Time to Hit The Reset Button

If Sandwich was a video game, I think we have almost arrived at the point where you would hit the reset button, grab a drink, and then start over.

While everyone is certainly welcome to grab a drink, there just is no such thing as a real life "Do Over".  The best anybody can hope for is that the bad things stop and something better (or at least not as bad) starts.

There aren't enough politically active people in this Town to hold a really good bake sale -- let alone a recall election, so, its unlikely we will be getting any new 'talent" on the local boards until May.  So here's a few ideas to pass the time until then:

I would propose that:

No More Community Auditions!

The School Committee met with two Headhunters on Wednesday night to discuss the search for a new Superintendent -- The Gang of Four seems pretty determined that there will be a new Superintendent next year -- apparently, even if that does mean writing the existing Supt. a Really Big Check to pay-off her previously-approved contract!! (and writing some other pretty big ones to her lawyers, the Schools', and the Town's!).

Interestingly, Cape Cod Collaborative pulled out of the running for the headhunting assignment. Many will remember that CCC has been at odds with the Sandwich Schools since Dr. Johnson pointed out that she could save over more than $1 million over a three year period by purchasing 3-4 vans and taking over some SPED transport services which drastically reduced payments to the Collaborative, but also seriously decreased costs to Sandwich taxpayers.   (This was the issue that Linehan had her knickers in a twist about -- she is still convinced that the savings are overstated because some costs must be hidden somewhere -- maybe they're being paid from the Community School account!)

In the "Isn't it a Small World Department", Peter Cannone is one of the lead consultants at CCC and a former Sandwich Superintendent.  I never met the man, but I saw him on TV addressing the Selectmen and complaining that he was being vilified by Dr. Young, the School Committee and the State's EQA Audit which said the District  lacked consistent curriculum, professional development, etc.  Sherry Marshall has also quoted Cannone for years when arguing against change, and discussing how things "used to be" .   'Nuff said?

Not that my endorsement means a damn thing -- but I was very pleased to see the Mass.  Association of School Committees as a finalist.  MASC has been an important source of information for School Committee members for years.  Jim Hardy from MASC has been working with Sandwich for almost two years re-writing the Committee's policy manual in an effort to get it into compliance with current educational regulations, labor laws, and good management practices.  

I suspect Jim has had plenty of local "input" on the current state of affairs in Sandwich and, I'm sure, some of the past personnel fiascoes.  Unlike the last amateur search committee, the MASC should be able to ascertain some appropriately qualified candidates for the Committee to chose from.  (I can not imagine choosing the highest paid employee in Town using a group of volunteers who might as well be judging "Community Auditions" with Dave Maynard!).

How much will we be budgeting for search-related expenses in the current year?  (and where will we find the money?)

It will be interesting to see how the search contract gets worded.  We still have someone sitting in the Supt. seat -- who will be on the hook for aborted search expenses in the event the current Superintendent remains the current Superintendent?

Speaking of employment expenses, what about Minkoff?  A case was filed -- has the School Committee established a reserve fund for legal costs and/or a potential settlement or damages.  That could very likely be payable during the current fiscal year?

This would be more fun to watch -- if it wasn't threatening my Kids' educations -- or my tax bill.

With Friend Like These … (From Bob Guerin)

Wicked Local photo by David Colantuono

The Board of Selectmen met Thursday night and, in a return to a long standing Sandwich political tradition, they began to discuss school finances and school budgets without having invited a single representative of the School Committee or the Administration to attend. So much for partnering, bridge building and good communications!

Also, in keeping with this divisive and bizarre Sandwich political tradition, none of the school-related financial data or assumptions presented by Selectmen Pierce were fact checked with the School Administration in advance of the Selectmen meeting. Instead, as the numbers were presented, the Town Manager or Selectmen Pierce would sheepishly acknowledge that it might be a good idea to check the data with the Administration. Ya think? Really?

Funny, Selectmen Pierce said repeatedly that his remarks were merely questions. If so, why wouldn’t he have submitted his questions in advance and in writing to the School Committee? Why wouldn’t he have personally invited Dr. Johnson, and the School Committee Chairman to the Selectman’s meeting and apprised them of his prepared remarks? Just questions? I don’t think so.

The Board of Selectmen and Town Manager created a financial model for the coming fiscal year that projected a substantial town-wide budget deficit - literally millions in debt. The schools have always been told to assume that 60% or more of any town deficit would be borne by the school budget. Fair enough.

Tonight, magically, Selectmen Pierce delivers a message that suggests that perhaps there isn’t a town deficit at all and that the school budget would be level funded. He then wonders aloud just where the School Administration might have gotten the idea that there was a deficit. Wowza! No deficit. That’s good news!

Forget the override folks we're not in the red.

Still, a level funded school budget means, despite Selectmen Peirce’s figuring, substantial cuts – probably more than $1 million in reductions and maybe as much as $1.5 million. And, if the town does face a deficit add 60% or more of whatever that figure ends up being to the $1.5.

