Ok people here is the link to the October 22 selectmen's meeting (part 2) on youtube. Watch it again and again and again. you will see and hear Virginia and Pat vote in favor of sending two letters to the L&W dept. Now at Monday's meeting they changed their minds. Six weeks later. those letters should have been sent weeks ago. Now you people see the frustration I have had over the past years - nothing ever gets done. why - because the selectmen - Chris, VW and PM are not looking out for us taxpayers. They have personal agendas. end of story.
These selectmen VW PM have broke bylaws - nothing is done - money is wasted - nothing is done - they vote to do something then change their minds nothing is done. I suggest that you all start calling these selectmen and ask them why. why won't they do what they were put in office to do - work for us. woo boy are we seeing the true colors now. it was lies and personal agendas that got these two into office. They will never work for us they haven't yet. get it.
thanks for for reading my opinions - Pauly
would someone please tell me when these selectmen will be held accountable. they all voted to send the letter to the L&W. so let's all us tax/rate payer go to the next selectmens meeting and demand that they do what is in the best interest of the town for a change.
ReplyDeleteClearly VW has been spoken to and given orders to squash the request for info. The whole Driscoll-harrassing thing is smoke and mirrors. And you can tell she's running static in her comments from this past Monday's meeting when she acted like she had no prior knowledge of Driscoll receiving letters from customers complaining of his poor management and Driscoll crying about being harassed. What I would like to know is what would she have done with such knowledge? One issue has nothing to do with the other issue. It didn't a month ago. It still doesn't this week. And, I don't buy that she didn't have prior knowledge of the letters sent by customers to Driscoll. She reads this blog. She's referred to reading it several times. Watch past BOS videos. In my opinion, any selectman who feels it is not of vital importance to review the financial statements of the light and water dept is not looking out for my best interest. And that is their job. So, if there are any missing signatures on that BOS letter (Jeff excluded) those will be the people who I will hold responsible for putting the town in further financial harm.
ReplyDeleteFrom now on the vote and signing should be in of one.Not after the voters get the info to the echo hill advisory board. Enough is enough! What ever happen to the select in selectmen! The fact is we are in a financial meltdown and we need to check over all departments that we don't have the ability to keep in check! There are 2 departments that are not as open as they need by law to be, LIGHT and WATER. If any selectmen feel that this is ok to overlook than I for one would like to know why. Is it ok to shorten the hours of employees and not even look at the other departments? Is no budget at town meeting for Water dept ok?No!They will fight this as long as they can for personal gain and cover for the previous gainers! It's time to pack the light and water meetings and put the board on the spot as they should be! The treatment of a previous commissioner should be reason enough for us to flood their club house and give them chance to see the real people in Templeton stand up for the town's best intrests + $$$. I don't think the boards we have now are,do you?
ReplyDeleteShareholder dave
The office people have been hurt by the cuts we made last May. I can not see how we can ask any more of them, and expect them to go home with a living wage. There is no way that the Light and Water can go on giving raises, with no thought to what the rest of the town is going through. Getting fat and happy, is how it has been. Sorry, I don't think it is ok. You may notice, if you watch the vidio, or were at the meeting, Virginia likes to make it look like she is the one being picked on. Poor me, poor me, give me a break!! We need to fill the meeting next Tuesday night. Mr. Driscoll will be thrilled to see us all there!! My opinion, Bev
DeleteAs I previously have stated, I do have the ability to read and comprehend english so as I read massachusetts general laws, chapter 164, section 57 which in part states that the manager of a municiple light department shall at the beginning of the fiscal year, furnish to mayor, selectmen or municiple light board if there is one, an estimate of the income from sales of electricity and operational expenses. It is very interesting and enlightening thing to read. Perhaps someone should bring a copy to the light meting and ask the commission and manager if they understand it. So why is it a big deal or harrassment for selectmen or citizens to request this information when it is required by law to do so, as in provide this information. What are the ramifications of the general manager providing the same information two years in a row. Even if a mistake, it is still a violation of the law. Is Virginia Wilder afraid to have the laws of the commonwealth followed by a municiple department?
ReplyDeleteJust a thought...
ReplyDeleteWhy not make a power play for Light and Water? By that, I mean at the Annual Town Meeting in May submit an article to abolish the Light and Water commission and place Light and Water under control of the board of selectmen? I think that's how Holden does it.
No more runaround for information. No more begging for PILOT money. Selectmen would hire and fire administrative people like the general manager. Ratepayers and tax payers could hold the selectmen accountable. It could make the operation of Light and water much more transparent and open.
Didn't the "powers that were" want to abolish the sewer commissioners? I think there is even a warrant article written by K&P to that effect. I think it was a STM in 2009 around November. Change the wording, replace sewer commissioners with Light and water commissioners, include Chapter 164 wording and you are good to go. Could probably even be done as a citizen petition. Do you think there are over 100 ratepayers/taxpayers who would sign a petition like that?
I'll sign it! We need to do something. We're sinking and someone has to start bailing out the water.
