Democracy
Petition forces vote to fill vacant seat on Templeton board
Selectmen schedule special election for Jan. 14
Kerry O'Brien
News Staff Writer
Kerry O'Brien
News Staff Writer
TEMPLETON — Following the submission of a citizens petition to the town clerk with 210 signatures, a special election will be held Jan. 14 to fill the vacant seat on the Board of Selectmen.
“We are doing a disservice to the citizens because our bylaw says five seats,” said Selectman Kenn Robinson.
One of the five seats on the board has been vacant since the resignation of Virginia Wilder in May. Although the board has held several special elections — including this week’s Proposition 2 1/2 override vote — state scheduling requirements have meant the seat has not been voted on.
“There wasn’t enough time to take it on,” Mr. Robinson said.
Board members and residents on hand for a meeting Thursday voiced disagreement with the citizens petition.
“We are doing a disservice to the citizens because our bylaw says five seats,” said Selectman Kenn Robinson.
One of the five seats on the board has been vacant since the resignation of Virginia Wilder in May. Although the board has held several special elections — including this week’s Proposition 2 1/2 override vote — state scheduling requirements have meant the seat has not been voted on.
“There wasn’t enough time to take it on,” Mr. Robinson said.
Board members and residents on hand for a meeting Thursday voiced disagreement with the citizens petition.
The special election will cost the town $5,500 and the vacant selectman’s position will be back up for election in May.
“I’m very angry,” said Diana Morrison. “In my opinion, given the financial climate, it’s irresponsible to spend $5,500 to have an election ... those 210 people should have to pay for it.”
Mr. Robinson defended the petition — which he signed — and said the principle involved is more important than the up-front cost.
“Democracy is one of the biggest things we do here,” he said. “And who knows, this person could come on and bring us a $50,000 idea none of us have thought of. It’s worth it in the end. There are more important things than $5,500.”
The selectmen on Thursday ultimately voted to hold the special election, as is required by state law following a petition.
“Even though I don’t agree and the town doesn’t have the money, I’m a strong proponent for the citizens’ right to vote,” said selectmen Chairman Jeffrey Bennett. “Our hands have been tied because these people brought the petition forward.”
In other business, assistant to the deputy assessor Luanne Royer has been hired to fill the position of deputy assessor, which was recently vacated by Susan Byrne.
Ms. Royer has been an employee of the town in various departments for 13 years and meets the requirements for the position as outlined by the Advisory Board.
“She’s been a valuable employee to the town as a whole,” Mr. Bennett said. “She’s also demonstrated in filling in for Sue over the past couple of weeks that she can get the job done.”
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Democracy
The
estimated cost of an election to fill the BOS vacancy is $5,500. The election
has been set for January 14, 2014.
One common theme from those who signed the petition...every person I approached was eager to sign and all had the same comments about the BOS......NO CONFIDENCE!!!!! how that be for arm chair quarterbacking isteach!! the truth supported by the truth straight to the truth from the truth to the tax payers of templeton.....Yes isteach you can not handle the TRUTH!! love that part of the movie when Jack yells at Tommy in the court room.......cold hard truth... god bless
ReplyDeleteWow, good for you getting out there looking for signatures!!, That's great but It would be easier to take you more seriously if your comments weren't so childish & harsh. Remember you brought up the armchair reference 1st, not me. And don't be mad at me because I asked you a legitimate question that I still do not see any real answers to. Also, I can tell you that you have no idea what I can & cannot handle. You are like a bully in the school yard who is just an instigator because you have a bee in your bonnet or likely elsewhere. Anyway, I know you threw the bait (lol) out there to get a response from me so I am going to take it against better judgment but still am not sure why you are so angry. Maybe people have no confidence in the BOS but explain Why the present board is doing so badly when they are trying to fix our fiscal problems that prior boards & school policies got us into? I don't see any solid answers, only feet stomping. In another blog, you say you have a happy life but your blogs surely don't show or reflect that. If you could speak more gently or courteously with more substance I might get it but you are bound & determined to do EXACTLY what you claim others are doing. Yes, I hope God will bless you in spite of your empty rants. You need to get more peaceful & not take everything to heart even valid questions from people you do not know but try to hurt them in the process, too. It's rather sad to see. I hope you took out papers to run for the BOS to make it better for yourself if you are so upset with the way it is run now. Possibly that would help you calm down although you might see just how hard it is to please everyone with the tough decisions that need to be made. Please consider it so everyone can meet you, then get down to real business so you sort through this town's messes & set everything right. Yes, we need God's blessings & God 's help to straighten out where we are now, that is for sure, because we all don't seem to be able to do it very well !!!.
