Gobi announces run for Senator Brewer's seat
Eryn DionNews Staff Writer
REGIONAL — State Representative Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, of the 5th Worcester District announced her intentions to run for Senator Stephen Brewer’s seat Friday morning.
“I am fortunate to live in this beautiful area with so much to offer. I welcome the opportunity and accept the challenges to work for and represent this Senate District,” she wrote in a press release.
Rep. Gobi currently serves 11 towns, all of which overlap with Senator Brewer’s seat. Should she win, she will take over the state’s second largest senate district, comprised of 28 towns and stretching from Winchendon south to Wales. She said she was excited at the prospect of once again working for towns she lost during redistricting.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” she said. “I’m ready to work for these people today.”
The Representative has a long history in the area. Born in Spencer, she was sent to work on Beacon Hill after being elected to the House in 2001 where she helms the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture as their Co-Chair with Senator Marc Pacheco.
Her candidacy comes on the heels of Senator Stephen Brewer’s announcement Thursday morning that he would not seek reelection after this year.
The two legislators have a long working relationship and Rep. Gobi expressed her condolences and wished the Senator well.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work side-by-side with him for 13 years,” she said. “He’s absolutely been the best advocate for the region and I’m thrilled I can run for the seat.”
Rep. Gobi is the only Democratic candidate currently running for the seat. Two Republicans, Mike Valanzola of Wales and James Ehrhard of Sturbidge, have already tossed their hats into the ring and begun their campaigns. However, Rep. Gobi will likely not be spotted out on the campaign trail anytime soon.
“I don’t campaign,” she said. “I work.”
Rep. Gobi represents the towns of Barre, Brookfield, East Brookfield, Hardwick, Hubbardston, New Braintree, North Brookfield, Oakham, Spencer, Ware, and West Brookfield.
We will see if Ms. Gobi can move away from Mr. Brewer's shadow to be her own person, time will tell with that. She will basically move into his seat complete with the people he owes allegiance to. Brewer wants the new school to be built in Templeton to be part of his legassie. It is to bad his dealing with with the School Committee member John Columbus, has not provided Mr. Brewer a complete picture of the difficulty this town is in. After the years of developing supporters, and collecting campaign funds, I think Mr. Brewer just wishes our efforts to get out investigation under way would just die. Sorry Mr. Brewer, that is not going to happen anytime soon. As long as the School Committee refuses to work with the town on a sensible budget, his school will remain on paper. He could also look at the end of his career as a perfect time to throw a hail Mary pass to kick the investigation into gear, as it would not hurt him one way or the other, and could prove to be the best thing he has done for this town since he became Senator. This is my opinion, take it or leave it. Bev.
ReplyDeleteBev. You & your crew have lost every vote that involved the school, the ensuring taxes, & the people we want representing us. Why do you believe that the majority of us would not also vote in favor of a new elementary school?
DeleteSimply because the town is in need of things other than just the school right about now. We have to get out of the Building in Athol Road because that is just dumping money down the drain. The area we are in is still having tough economic times. I know there are people with out jobs, and they have been out of work for more than a year. The school people made a very bad mistake when they used the nuclear option, in my opinion. I do not think that will happen again, but if it does, don't bank on a override to save the day.. Bev.
DeleteHopefully, now that we have a more reasonable tax rate, it won't be needed again. We needed a quick jump in the rate that is more realistic for the coming years. Now we can work on the other issues.
DeleteAlthough, what is going on with the $505,000 shortfall? Where are the cuts? Where are the layoffs? Shouldn't we be running out of money REAL SOON?
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
ReplyDeleteCuts v Override
Well unless you have been living under a rock, you are all aware that $551,000 needs to taken from the Town Budget and given to the Narragansett school district. The School Committee will be certifying their budget amount at their next meeting on Wednesday August 28th.
So here we are with a $551,000 short fall in the town budget.
Option 1 - Cut Police, Highway, Fire. Let's face it people we cannot cut. To lose Police, Fire, Highway etc. would have serious consequences to our town.
