Take my stand, please

A recent comment posted on my article, "Why are so many people running for Selectman?," vented:

…We will refuse to be MU[ZZ]LED into a new selectperson with a defined agenda...going into office. Just wait till the vote.…

That brings up an interesting point. Should a candidate have an agenda? Does that make the candidate subserviant to a campaign promise?

During last year's Selectman's campaign, Moira Miller refused to state positions on pressing issues. She didn't take a position on the override until after the incumbent Board of Selectmen took a position and she agreed with the Board's opinion. The only position she took on her own was saying something about wanting to increase communications between the Board and the town.

I don't fault her for that decision. It's one way to run — successfully, it seems.

Ben Tartaglia ran as an outspoken leader against the override — he almost won.

So I ask you: should a candidate have positions on issues before the election?

Does that mean a selectman is closed-minded? Or a principled leader?

Why are so many people running for Selectman?

So why are so many people in this race?

We're up to seven people running for two positions.

Let's recap. The Board of Selectmen is comprised of five people, each elected for a three-year term: John Lebeaux (last elected 2007), Moira Miller (elected in 2007), Jimmy McCaffrey (elected 2006), Bruce Card (last elected 2005) and Moe Depalo (last elected 2005). Moe is up for re-election this year and Bruce is retiring.

Here are some dates to note:

• Nomination papers have been available at the Clerk's office since January.
• Nomination papers are due March 18 (three weeks from now).
• Candidates may withdraw from the race by April 3.
• The Annual Town Election is Tuesday, May 6.

Just because someone has taken out nomination papers, doesn't mean they are necessarily going to become a candidate. The papers still need to be completed with 50 valid signatures of registered voters and candidates can still withdraw after that. In the past, people have taken out papers and not completed them, so there's still no telling exactly how many people will be in this race in the end.

And now a little history of Selectmen's races from days-gone-by:

In 1997, 5% turnout, Laurie Lindberg was elected without opposition.
In 1998, 27% turnout, John Lebeaux and Tom Fiore were elected with 4 opponents.
In 1999, 8% turnout, Bruce Card & Moe Depalo were elected without opposition.
In 2000, 22% turnout, Phil Hammond won without opposition.
In 2001, 18% turnout, John & Tom were re-elected with 1 opponent.
In 2002, 12% turnout, Bruce & Moe were re-elected without opposition.
In 2003, 14% turnout, Phil Hammond was re-elected with 1 opponent.
In 2004, 33% turnout, John & Tom were re-elected with 1 opponent.
In 2005, 9% turnout, Bruce & Moe were re-elected without opposition.
In 2006, 29% turnout, Jimmy McCaffrey was elected with 2 opponents.
In 2007, 53% turnout, John was re-elected and Moira Miller was elected with 2 opponents.

So, again I ask you, why are so many people running this time? I'm not asking this in a snarky hypothetical way to imply something. Really… I have no idea.

By the way, an interesting statistic:
When was the last time Moe ran had any opponents?

Look carefully.

Look again.

I only have records going back 11 years.

I welcome your ideas and comments!!

To Hell with it — I don't really wanna know

Last year, when I started this blog, I allowed readers to post comments anonymously. I also, at the time, had pseudonymous writers who wrote their own blog entries under pseudonyms. But I was most proud of our ability to allow readers to give their honest feedback to what we had written.  Those comments were sometime posted anonymously, sometimes with made up names, and other times with the authors real names.

Shortly thereafter, neither the selectmen nor the Town Moderator would talk to me. They didn't like our pseudonymous writers. They also insisted, at the time, that posting anonymous comments was inappropriate, unprofessional, and wasn't what the "respectable" or "bona fide" media did. I told them that the on-line sites of major newspapers actually did allow readers to make anonymous comments.

In response to this and for other response, I stopped the pseudonymous writers and the anonymous comments. I wrote a blog entry ("Who are you — I Really Wanna Know"), explaining my decision.

Removing pseudonymous writers was met with mixed reactions. Some people told me it was dishonest for brave writers to hide behind a fake name. Others told me that now the honest truth won't get out.

But despite this and my removing the anonymous comments, none of the selectmen will respond to me on the record.

And once more I read anonymous comments posted on the T&G website. These were much more impassioned than anything I'd allowed on ShrewsBuried. Here, for example, are comments posted in reaction to the selectmen's PAYT decision.

