Is that REALLY the best you can do?

The Sandwich Enterprise -- still available in 2-ply rolls!

There was an amusing headline on page two of this week's Emptyprize -- "NotThePTA Blogger Tapped to Design SEIC Website".  The best excerpt was "... that blog has earned a reputation for creating controversy with strong criticism and negative comments against school committee members and other members of the public ...".

They "forgot" to mention all of the criticism and negative comments this blog aimed at the local "media" over the years!!  

They also "forgot" to mention my almost 30 years experience in finance, real estate development and technology, or that I have been developing websites for numerous public and private clients on both a paid and pro-bono basis for many years. 

I think the SEIC's mission to encourage private development is the best hope this Town has to attempt to stabilize its finances without choking residential taxpayers.  I am glad to donate my time to their efforts.


Could this be yet another pathetic attempt by The Emptyprize to create controversy where none exists?

May the Bird of Happiness Fly up your nose!

Since somebody said recently I never had anything good to say about anything, I'm going to make (almost) no  comments about the last School Committee meeting.

Which is good, because, unfortunately, it seemed pretty obvious that two SC members seem to think the most important function of a School Committee Chairperson is to hang around the Schools all day to offer their wisdom & guidance to the trained, professional staff that actually does the real work.  One of the two also apparently saw setting up a spreadsheet to "track meeting minutes" as a major accomplishment.  Its too bad she didn't apply her spreadsheet "skills" to something worthwhile -- like the Community School deficit, or any one of a host of other budget issues facing the District..

The other half of the Dynamic Duo chose to read the Chairman's job description  from the Committee's Policy Manual  (maybe just to prove she could read ?).  Then she repeated a rambling dissertation ripe with innuendo and unsupported allegations a few times before nominating TWO people for chairperson -- a bizarre and embarrassing move since she obviously could not have voted for both people.  But "bizarre" and "embarrassing" have always been common phrases associated with her past performances (followed closely by "grossly inaccurate", "lack of understanding", and "similar to an unmedicated five year old"!)

Enough of that.

Congratulations to the new members, and best of luck to the Committee this year!

Now for the Good News:

Forestdale School teacher  Karen Slagle did a fantastic job once again this year directing the Falcon Theater Company's production of "Seussical the Musical".   Mrs. Slagle had her troops looking and sounding like experienced actors -- not kids doing an elementary school play!   Barnstable High School has one of the best drama programs in the area, if not the state, and this year's Forestdale production was every bit as enjoyable as the Barnstable High show.

A very large part of the show's production cost was underwritten by local businesses and parents who purchased ads, and shirts, as well as those that purchased tickets and concession items.  Wouldn't it be nice if all of the School Districts funds were applied for the benefit of its students?

 And more Good News:

The Sandwich Police Department graduated yet another Junior Police Academy class this week.  Over the past 10 weeks, Sgt Josh Bound, Sgt Mike Nurse, Lt. Dave Guilmette, Detective Bruce Lawrence, and other Sandwich officers, along with Sandwich teachers Michelle Dunham and Jeff Carter, have worked with   students from all three schools showing them the basics of law enforcement and the legal system and providing them with positive role models.  The enthusiasm of every kid was evident at this week's graduation ceremony at Town Hall as they marched in, shook hands with Chief Wack, and accepted their diplomas.  Special thanks to Chief  Wack and his staff for operating the program again this year, and to the Sandwich Kiwanis for their generous financial contribution.

And one more (at the risk of giving the appearance that The Bird of Happiness flew up my nose):

Oscars Restaurant has opened at Heritage Plaza.  Finally, somebody has entered that giant void between the formal and/or over-priced establishments and the damn pizza joints which seem to have sprung up on every corner of Town!  Good food, good prices, and good service.  You will not find an over-sized plate with an under-sized portion of "Fillet of Yak served with a side order of goat gonads in a lovely asparagus-infused, pear reduction" -- but you will find a damn fine hot dog, cheeseburger, chicken, or a real salad (not one of those ridiculously overpriced chunks of lettuce with lawn clippings!.  And, you can not beat the fast and friendly service.  Lets hope they get the local support they deserve!

The To Do List ....

