Friday, February 22, 2013

Moving forward, one step at a time

Moving forward, one step at a time

Some people may think the citizens petition concerning L&W is nothing more than a power grab (no pun on my part) while others may think this is no different of a move than was made in the past when some selectmen wanted to abolish sewer comm and take control of sewer. This is my opinion and thoughts on this issue! Going back to the sewer comm., I believ the action there was 2 fold, one get access to the cash at sewer and secondly, push the salary of the former town coordinator up hence an increase in retirement. This may have been a copy of a tactic used with the merger of L&W back in 2000 or so, least the same last name was involved. While the intent of the L&W merger may be hard to prove, the results are easy by simply perusing the annual town reports for salary and eventual pension of L&W manager. Once again, I digress.

I believe the action of the petition is mainly due to poor performance of the current elected commission and general manager. Lack of communication and general attitude towards ratepayers/taxpayers. Certainly financial times do not help when looking at the total package that is Templeton Light & Water. Again, it is TEMPLETON light & water, a municiple entity rather than a private one nor is it an independent one. Therefore it should be a whole lot more friendly toward citizens of Templeton. Once again, in my view, the action being taken here is a direct result of inaction by elected officials. Look back at how and why Pauly's Blog got started and you can see similiar actions and similiar reactions, only this time the reaction did not take as long to gather steam, people are learning! This is town meeting government at work in basic form and some people donot seem to like it. (my opinion anyways)
I will state right now that I do not wish nor do I feel it to be a good thing for the selectmen to be in charge of Templeton L&W for long term. Perhaps in an oversight position as per the duties and responsibilities that selectmen already have by state law and town by-laws, but I feel an appointed commission to look after things at Light would be in the town's interest. And yes I whole heartly support breaking water away from light and move it to sewer short term and into DPW long term. One thing I feel could happen quite easily, although every time I think that, it always ends up harder than I feel necessary dang it. A PILOT agreement on paper, in place to detail how the amount will be figured each year for all to see anytime. No more guessing and no more mystery! Selectmen could also work on a more equatible contract for some employees at light to be more in-line with the rest of the town's admin workers.
One impact on the town which would result from an on paper PILOT agreement would be some of the town's debt could be positively affected with an influx of cash by following a formula used by many of the other muni light depts. within MA. Just a shift from the last light PILOT of 100 thousand to an increase to 300 thousand would mean some available funs to deal with debt the town needs to pay off sooner rather than later, as in 252 Baldwinville road. On that note, please be aware, this selectmen does not want to simply raid all available cash from light and leave it in same mess as the rest of the town is in, as this would be unwise and make no sense. We will establish a fair share thru PILOT agreement rather than just be a corporate raider so to speak. I believ with this action and further regionalization of other services and chnging the way we do business with others, Templeton will not only work thru this financial mess we are now in, we will eventually get on sound financial footing again.
In writting this, it is not my intent to create a sales pitch, rather to let taxpayers and citizens know my thoughts, intentions and plans if this were to pass at the STM. I would also like to make the case that I have pretty much followed thru on what I thought should be done or what I would work for if elected. No it has not been my work alone nor the work of any one person, but my votes on the BOS are mine. No pay for all elected positions in Templeton, get rid of K&P law firm from Templeton, remove the former town coordinator whom I did not think had Templeton's best interest in mind. Light & Water comm kept thier salary which to me just shows they think they are above the rest of the town. It is time for everyone to get in the same boat and row together. There is much work to be done and it must be done. I believe part of what needs to be done is to follow through on this petition and to proceed with what the BOS has already begun actually, by accepting the DOR report, they have stated they support it and its content and within that report was the suggestion to create a proper PILOT agreement and now is the time to follow through. Selectmen cannot simply vote to accept because of the public pressure to do so at the time and then just toss it in the corner, we have to act! So in closing, I would ask the citizens of Templeton, stand up and act, vote this petition forward and allow the change to continue. The change began back in May 2010 with the re-election try of Gerald Skelton was disabled (slight pat on the back) K&P out in 2011, Carol Skelton out as town coordinator, hiring of Jeff Ritter, the recall fiasco and the mess that came with it which demonstrated why we need to stay focused, the pulling back of the financial blanket within Templeton and the mess we found, yes there is much to do and let us continue down the path of making this a viable town again. Please support the citizens petition and lets keep the ball rolling.