I'm honestly frustrated that the public square isn't big enough for people to say their honest minds. Not everyone has the time or ability to attend one of the rare public forums offered by the Board of Selectmen.

Therefore, I'm restoring the comments feature of the blog starting now. Pseudonymous writers are still on hold, but you're welcome to post anonymous comments in response to articles we've posted. (I'll continue to filter patently offensive comments.)

So have your say. Tell us all what you think.

We really want to know!

The Way We Were 1936

In 1936 life was a little different in some ways, cows, sheep, swine and fowl are assessed and a tax is paid on them, in addition to house and property.

"Article #9 Increase in the number of Board of Selectman to 5. To see if the town will votes to increase number of Selectman to 5 each to serve a term of one year."

Garbage Disposal Costs: $1200.00
Surgical Dental and X-Ray Work on School Children: $200.00
Auto for Health Nurse: $600.00

Total Registered Voters is 3019 with only 2 precincts
"Shall licenses be granted for all alcoholic beverages (whiskey, rum, gin...)" 1607 yes votes and 865 no votes and 632 blanks.

Shall licenses be granted for all alcoholic beverages be granted from wine malt and beer. 1615 yes votes, 759 no votes and 730 blanks.

Total School Enrollment 1552

"The new project under WPA includes the repair of school furniture in all school buildings and the construction of some new and much needed equipment as storage cabinets...portable black boards, lunch room benches, tables and equipment for primary grades"

AND SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE:
The High school building at the center is housing about 90 more pupils than it was built for.
The Ward School is housing 40 more children than it should.
The Coolidge School is overcrowed.

data and quotes from 1936 #209 Annual Report of the Town Officers of the Town of Shrewsbury.

Johanna Musselman is running for Selectman

Johanna Musselman has taken out nominating papers for the Board of Selectmen election. She is the 7th person to take out papers for the two open Board positions on the ballot.

Musselman is a Town Meeting Member, a former Finance Committee member, the current Treasurer of the Middle Schools PTO and a founding member of SHARP (Shrewsbury Art Partners, the booster organization for art in the Shrewsbury Schools).

She graduated from Brown University with a degree in Civil Engineering and she holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College. She has worked in engineering, consulting, and project management. Most recently, she worked at Fidelity Investments.

Musselman is a member of several local civic groups: Friends of the Library, Shrewsbury League of Women Voters, Citizens for a Better Shrewsbury and is an elected member of the Democratic Town Committee.

She joins Matthew Divris, John Masiello, Chris Rutigliano, Maurice Depalo, Benjamin W. Tartaglia, and Wayne Keevan in the contest on May 6, 2008.

The best Shrewsbury contest (so far)

I'm starting a contest:

Write a six-word motto for Shrewsbury!

Tell me what you think of our dear town no more than six words. How much can you say about our town in only six words?

This is based on a recent Freakonomics blog, "Contest: A Six-Word Motto for the U.S.?" ("The Most Gentle Empire So Far", "You Should See the Other Guy", "Caution! Experiment in Progress Since 1776", "Just Like Canada, With Better Bacon", "Our Worst Critics Prefer to Stay")

Which, in turn, is based on this recent article in the New York Times: "Britain Seeks Its Essence, and Finds Punch Lines" ("Once Mighty Empire, Slightly Used", "At Least We’re Not French", "We Apologize for the Inconvenience", and the winner: "No Motto Please, We’re British")

Which, again in turn, is loosely based on a book on six-word memoirs, "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure."

Here are some of my ideas to get you started: "Go to Worcester and turn East", "Best Commander-in-Chief so far," "Now with 12% more Avalon!"

Mottos must be no more than six words— fewer is OK. Numbers count as 1 word. Punctuation doesn't count. Multiple entries are allowed - there's no limit.

Send me your motto contest entries by emailing me.

Updates: In an earlier version of this post, I suggested posting comments as entries. However, I only want entries mailed to me. Also, I've added explicit allowance of multiple entries.

Should subsidies be means-tested?

The Parks and Recreation budget for FY09 includes a subsidy (their word, not mine) for senior citizens enrolled in department classes.

At the Finance Committee hearing this weekend, I asked if this was a policy that the Board of Selectmen had implemented. Town Manager Dan Morgado said it was just a long-standing policy in this town, but there was no further explanation.

