We have people who work
very hard for the Town of Templeton. Most of these people do not get paid. I
think the Advisory Board works hard, and for sure we know the Board of
Selectmen does a lot of work. I could go through the list, but I think you get
the idea of what I am getting at. Ok, we know the town is not in the best of
shape financially, and people from all the different departments have turned in
their budgets. So, it is off to town meeting we go, after the pre. town
meeting. For you that do not know, this is a long process!. So the question I
have is, who are the Commissioners supposed to be working for. Are they
supposed to be working for the people in the town? Are they supposed to be
working for the department? The guys I am writing about are the people who work
for Enterprise Departments. Also, is it fair that these people collect a pay,
when no one else does? I would like some of your opinions. We have double
standards, and I do not like that, maybe I am wrong. Bev.
Beverly,
ReplyDeleteI believe the reason for not eliminating the enterprise commissioner stipends is that it would not affect the tax rate at all or the ability of the town to meet payroll. No town official to my knowledge has demanded or asked that the stipends be eliminated. Dave Smart attended one meeting and asked about donating the stipends. Since town is not recognized as a charity by the IRS, the payees would have to pay income tax on the stipend even though they donated it to the town. You speak frequently about "fairness". That would seem unfair to me.
Having said all that.... I will offer to "put my money where my mouth is" If you will attend a Sewer Department meeting and present a convincing argument as to exactly how eliminating an enterprise stipend will help the municipality pay its bills, I will instruct the town treasurer to eliminated my stipend. I do not speak for anyone else on any board, only myself.
My dear Tom, I think, I did not do a good enough job at asking everyone's opinions, so I will try again. When anyone is a commissioner, of a department, who do they work for? Do they work for the taxpayer? Do they work for the department they have been voted to deal with? I am confused!! I just wanted to see how the people in this town look at these jobs. I may as well just tell you why I am asking. When a few of us went to a Light and Water Department meeting, I thought that the Commissioners would have been more open and supportive, to us as customers, and taxpayers. Well I guess that did not happen! It seemed we were not welcome. Any information was a lot like pulling teeth. Another way of looking at the situation, was the fox was in the hen house, with his feet on the coffee table, and a beer in one paw. Were my expectations wrong?? This is really what I want to know? As far as the sewer department goes, your department seems to be more open, and I am not picking on any department. I just do not understand. How is it supposed to be? We do not need any more problems in town government. It has been a tough two years for the people who work for the town, and they do not need any more abuse. The turkey has been picked pretty clean, and there is not even enough left to make a good soup. Thanks, Bev.
DeleteBeverly,
DeleteMy opinion is that we work for both the town and the ratepayers. It is our responsibility to balance the needs, wants and requirements for all concerned. We welcome anyone to attend a meeting with any concerns and we always do our best to address them. IT IS YOUR BUSINESS. We want to help any rate payer the best we can without causing undue expense to the other stakeholders. If anyone thinks we can do better in any area, we are here to hear them.
One example: we recently reduced the septage rate for the haulers to bring the price into line with other treatment facilities. This has increased the business for the town and should ultimately help all ratepayers. Another example: we needed to replace the rugs in public areas. We purchased some used rugs at a discount. They spend money like it's their own.
Next Light/Water meeting, would you mind asking why they won't shut off water to help us collect $90,000 in arrears? Now we will have to dig up the street and install sewer shutoffs for the most serious arrears. That expense will be directly on the back of the sewer users. The homeowner still won't be able to use their water, because they won't have any way to drain it. Driscoll will tell you we need to do our job better. We already do Tax Title liens etc. There is no leverage except to shut of water or sewer. It would be so easy and less expensive to shut off the water, but Noooo, Driscoll saw it fitting to just attack the sewer department rather than ask how he can help. So much for cooperation between departments huh?
Hope this helps explain things.
Tom
If you don't mind tom, i would like to print this comment and give it to the L+W show on the 7th. When i asked the question what they were there to do i got 4 different answers!
ReplyDeleteGo figure none explain it like you correctly did!
Thanks for your insight and service as a good commissioner.
On another note we may get some better cooperation soon if they know the results of the election.Their world changed on the first of may,weather they know it or not. Time to do the full court press and get the new BOS to do the hard work the old BOS didn't!
Anyone willing to help come to the L+W meeting and listen to the excuses on may 7th. demand the answers they should be giving and see how they pay their bills,or not!
Why isn't the tubine turning?
Whats the noise it makes, is it safe to run with people under it, are our kids health in jeopardy,is it a legal option for lease and wind easement? Who gets what from our coop? All these and more will be a good start and when we get these answered the tough ones will follow!
I think not being on the commission is much better at this point in time. I would like to ask a couple question about the ja/ke report also. I will bring up yours about the water shut off first!
Dave, Here is a link to my November blog where I complained about the lack of cooperation from Mr. Driscoll. On that blog is a link to the letter he wrote to the sewer department basically telling us that we were not doing our job and he was not about to help out nor cooperate in any way. The letter laid out all sorts actions that he accused us of not doing. Had he done is homework instead of quoting chapter and verse of laws he would have known that we have taken all possible measures short of water shutoff, "Even the devil can quote scripture to suit his own purpose" --Shakespeare
Deletehttp://templetonwatch.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-blog-from-tom-jeleniewski.html
Tom, Mr.Driscoll may be good when it comes to electricity, but he has no people skills. Besides, anyone knows electricity and water do not mix. LOL The Light and WATER DEPARTMENT NEED SPECIAL ATTENTION. That is what the "who do they work for blog was all about. I would have thought the commissioners should have worked for the people. In their case, no way, It is a loving relationship between the Commissioners and the department . So who was looking out for us?? No ONE,!! That is the problem. No one has watched out for the people in this town for almost ten years. Looks like we watch out for ourselves. My opinion, Bev.
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