Lying Liars Club
Well it only took 4 appeals and orders from the Division of Public Records to finally receive appropriately redacted legal invoices from the time period of August 2016 through October 2016.
Here is the link to the partially redacted LEGAL INVOICES
So I made the request on October 25, 2016, and this response is dated February 21, 2017. Open? Honest? Transparent? - You decide!
Anyone remember Article 8 at the October 20, 2016 Special Town Meeting? Here's a refresher:
Does anyone else RECALL being told that citizen petition articles are NOT reviewed by Town Counsel? Absolutely NOT! THAT never happens! Right?
You be the judge:
"10/20/16 PDR Work on memos to Selectmen regarding Article 8 STM".
Somebody seems to be lying!
Interestingly the entry for 10/24/16 :
"PRD Attention to questions from town administrator: WHETHER LEGAL BILLS ARE PUBLIC RECORDS, ..."
OOPS!
Isn't it Ironic?
Without more information it would appear that the Town counsel and BOS we picking a side and supporting it. The Counsel worked on memos to the BOS for the illegal article.
ReplyDeleteThe Counsel also worked on article 3 and 7. It seems as though the the fix was in!
The fix was in for sure, but it is too bad the bunch of them did not have the brains to understand what Julie has been saying all along. The lack of a bond rating, next to no money in stabilization and no savings, what does that get you ?? The worse is the fact that this years budget is crap, and we kick another can down the road. This has got to stop ! Playing games with money only prolongs the reality of where we are, and where we have been for many, many years. The school people should be angry ! They have been lied to by their School Committee members, first about this disaster of a plan and what it would cost. In reality this plan to build a school under the circumstances the Town is in, should have never been pushed forward. The idea that we can mickey mouse ourselves out of this mess is laughable at best. We do not need a loan at a interest rate, that will push up our debt level out of sight. Like Jeff says, it is time to suck it up buttercup, and get our finances straightened out for once and for all. Bev.
DeleteFix and done deal.
ReplyDeleteThe counsel needed but 30 seconds to respond to the Select boards request at the meeting to tell the voters no discussion would happen to #8 as it was an illegal article. He's a "Super" lawyerBut clearly had done some home work " for pay i'll add" and was to QUICK to tell us about the law.
The issue was about the counsel doing any work on a citizens petition.
We are tight on money and to spend it this way shows the how the members and TA will go around and do what they want to suit the needs of their wants.
That part of the bill should be paid by them!
The counsel should have known he was stepping over the line and it should be the last straw for him. If we get to a point when the Boards collude with the attorney like this no matter what the reason in my opinion we have a disconnect with the process and that's what breaks the trust of those who vote them into office!
So my guess is Carter will be under the bus and leave others untouched.
Do actions speak for those who are now so quiet?
Enough said.
L&P did a worse job than our present Town Attorney. Maybe someone should have asked him how to correct what was wrong with the article ? Caught in a bad situation, he does work for the Selectman, but "we pay the bills! No one else ! What is important is, where do we go from here ? Another 40 year loan, the things that have no end ! Or do we bite the bullet, and get our town straightened out, for once and for all ?
DeleteAnyone here have an answer for this. Since rescinding the funding was illegal, what will being unable to attain it be?
ReplyDeleteWhen the MFOB says no, what happens to other capital plans, ones actually on the plan? Has the CPB filled its citizen spot yet, tried?
Believe this was just posted today.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mass.gov/auditor/docs/minutes-and-votes/2017/011817-minutes.pdf
so DHB, what do you have to say about this now, YOU were BOS member and was very involved in this article, Maybe you ought to edit your post on facebook as maybe you were caught "red handed" and the original accusation seems spot on
ReplyDeleteMind telling me what I was caught red handed doing?
DeleteI was the most outspoken and that support started years ago AND I am 1 of 5 in case you forgot. I did not write the article. I am not a lawyer or bond council. I am reviewing emails as I was told that town council did not review the article and if they did it would have saved a lot of headache right? The entire BOS supports this project as it was voted to move ahead unanimously. I'm changing nothing on my Facebook and I still support the new elementary school as the detriment to our town by not doing it will be worse, in my opinion. Which here, means nothing.
ReplyDeleteIt may just be a coincident but in my opinion whenever you find a reeking pile of shit in Templeton, more than often while digging through this pile of shit one finds the most powerful politician in the Town of Templeton Mr. Columbus.
