The Selectmen have been having a very useful set of discussions for the past several weeks outlining the major components of our current municipal budget "situation". (Copies of the Town Manager's presentations can be seen here).
If you really have a high tolerance for pain, you can also check out the streaming video of the actual BOS meetings online at by clicking here.
2 comments:
Bob, its great that your blog is once again active. It is very hard to believe the amount of hardball that is being played right now both by the school committee and the Board of Selectmen. I cannot believe that any town leader or elected official think this it the time for a debt exclusion or an override. The fiscal position of most households right now is barely afloat. What I am seeing is the old kick the can routine from the Selectmen. Send it to the voters...if they say no then it their fault! A rocket scientist chastises us with duplicity telling us to get off of our fat couches...and then has the audacity to tell us it is our 'task' to use his ladder to climb out of this almost thirty year old problem. I am having signs printed up now for the November elections in town...'Just say NO!' By november, I hope enough folks will take up this call for fiscal sanity. We just can't afford a new public safety building right now...just like we can't afford a 2.2 million dollar override for the budget in which we find a school system in chaos! Just say NO Bob!
The shooting from the hip mentality keeps getting us into trouble, like thinking now is the time for a debt-exclusion because school debt service has dropped off. For years people have been trying to track that but it was a big secret until the powers that be were ready for their agenda to be addressed.
For decades the town has not been incrementally addressing its needs. Jobs, saleries, benefits, first has been the approach even as a structural deficit was created due to this. Of course the political piece once the Selectman became part time has created complicated layers to progress.
Do we need to get better at taking care of the needs of the town, absolutely. But can we accomplish that by ignoring common sense and continuing with agenda driven solutions, not so sure?
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