Jeff Bennett

16 comments:

  1. Jeff, I am always so glad to see one of your blogs appear online. This means you are well, and one more day closer to coming home. Your blog is very thoughtful and I think it will do a lot to calm the people who are just starting to hear of Dave's petition, to put the Light Department in the hands of the BOS. You are very right about this not being a corporate take over. The only change that will be made is in the removal of the Light and Water Commissioners. Everything else will stay the same. No one will loose a job! A lot of these rumors are scare tactics, basically to put fear of change in the minds of the public, especially the elderly. Once the taxpayers can truly understand the financial position the town is in, they will agree that this is something we will have to do. Jeff, you are respected by many people for your honesty. Thank you for supporting Dave's petition. This is one more big step in making government work for the tax payers. Bev.

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  2. Hi Jeff,

    Nice blog. I agree with you that placing Light and Water into the BOS control is not a power grab and not a long term solution.

    There is no other way at this point to get a formalized PILOT agreement with the current TMLWP Commissioners. The PILOT agreement is one of the DOR recommendations. I have a number of documents related to PILOT payments that I will post separately and on the C4T website.

    Gotta run. more later

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  3. If Templeton formed a DPW, would that mean we would pay ONE bill every month and not three separate ones--electric, water, sewer? It would be great to pay one bill especially if it could be paid online. My finances would be easier to manage and I would be better about paying on time. What are the steps we have to take in order to form a DPW? I think if citizens knew that this petition was just a stepping stone to creating a DPW, maybe they'd understand the intentions better and support it more. Plus, if we had a DPW there would be less infighting between departments. Everyone would literally be on the same team and act accordingly. I am all for that. There's been too much infighting in this town and it is a poor example for the youth to think that being an adult or being involved in politics means to fight with one another all the time. Anyone that spreads false rumors or uses scare tactics in order to get people to vote the way they want them to obviously is not working for the best interest of the town and is not an honest person. The fact that the Light & Water commissioners have not been forthcoming in their business operations and have poor customer service just shows they are not professional and are not being honest. To hear the Chair of the BOS say in a BOS meeting on camera that this petition is meant to sell the light dept (which is so false its almost funny) just shows he is being deceitful and is untrustworthy and is not working for the best interest of the town. I will not vote for him if he runs again for BOS or anything else.

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  4. There have been two governments in Templeton for a long time. One government has been out in the open and on local cable where all can watch the show and make changes if need be,the other government has been up on Bridge Street acting in a clandestine manner rewarding those who are associated with it. One open fair government for all might be a nice thing for citizen's of Templeton.

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    1. Agreed. More honesty and transparency would be a welcomed change to local politics.

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    2. There are people that think they know about their Light and Water Departments. These are the people who will say they do not want change. The older people have a hard time dealing with any kind of change. What needs to be done is to explain, and give examples of what is wrong, and why change has to happen. When they have a clear picture, I know in my heart, these people will not be happy with being deceived. In this economy, every cent counts, especially with the elderly on fixed incomes, never mind the young people with all the expenses of a young couple with kids, car payments, gas, oil, "you get the drift". They will listen, and I am willing to bet they will not back our current management at water and light. Bev.

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  5. Who was that in the water department truck plowing with door wide open in the back?

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    1. The water does not plow its highway using truck it turned over to town, get your facts straight

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    2. Who plows out the pump stations and the wells?

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  6. Thanks Templeton Times for your timely article on "Media Censorship Exposed" by Mark Anderson. It is the reason we need Pauly's Templeton Watch so badly.

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  7. I voted for L+W commissioners to run the L+T dept.,not selectman! So go ahead,take away some more of my rights!And how much is it going to cost for lawyers???I rest my case.

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    1. Ok, so listen up! These guys are not running the light and water departments for the good of the town! The light and water departments belong to the taxpayers. How who is running the departments has any bearing on your rights, is beyond me. Like most of the things done in this town, it is up to the voters. The selectmen will not be running the departments for long! The plan is to hire competant people to take over. This will not take away jobs from any staff up there. Anon 7:55, sit down and read what is on this blog. Maybe you will under stand what is going on. Bev.

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  8. anon 7:55, just to enlighten you a bit, no one is taking away any of your rights simply by proposing a new or different idea. You can go to town meeting and vote against the article. What will be spent on legal is an unknown, how ever if you consider the financial gain to the town as a whole by a board approving a PILOT agreement, something in writing that is fair and more inline with what other municiple light depts do, you may actually end up in favor of this. Remember, this would probably not be happening if the board you voted for was more acomadating and forthright with taxpayers. The light board has really brought this upon themselves.

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  9. Are there absentee voteing forms for town meetings? If not then I guess I CANNOT vote...

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    1. There is a old saying, "Government is run by those who show up!" Bev.

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  10. OK Bev,here we go. Let`s say I am in a bed in rehab. I am a registered voter.Because of my condition I can not make the town meeting.So I cant vote.But in an election I could vote,from my bed. Do you get it now???

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