Is this only for seniors who are on fixed or limited incomes? Do seniors who are rich get this discount? Like all ages, there are poor seniors, and there are rich seniors. So I polietly asked if even seniors who are rich (those few, alas) get this discount. You could have heard a pin drop.

Why do we stereotype the elderly? What unfair biases are at play? Why don't more people speak out against prejudice?

Why do we assume that seniors are poor? Sure, many are, especially with the way the economy's been going. But the unthinking assumption is offensive. It's insulting. What happened to old fashioned courtesy? How would you like someone to say to you, "You're old, you must be broke."

Seniors deserve greater respect.

There is no needs assessment; no means test to see if someone truly needs and deserves our compassionate financial assistance in these difficult times. Before I were to go on the dole, I would expect my government to ask if I truly needed it.

There are poor working families of all ages in Shrewsbury with couples working two, three, or even four jobs between them. They can barely make ends meet, but they don't get this subsidy.

But the real problem is that there hasn't been a stated policy on this. The Board of Selectmen haven't told the Manager to create subsidies for all seniors. Town Meeting hasn't been offered the question. The assumption is made — and then nothing happens.

Jim McCaffrey later snickered to a senior in the room asking if he was one of the "rich seniors."

Why kick them when they're down?

If only there were something to tell me what day it is today...

(This is an updated article which I first published last week. I've made significant changes in the links below, so I chose to republish the entire article again.)

With the advent of February, I've added a calendar to the blog. (It would have made more sense to add it in January, but it took me a little while to get it to work.)

The "ShrewsBuried" calendar lists important events, and you can find it at the bottom of the page. Be sure to use the scrollbar to move the schedule to later in the day.

You can view the calendars here:

• Click here to view the "ShrewsBuried" calendar
• Click here to view the "SBTV" calendar (This will show you political shows produced by Shrewsbury Media Connection.)

You can also subscribe to the calendars here:

• Click here to subscribe to the "ShrewsBuried" calendar
• Click here to subscribe to the "SBTV" calendar
  

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I remind you that you can also Subscribe to Shrewsburied. That means you subscribe directly to the blog itself! The subscription service will email you once a day with the newest headlines from the previous day.

I have no idea how many people are subscribing, but a couple of subscribers have have already told me how helpful it is.

You can either click here or enter your email address here:

Sandy Fryc is running for School Committee

There are now three people in the race for School Committee.

Sandy Fryc, a Town Meeting Member, took out nomination papers on Monday to run for the Shrewsbury School Committee in the Annual Town election in May 2008. Incumbent Mark Murray is also running as is 2006 candidate, John Martin. There are two seats available this year.

Fryc is a former member of the Floral and Sherwood School Councils, a current member on the Oak School Council, and the schools' Coordinating Council. She has two children currently in the Shrewsbury public schools.

I think her name is pronounced like "Fritz" but only she knows for sure. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Active Town Residents

To the Editor:-

Missy Hollenback's comments seem reasonable but an old army expression was that new recruits coming into the barracks were told "let you barrack bag settle on the floor, before voicing opinions."

With the advent of the computer wires, it seems that many residents, whom we never heard of before, are now covering all subjects relating to the town.

Get a little longevity under your skull cap and then voice your multitude of opinions is my advice, for what it is worth.

Tom Rooney, Sr.
5 Birch Lane
Shrewsbury

Ultimately Where Does the Buck Stop?

Who really makes town government decisions? Town Manager,an employee, Dan Morgado makes the budget and suggestions and runs Town Hall. The Board of Selectman, his boss, might follow his suggestions. They hear dog complaints, decide upon multi-million development deals, decide on water bans, etc. The Finance Committee does something but I am not really sure what. Then it goes to Town Meeting where about 230+ members who might or might not know about the issues or how their precinct feels about those issues vote using a voice vote, not a roll call.

Some residents, including me, have felt they Town Meeting is simply a rubber stamp for the Board of Selectman. Town Meeting members decided that our Selectman should spend time listening to dog complaints. A few years ago the Selectman wanted to change that by law, after lengthy debate, it was decided; it is better to have the Board of Selectman rather than the Police Department handle dog complaints. If a dog complaint happens between two or three neighbors and it escalates, who gets called the Board of Selectman? No, when a neighborhood feuds the police are called in to handle it.

