Why I will VOTE for JULIE FARRELL


  Not because we are friends, which we are, not because we agree completely politically, which we do not, but because after serving with her on the select board and looking into things from the past and in the here and now. I have come to the conclusion that Julie Farrell has always done what she considered to be in the best interest for the Town of Templeton. That includes what began in 2011 and was completed in 2012. Pretty much a year long fight to change something that in my opinion really needed to be changed. Over the years, Julie Farrell suggested a financial review of the Town by the DOR, she questioned how a building at 252 Baldwinville Road was basically signed off via an email, I have a copy of that with signatures of three selectmen and Julie Farrell was not among them. She spoke against spending over 20 thousand taxpayer dollars used to avoid paying a legal bill of a few thousand dollars. I cannot speak on her time on school committee, but I can speak on her time on the BOS and if you check, or you watched via the recordings or if you attended the meetings, you would know that many times she was in the minority on many issues. On the flip side, she did make the motion to give the then conservation agent a pay increase to grade 6, top step, which I completely disagreed with.


When I look back over things, and I consider all the extra things she has done over the years, such as volunteering at the craft fair, one year I observed her shucking corn, she has worked tirelessly to support the senior center and has put in many hours working in the building. She again worked many hours at the present Town Hall to get it ready to use. One other thing she did that most people probably are unaware of, she regularly sent packages to me while I served in Afghanistan. I am not sure how much she spent on just coffee, but I can tell you I always had a few pounds of dunkin donut coffee to brew and for most of you, you may not know how much those small things mean in certain situations. Being back here, it is sometimes hard for me to believe how much I appreciated getting coffee, a magazine, newspaper and copies of the Beacon, brownies or whatever happened to be in the box that month. Again, this was not expected nor asked for, it was just another example of Julie Farrell doing something extra and that is why she will receive my vote tomorrow.


One thing that should be remembered on some things, we the voters have to take some responsibility for some of the things that happened in the past. We vote to pass the budget that we end up with and the tax rate is set not by the BOS but by the Board of Assessors.  We never questioned things, we just acted like a bunch of sheep and I hope everyone remembers at this years Town Meeting that just because the BOS put a budget in front of us does not mean we have to accept every number on it. We can vote to change the numbers on it.


Jeff Bennett


PS: I have not tasted kool aid since I was about 6 or 7 years old!