Open, Honest and TRANSPARENT?
Nope!
In the never ending quest for truth, justice and the American way,
I promised to post the legal invoices from town counsel for the time period of August 2016 to October 2016 when I had them in my possession. Here they are, sort of.
In all their redacted glory!
Hiding something?
Here's a sample:
Looks like the permit/expired permit has a bit of cost to the towns people.
ReplyDeleteI would think the charges are for the occupancy permit issue with the senior center/art store/food pantry/cemetery office.
So when did the BOS start redacting things we pay for. Does the counsel charge extra to advise what to redact and why?
Is the transparency shown here a part of the process of the sausage being made in Templeton?
Go to Mondays BOS meeting and support the efforts of the workers of the town.
Do our efforts deserve the lack of answers you see here?
This looks like the TMLWP lawyer told them how to hide from the truths not wanting to be known.
Are the charges here related to a citizens petition about the new school being hidden? Did the T.A. get instructed to check with the counsel for advise on it,against town policy to have counsel check on citizens petitions?
It sure look like a big pile to me.
WHY?
So, what I see is that this lawyer billed the Taxpayers for 10.4 hours for 10 days in august and us taxpayers cannot know what? Really?
ReplyDeleteSo, what I see is that this lawyer billed the Taxpayers for 10.4 hours for 10 days in august and us taxpayers cannot know what? Really?
ReplyDeleteHold on, this lawyer charged us for reviewing the STM warrant. Correcting portions of article 3 motion. working on article 7, but allowed article 8 to go through as "Illegal". Whose paying this guy?
ReplyDeleteWhy did the lawyer need to attend 16 hours of Planning board meetings?
Whats the deal with Aaron Swinderman, we seem to pay him for about 20 hr for 3 of 4 months??? for general labor matters.
ReplyDeleteSeems like someone isn't doing thier job and is putting it on town counsel....
Many planning board meetings were done to keep public the answers of the Dover amendment
ReplyDeleteuse a point to continue the new school project without interference from anyone or any boards. We were told the new school budget would pay the tab for the legal help the New school needed. I guess the total needs for the project were not all on the up and up.
The zoning laws were never taken under the consideration when the TESBC did the location pic and with the chairman of both it should have been a thought it would.
Redacted legal bills are the result of one of two things or both, the Town administrator instructed them to be redacted, selectmen ordered it or both entities did it together. I suppose there is a third possibility, a rogue employee did it on their own. Trust me when I say the lawyer did not tell anyone to redact it. The bills are sent in the clear. I can tell you that as having served as a selectmen.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to try is to go to another Town and request a copy of one month's legal bills for that town and see what you get. I am going to try the town where Mr. Paul DeRensis lives and serves as a selectmen. The redaction is the work of people who do not want any light shed on how things are being done in Town Hall. The ones who talk about transparency and cooperation the loudest.
ReplyDeleteIs that legal what they did, Does the State have to be notified AGAIN
DeleteI'm no lawyer, but this appears to be as stated a guide.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf
Exemption "C" if that is what is used states the "custodians decision is not conclusive".
Do we know who the "Custodian of record" is regarding these bills? Is it the BOS, the Town Administrator, Clerk??? Who did the redacting and why?
Why are we, the taxpayers paying for legal work done for the Sewer Department ? They have their own budget, so why is money coming from the Town funds ? I do not and never will have town sewer, so why should I pay for it ??
DeleteA person (or persons) who is responsible for receiving and responding to public records requests?
ReplyDeleteJust a guess!
I got the right information from TAB Chairman. Money from the Sewer Dept. pays their bills, but the bills have to go through the Town's Treasurer to get paid. That is why their bill is included with ours. It does seem to me the bills for the Sewer Department should have been separate. Hopefully things were done in the right way.
ReplyDeleteThe separation is the problem with the book keepers in Templeton.
ReplyDeleteTry to get a answer for something like what the light dept pays for their share of the health insurance and see what you get.
I know and as the chairman of the Insurance Advisory Board i was told you can't have that information. I could not have the break down of how many different plans and how many people were on what type. So advise without facts is what we do.
I got more information from the MIIA rep than from the selectwoman i asked for the help.
It would not surprise me if the towns budget is paying for enterprises expenses.
If we are not allowed to see the budgets how are we to tell.
Do you want a fire chief?
Got to Mondays BOS meeting and tell them.
Every town Employee should be at the meeting and voice what you think is the right way to treat the people who work for the town.
There is a better way to handle this disaster we call a government. Reduce the hours for Town Hall would be a starter. We have members of our community that people depend on, more than Carter could understand. Yes, changes will be hard, but I do not think they should be done at haste. I do not think the Select. Board really understands how much they have to cut. It is so important to get these changes right. Remember what happened when we came up 500,000. short ? It does seem a select few would like to have people "think someone took a bundle of money". Maybe it just stopped the public from the real task at hand, why we have a structural deficit in our budget, and how to fix it. Think about that for a while ! Until everyone knows how much money we really can afford to spend on our government, and stick to those numbers, we will not be ok. This is the honest truth. I am sick of seeing the people who work for the Town getting hurt, because we cannot be grown up enough to spend money in an acceptable way. Start from the ground up, because I want this fixed before I am in the ground. Throwing more money at the problems we have, will not fix what is wrong . I do not want any more B.S. about how wonderful things are, and I do not think I am the only one fed up. One thing is for sure, like it or not the Advisory Board could help the Selectmen, if they let them. The workers in the Town of Templeton deserve that much. Bev.
DeleteMany thanks to the Advisory Board members who have kept the accounting problems front and center for the voters in Templeton. The back door deals done by members of our Selectmen,especially the most powerful politician in town for the past twenty years Mr. Columbus have caused incredible problems we are just now starting to understand. When a politician puts friends and family before his town many bad things can result.
ReplyDelete