Town Meeting decided against the Selectman’s suggestion to limit lot sizes, which we all know has led to Shrewsbury’s explosive growth. Wouldn’t it be nice to have had a roll call on that vote? Then wouldn’t it have been interesting to take that roll call and compare it to how they feel about overrides? The 2007 Town Survey interview:

12. What things seem to be threatening the quality of life in Shrewsbury?

• Locals trying to project an attitude that there is a lot wrong with town. Affects new resident’s perceptions, in a negative way, feeling they are getting cheated.
  
• Cars facing wrong way on street cops don’t write tickets, people going through recycling, people abusing water bans. Property qualities of water high in magnesium eating at pipes. Shouldn’t be a town but a city, town structure separates voice of the residents from those in charge, in addition not sure who is responsible for what.
  
• Infrastructure grew too quickly for town, wasn’t prepared for level of growth. Public transformation needs to catch up with growth as well.
  
• Over building lack of affordable housing for middle income people, why all these gigantic houses, what about small houses.
  
• Fortunately we cannot keep up with the high-tech income people who build there million dollar homes and have no problem increasing their taxes, but the town has to not forget those who kept the town going for all these years
  
• Town council never saw a development plan they didn’t like unless it was allowing poor people into the town. Over growth without sustainability. Lack of oversight. Strain on town services. i.e. apartment complex is built; families move in, schools get fuller.
  
• Inability to pay for services appropriately effecting life in Shrewsbury
  

Town Meeting changed the zoning on the land coveted by Value Place Hotel, were they hoodwinked; did they ask the right questions, do they know the right questions to ask, did they ask those in their precincts?

I challenged our Board of Selectman to take charge and lead regarding the trash fees, but ultimately the buck stops at Town Meeting, they decide. Do YOU know how your Town Meeting representative votes? Do YOU even know your Town Meeting representatives? I don't! What about the other 18,000 or so registered voters?

The Glare of the Spotlight

The summary of the 2007 survey interview results:

In terms of what the residents found attractive about living in the town of Shrewsbury there seemed to be a trend that it was a good place to raise children, family oriented, and overall friendly, but also that it has lost a lot of its character as a town in the past few years….

….One thing residents found to be threatening the town of Shrewsbury was the general structure of the government, particularly the selectman situation. There seemed to be a desire for an elected mayor by one. Another theme was the rapid development in the town. Many residents felt that growth was occurring so quickly the town and services could not maintain it. Lastly, with a wealthier demographic coming into the town, there is a decrease in affordable housing. This belief was reflected in comments such as “lack of affordable housing,” “demands on infrastructure,” and the growth of “million dollar homes.”

Life has changed quite a bit in town since I moved here 11 years ago, so much so that I can not imagine the changes which have happened in the last 20, 30, 40 years. My hometown, in PA has changed very little in 40 years, except the population has decreased, the farms are bankrupt and crystal meth has taken hold. So when I look at the changes in Shrewsbury I don’t think they are bad, just different. Life, in general 20, 30, 40 years ago was different we must expect change. Where am I going with this?

Change and growth have made Shrewsbury prosperous, our tax rolls have exploded, our schools are highly ranked, are sports teams are champions; we have many scientists, doctors and other educated residents. The overall theme of the survey was, “we like Shrewsbury just the way it is in terms of our services”. How would those 444 respondents have answered had a survey question been asked, do you think this current type of government system is the best for Shrewsbury? Maybe this question might be the theme of the 2009 survey, but for right now all we know is that those 8 folks actually interviewed have raised the question: have we grown too big, and complex to have our Selectman sit for a meeting about friendly dogs getting loose all the time and visiting town hall. Currently we have a $4 million plus deficit in our current budget phase. Tough decisions will have to be made and we will hopefully see some leadership to make these tough calls. It will not be easy or pleasant but it must be done.

One upcoming tough call will be what to do with our waste disposal costs?

1. Leave it alone and ignore the possible $1million offset
   
2. Throw it into an override; let someone else decide
   
3. Have some type of fee system to pay for the cost and maybe help reduce global warming
   
4. Get out of the trash business and let the market take over
   

The 2007 survey has shown the trash issue is very evenly divided; someone must decide what to do about this issue. Mr. Morgado has made his suggestion, will they follow it? This trash issue will shine the light on our Selectman, what will they do? Hide from the light, or step into it and make a decision. Will we see leadership or shoulder shrugging.

