that this past committee has provided unprecedented opportunity for community engagement!!! 

We have been open to address any concern, answer any and all questions. If I have the honor of being reelected, I hope we continue to engage to this extent with the public!

FM = The Town Administrator has suggested that the School Committee investigate the possibility of closing Davis Thayer Elementary as a possible cost-saving mechanism for the town in these tight economic times. Where do you stand on this issue and what actions will you take to support your stance?

AB = Actually, we as a School Committee following our own policy relative to retirement of facilities based on the recommendation of the Superintendent voted to study the potential closing of Davis Thayer. We did not do this on the recommendation of the Town Administrator but based on our own evaluation of the fiscal issues facing us as a school department. That is the responsibility of the School Committee. 

I truly understand the emotional ramifications of closing Davis Thayer as it was my professional home for many years (teacher, reading specialist, and principal in that very building!!). I loved working there; I loved the community. 

The enrollment there has dwindled to about 200 students. We have to take a hard look at the numbers associated with maintaining such a large building for so few students. Davis Thayer was built and designed as a three-story high school facility (with no elevator). It was renovated as an open space school when I began teaching there. When walls were eventually put up to divide the space, classrooms were left very small! 

There are other limitations which we must consider. It is time, at least, to study, as painful as that is for such a devoted school community. It is one of those tough decisions, but part of our fiscal responsibility.

FM = Why should I vote for you?

AB = We are facing some tough fiscal times. I believe firmly that as a School Committee, it is imperative we are open and transparent about the budget issues facing our schools. We must work cooperatively with the Town Council, Finance Committee, and Town Administrator. We are one community and must all work together to make sure Franklin remains a thriving, safe and vibrant community. I am committed to that partnership. 

We hired an extraordinary superintendent and implemented the rigorous and powerful evaluation process in order to monitor the implementation of our District Goals. Dr. Ahern is working with the representatives from across the community to create A Portrait of a Graduate; a powerful vision of what skills, habits and attitudes that we wish for all of our students to obtain upon graduation. I am committed to supporting that vision. 

Social Emotional well-being of both staff and students must remain a major focus. I am a passionate advocate for public schools and like all of the candidates running for office wish to give back, to serve. I firmly believe that it is so important to use whatever talents we have to serve the greater good. I would love that opportunity and would greatly appreciate your vote on November 5.

Find the election and candidate information gathered in one place on the Election Collection
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/07/franklin-election-collection-2019.html

Franklin Candidate Interview: Ann Bergen

MassBudget: Statement on Proposed Gas Tax Increase

October 30, 2019 Statement on Proposed Gas Tax Increase  Statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center President, in response to discussions on increasing the gas tax:  With congested highways, antiquated public transit, and limited transit options outside of Greater Boston, the Legislature and business community are debating the merits of increasing the gas tax to modernize our state's transportation system. It is critically important to understand that not only would this increase hit low and middle income communities the hardest but it would draw on a source of transportation revenue that will likely decline over the long term. Our report, 14 Options for Raising Progressive Revenue, outlines a variety of fair and sustainable ways we can raise revenue, including raising corporate taxes. These options ask those who are benefiting most from economic growth to contribute a little more to help bring our transportation system into the 21st century. If policymakers decide to raise the gas tax, increasing and expanding worker tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, can create a financial buffer for some who would be hardest hit by a gas tax increase. Interested in learning more about the pros and cons of higher gas taxes? Read our latest report here. 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 1 STATE STREET, SUITE 1250 BOSTON, MA 02109

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 1 State Street, Suite 1250, Boston, MA 02109 Sent by rwilliams@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today!