Saturday, June 29, 2013

Chicanery



Chicanery
The use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose


Please read 603 CMR 41:05

I believe there is some confusion around the process of the school department appropriation. At the ATM in May, Town Meeting rejected the school committee recommendation for the full appropriation for the school department. Town meeting then voted to hold an override ballot election (June 25th).

The school committee met and voted to re-certify their budget at the full amount within the 30 days as required by 603 CMR 41.05 (3)b. The town received notice of the budget recertification on June 14th.


Now look at 603 CMR 41:05(3)(c):
"Each member's local appropriating authority shall have 45 days from the date of the regional school committee's vote to meet and consider the revised budget."...so it's back to the Town to hold a STM to meet to discuss the revised budget from the school...which is the EXACT SAME Dollar amount.

Look at 603 CMR 41:05(3)(b):
The revised budget adopted by the regional school committee and the assessments corresponding to such budget may be less than, EQUAL TO, or greater than the amounts in the previously adopted budget.

Now the real kicker (603 CMR 41:05 (3) (d):
(d)The approval of a revised budget shall be as set forth in 603 CMR 41.05(2)(a). If a local appropriating authority does not vote on the revised budget within the 45-day period, that member shall be deemed to have APPROVED the revised budget.

So if I have this correct:

Templeton Town meeting rejected the school budget in May; within 30 days the school committee re-certified the budget and submitted it to the town prior to the override ballot question.

If the Town of Templeton DOES NOTHING within 45 days, the school department will get the FULL appropriation that they certified in June. THAT means the Town of Templeton will have to cut $691,000 from it's operating budget for FY 14 which begins on Monday July 1, 2013.


The joint town meeting with Phillipston would happen If and only IF the Town of Templeton votes to REJECT the “revised” budget certified by the school committee in June. That has NOT happened yet. The Town of Templeton has not held a STM to ACCEPT or REJECT the “revised” school department budget which was certified in JUNE.

The clock is ticking. Templeton has 45 days to hold a STM to accept or reject the re-certified school department budget.

Please contact your School Committee Members!

Please ask them why they voted to re-certify the school budget BEFORE the override election on June 25th. The school district could have asked for a 15 day extension from the Commissioner of Education according to 603 CMR 41:05 (3)(a).

 YET THEY DID NOT ! WHY?

Narragansett Regional School Committee Members

Victoria Chartier

John Columbus
Deborah Koziol

Henry Mason

Lori Mattson

Dan Sanden

Rae-Ann Trifilo

Ruth Miller, Superintendent of Schools 978-939-5661
rmiller@nrsd.org


Be on the lookout for the posting of yet another STM.

Job posting NMS Assistant Principal posted June 24, 2013. (the day before the override).

To summarize the chicanery: “ignorance of the law has no effect.”


My opinions…supported by FACTS ! ! !

Julie Farrell

15 comments:

  1. Down hear on the lower forty were just getting up from a nap. Looks to me like the legal IQ of the School Committee has gone up signifikantly in the last election. If you snooze, you lose.

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    1. What bothers me, is the fact that the people in this town feel they voted on this twice. I am afraid they will not understand, that there will not be a vote at the poles, but they will have to go to a STM. After the last two, people are pretty disgusted with the behavior that has been exhibited by the "young adults", but they will have to go and vote, if they want to have their voice counted. Bev.

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  2. I hope a motivating factor to attend this special town meeting would be the loss of $691,000 from the Town budget in order to fund the schools.

    The Town has already cut positions and most offices are closed on Friday. In order to come up with $691,000 cuts would have to be made in public safety as in eliminating the entire police force except for the Chief. Even that would not make all of the shortfall.

    Town meeting would have to make cuts in highway as well...maybe eliminate the BOH, Planning department, the treasurer and collector and the assessors those cuts would make up the $691,000 for the children.

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  3. I would like to read the meeting minutes where this strategy was discussed.

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  4. Hope you all are willing to go without a Police Dept, not have the roads plowed this winter etc etc

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    1. Well the water department has a budget so the water can stay on. Lets hope we can get the school a budget. It's the school commitee's responsibility to do what's best for the school. If the towns people keep voting no that means the school will not have a school committee certified budget! This is not people having a tantrum for not getting their way. It's following the legal route of levels to get a budget. If the town didn't want all the police, fire, EMT, Assessors office cut, then they should have voted YES for the school which also would have been YES for the TOWN. Sometimes these are the consequences for not knowing how NO can have a spiraling effect on a community. I'm not saying I like it. I'm sad people are going hungry and I'm also sad more families that could afford the over ride didn't vote. These are not easy times in Templeton.