ReplyDeleteSelctmen Brooks, you are one of five, but you can check on things and you were the one selectmen who made the motion to stop debate on the article. This is only one item on my list, you made a second at a selectmen's meeting concerning the appointment of the building and grounds director to the school building committee as required by law. That is not what the regulation, law or MSBA website states, it is merely a suggestion or recommendation. If selectmen Brooks wishes to help with transparency, obtain the opinion on the article, if one was given and make it public by any means. You can send it to me if you wish. You were one of five when you sat a table and fed the people the crap about dispatch only costing Templeton taxpayers $37,000.00. You are part of the machine that fed the town the stories that there was $750,000.00 in free cash coming, the audits would be done next week, next month, by the end of the fiscal year, etc. Town counsel could have made the wording correct and legal for article 8 at town meeting but the selectmen said no. There is no real need for any emails to be checked as it is on paper that town counsel was asked about the wording. That is not wrong but it does show how far this board of selectmen will go to run the town off the proverbial cliff to get one thing done, and you are part of that problem. Forget save dispatch, how about save the town and begin with change on health insurance now! I believe if you check, the town only has to pay 50% of employee health insurance, retiree insurance is not required. explore costs savings of moving dispatch, get in talks with a private ambulance service and see what the positive cash flow into Templeton could be. Contact the division of local services for help or assistance, that is why they exist. Work with the Advisory Committee. In three years time, the town can shed a good amount of debt and perhaps even work on building savings and then perhaps the school can happen. Oh, and try not to lie to anymore state agencies okay. You can delegate authority but not responsibility.
ReplyDeleteOne last thing for selectmen Brooks, why did you all fight so hard to keep these bills "secret"?
ReplyDeleteAs I have said before, what you do when you are a elected official, and how you vote will last in the history of this Town for eternity. When anyone is elected to the BOS, you are expected by all of the citizens of this Town, to work for the good of the Town. Not for the good of any one group, the good of the Town ! If a candidate cannot do this, then they should not run for office. Gladys was in a difficult position being a teacher, but her allegiance was to the people in this Town who depended on her. Was it easy, hell no ! Think about the situation this Town is in. I have never seen things as bad as they are now. We have been in a financial mess for way to long. Tearing apart the things that are working with little or no gain, will only make things worse. Jeff's right, we have to make some major changes to how we do things, but there has to be a plan. A real plan with projected savings/costs, and impact on the community. The school has to wait, I have a feeling that the cost of building now would be detrimental to the community. Give the Town a chance to heal. It is the right thing to do. Bev.
DeleteMr Bennett, I didn't fight to keep them a secret at all. We see the invoice and not the detail. I just looked through it all this week and that procedure will change for the Selectboard. If I were the TA the details are something I would share with the board. He must have felt no need. Also, there are items on the detail pages that are not for all to see when it may come to litigation or employee related issues and you should be fully aware of that. No, I didn't ask for it as I again assumed these things would be told to the board. That also will change. Please don't tell me again that I am responsible as I know what my role is. I ask lots of questions. I am currently trying to get to the bottom of the 30b violations. I can't wait to see the 285+ page budget and I hope it is not just paper and it's substance. No, I have not seen any of it and t will be revealed tomorrow along with the AC. I'm glad this time you are all attending as last time I requested a joint meeting it was not approved.
DeleteSo as i heard mentioned Wednesday the health insurance premiums could go up to 50%
ReplyDeleteemployee and 50% town. So i hear that as a cut of 25% of a benefit.
This would result in a 25% or very close to it reduction of income for the majority of the towns employees. It would be outrageous to think it would not be imposed for every employee who is in any way connected to the towns wallet. School employees,Light,Water should all be included or the whole things a piss on paul to save peter.
If the next time we are singled out to keep the most hungry fed and fatter things will look very different. When we hit every employee and then we hear it's not every employee but just the ones we can i lose any faith in the board members that allow it.
When the school sucks the monetary life from the town it should along with the enterprises light and water do something about it. It means nothing if only the regular town employees are burdened to keep the rest in good shape.
The costs we pay to keep what we have has been burdened by employees who have had minimal raises over the last 7 years. The average raise was eaten up by the health premiums for some of the towns workers. We watch projects fall apart and money thrown away and to be asked to burden the lack of financial ability is also outrageous.