Deletewow people say the same thing about Mrs. Farrell being childish......but isteach you would have to open your eyes to the TRUTH in order to realize that wouldn't you?? I think you are forgetting one valuable point isteach.....Mrs. Farrell is an elected official...the truth is not!!! sooooo maybe you should open your mouth like mrs. Farrell and place ur foot in you mouth!!! hahahah cold hard truth
DeleteWho knows if you are an elected official or not, I guess I would have to believe you and I find anything you write hard to believe as it is written with such hatred and very little provable backup. You sound like someone who really got hurt at some point and is lashing out like a child would when they do not get their way or someone that lost their job that they were unqualified to do. You just keep ignoring valid questions asked of you and spit back venom. Your truth is not my truth, that is for sure.
DeletePhil im sorry you feel that way.....Mrs. Farrell and Bob Mitchell are a cancer to Templeton!!! you keep the blinders on if that is what you wish to do.........Election time is around the corner! cold hard truth! Im not sure phil what you do not understand about being PROFESSIONAL AND RESPECTFUL to the community..doesn't seem childish to me to want that for templeton...if you want templeton to continue to be the joke of central Massachusetts that is your choice...I hope and will work for something better for my peers....thank you templeton for your support...Your feedback has been overwhelming and I will continue to blog the TRUTH!!! venom childish...maybe you should review Mrs. Farrell recent track record you will see venom and child play...I agree it is not what people want to hear from a taxpayer...It is certainly NOT what the town of Templeton needs from an elected official.....truth truth truth!! : )
DeleteRead between the lines people.....the only BOS member with any CREDIBILITY is KEN ROBINSON notice KEN himself signed the latest petition.......what does that say about his confidence of the BOS....this is a respected attorney!!!! who has received proper education and understands how to be an elected official! what does his signature say about the remaining BOS members doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure it out people..
Deleteoh yes....cold hard truth!!!!!!!!!!
DeleteI believe Kenn signed because he feels the seat needs to be filled, not because of confidence or a lack thereof in the BOS at least that is what he said at the BOS meeting the other evening. I just wanted to be clear about that as Kenn does not like it when words are put in his mouth that he has not said. Thank you Truth.
DeleteI absolutely agree Diane thank you for clarifying Im not trying to speak for kenn he is very well spoken and doesn't need my help....when I said "read between the lines" I assumed the readers would understand it was only my opinion...One I still believe, but understand the climate control....thank you...Diane since you are a regular blogger Do you have confidence in the present BOS?? Do you or will you endorse a candidate?? honest questions from someone who always is looking for the truth...
Deletenext time I will try to be more specific...thank you for making me aware of this situation!!! truth truth
DeleteWell Mr. / Ms. Truth, no one asked me to sign a petition for anything. Now Truth, how would we pay for 252 if that project had moved forward? Cold hard truth is the rooms people were not allowed to see are covered in mold...cold hard truth. When I say covered, I mean you open the doors to the two bathrooms and you smell mold and you see mold on all of the walls in both rooms. The first utility type room which had electrical tape over the door handle, you open the door, look to the left and then look at the same wall that the door is located within and again you see mold from floor to ceiling. My question is why would they not let people see those rooms. Any selectmen could have placed an agenda item for a BOS meeting for an election to fill the seat at anytime. Cold hard truth is now we will have a selectmen who will serve for about 4 months. Of course, all this could have been avoided if the person who was involved in organizing a recall, then ran and was elected, had simply finished her term. That is the warm flexible truth.