Augustus is out

Edward Augustus just announced that he is retiring from the State Senate this year.

The question lingering in the minds of Shrewsbury residents this morning is: will Karyn Polito run? Karyn's been treated with kid gloves in every election she's run. As long as she's championed pork barrel spending, there's been bipartisan support for her. But if she runs in a larger race, it's not clear if the town Democrats will finally look at her with dispassionate criticism.

That would open up Karyn's House seat. Democratic Selectman Moe Depalo has been rumored to covet a bigger pond for his bigger fish. Would he try to turn his re-election bid into a second race after the Annual Town Election?

If Karyn doesn't run, is there someone else (of either party) who can bring this senate seat back to the Town of Shrewsbury?

It's all speculation, but if you know more than I do, let me know.

Presidential primary results

You read it here first!  Here are the complete Shrewsbury results for the presidential primary.  It took two days for these official results because the Clerk's Office had to do write-ins and hand counts.  My thanks to Ann Dagle, Town Clerk, and her entire staff!

Republican Party			Democratic Party			Working Families Party			Green-Rainbow Party
Presidential Preference			Presidential Preference			Presidential Preference			Presidential Preference
Mitt Romney	1,890		Hillary Clinton	3,869		Hillary Clinton	3		Ralph Nader	3
John McCain	1,490		Barack Obama	2,509					No Preference	3
Mike Huckabee	104		John R. Edwards	89					Cynthia McKinney	2
Ron Paul	92		Joseph R. Biden, Jr.	22					Borack Obama	1
Rudy Giuliani	14		Dennis J. Kucinich	10					Hillary Clinton	1
Fred Thompson	10		Bill Richardson	10					Jared Ball	0
Barack Obama	5		Mike Gravel	8					Elaine Brown	0
Hillary Clinton	4		John McCain	5					Kat Swift	0
Duncan Hunter	2		Mitt Romney	5					Kent Mesplay	0
Alan Keyes	1		Christopher J. Dodd	1
Tom Tancredo	0		Al Gore	1
No Preference	11		J. Lieberman	1
All Others	2		No Preference	29		No Preference	1		All Others	0
Blank	10		Blank	23		Blank	1		Blank	1
Total	3,635		Total	6,582		Total	5		Total	11

School Committee Public Hearing - Feb. 6

On Feb. 6 the School Committee held a public hearing to discuss the school budget and to hear the public's questions, concerns and priorities. There were a number of people that spoke. Below are the thoughts I shared related to Shrewsbury's academic programs and school safety. I haved added one sentence for further clarification of a point and it is noted by [ ].

If you would like to share your thoughts directly with a town offical CBS has made it easy by putting all contact information on one Web page - please visit Contact a Local Official.

Shrewsbury is a frugal and wise town. In the middle of the 20th century insightful Shrewsbury residents invested in the town. They understood that together they could build the type of town that they wanted to live in, the type of town where they wanted to raise a family. These wise investments paid off and today we have a town we all are proud of.

Like most physical investments our buildings require periodic investment for maintenance and up-grade and we have proven to be good stewards and have made those investments.

As insightful as Shrewsbury residents were in the middle of the 20th century I am willing to bet that they never expected that Shrewsbury would need 4 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and a high school that has 1600 students.

I bet they never imagined that 42 different languages would be spoken in just one of those elementary schools. And, that a child who does not speak English would be thrust into the classroom with all the other students for the single classroom teacher to teach while still trying to teach all of the other children.

I bet they never imaged that 17% of the students in the school system would be special need students and that their education would require over $13 million dollars a year.

I bet they never expected some of the behavioral and emotional issues that come into the classroom every day.

I bet they never expected that our teachers would be spread so thin that many of our typical learners are left to struggle in school because there simply are not enough teachers to provide the help they need to be successful.

I bet they never expected that our high achieving students would NOT reach their maximum potential because there are not enough teachers or programs to take them above the state standards.

I bet the wise and frugal Shrewsbury investors of the mid-20th century would have recognized the need to invest in Shrewsbury children. They would have recognized that an investment in their children’s education is not only a moral obligation, but a wise investment for the future. And, it is time for us today to make the pledge to the Children of Shrewsbury that we will do no less.