Option 2, -close the town down completely for 8 to 10 weeks at the end of the fiscal year. No Police, Highway, Fire, Cemetery, Town Clerk, Tax Collector, Assessors, Building Department, COA, Library, etc etc. Need a building permit - sorry wait until July 1, need a dog license - sorry wait until July 1. your house burns down - wait until July 1. You get it, this is serious.
One thing I do want to mention here with option 1 and 2 is employee will be laid off. Some bloggers have made jokes about laying employees off - NOT FUNNY - for anyone who is not aware unemployment only pays 60% of ones wages, so these employees' income would go down 40 %. Could you afford to lose 40% of your income? Also they lose their medical insurance. oh yeah they can apply for MassHealth, but do you know how long that takes? And many doctors don't take it, so if you have an employee or a member of their family going through any medical issue - this could create a real problem for them.
Option 3 - go for an override. Yes this is going to be hard on some people, elderly on fixed incomes, people already teetering on foreclosure. Can you afford $20. a month? Can you afford $1.00 a day for a bigger override to get our town back on it's feet? We all heard the school people's comments justifying the salaries of people who work for the school dept. but no one seems to care that the town employees are some of the lowest paid people not only in town but in the state. We have laborers (and I'm not knocking anyone here) at Narragansett that make $10,000 more per year than our Town Clerk, Tax Collector, COA Director, etc. Someone stated that the school has regulations and laws to abide by. And the town doesn't! have you seen the size of the "Massachusetts General Law book on Municipal Law and Finance" Have you checked with the Board of Health lately on all their laws and regulations. Did you know they get called in when DSS investigates families in town. and yet these employees stay and are dedicated to the town, many of them have been here,10, 20, and even over 30 years!
We have one of the lowest tax rates in the area.
So here you have it. How will you vote? Did you support the school? Will you now support the town?
Thank you - a Town and School Supporter!
WHERE IS THE URGENCY NOW !!! i don't get it ??the world was going to end if the override didn't pass and now months later the town is still 500k in the whole and the selectmen seem there is no rush !!!
1---maybe they are trying to cover something up ??
2---they have no clue whats going on or the cry for the override was a scare!!!
3--time is running out !!no cuts or layoffs to recover the money yet
4 ---what is the plan
5 --is the tax rate set yet if we don't have a balanced budget ??
Stay tuned Mike.
ReplyDeleteThe selectmen need certain things before possible solutions can be brought forth to the voters.
Step 1 . Close the books on FY 13 and certifying Free cash.
Meanwhile hold the line on all unnecessary spending. Try to save as much $$$ as possible. Or direct departments to submit 5% cuts for this FY.
Step 2. Schedule a STM.
FYI - The tax rate is NOT set. Probably will ask for voluntary tax payments until tax rate can be set. This will effect a small % of taxpayers, most people have mortgages and taxes are held in escrow.
The town really needs to close the books on FY '13.
So, if there is not enough money to pay the bills, what is the date that you run out of money?
DeleteLet's hope the date is after the annual town meeting in May, so we can start up town business on July 1, 2015.
ReplyDeleteI don't wanna upset Bev & have her think I'm attacking anyone here, but that's a pretty important piece of info. Don't you think you should know the answer?
DeleteWhy don't you text Sekectman Robinson... He must know and then you can share this info in the blog .
ReplyDelete1. I've already told you, I would never cross the privacy line.
Delete2. I don't know his number, just like I don't know yours.
3. Why would he know that info & you wouldn't? Are you really saying that a much junior selectman knows more than you on probably the most important part of your job? is, when do we run out of money?
Puffy,
ReplyDelete1. Have a good night!
2. Have a great life!
3. You do not speak for me nor will you put words in my mouth.
Lol. You never answered the question. When do you run out of money? If you don't know, why? & when will you know, when we can't make the salary payments?
DeleteAnswer the questions instead of trying to have a smartass comeback & we won't have to try to figure out your meaning.
This one's for you Puffy-
ReplyDelete'If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you.'
- Don Marquis.
So the answer is....... You have no idea...got it.
DeleteJust wait till there's no money left, then scream about it. When the entire town govt shuts down you can claim ignorance.
DeleteQuickly 3 minutes apart!!! Hmmmm !!! Truth is that a habit!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not him. Is there a question in there? & it was 2 diff thoughts, figured Bev would delete one. Lol
Delete