It’s too bad that Selectmen Pierce and the Board of Selectmen have chosen politics as usual over constructive, professional dialogue with the School Committee and School Administration. Selectmen Pierce suggested his presentation was motivated by, among other things, concern for his grandchildren and that he was a friend of the schools. That remark kinda reminds me of the old saw, with friends like these who needs enemies?

Click Here for Plan B

Enough !

THIS is Norman Rockwell

Tonight I did the same thing that Kangas and Lenihan have been doing for years (decades?) -- I skipped Town Meeting.  I stayed at work -- I've lost enough billable hours to the Town over the past few years.  I decided Democracy would survive just fine without my fat ass sitting at the High School tonight!

A few things became blatantly obvious as I watched most of the show while I worked:

1)  My client was not getting their money's worth that night (so much for marketing accounting and computer services!)

2)  Everyone who complained about the financial mess the Town is currently facing was correct. 

3)  The people who were complaining about the mess had at least an indirect hand in creating it.

4)  Some people should be fitted with shock collars that would allow the Town Moderator to immobilize them if they attempt to approach the microphone.  Barring action by the Moderator, a 2/3 majority of members present should be allowed to activate the shock collar.  You know who I'm talking about!  (hint -- if you think hiring the police chief is relevant to the condition of the roof --- ZAP!.  If you feel the urge to explain things to Town Meeting based on your prior experience in other Towns -- ZAP!;  If you think a building should be saved because you went to Kindergarten there 50 years ago -- ZAP!  If you haven't read the warrant, or a newspaper, or watched a meeting, or called a Town Official in an effort to gain an understanding of an issue BEFORE you get to the microphone -- ZAP!  ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!  -- those people annoy me the most!!) 

We are in the mess we are in because people have not faced up to the realities of maintaining our infrastructure for decades.  Once upon a time, a brilliant decision was apparently made for the Town to discourage commercial development -- except for the Big Dirty Power Plant  (BDPP).  Well, that means homeowners are going to be writing the checks.  And, since Sandwich isn't Dennis, we don't have the luxury of huge amounts of summer people who leave big tax checks and don't bother with schools, police, fire or DPW services for 9 months of the year.  Face it -- we're Milton by the sea!

This isn't ...

Several times tonight, comparisons were made with other Cape Towns -- all the things they have that Sandwich doesn't (I have 4 kids -- I hear the same argument on a regular basis!).  Every person was correct -- but we don't have those things because nobody ever figured a way to pay for them.  If you haven't got a commercial tax base (or any realistic hope of developing one), and you're already running one of the leaner local governments, there's not much alternative to asking homeowners to kick in.  And, if they say no?

That Explains it !

As many local political spectators have long suspected,
 it is possible for some people to completely detach their brains
 -- yet remain smiling pleasantly for the camera!

How Big is that Budgetary Hat ?

Let's see Bud pull THIS rabbit out of his hat !!



I questioned some earlier posts on the effect of the potential Mirant closing on local tax bills and made a note on the blog that I was looking for clarification before people started with the pitchfork and torches.  Ed Childs, our crack Assessing Guru immediately came to our aid with a more complete explanation of what would happen if Mirant was to go away.

Ed said: 

The levy ceiling of the town WOULD drop (as prop 2.5 does say you could never levy more than 2.5% of the town real estate value).   But we have never been remotely close to that figure (In FY 2010 the ceiling was 100.7 million, compared to the actual levy of 45.3 million. So our “real” tax revenue would not be effected, just the ceiling, which is currently 55 million away,

The actual levy would not change at all – it would be allowed to increase (with any voted additions of override or debt exclusion) by the normal 2.5% plus new growth. The rate would be still calculated by dividing the levy b the now reduced total value of the town. The rate would adjust upwards, and the amount that would have been collected from Mirant would be distributed to all others.

Prop 2.5 is truly NOT keyed to value – with the single exception of the levy ceiling – it is keyed to the actual levy. That is a common, and potentially dangerous misconception. Bills will react more to the change in levy as opposed to a change in value (unless you particular value dropped or increased by a certain range from the typical or average movement of all other properties.)

Again, please remember the tax rate is just a division formula of tax levy/total town value. That is why in a hot or a cold market, the average bill typically increases by 2.5% plus growth (about 4% total)

In other words, if Mirant doesn't pay their $2.4 million, we will.  No Override vote required -- everybody's tax bill just goes up automatically. 

In reality, the plant will not evaporate -- there will be some taxable value remaining --- but there's a hell of a lot of difference in the taxable value of an operating power plant and a cold, shut-down power plant that has no inventory, little functional equipment, and unknown environmental "issues".

This is probably not a topic meant for discussion during the same week the Town is looking for a $5 million debt exclusion to fix buildings they haven't been able to afford to maintain, OR when they have begun discussing another Operating Override for the Spring.

Bud has been juggling chainsaws for years, but  I can't imagine how he's going to pull this rabbit out of his hat!!

