Monday, April 8, 2013

Kenn Robinson – Candidate for Selectman


Kenn Robinson – Candidate for Selectman

            My name is Kenneth “Kenn” Robinson and I would like to begin by thanking Pauly for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself to you via the blog.

            I was born and raised in South Central Pennsylvania where I earned my bachelor’s degree in Government with a minor in Public Policy.  After working for a year with low-income families as a caseworker, I attended law school and earned my Juris Doctorate with Honors in 2009.  I currently practice Real Estate and Business Law as an Attorney at Gelinas & Ward, LLP in Leominster.

            I have been a resident of Massachusetts for about three years, having lived in Gardner for a year and a half prior to moving to Templeton.  My spouse is originally from North Orange and has owned a business in Templeton for five years.  We currently live in Brooks Village in a home that we purchased last fall.  We look forward to raising a family here in the coming years.


            I am running for Selectman because I believe that I can put my education, training and experience as an Attorney to use to help better the community that we all share.  As an Attorney, I read and interpret municipal, Commonwealth and Federal laws and apply them to real problems to find real solutions.  That is what I hope to do for Templeton if honored with the opportunity to serve you on the Board of Selectmen – work together with other members of the Board to find real solutions to our community’s real problems.

            I have spoken to numerous members of our community and am aware of and sensitive to the pain and dysfunction that this town has endured.  Being an outsider and a pragmatist, I hope to heal old wounds and move the town forward through transparency, reason, communication and economic growth.  I am on no one’s side but the people of Templeton.

            I humbly ask for the opportunity to serve you on the Board of Selectmen.  I welcome any questions, criticisms or support and can be reached at kennrobinsonforselectman@aol.com.  Thank you for your time and consideration, and again, thank you to Pauly for the opportunity to post on the blog.

Sincerely,
Kenn Robinson

13 comments:

  1. Thank you Kenn for posting the above information and thank you for taking an interest in the Town of Templeton, first by moving here and secondly by running for selectmen. Hopefully with multiple candidates night this year, people will have ample opportunity to speak with you and ask questions prior to election day. Future family probably means an interest in the school system which is a very important topic right now. Good luck to you as you are paired with two other fine candidates which should equal an interesting election period in Templeton and a very very important one, once again, welcome to Templeton and its very interesting political landscape.

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  2. Thank you, Kenn. This was a great read in order to get to know you better. We need new people on the BOS so badly. This is a great community despite the decade of infighting that has occurred. I think the majority of citizens simply want to see their town governed with respect and professionalism. But, because the wounds are still very fresh and deep, we have a real trust issue with our public officials. That is why we ask so many questions and over analyze each issue. We feel that bad things occurred here, rules were not followed, and the state will not pay attention to our town because we are so small. This is why Pauly's blog has become so important to us--its been a new means of communication for us to better understand what happened and to come together to find solutions and to heal together. In general, town government has improved over the past year with the addition of Mr. Ritter who has been wonderful at bringing professionalism and order to the town offices. And, we now have a new Advisory Board, Accountant, and Treasurer to better oversee our finances. Town employee relations have improved (still more work to go, though) and overall communication between the town and citiznes has also improved. We are fearful that all this progress will be ruined if certain people get back in power. This is why we are so nervous about this election. But, if you are elected, I think people will feel content as long as you uphold your promises of fairness, professionalism, and objectivity. Like I said before, that really is all we want from our selectpeople. Thank you for running and caring about this community.

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  3. Kenn, Thank you for running for a thankless job. You say that you are running for Selectman because you believe that you can put your education, training and experience as an Attorney to use to help better the community that we all share.
    Here are some questions that are on a lot of people’s minds.

    Have you read any of the documents linked on the C4T website that show an interesting and revealing history of the past BOS practices and specifically one of your running competitors?
    Are you in favor of the investigation into some of these past practices that was voted by the town to happen?
    Do you know the history of the town coordinator position and what happened when that position changed people over the past 2 years?
    Have you seen the truly unbelievable past selectmen meetings with Bob Columbus as chairman on Youtube or were you there to witness them first hand?

    As a real estate lawyer, do you believe that the purchase of 252 B. Road was done properly and legally?
    Do you feel that the Chairman of the BOS at the time is an abutter of 252 and should not have signed off on property that would affect his property value in any way?

    Do you feel that the TMLWP is working for the town as a whole?
    Do you feel that in these times of extreme cutbacks to other departments that it is appropriate for TMLWP to give out raises?
    How long would you expect an audit to take for a wind turbine project that has been installed for over two years?
    Do you feel that the BOS should have a say in the budgeting process with the TMLWP?

