On Friday, January 16, 2015, Huff n Puff writes;


"See Jeff, here is what you don't understand, I don't care."


Some writes they don't care but they take the time to write and basically complain, I think they may care. "I pay taxes for everything in town, yet nobody seems to do their jobs. And our elected officials don't care or hold anyone accountable."


"Nobody was held accountable for missing funds, for years of using free cash, for  horribly maintained roads, for crumbling schools, for a total lack of backing our public safety personnel."


If the selectmen, past & present won't hold people accountable, then I hold them accountable."


First off, I really do not think Huff holds anyone accountable because he / she will not be held accountable for anything by refusing to speak up under a real name, one of the most responsible things people have a duty to do in our democratic republic system, in my opinion.


First things first, to the best of my knowledge, there were no missing funds in Templeton with regards to the budget short fall, nobody stole any money, to the best of my knowledge. There were errors on paper, such as accounting for money in the ambulance receipts account as revenue but a failure to also treat it as an expense since that money was already slated for one item and could not be used for anything else in the budget. There were other accounts that were understated or under estimated and the responsible group was the advisory board, this was made public, but as chairman of the BOS, I was hesitant to point the finger in public because I did not feel it would help and I also felt it was an honest mistake by volunteers, nuff said.


As for using free cash, I may not have been an elected official back in 2010, but I did pay for an ad/letter to be published in The Gardner News on a Saturday prior to a Monday election where Gerald Skelton was voted out of office. I also eventually won a seat on the BOS in 2011, defeating Gerald Skelton after a recount. Mr. Skelton was one of a few selectmen who had held office during a period of time when free cash was used to set the tax rate. I also became the third and deciding vote that led to the dismissal of Kopelman & Paige as the Town's law firm (twice) and I was also the third and deciding vote which resulted in the firing of Carol Skelton, wife of Gerald Skelton and then Town coordinator during this time of use of free cash, so I feel that someone was held accountable for the use of free cash in one way or another.


As for the condition of the roads, they are terrible, just like the roads in so many other communities. Remember that chapter 90 money, state aid for roads, was used for a few years to benefit one neighborhood, Back Bay, in the Baldwinville section of the Town of Templeton. This road money was used in part to replace water mains in that area because the Town water department did not have the funds to pay for it. I say chapter 90 funds were used in this fashion because it was the seed money used to pay for some design in order to qualify for CDBG funds. I believe it benefited the Town as a whole as some roads were fixed. One thing I do not agree with was using this aid money to buy a loader.


On crumbling schools, my father for years pointed out to anyone who would listen on things such as the condition of our schools, from broken playground equipment, to windows being left open on weekends during the winter (as in the heat is on) and people have seen for years the lack of paint on trim at the Templeton Center school. The district as in some school committee members would quickly point out that the district agreement says anything over 5 thousand dollars is the responsibility of the Town, but I have not found any law that says the district could not do the work or they could not help, such as using some money from the E&D fund. Then when the roof replacement went before Town meeting multiple times, it was voted down, so perhaps the taxpayers have to look in the mirror on that one. My question is this, with the number of students which means there are a good number of parents which equals voters (or it should) and that leads me to ask why these things do not or have not passed, my only answer is, as taxpayers, they do not wish to raise taxes on themselves.


On public safety, I can assume the police, fire and highway are lumped together.  Hopefully now with a capital planning committee actually working on a plan and a town administrator, things will change with regards to equipment, but I would not expect a change overnight.


I believe most of the hard work has been done, such as removal of some selectmen who were part of the problem, in my opinion, the removal of a town coordinator, both of which resulted in a well documented recall and a very public pulling back of the curtain on what I believe was a house of cards designed to fail, again, my opinion. A written set of policies and guidelines for the BOS as well as some tough times for the Town, all of which has resulted in the betterment of the Town, for the long haul, in my opinion. Time will tell and it is the duty of the residents, voters and taxpayers to keep watch as well as to trust but verify all of your elected and appointed officials.


Jeff Bennett