In my opinion.
Templeton needs to get it's act together or the employees will go and look for employment where they are valued, not targeted for a balancing act.
I never used 50%. I said a 70/30 split and larger copays and that we would still look at what the town pays for outpatient services. If you go to an urgent care they treat it like a doc visit and not an ER visit and more people should take advantage of that.
DeleteJeff, at which meeting did I stop the debate? I don't recall that. I will go through all of them that their was a school article. If there was an opinion I will send it and post it. I believe dispatch belongs here and I am not alone in that. I believe that we should not merge and have I public safety director nor do I believe we should contract out ambulance as that is not what our community wants based on how the receipt reserve was set up. Public safety is priortybine. I did not fight to keep any records a secret, unless it was stated we couldn't release them; they are public records as. Some iformation needs to be redacted but people should have what they ask for they should get unless legally it's not allowed. I have asked at meeting for us to see any potential denials of those requests ahead of time. Do you recall some of the board members said no? Oneill continue to support our elementary school and I haven't backed down from that for 8 years. We were told we would have 750,000 in free cash and of course I asked more questions about that and was told the same thing. The books were not all finished and they will be soon. How long did the argument about how the deficit of 505,000 came to be go on and finally uiubsaid you would take responsibility? Who else should have stood up? Never did. The numbers that came out of the finance dept was the issue and the Assessors office? Perhaps, but not from what I was shown after I was elected. I will get you any opinion I can. I didn't know there was one out there. I will see.
ReplyDeleteDiane,
DeletePretty sure Jeff is referring to the "special town meeting" when you motioned to sieze debate on article 8.
I will look that up. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOk, the one that town council said was illegal and I kept going over to ask questions? He told me to do that.
ReplyDeleteSeize the debate. Wow. He told me to make a motion to take no action and then didn't tell me the exact reasons why.
ReplyDeleteDiane, can you clarify who the "He" is you are referring to? Thanks
DeleteI think "cease debate" is what was meant. Not seize the debate.
DeleteYes, it's alot safer to cease than to seize............thanks
DeleteSounds like your just a Puppet who will do whatever she is told a Diane, according to your above statements
DeleteHuh. A puppet. The town Council said to do that. If I were a puppet I would not have changed the motion for appropriation for the ambulance receipt reserve as it was way over what funds we have received in the past. That was against what the TA wanted to do. I looked at those numbers and made a decision. I am not a lawyer. Why do we have a town council if we are not going to listen to them? Have you served on a board or committee? I'm curious. It's a lot easier to sit back and criticize when you don't see every detail. It's a lot harder to sit in that seat and listen and make judgments when there has been crisis management since I was elected. We inherited some do the financial problems. Oh, like the $505,000. Free cash for years and years to balance an operating budget. No votes for extremely aged and broken down highway equipment. The cemetery used to have great equipment as they turned them over on a plan, but that was vetoed by the Advisory Committee prior to my being elected. Baldwinville and TC are town buildings and do you know how many repairs/improvements were voted over time? Only a few for flooring many years ago, I looked at all the articles and their votes 3 years ago. I stated as such at meetings. Anything over $5,000 is on the town. Can't come and ask for something the town doesn't have. I am the most outspoken board member. I am the one who goes to dept heads and asks questions. Do I get it all right? Nope. Does anyone? Nope. My actions will be a part of our history as Bev says and I know I have made decisions with all the information presented. I have said no or yes and been out voted, including the board violating its own policy and procedure. Also, do you come and ask questions or for information you can read in your own and not just on a blog or paper? I do.
DeleteI'm sure there will be spin on my words here. It's ok. I am running for the board again and I will serve my community the best way I know how.
So, selectmen Brooks made a motion to take no action which resulted in stopping the debate, thus denying people who came to town meeting to talk about this were denied the chance. Selectmen Brooks could have asked the attorney what is needed to allow debate to happen/ What does it take so the article is legal? But that did not happen. Secondly, legal bills are NOT personnel files, they are bills that explain the spending of public money and therefor there is nothing that needs to be redacted on a legal bill. Perhaps selectmen were embarrassed that they asked a lawyer how or if they can keep these bills secret. Secondly, school employees are covered under a completely separate legal entity and have completely separate labor contracts. Light & Water have separate labor contracts.