    Should the names of residents that are over 2 years delinquent in paying their taxes have their names posted to the town’s website and or in the newspaper?
    How would you go after the unpaid taxes in town?

    Do you feel that the school dept. needs the override they are looking for?

    How would you solve the issue of the lack of a centralized Town Hall?
    Are you in favor of renovating ET for a New Town Hall?

    Do you have any opinions about any or all of this that you are willing to share with this blog?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your questions! I will try to briefly address several of them and will be happy to go into more depth and speak to all of them at the Candidates’ Nights (I will be attending all three).

      I have read numerous documents through links posted by Julie on the blog and fully support the investigation, which I spoke in favor of at the November STM.

      I know the history of the town coordinator position and the resulting recall/election and have spoken to citizens that were on both sides of the debate.

      I believe that BOS meetings should always provide for an opportunity for members of our community to voice their opinions. I believe that it is the mutual obligation of members of the BOS and members of the community to speak respectfully to one another, refraining from bullying, name-calling and obscenity.

      I believe that a centralized Town Hall is crucial to allowing industry and citizens to do business in Templeton. I would be open to the renovating of ET for this purpose, if doing so would be our most cost-effective option.

      If real estate Tax Takings are not satisfied, they should be foreclosed by the Town, so long as doing so would not expose the Town to liability from environmental hazards, etc. A checklist should be formulated to determine which Tax Takings should be foreclosed and sold for revenue, taking into consideration factors such as length of time in Tax Title status, efforts of the property owner to bring taxes current, occupancy of the property, potential liabilities, etc.

      I do feel that the NRSD needs the override that they are looking for and that if the override fails, we as property tax payers could end-up paying twice as much as a result of lost School Choice dollars from neighboring communities and the potential for a 112 State budget. I will explain my position on this in far greater detail at the Candidates’ Nights.

      Thank you again for your questions,
      Kenn Robinson

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    2. Thanks for the response. You are getting closer to getting my vote. You do sound informed, yet I am still not sure what side of the fence you sit on a couple of question because, in a true politician manner, you deflected from some subjects well. But you do get huge points for just responding. You get a pass until later, for now.

      One thing that caught my eye was you saying that there are 3 candidate nights, the town’s website only mentions 2, Kamalot, and American legion. Are there really three? I want to make sure to see all the candidates speak. Can someone please confirm how many candidate nights are schedule for the public to attend?

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    3. There is a student-led "town hall" at the high school tomorrow evening.

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    4. Is this student led "Town Hall" the third candidates night? Is it open to the public? What time is it happening?

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    5. It is at 6:00pm tonight in the high school auditorium and is open to the public.

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  4. Ken, as you know we have spent some time discussing the problems Templeton has had for the past two years. Most of the problems centers around the fact that, the trust the people in this town had, was betrayed by its elected officials. This is the worst kind of betrayal, almost unforgivable. We will be paying for the poor decisions these people made for years to come. I thank you for having the courage to run for selectman. I am sure you would do a good job. I am glad you will be able to get to know the people in this town. We are a hard working lot, and as you can tell, will never take our eyes off any elected officials in the future. We need to have a open government! No deals behind closed doors, no meetings at eight thirty in the morning, so no one else will be there. Our government is working for us. In the past two years Citizens 4 Templeton has worked to get the town on a even keel, and it has worked. We are going forward, and we can never go back. I am looking forward to seeing you at Candidates night. Good luck! Bev.

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  5. Mr. Cosentino=Justice for Templeton
    Mr. Morrison= Serving all Ages
    Mr. Robinson=Hope in the Next Generation
    Mr. Skelton=Feeding at the Public Trough

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  6. Thank you for this fine introduction, Mr. Robinson. Will be interesting to hear what you have to say on candidate's night. Best of luck in your bid for office & if you do get elected we hope you remember why you ran, unlike certain past officials. The reason people are so skeptical is what others have already said, & that is that the public trust was betrayed by a few who were expected to work for us & didn't. Much work to be done ahead. Thanks again, to all those who have done so much these past couple of years to fix the sordid mess of the last decade. There are some people, in my opinion, who should be in jail for what they did to this community. We can only hope the obstruction of justice case that Pauly has worked so hard for will come to pass. There again, as another blogger pointed out, we are a small town & not much use to the big city authorities unless they are looking to establish a landfill, cut down our "protected" forested trees, take our water supply or something such as that. Maybe we will be fortunate one day & justice will prevail. Thanks for reading my thoughts & opinion.

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  7. Thank you Kenn, for posting to the blog. It can be a bit nerve-wracking to put yourself out here on the blog.

    I also want to thank you for becoming involved and taking an interest in local politics.

    I look forward to hearing you speak and answering questions at candidates night.

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