I am reposting another question to me from resident:
Diane: Julie posted this this morning on Pauly's blog. Why is it that all of a sudden this information is coming to the surface? How did this information all of a sudden appear? why didn't someone know this BEFORE we hired these people???? Below is Julie's post:
"What is very frustrating is that in prior years when we were using every penny of free cash and Stabilization money to prop up our budget, we had auditors (Melanson & Heath) check the books. Those recap numbers were then okayed by the DOR...never questioned.
For a good time google up Saugus + Powers & Sullivan. Check out what happened in Barre. Oh wait, you can't that was covered up by the DA.
It appears there were financial irregularities going on in a few communities for a very long time. It would make an interesting case study to correlate which of those communities had Melanson & Heath as auditors. Another variable would be to see which communities had K&P as town attorneys and Melanson & Heath as auditors.
It is a bitter pill, but I think the town is better off with an override than a state control board".
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Diane Haley Brooks, Selectwoman I am not sure sure why all this is bubbling up to the surface right now. The DOR is coming here on Monday and I will be sure to send the Town Administrator these comments and questions.
April Cover: I
would say that Julie and Jeff have been talking and Julie knows dam
well what has gone on. I think that we should ask for her RESIGNATION!
She is corrupt and has no right withholding information.
Kimberly Redman-Wojcukiewicz April Cover, that's the best idea I've heard all day! Julie needs to go!!
Thomas Couture It's time we really know what's going on !!!
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Interesting way to build UNITY in the CommUNITY!
Here are some FACTS -
While Templeton was using Free Cash with abandon, we had an accountant who was a CPA by the name of Scott Sawyer. Templeton had annual audits performed by Melanson & Heath during the same time period. The DOR never had a problem approving the recap sheet except in 2005. Deb Wagner was and is our field rep. for the DOR.
The BOS took a vote (3-2) to have the DOR come in and do a financial review. I voted in favor of the financial review and voted to accept the recommendations in the financial review. Unfortunately, a majority of the BOS voted to reject the DOR financial review.
I still hold out hope that people can educate themselves and we can come together as a commUNITY.
I have made every effort to make information available to residents of Templeton. Go back to the beginning of this blog and read.
View the meetings that have been posted to Youtube.
All the information you want is there.
Or better yet, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! Yes, that means you, Diane Haley Brooks, and you April Cover, and you Kimberly Redman-Wojuckiewicz and you Thomas Couture. Please take the time to review all of the information that has been made available to you.
My opinions...supported by FACTS ! ! !
Julie Farrell
Julie Farrell
Please support the override
for TEMPLETON
on May 5th
Julie - I think some people are not aware of this history involved and are unfairly blaming the messenger. It is ridiculous for anyone to accuse you of withholding information. I remember that YOU were an advocate of following the DOR recommendations and FOR the DOR review. It is even more ridiculous for anyone to characterize you as corrupt. People may disagree, but any fair-minded person would have to agree that you have the best interests of Templeton at heart. Please don't get discouraged by these statements on FB. And thanks for all that you do to keep the residents of Templeton informed.
ReplyDeleteI guess we should take these people by the hand, sit them down and read them line by line, everything you have tried to tell the people of this town. More than one of these people need to apologize to you Julie. Diane can be the first ! What is that old saying about thinking before you shoot off your mouth, so everyone won't know you are a fool, instead of just thinking it. There is a lot for these school people to learn about their own town, and some of the people in it. FYI, a friend saw J. Columbus having a warm discussion with Mr. Skelton on Friday night. Maybe John needs directions on how to" f " the town up even more than it is.?? Any way, all the history they need to know is on this blog, and I helped write some of it, so I'll be dammed if I am going to hold anyones hand to get them to read it. There has been a huge disconnect between the school people and the rest of the town since day one. How many times did we watch them walk out the door after they got what they wanted, leaving the rest of us to try to keep the wheels under the town. I only hope they will figure it out, before more damage is done to our town. I am of the opinion that Virginia helped the school people figure out the way to pull off the nuclear act on the town after the ATM. How does she play both sides of the game ?? The same way the bully tries to say she is being bullied, what a joke.!! It will all come out in the wash, My opinion, Bev.
ReplyDeleteI was sickened yesterday reading Diane's page, WHERE were all these people when this was all happening, NONE of the issues mentioned by Jeff Bennett or Julie are 'New" or "Breaking" news. Everything they mentioned have been in the know for a long time to people who have been paying attention to the Town, These newcomers to the scene are relying on heresay and have no idea what is/has happened here in town except what they are told to believe.
ReplyDeleteAND for Diane Haley Brooks to act like this is all new news to her shows Who she really is, She is NOT being truthful and is telling the people what she wants them to hear.
Here's some Cliff Notes of the DOR report for those who have ADD or limited time for their own research:
ReplyDeletePrimary Recommendations
1. Establish Town Administrator position- Article 46 passed at ATM2013
2. Prohibit elected officials from holding other town positions- Article 49 passed at ATM2013
3. Eliminate the Personnel Board- Article 59 passed at ATM2013
General Recommendations
4. Complete Long Term Planing; 3-5 yr expenditure forcast
5. Implement Capital Improvement Prodecures- See BOS meeting 3/24/14 for latest report
6. Limit the use of Free Cash
7. Implement a plan to restrict future revenue use
8. Annually review the health insurance cost and implement MGL c32B, ss18
9. Complete Independent Compensation and Classification Survey
10. Encourage regionalization and consolidated services-- Mr. Bennett was working on this from every angle looking at dispatch and looking at forming a DPW when he was deemed evil by a few newbies and a selectman
11. Establish Enterprise Fund expectations
12. Email Expenditure Reports
13. Adopt a formal PILOT program with Templeton Light & Water--Ms. Farrell was also deemed evil when trying to work on this subject. Article 52 defeated at ATM2013.