DeleteI would be happy to help pay for the election as I am one of the signers. I agree with Selectman Robinson about democracy and that it's more than about the money. We could have had that seat filled at this last election of when the discussion was brought up that date could have been chose . There has been plenty of time to decide since Mr. Robinson was elected. I know that Mr. Mitchell plans to run and are there any other candidates? I am just curious. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDiane,
ReplyDeleteWe could not have had the ballot election to fill the BOS vacancy at the last override election held this past Tuesday- October 15th. We discussed that topic at the BOS meeting when the date was set for this override.
The override election had a minimum timetable of 35 days to post. A ballot election to fill the vacancy is a minimum timetable of 65 days to post because people need X amount of days to take out papers and return them. When the date was set for the October 15th override vote, people in attendance at that BOS meeting wanted the override to occur as quickly as possible so that the cuts that would have to made if the override failed would not be as drastic. The clock was ticking.
It is inaccurate and misleading to state :
"We could have had that seat filled at this last election of when the discussion was brought up that date could have been chose"
For those of you who doubt the veracity of my comments, please verify this information with the Town Clerk.
Thank you again to everyone who supported the override. Thank you to everyone who exercised their right to vote.
Please attend the Special Town Meeting on October 23rd.
Remember the past to ensure a better future.
Let's go Red Sox!
Vote Mitchell for Selectman!
Mrs. Farrell you have NO chance of ever being elected in templeton ever again...cold hard truth...my time spent door to door has been fruitful!!!!!! right jules???? cold hard truth
DeleteI was happy to see Debbie and Raeanne getting people to sign. That is Democracy in motion and i was glad to sign and would do it again.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to offer my support to Bob Mitchell for Selectmen
Templeton needs to move away from the past mistakes....Mr. Mitchell was recalled and the town is divided enough, this will not help Templeton.....It would be nice to see some new faces.... time will tell....cold hard truth : ) go PATS!
ReplyDeleteMr. Mitchell was unfairly recalled with lies & deceit. Now that is the cold hard truth!!.
Deletehahahahah!!! Now I know isteach you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about....you were making some sense for a while....but you are talking about "light it up Mitchell" from the Red Onion? Maybe you are confused with someone else...because the Bob Mitchell from Templeton who would throw darts and hang on the back porch of the RED ONION is not fit for town politics..Now that is the cold hard truth!! see isteach I know you like that saying cold hard truth...get your own slogan lol
DeleteOh, now that's really funny!! And you think you make sense here ??? Wow, what planet are you living on??? You say you want to change the town officials to be more courteous & respectful. Well, you can't command or get respect if you don't give it . It appears that you certainly must be dealing with some other problem that keeps you spewing forth nasty comments to others you do not even know. And You are so predictable!! I Knew you were going to say I used your "personally owned slogan" when I wrote it on purpose to prove I was right about your egging on comments. Also, I didn't realize you owned those English words or had a trademark on them but I used it to make my point & you did exactly what I thought you would do :) You like to say it over & over again & again with Nothing of substance behind it to prove anything Oh, and you can bet that will be the only time I use that phrase here as I would not want to be associated with the hatred & false rhetoric you spew forth to try to hurt others needlessly & continue to goad others into a fight while not ever engaging in a real productive discussion of things that have gone wrong in Templeton or answer the valid questions that have been asked of you. I still have not seen any concrete answers to town issues from you that you say is this truth. All I see is your hate speech & slanderous remarks toward Mrs. Farrell, Mr.Mitchell & Mr. Bennett, etc. & now me, geez!! Even if they have done some of the things you say that does not make them bad people, liars or frauds as you like to say way too often. You are now trying to throw nasty innuendos at me for asking you a simple question of what do you see wrong with the BOS & you will not answer. You just hiss & say bad things to me (who you do not know at all) & because I say how well I have been treated by those you seem to hate (Julie, Bob & Jeff) you just