Is it funny, sad or wrong? (Guest Column by Cranky Yankee II)

Many people are just fed-up with the incompetence, stupidity, and short-sightedness that have ruled this end of the Cape for far too long. Some of these folks, however, are far too polite to actually say it out loud -- they have to deal with the idiots on a regular basis. For those folks, we offer the NotThePTA Witness Protection Program -- we know who they are and you don't!

So how does this differ from the Nancy Crossman witness protection program where she is willing to fire people but not say what she heard, or who she heard it from (until the subpoena arrives!)? Easy -- the "staff" of NotThePTA is not elected and we aren't spending YOUR tax dollars. You don't need to listen to us, we have no ability to spend your money or ruin your child's education -- although we can make damn sure that people know about it when we think somebody else is messing with your kids, or your tax dollars!

With that feeling of benevolence, we offer the following guest column:

Is it funny, sad or wrong? 

Judy Koenig, crack newspaper columnist, superlative investigative journalist and ultimate Townie writes the following in this week’s regular and cliche riddled rant against the Superintendent and our schools: .....“Yet the Superintendent still claims the department needs an annual increase of 6% just to meet contractual obligations.” “Something doesn’t gel here." 

Does ace reporter and former Selectmen Koenig really not understand that the teachers union contract obligations (steps, salary adjustments and longevity pay) grow at nearly 6% a year? I'll bet she does, but doesn't care to share those facts.

Former Selectmen and crack columnist Koenig is right about the fact that something doesn’t gel; its her columns and opinions. 

Hey Judy, where’s your criticism of the teachers union leadership and their contract demands? Where’s your criticism of the current School Committee for still not having settled these contracts? Where’s you appreciation of the Superintendent for operating the schools with 0%, 1% and 1.5% budget increases while teachers pay grew at nearly 6% a year crippling our school budget and our Town’s Finances? Where’s your criticism of the Community School Executive Council and the Community School for the years of mismanagement and illegal contract authorizations which were reported in the recent independent audit?

Maybe you could write a column about all of the commercial development that you "saved" us from while you were a member of the Board of Selectmen -- that seems to have worked out real well for everyone! Well, at least we have the Power Plant! Oh ... maybe not.

Getting it right has never been former Selectmen Koenig’s specialty; and, since the Editors of the Enterprise do not seem to let the absence of fact or truth preclude them from publishing Judy, readers of the Enterprise would be best served by skipping over “Inside Out” and going straight to Sports or the Obituaries both of which are more often based somewhat closer to reality. 

Somebody Needs to Lighten up!

Columnist Sean Gonsalves of the CCT did a follow-up column on the Mirant issue this morning and quoted extensively from an earlier NotThePTA post on that topic.

Gonsalves had a much better sense of humor (and/or thicker skin) than some of the other ink-stained wretches down there in Hyannis !!  He overlooked my comments about borrowing my copy of the CCT from the bottom of Tusk the Turtle's cage -- we also both had a good laugh as to how NotThePTA should be described in his column --- I was thinking "Paradigm of Virtue", his Editor was probably thinking "scum-sucking maggot" Gonsalves worked out an acceptable compromise.

That was in marked contrast to the prior day's email exchange with the Letter to the Editor Editor (a future employee of the Redundancy Department of Redundancy ?) where I was told that my blog posting was "infantile" and that she was not sure if they could find room for my letter in the near future.  Apparently she was having no trouble meeting the daily quota of "I Love Jeff  /I Hate Jeff" letters !

Somebody needs to lighten up!

Most Bizarre Exchange of the Meeting ?

Let's make this one a contest!

My nomination would be:

Susko questions the fact that Crossman made no disclosure during the discussion of pool costs -- despite the fact that she is a paid employee at the pool.  Crossman launches into an explanation of her discussions with State ethics --- but never acknowledged that she is still required to disclose her conflict EVERY time she takes part in a pool-related deliberation.

Here comes the bizarre part -- a few minutes later when Susko comments that she was very familiar with the service provided by the current copier technician from her days of employment at the Forestdale School -- Linnehan chimes in with nonsensical comments about Susko being the one with a conflict of interest!!

Did Linehan think Susko was sleeping with the copier technician?  What POSSIBLE conflict could remembering a copier technician from her prior job present to this discussion?  What possible economic benefit could Susko receive from this decision? 

Maybe her experience with this particular vendor should be ignored?  That would certainly be in keeping with the appparent "No Relevant Experience" platform that got several folks elected lately.

I'm surprised that Linnehan still shows no understanding of the Ethics laws -- despite the fact  her husband is a  Sandwich school employee (as was she -- very briefly).

Second thought, nothing surprises me anymore!

The Superintendent's Evaluation? Huh?

Tonight's SC agenda includes an item labelled  "Superintendent's Evaluation".

I can't bear to watch a meeting live --- I need to be able to Fast Forward !  I can't imagine what they're evaluating -- they already fired her!!!   Have they got that much free time that they can do evaluations of people they have already dismissed?

And ... even overlooking that gap in logic... why do an eval now?  She was evaluated on April 28 -- they could watch that meeting online if they truly don't  remember doing it!

Are they that desperate for another diversion ?