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  5. The idea of enforcing the pilot payment from the water department using the language of Ch93 Acts of 2000 as our guide and back billing to its inception has some appeal. The down side is that our water rates having already gone through the roof would extend well into the heavens. As Buzz Light Year was fond of saying "To infinity and beyond." All our towns people should be calling their school committee representatives and asking what kind of logic was used to certify a budget before the outcome of override vote was known. We as a town should examine this type of thinking and ask ourselves if this is a good example for the children these individuals represent. A Machiavellian system certainly gets results but at what cost? We as a town are certainly getting an education from our school system representatives.

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  6. Templeton now has proof that the Machiavellian way works -the ends DO justify the means.

    On Thursday the voters at town meeting agreed that their votes don't count at Town meeting, so why should they count at the ballot box?

    Templeton is not only financially bankrupt, but morally bankrupt as well.

    Maybe the selectmen should ask the school superintendent and chairman to attend the next Selectman's meeting?

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    1. Or better yet the Selectman should attend the school committee meeting! Many people do not attend these meetings yet freak out about all these decisions made. I've been surprised how many people aren't even clear who is on the advisory board. I think all boards need to get together, work together for the Good of Templeton.

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  7. This is certainly an interesting town and thank you for the warm welcome. Having authored the book Illustrations of Free Masonry it is my honor and privilege to agree with the above quote by town member Rick B. in regards to knowing one's history. Here is another by Edmund Burke "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for men of good will to do nothing." "In for a penny, in for a pound."

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  8. Welcome William To Templeton land of the free and home of the i'm to busy i have a thing to go to sorry! Your quote fits in good here in town as said evil wants to succeed here in town and some ways it has already. The most recent was the way people acted at the ATM and STM alot of people i've spoken to will have no part of the meetings and won't come back. I look at the glass half full, keep your pen warm you could write a book on how not to get anthing but waste time and money done in town. Poor thing to state but so true, the only hope is people will turn out to show they won't allow the town to be turned upsidedown and shaken of every penny we have to run Templeton with. Truth fairy I will pass the invite on to the chairman columbus for you when i see him.

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    1. Why does the town have a town solicitor? Shouldn't the solicitor have knowledge about the laws in which the town is suppose to run? Maybe if he would have learned the laws the town wouldn't be going through this. Maybe it is time to let the solicitor go, that would put some money back into the school

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  9. The town has a town attorney for situations like when the light commissioners bring an attorney to a meeting and talk lawsuits. If you furnish me your name, I am sure I can arrange a meeting with Mr. Paul DeRensis and you can discuss the law with him. Mr. DeRensis showed his considerable knowledge of the law when he crafted wording for a by-law that surely would have solved one big issue in Templeton and that is what Mass. general law covers the water dept and is Templeton water an enterprise fund or not. It just seems some people do not wish to have that question answered and that is puzzling. Just so you know, firing or not having a town counsel would not put money back into the school, it would simply put money back into the town general fund upon which a vote would be required on where to spend this sum of money. I hope this answeres your concerns or questions. Another point is this attorney has cost way less than previous town counsel Len Kopelman.

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  10. so let me get this right...we have to vote AGAIN on the g'damn school budget/override ???

    are you f'ing kidding me ????

    and just HOW MANY times are we gonna have to vote this ?? 100.....200 ??

    this town can kiss my a$$.....no wonder we cannot get anything done in this crap town....we are too busy voting ad nauseam

    screw the schools....and screw this never-ending bs.....to hell with it all.

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    1. Chucklbunny, guess what, we can thank the people who go to a Town Meeting with no clue, as to what they are doing. In this case, you can not have your cake and eat it too!! Our new blogger, For the people, still has not figured how this works!! You CAN NOT HAVE A FULL TOWN BUDGET, AND FUND THE SCHOOL, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! It is one way or the other, pretty much. So, if when the next Special Town Meeting, {i spelled it out for you}, is to take place on July 25, and when the votes are counted, if the school wins, the town needs to cut the town budget by $691,000. If the school looses, we have agreed to pay part of that money, or they go back to the drawing board. THERE WILL BE NO VOTE BY BALLOT. PEOPLE NEED TO ATTEND THIS METING, OR STOP CRYING. MY OPINION, BEV.

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