We must invest in education so that every child reaches their maximum learning potential. State and federal laws mandate a certain level of education for our special needs children - but there are no such laws for typical learners or high achievers. It is up to the community to willingly provide the support and the funds to ensure that these children reach their maximum learning potential. It is time to face the fact that we are failing these students.

We need more teachers.

We need to restructure our classrooms so that our struggling typical learners can get the attention they need to succeed.

We need to provide pull-outs and enrichment opportunities and the expectation that our high achieving students will reach their maximum potential not just meet the state standards.

These changes take funding and they require that our school committee and school administration re-think how our classrooms are structured and how to meet the needs of all students.

The needed funding requires an override question for our schools. The Board of Selectmen must put a question on the ballot and then they must join the school committee in actively lobbying for its passage. Then my fellow Shrewsbury stewards we must go out and vote in support of the question.

Education is a core right of our children and so is security.

We must call for security in our schools!

We need the doors to our schools locked and we need appropriate security systems.

At Floral Street School the doors are not locked and anyone can walk in without being seen. An intruder intent on doing harm can access the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the media center, and a classroom with just a few steps. And these areas are always full of children.

[Recently a level-3 sex offender attacked a six year old boy in a public library. This could happen in one of our school bathrooms without secured doors and the monitoring of people entering our schools.] It is unspeakable to think of the harm that could be done to our children because we have not secured our schools.

Communities across the country have taken the steps to keep their children safe and we should do no less.

Join me in calling for our school committee, our school administration, our selectmen, and our town administration to put forward a debt exclusion question to secure our schools. We can not wait even one more year; we must secure our schools now! We must make the commitment to keep our children safe.

We must also tell the town that our schools can no longer be polling locations.

There is a second grader from Randolph, MA that lies in a coma because her school was a polling location.

It is not safe to invite the general public into our schools. It is not safe to have a large volume of people pulling in and out of our school parking lots.

We must stop the practice of locating polls at our schools before we have a tragic accident in Shrewsbury, not after!

Our investment in our Children’s education and security will continue the tradition of wise investment and will continue to make Shrewsbury a good place to live and raise a family.

Thank you.

Value Place also coming to Worcester?

Friend Deb Mooney sent me this article: New hotel planned off Rt. 146

Deb asked,

"What do you think this means for the Value Place Proposal for Shrewsbury? Surely they can't want or need two of the same hotel so close to each other?"

For my part, I remain ambivalent on the proposed Value Place Hotel at the intersection of Lake & Rt. 9.  But it's getting harder for me to see both sides as evenly balanced. Are they doing this Worcester proposal to pressure our Planning Board?

Secret Ballot?

Heard at South Street municipal garage voting place: "Oh! Daddy also voted for Obama, Mommy!"

Presidential endorsements

This blog does not endorse candidates.  However, the writers of this blog do.  So here are our endorsements in the U.S. Presidential primaries:

Author	Party	Candidate
Judy Vedder	Democratic	Hillary Clinton
Chris Juetten	Republican	John McCain
Melisa Hollenback	Democratic	Barack Obama
Chris Kirk	Republican	No Preference
Mark Adler	Democratic	Barack Obama

This is just the primary, of course, and we still have NINE MONTHS until the general election in November.  Our authors are likely to consider many factors in the general election and there's no saying if they will be "loyal" to their party's candidate come November.  We hope you will also be open to considering the best candidates in the general election.

What's an endorsement worth?   Not much, really.  It won't really sway your vote, I suppose.  It actually tells you about us as writers and where our political positions lie.

So take these for what they're worth.

2008 Election Calendar

Just a reminder! This coming Tuesday will be the first of  four election days this year (so far*).

1. Tuesday, February 5 — Presidential primary: U.S. Presidential nominations; State party committee; and Town party committee.
   


2. Tuesday, May 6 — Annual Town Election: Shrewsbury Selectmen (2 of 5); School Committee (2 of 5); Library Trustees (3 of 9); Housing Authority (1 of 5); Town Meeting Members (89 of 237)


3. Tuesday, September 15 — State primary election: Party nominations for State Representative; State Senator


4. Tuesday, November 4 — General Election: U.S. President; U.S. Senator; U.S. Representative; State Senator; State Representative; Register of Probate; Governor's Councilor

I think that's all of them.  If I missed something, let me know ASAP and I'll correct this posting.