Nasty fight between BOS & SC over School funding ........ DONE

Threaten to increase student fees and cut teachers due to lack of funding  ........DONE

Hold budget hearings that are ignored by parents/taxpayers  .......DONE

Suddenly find money to avoid lay-offs and fees .......DONE

Argue with FinCom over Budget, explain they can't adjust line items ...... DONE

Defer further contract discussions until after budget that will fund them is approved, huh?  ....... OK, DONE

Continue to ignore Community School situation until after budget passes, even if the Community School will be siphoning funding away from K-12 education ....... DONE

Without sounding like an elitest Bastard, distract Town Meeting for a few hours with the idea that their $25 burger at the DW might go to $25.18 but slip a $60 Million budget through with barely a question....... DONE

Listen politely while Town Meeting vents over School Budget but overlooks the fact labor contracts are not settled, and there is still no plan to discontinue the use of school district funds to shore up the community school....... DONE

Hold Town elections to restock the Boards with fresh meat for the grinder -- either idealistic optimists or raging special interests .... DONE

Recognize that voters weren't kidding last year .... DONE


I guess that leaves just one piece of potentially expensive  business left this year (click) ...

Congratulations, Dr. Pierce!

(WickedLocal.com)

This was a tough year for BOS Candidates -- there were two very good ones. Fortunately, one of them won.

Congratulations to Jim Pierce on his reelection to the BOS -- Jim has been an extremely hard-working and diligent Board member who has always been willing to discuss any topic with any person at any time.

I sincerely hope that Tim Cooney will see this as a warm-up run, put his signs away carefully, and come back again next year.  His real-world business experience would certainly make him an asset to the BOS, especially once the general public gains a better understanding of the SEIC.

Moving on .....

Anybody up for a Recount?   (SACAT image)

Congratulations to all three members!     (I don't know if we'll ever hear the break-out of "write-in" votes -- but I heard a rumor a large number of them were actually for cartoon characters -- and many of the others were for Bob Guerin!)

Irony defined?

Once upon a time, there was a gigantic hullabaloo because members of an outgoing School Committee felt obligated to complete the Superintendent's review and contract before their terms expired.  Nothing nefarious -- it just made more sense that the review be completed by the folks who had actually been involved with the work under review.  It also made sense to have the contract resolved BEFORE Town Meeting -- so folks could get an honest view of what they would be funding.

Much noise was made about "rushing the deal", the Editor of The Cape Cod Times went out of his way to write a bitchy editorial and went even further to write an even bitchier (and even more inaccurate) piece for one of his industry trade journals.

Incoming Committee members were adamant that they should be allowed to do the review -- even though they had no experience with the Superintendent (or even in doing employee reviews!)

Two years later... 

The next Superintendent receives his review on the last regularly scheduled School Committee meeting of the term and an extra Executive Session is added after Town Meeting on the night before the election, presumably to discuss the Superintendent's contract.

And .... silence.

I am not saying it's wrong. 

I am, not saying a good review or contract are not deserved.

I am not questioning their judgement ---- I agree with their actions completely.

I just find it humorous.

Gene Shalit's Night at Town Meeting (a Guest Column)

Surprisingly, Gene Shalit is still alive.  Not surprisingly, he did not actually write this piece.  I have agreed to allow the writer to remain anonymous -- since he's one of those "nice people" who hates to offend anyone ... (and because I missed Town Meeting).

You wanted a picture of Snooki ?

If the operators of our local cable access channel really wanted to make some money they could sell the rights to our televised Town Meeting to the reality channel. Last night's meeting would be slightly more refined than an episode of Jersey Shore but a little more dysfunctional than Jerry Springer. 

Let's begin with highlights of our soon to be former Moderators performance: Typical of Madam Moderator, virtually everyone who rose to speak about the town's payroll, salary and benefits, and union contracts was told by the Moderator that they were "out of order." In a town where 75% of every tax dollar collected pays for salaries and benefits, why discussion of compensation is out of order remains a mystery to me. Perhaps the Moderator attended Jersey Shore's Snooki's School of Town Meeting Rules? 

In another moment of "Moderator knows best," the outgoing Moderator grew indignant and threatened to physically remove a resident and taxpayer who wished to speak to an issue and had clearly and obviously raised her hand and waived her meeting handbook prior to a vote being called. True, the speaker was slightly more crazed and slightly less articulate than Jersey Shore's "The Situation" but is that any reason to deny a taxpayer their right to speak? 

The Moderator's best one liner of the evening? "I deserve respect." For what exactly? I wondered to myself. And, I really could imagine Snooki saying the same thing, albeit with a pronounced Jersey accent. 