ReplyDeletePerhaps all town employees should get a clothing allowance or free clothes like the highway workers do. How much of a pay raise is that equal to? The fact is, Templeton is spending more than they take in and steps have to be taken to change that and health insurance is going to have to be included. Whatever the split is will have to come from management so the entire town can stay afloat. Again, why did the selectmen work so hard to keep the bills secret? A selectmen can look at all legal bills, make a copy and give them to anyone who asks. You can also invite them to town hall and sit down with any resident and go over the legal bills line by line un-redacted. You know, as in serve the people. Ask Virginia Wilder, I did exactly that after she asked me about them. I sat with another resident and went over financials with him after he asked. Selectmen going to attorneys to see how to get out of providing public records that do exist is a throw back to some selectmen of old. It is the exact style and seems to be repeating itself.
Secondly, legal bills are NOT personnel files. Secondly, school employees are covered under a completely separate legal entity and have completely separate labor contracts. Light & Water have separate labor contracts.
ReplyDeleteLast i knew the town eats from the same plate.
1-We pay for school costs.
2-we pay for light expenses
3- We pay for water expenses
Secondly?
I sometimes wonder how Jeff thinks,or over thinks issues he writes about.
The uniforms are so the workers all look professional.
Unlike the fleet we use day in and day or night out.
The paid boots are so when we ruin them in the salt/muck,we don't have to purchase again and again.
We have been passed over for raises time and time again due to mismanaged funds by boards like the one Jeff Bennett was on.
Hope we don't go down that road again, or are we now?
So to recap we put money out of our budget every year to support the costs of all of what Jeff thinks we don't.
To top it all off the light and water pay no PILOT to Templeton and board after board have little power to due anything about it.
WHY?
They,water dept. pay Winchendon a pilot payment for the water tank.
I've heard the light dept pay Barre a pilot.
We collect nothing from Gardner for the sand pit or the airport or the sewer plant.
But lets hit the regular worker for the money woes.
Jeff and some others bad judgement have cost our town a large amount in insurance increases in my opinion. That cost will increase for years and also will take time if ever to level out.
The highway laborers didn't get the big raises others did and we are always the target for the budget fix all that come when the funds get sucked out by the others costs.
Second that JEFF.
"The paid boots are so when we ruin them in the salt/muck, we don't have to purchase them again and again." Who is the we Davey? You, as an employee? The taxpayer? Who is the "we"? So, we give clothing allowance to a few and tell the rest to buy out of their paycheck? Secondly, last I checked, hours cut back in 2012 were non union and those people got their hours (and pay) back after a successful override. Who was on the select board that held many meetings trying to give residents good information to make that override for the school budget and hours back to the employees/ Oh, that would be Jeff Bennett, how about that Dave? Now, since you have said the current board of selectmen are a good board because they gave you a contract with lots of free stuff and a new excavator, do you still consider them a good and knowing board after the legal bill thingy? That is all, as in over and out on this.
ReplyDeleteJeffy if you can't figure the we out that points out the reason this town is in the shape we are. Ask a simple one Jeffy if we are the ones that ruin them getting into the salty/muck i guess the we would be us workers not needing to pay for them.DUR!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes some of us are TAX payers,registered in MASS.! Who work in mass.
GEE some even work in town and pay property tax in town.Templeton that is.
So the WE fits twice. That's x2 for the one who can't figure it out.
As a "union" basic principal you try hard to get a raise for the workers you represent.
As a "union value" you try your hardest to keep what you have earned over the years.
As the shop steward i do both and if you knew any basics of that either Jeffy "you" would have a higher wattage rate than now.
That is all, as in the "switch" is off!!!
To top it all off the light and water pay no PILOT to Templeton and board after board have little power to due anything about it.
ReplyDeleteWHY?
Wasn't it your board JEFFY that was the first time we were shorted the PILOT payments?
Good job there also!
With now power to do anything about it i might add.
Or maybe no desire to confront and get it back would be a fit.
You see i get the feeling your Buddy DANA another plow contractor would get upset about any involvement and cooperation or lack of you would have had back then.
It all adds up and i think we as in others minus you would have had a lot better results if it was without your help and involvement.
So which team are you on this time Jeffy?
One only has to think back and ask why didn't Jeffy ever go to any light and water meetings and help out the cause?
It's clear now!