write childish comments back. Now, how does that gain you any respect? You need to look at yourself & stop judging others for the same things you do. You are NOT respectful here in any way so why would you think you deserve respect??. Now, I find it rather silly why I bother with this question again but, I will ask you one last time, what are the things you deem to be true about what is wrong with the way the BOS are leading. Also, why don't you run for office & fix everything if it is that easy. Please get yourself more together before you speak because I think you are alienating more than you are gaining to "your cause", whatever that is? other than what looks like personal vendettas toward Mitchell & Farrell. It looks to me like you are doing more of the dividing in this town than those you proclaim are. My opinion & I know you are going to most likely snidely yell yours back. Wait for it everyone, although, I hope you can answer on a more adult level this time. Plus, please list what the wrongdoings are that the BOS & Advisory Board are doing now in your opinion. Still hold out hope I'll see it written here so I can get the full scope of all you say you know regarding the downward spiral this town has endured & why you think Mrs. Farrell is to blame. My guess is that is because you can't "truly" find a reason that this is so!! Thanks, once again, in advance for the highly anticipated, albeit usual empty, answers of the truth that the captive audience waits for & hopes to see. Stay tuned for "As the Truth Turns, part 3" / Yes, this is Templeton's sad soap opera, episodes unlimited. Good evening all.
Deleteisteach not sure if you understand the term tongue and cheek....but when I said get your own slogan that was tongue and cheek............
DeleteNo, I do not know what that is, hmm? but if you mean "tongue in cheek" then I get it. lol...Now, I still don't see your laundry list of what you say is all this Truth out there. Still waiting for the answers to a simple question as to what is this truth regarding our troubles here, that you say you know, in the sad little hamlet of Templeville? (name has been changed to protect the innocent ) stay tuned for "As the Truth Turns /part 4" - tongue in cheek :) - Thanks for clarifying your statement & here's wishing you "the truth" a wonderfully peaceful day.
DeleteVery good! You showed that a person who attempted to school you was trying to teach you the wrong phrase.
DeleteI am typing from my mobile phone and I couldn't get it to post again. What I meant was Kenn was elected and Virginia resigned and that was awhile back and we could have set a date then and yes I forgot about the time table and days. I am unclear why we would not wanted to have filled that seat as soon as we could. Yes, I completely understand the lack of money but I thought we should have gone ahead with that as 4 is an even number and I guess we are lucky the votes at the BOS meetings have been ok. Didn't mean to mislead anyeone it was my opinion
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Truth. We absolutely need a new face, new ideas, and an independent thinker. I want someone who is not aligned with, or for or against anyone. I believe it is the only way we can move forward and not remain in this "we" versus "them" mentality of most of the bloggers. We need someone who is going to look with a critical eye and not just march lockstep with their buddies.
ReplyDeletethanks voice of reason...at least someone can see the.............truth!!
DeleteMitchell has the experience Templeton needs again!!!
ReplyDeleteRun Bob Run!!!
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ReplyDeleteHi Diane,
ReplyDeleteWhen the board of selectmen reorganized in May, I made the motion for Jeff Bennett to be the chair in abstentia. Kenn Robinson was named vice chair. Doug Morrison the clerk.
After Virginia resigned in the middle of May right before annual town meeting, that's the way the composition of the board of selectmen stood. I think there was a brief discussion while Kenn was acting chair about filling the vacancy, but I think it was decided to wait until Jeff Bennett returned from Afghanistan.
Jeff Bennett returned in the middle of July, while the BOS and the town was in the process of dealing with the fallout of the school committee who chose the nuclear option to fund the school budget.
I do know whenever a request to place an agenda item on the BOS agenda is made, it is honored. I never made the request to discuss filling the vacancy made by Virginia Wilder. I don't know if Kenn or Doug ever did. I don't remember anyone in the audience asking about filling the BOS vacancy until it was brought when the BOS scheduled the override date. I believe Deb Koziol brought it up and the discrepancy in dates between an election and override vote was mentioned.
There was probably too much going on. Thanks for the information.
ReplyDelete