In other action, Selectwomen Grundman, whose political radar is beyond broken, chastised voters and taxpayers who decided to leave Town Meeting early, but only after hours of active participation, as "not really caring" about our Town. The jeers and whistles and boos that Mrs. Grundman earned with her less than appropriate words were well deserved. Madam Selectwoman sometimes makes TV's Mob Wives seem reflective and empathetic. 

As usual, most of the rest of the night was a series of mindless, wrong reasoned, ill informed speeches about the meaningless, the mundane and the minutia. 

Town Meeting spent tens of millions of dollars in seconds, without a flicker of serious thought or comment, and then went on to endlessly debate and remark on tennis court maintenance or lack thereof, new taxes representing $0.75 per $100, and other equally meaningless items. I am unsure whether Town Meeting televised or TV's The View represents the most silly, senseless and sophomoric talk on the airwaves. 

The one, bright, shining moment of the evening? 

A tie between: the single taxpayer who rose to point out the financial folly and risk of the unresolved Teacher's Contract; and, the taxpayer who rose to note that the Town's payroll actually grows faster than the Town's tax collections. 

Neither remark was addressed or followed up on and, of course, Madam Moderator told both taxpayers ... you guessed it  ... that they were "out of order." 

Not great reality TV and not a very good way to run a town either. 

Déjà vu All Over Again ?

I can't help but think of the Movie "Groundhog Day", where the residents of Gobbler's Knob relive the same story over and over...

I dare you ...

Somebody raised a question on an earlier post asking what another poster would propose doing if elected.   That's a great question.   I'm  certainly not running for anything, but here's a few things I would like to hear somebody have the guts to say:

#1:

"The Sandwich Schools are facing tough economic conditions, as are most of the residents of Sandwich.  I agree this is not the time to raise fees, nor is it the time to cut back on core academic resources.  Accordingly, we will be closing the pool effective immediately in order to reduce utility and staffing costs.  If the Town Recreation Department, the Council on Aging, the YMCA, or any other organization would like to take responsibility for the costs of staffing, and maintaining the pool -- including the required capital maintenance work to re-grout the pool, replace the filtration system, and make the pool handicap accessible to comply with the new Federal regulations, they should contact the School Department within the next 14 days.  Otherwise, the pool will be drained, and that space will be renovated when appropriate funds become available.

We appreciate the fact that many people use the pool on a regular basis -- and that they will be irate at this decision.  Unfortunately, the School Department has no choice given the pool's consistent inability to generate sufficient revenue to cover its operating costs.

We also believe that, while this move may seem drastic, it will eliminate the current financial hemorrhaging AND will allow the Community School to preserve its other valuable  offerings, including Adult Ed courses, and the School for Early Learning."

#2:

"We recognize that the most important asset of our school system is our teaching staff.  These are the professionals that actually deliver our only product -- the education of our children.  It unfortunate that egos, union politics, petty grievances, and more egos have prolonged this process excessively. 

Unfortunately, we strongly believe that individual union members are as uninformed of the true status of their own union's negotiations as are members of the general public.  I would invite the Union Leadership to join with the School Committee to publicly discuss the status of negotiations.  This would allow a great opportunity for the union leadership to explain exactly what they are asking the public to support.  This would also allow the Committee an opportunity to explain to the public AND the individual union members what the District is able to afford.  Then, union members can make their own decision as to whether to support the contract, or move to another District which they feel may offer better opportunities.  The taxpayers would also be able to make an informed decision as to what they are willing to support."

#3:

 "We continue to strongly support the concept of a STEM focused education.  We do however realize that there is little local appetite for a $15 million renovation of the High School at this time.  There is also certainly no appetite for spending $40 million to build or rebuild a new K-8 school. 

Instead, we would propose a redistricting process, which would shift current Wing students to either the Forestdale or Oakridge Schools which would allow us to eliminate the Wing building entirely. 

We acknowledge that this plan will still require some renovation work at each of the other schools.  We will. however, be requesting that our designers prepare a scaled-down renovation plan that could be accomplished in phases.  In the event the student population begins to expand, and if there was sufficient local support, we would consider additional renovation or construction at that time. 

While we would prefer to have made all renovations as soon as possible, we recognize that current economic conditions, and the large number of capital maintenance items we, as a town, are facing, makes the concept of a major renovation unrealistic at this time."

#4:

"We sincerely hope that the resolution of these three issues will help to begin rebuilding widespread public confidence in our public school system.  We believe this improved confidence will be crucial in reducing the number of families who choose to send their students to school outside of the District. 

I'm not holding my breathe.