Deleteyea and when the town takes it over it will be the hole town not just the water useres
DeleteTo have the town selectman take over light and water would be disasterous! It should not be the intention of a few to drain light assets to balance a town budget because they themselves cannot move the town forward like a buisness. People need to start doing their jobs over there rather than attacking people that ARE doing theirs! Concerned ratepayer!
DeleteIt is not the intention of of a few to drain the assets of the light department. It is the intention of more than a few to formalize the calculation of the PILOT paid to the town by Light and Water.
DeleteAfter attending many meetings, you can't get a straight answer on anything from Light and Water that is backed up by data...in WRITING. It's all smoke and mirrors.
In my opinion, time is up. There should be no "over there" attitude. We are one town. When the town goes under, so does Light and Water. End of story.
I watched the meeting VW seemed to so concerned that J driscoll was going to sue. sue who the farrells for writing a letter as ratepayers, the selectmen for writing a letter asking for information. Maybe the sewer dept and advisory board should sue Mr Driscoll for the nasty letters they got from driscoll. careful Ginny your true loyalies are showing. Maybe we should ask for a public records request to get copies of all emails of Mr Driscoll's for the past two years bet we could find some interesting things.
ReplyDeleteAs a selectmen of the town of Templeton I submit the following for an artle on the warrant of the Annual Town Meeting to be held in May. To sumarize, Abolish the light and water commission and place control of the light and water departments under the control of the Board of Selectmen. Where do I sign
ReplyDeleteNow I don't mind people getting a fair wage for the work they do. I do mind paying the people at Light and Water way more than most of the other people in town. For one thing, I do not think this is sustainable in the long run. I do not think Gerry thought ahead to a time when the economy would be so bad. Why should they want for nothing, while the rest of the town departments starve? This is not right, no way no how! I really think we should see their books, all of them. Then we will have a true story of where we are at. Bev
DeleteAccording to the town of Holden website, they have a light department advisory board which shall cause the light dept manager to file a financial report to be on file with the town manager to create a budget that is also on file with the town manager as well as have meeting minutes as public records to be on file with the town manager, town clerk and light dept office. Insert Board of Selectmen for town manager and what is the problem Mr. Driscoll?
ReplyDeleteYou work for a municiple light department, it is a PUBLIC entity, there fore you are required by law to keep good clear PUBLIC records, public meeting minutes by law are to be on file at the town clerks office. Please follow the law or I may sue you, as a rate payer, for failure to obey state law. I do not take kindly for you or any of your commissioners to ignore us. Laws are in place for a reason, please obey them as you do work for Templeton, check your paycheck! Give the information you are required by law to produce, keep and provide upon request.
ReplyDeletePlease get me the petitions and I'm positive that we will get enough to sign,furthermore it's the one way to get the keys to the former boys club door locks.Why didn't we do this in the first place?Another good call julie and THANKS again! Can't get the audit report/information now jd maybe the next general will!
ReplyDeleteshareholder
Dave Smart
Jeff, good idea to look at other towns with similar issues and see how they handle them. That type of thinking is what I liked about the new Advisory Board Chair. He looked at how other towns like us dealt with various issues. Its not like these issues we face don't happen in other towns. Another town to look at is Princeton. They are in a very similar spot of having higher than average light rates, bought the same turbine from the same company, have debt to deal with, and are part of the same light coop. For an example of how good management works for a light dept, look at the manager in Princeton. Not only does he give interviews in the media-tv, newspaper-if you go to a meeting, you get all the financials and reports that you ask for. Transparency and honesty with the customers is a HUGE asset to a municipal department! SO I hope Mr. Driscoll understands that his customers' questions and requests for information are not personally motivated to harass, they are there because we want the same quality of operations and responsible method of using our money. To me, Princeton is an example of how it could be. The more information is shared on an issue, the more people can put their minds towards finding the best solution. It is very possible to fix all the administrative and financial problems in Templeton. But its going to take everyone being honest and working together to solve them. Anyone that refuses to be cooperative and intentionally puts road blocks in the way of the town's pursuit on any and all information needed to solve the town's problems needs to see they will eventually be pushed aside. When Progress has many people behind it fueling the engine, it will push through any obstacle in its way. I suggest to Mr. Driscoll, all the light & water commissioners, Ms. Wilder, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Mullins and any others who may not be cooperating to their fullest to please be part of the solution and not be part of the problem. You will feel better about yourself in the end.
ReplyDeletehow about a independent company to maitain water system and fix breaks like Gardner/ even thefitchburg and leominster sub out 90% of there work on there water system and have 1 dpw that takes care of the roads sewer system drainage system and some of the water system could have all employeeys under 1 roof and eliminate some salieries and all the bullshit of dept against dept. 1 dpw director with a couple of foreman than the workers seems like were the only town in the area that has differnt depts to do thewse jobs/.if water dept is so good why do the need to use the highway dept all the time. as for Ron Daven you were so interested in the water system when you first came to town know you dont give a shit/
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