14. Authorize Overlay and New Growth Estimates
15. Move to bi-weekly pay schedule and offer Direct Deposit to employees
16. Develop Financial Procedures Manual
17. Centralize the purchase of office supplies--watch Part II of the video above and see the pushback Ms. Farrell got when suggesting this along with tallying all the town's debt FOUR YEARS AGO.
18. Continue to pursue delinquent taxes--finally in progress
19. Centralize the collection of taxes, fees, & other charges
20. Close Collector and Town Clerk bank account and eliminate passbook account
21. Generate receivable control
22. Develop comprehensive debt schedule
Most of these will be implemented (or already have been implemented) with the new financial officers in place as well as a new Town Administrator. In my opinion, the BOS of the past year has done a lot of work towards these recommendations.
Be sure to watch Part II of the video when discussion of rejecting the entire report occurs. These are the same people who have vilified Ms. Farrell and Mr. Bennett in the past. Watch who was and wasn't in favor of the report. Are these the same people that are preaching to the newbies that Ms. Farrell and Mr. Bennett are evil today? I would love to know from people who commented on Facebook why is Ms. Farrell the enemy? Exactly why should she resign? It just doesn't add up to anything logical. My opinion.
ReplyDeleteAlso of note, Article 25 of ATM2013 was to approve using CPC money to fix up ET school. This was passed over by the town meeting therefore no vote was able to take place. All other CPC projects were approved. This was a vindictive maneuver based on personal opinion, NOT what was best for the town. Not only did pro-252 Bald. Rd. people not support this, school parents said "why didn't they fix up that school when it was a school?" and didn't support the article. If this had passed, we would have town offices consolidated and operating by now and SAVING money on operating costs. This will be coming up again for another vote at ATM2014. I hope people will support it this time around and make the rational choice. Lets not waste another year's time and even more money.
Ms. Farrell and Mr Bennett along with many others have been trying to correct the bad habits and wrong doings of this town for YEARS. Their opinions and suggestions are documented in writing on meeting minutes, in video of meetings, and in their own writings going back over 4 years now. Anyone who thinks this mess is THEIR fault--or that they haven't done enough or that they are evil--are seriously misinformed or too lazy to pay attention to facts. I doubt anyone will apologize for their erroneous comments towards Mr. Bennett or Ms. Farrell as some have ego issues and have never been held accountable for their negative actions. But, that's ok. The people who have paid attention over the years know the truth. We've seen who has been sitting in the audience demanding answers all these years. We know who has personal alliance obligations. We knew these financial issues existed a long time ago and we know who tried to help and who tried to cover up. We know that the Advisory Board was chaired by an 18 yr old when the suspicious requests for money from the reserve account kept coming up. We also know who stepped up in 2012 to pull in the reins on financial management and the Advisory Board and who quit when the scrutiny of the books began. If more people had listened to Ms. Farrell and Mr. Bennett instead of launching hate campaigns against them, we'd be better off financially and emotionally as a town right now. But no worries. History will be on their side. The only ones who should be worried about what is being said are the ones who did wrong in the past. The newbies to local politics need to choose to be part of the solution or continue to let their opinions be clouded by misinformation and lead the divide in town into yet another generation in this town. Its one thing to use words on signs about unity and mending the town. Its another thing to actually act out those words.
Down hear on the lower forty we agree with the sayin that "talk is cheap". In our opinion Ms. Farrell has been the main player in keeping this town anywhere near honest politics and we go back a long long way. When the red barn people are all about looking out for anyone but the town and the new school people forget how to live within your means Ms. Farrell has been a voice of reason. Thanks Ms. Farrell for sticking with this town of ungratefuls.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone in this town posts the facts it is Julie Farrell. Anyone that says otherwise are just obtuse in their point to tarnish a solid reputation that stand for itself. That won't happen when people can look up facts here and other places. Do we want to
ReplyDeletere-elect people who look to tarnish fellow boardmembers? Members who lower themselves to a sound bite and don't check the facts before sounding off? I DON"T. Know the facts before "you" play follow the leader. This is not a game!
Another reason that Robert Mitchell will be getting my vote come May for Selectmen. When it comes to looking out for what is best for Templeton he is the candidate for me. I believe that Dave Smart will be looking after what is best for the town should he get elected to Light and Water, thanks Dave for running for this position. Ch 93 acts of 2000 needs to be looked at closely as the water department does not belong with the light, that whole special legislation was a scam.
ReplyDeletePete Farrell.
Rejecting the DOR report did this town more harm than anything else could have. The behavior of Mr. Skelton and Bob Columbus did not go unnoticed by the people in the Boston Office, and they have not forgotten how they were treated. It is unfortunate that we were all painted with the same brush used by Columbus and Skelton. I only hope that enough time has passed and the interaction of our part time Administrator, and Mr. Angle, has helped bridge the divide. Not enough credit has been given to Holly and Kate in the BOS Office. Kate has taken on the job that was left by Mr. Keeney, and that leaves the BOS with one person to process a lot of paperwork. They both have stepped up to do more than their share of work. For that I thank them. Bev.
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