Correction (posted February 3): At Town Clerk Ann Dagle's advising, I've corrected the number of Town Meeting members to be elected in May:  I had written "79 of 240" when the correct number is "89 of 237."  Also, in the November election, we will be electing a "Register of Probate." I had previously written "some County offices."

* I say "so far" because sometimes special elections can be called by the Board of Selectmen for certain issues, or by the Governor to fill the untimely vacancy of a state or federal office… but that doesn't happen very much.

Natick’s Example of Leadership

To the Editor:-

Last month, I wrote a letter to this blog wondering “What does Natick know that Shrewsbury doesn’t?”. Well, I have part of the answer now.

Natick demonstrates the meaning of leadership in difficult times. In mid-January, Natick’s Town Administrator, Martha White, wrote a memorandum to Natick’s Board of Selectmen, outlining proposed budget cuts for FY09. This is a succinct six-page memo, which explains her approach as well as the details and impacts, by department.

In her introductory paragraph, Ms. White notes

“…these were difficult decisions. Virtually every budget cut will affect the level and quality of service we provide to the community and its residents.”

She also explains that some municipal departments are proposing to mitigate their budget cuts with proposed revenue (i.e., fee) increases. Her proposal closes approximately 40% of Natick’s projected budget shortfall. In the departmental details, Ms. White includes notes about the impact of these cuts on Natick’s libraries, Council on Aging, Police, Fire and other departments.

As of January 25, Shrewsbury’s budget deficit is $4.2 million (about $1.5 million larger than Natick’s). This number will change as new information is released from the state and negotiations are advanced on Pay as You Throw (PAYT) and employee health care benefits. These efforts may shave $1 - $2 million from the deficit, but will not close it completely. So, where is the Shrewsbury memo outlining “what’s next”?

So far, Shrewsbury has made two changes to the traditional budgeting process for FY09:
1) The Board of Selectmen did hold an early Public Hearing about the budget in December 2007, and
2) Town Manager Dan Morgado prepared his rough “out year” projections of budgets for FY10-FY12.

These steps are good, but they are not enough. If Shrewsbury were to follow Natick’s example, our citizens would have something concrete to think about in the event of another Proposition 2-1/2 override. Unless people are made aware of the reality of the cuts to valued services, they cannot make informed tradeoff decisions.

Why are the Shrewsbury Selectmen so reluctant to LEAD our citizens to a path of fiscal solvency?

Johanna Musselman

Trash hearing set

The Board of Selectmen announced that there will be a public hearing specifically on Pay-As-You-Throw trash fees. The meeting will be Tuesday, February 12, 2008, at 7:00 PM in the Selectmen's Meeting Room at Town Hall.

In a statement released by the Board today, they will

"take citizen comments on the matter of the establishment of a trash fee (Pay as you Throw). The Board of Selectmen now has under review the question of the establishment of a fee system for the solid waste program which is being considered within the context of the entire Fiscal Year 2009 Budget. Residents are encouraged to attend this public hearing and to offer any written or oral comments."

I'm still wavering on this issue, because I see some good and some bad on both sides, I suppose a lot of people do too. And I imagine some of the selectmen are torn as well.

In fact, it seems like there are more than just two sides to what might look like a "yes-I-like" or "no-I-hate" issue. Supporters of PAYT think that it's a necessary way to close our fiscal deficit, reducing our trash, and increasing our recycling rate. Opponents think it's an end-run around Proposition 2-1/2 to raise revenue without voter input. There's a lot more to both sides, but that's all I have time for right now.

Sorry I'm being so lazy, but it's Friday night and who reads this blog on the weekend anyway?

Anyhow, I hope plenty of people on both (all) sides of this issue will come to the meeting and have their voices heard.

Value Place public hearing postponed again

To the Editor:

As a direct abutter to the land being considered for the Value Place residence hotel, I received a letter from Kevin Byrne stating that the public hearing scheduled for this upcoming Thursday, February 7 will be continued to March 6, 2008. Th reason given is "to permit the Value Place engineering staff sufficient time to complete studies requested by the Planning Board and for the Shrewsbury Engineering Department sufficient time to review these plans."

Please consider attending this hearing to voice your opinion on this matter, as it will affect not just abutters, but all Shrewsbury residents.

Thank you.

Pamela Taylor