I am running unopposed

I dropped off my nomination papers for re-election to the Select Board this morning at the Town Clerk's office. Last Friday was the deadline for taking out nomination papers. The Clerk informed me that only Robert Gauvin had taken out papers for the race. Mr. Gauvin had called me last week and said he would not be returning his papers if I was going to run. I assured him that I was. So it seems that I will not have an opponent on the ballot. Of course, there could be a write in campaign.
I intend to campaign for the office despite the lack of a declared opponent at this time. I will be putting out signs and attending any candidate functions to which I am invited.
Not having an opponent is a change in the recent history of Select Board races. Only Mr. Michaud has been returned to office among our recent Select Board incumbents and he ran in a tightly contested race.

I want to thank those rvoters who signed my nomination papers and the residents of the town for supporting me. I'll be blogging about issues and projects I would like to get accomplished during the next few years. Stay tuned.
Click here to read on!

I am seeking re-election

I stopped by the Town Clerk and picked up nomination papers for Select Board.
I have been weighing whether or not to do so. It is often a stressful task just for me to get to a Select Board meeting on time. I work at a seafood processing plant and must rush home and get cleaned up before rushing out the door. I often don't have time for dinner. I tend to find the exercise stressful, others might not. I do.
I decided to take out the papers because there are things I would like to see the Town accomplish.
Here is a list of a few:
1. Traffic light priority systems to allow emergency vehicles to get a green light in their approach direction on traffic signals along the Route 6 corridor
2. Continued sound fiscal policy
3. Wind turbine installation
...

4. Create a fund to implement the SRPEDD recommendation to fix the Route 6/ Tucker Road/ Hathaway Road intersection
5. Create a plan and start to set aside CPC funds to build senior housing near the COA and Bullard Clinic.
6. Continue to investigate and implement consolidation of town departments, privatizing services if warranted, regionalizing services with our neighboring towns.
There are a few others as well.
I may expand on some of above items on this blog over the next few weeks
What would you like to see done in town?
Click here to read on!

Any thoughts on our state representative race?

Democrat Chris Markey and Republican Joe Michaud will vie for voter approval in the Ninth Bristol District in November. So far, beyond yard signs, the race is pretty quiet. Who do you favor, and more importantly, WHY do you favor one over the other? Let us know in comments.
I have great respect of Joe Michaud and he has served the town and community well on many fronts. But I don't see any point in sending a Republican up to Beacon Hill given ...
... the enormous numerical advantage that the Democrats have. They can pretty much ignore the Republicans and still pass whatever they want. Or should I say whatever the Speaker and Senate President want. Actually, they pretty much ignore the governor as well.
While I am not averse to voting to send a message, I also would like to have a rep that at least can sit at the table when the pie is divided. Click here to read on!

Candidates debate at UMass soon

The gubernatorial candidates will be at UMass Dartmouth to debate Thursday September 30th at 2 PM. See this post. A debate was held last night and I watched it on WGBH. Anyone else tune in? What did you think?
Tell us in comments! Click here to read on!

Primary election today. Vote!

Today's primary boasts many more contested nominations than most. Most important for Bristol 9th district Democratic voters is the three way contest for John Quinn's state representative seat. John is seeking the Bristol County Sheriff job. Democrats have three choices to replace him, Chris Markey, Ray Medeiros, and Bob Tavares. The winner of today's vote will take on Republican Joe Michaud in Novemeber.

Vote today Click here to read on!

Gubernatorial candidates debate at UMass Dartmouth

The Fall River Herald News reports that Governor Deval Patrick, Charlie Baker, Tim Cahill, and Jill Stein will debate at UMass Dartmouth on September 30th at 2PM in the Main Auditorium.
This is a link to the Herald News story
Dartmouth Finance Committee chair and UMass Dartmouth professor Shannon Jenkins will host the event.

Should be interesting and informative. Attend if you can. Click here to read on!

California reforms primaries. Is this a good idea for Massachusetts?

Bob Neer at Blue Mass Group has a post here about California's move to change the primary election system for state elections.
Could this be good for our Commonwealth? It might add some competitive races.
I have not made up my mind ...

... if the change would be good or bad. What do you think?
Click here to read on!

Unofficial results at town website

The following is a link to the unofficial results for yesterday's election including all the Town Meeting representative races. The link is to the town website.
http://www.town.dartmouth.ma.us/Pages/DartmouthMA_News/0155B7B6-000F8513

Some Town Meeting representatives not on the ballot may have been elected by write in ...


... and those are not known yet. Any write in candidates that resulted in a tie (e.g. 1 vote) will be decided by a poll of all the elected members in that precinct.
Click here to read on!

Michaud, McDonald, Monteiro and Nunes elected!

The results of today's election are;

Select Board
Joe Michaud retains his Select Board seat, turning back Bob Miller

Shawn McDonald outpolled Frank Gracie

School Committee
Meagan Monteiro and John Nunes were top vote getters in a three way race which included Doug Roscoe.

Board of Health
In the closest race of the day, Lynn Brodeur received 12 more votes than Thomas Hardman, out of nearly 5000 votes cast.

The other races were uncontested. Scott Lake was elected as Cemetery Commissioner, ...
...John Haran was re-elected to the Planning Board, Rachael Charrier and Andrew Couto were re-elected as Library Trustees, Kevin Santos was re-elected as Assessor, Lisa Tavares was re-elected to the Park Board and Elaine Lancaster was re-elected to the Housing Authority.
The ballot question asking, if Town Meeting or some other form of town government was preferred, saw voters come down firmly on the side of retaining Town Meeting.

Congratulations to the winners and kudos to all the candidates. I can attest that it is a somewhat daunting exercise to run for elected office. We owe appreciation to everyone who has the temerity to place their name in the public realm for consideration.
Now it is time to put aside the campaign and find areas to work together to advance the interests of the taxpayers and residents of the town. We have been making steady progress for a while now and I am sure that we will continue to do so.
Click here to read on!

Town elections today! Vote Michaud and Gracie!

The town elections are today and I am supporting Joe Michaud over Bob Miller and Frank Gracie over Shawn McDonald. Regardless of the candidate you support, please go and vote today! This is your chance to have a voice in our town government.
The School Committee races have three candidates, Megan Monteiro, John Nunes and Doug Roscoe. The two top voter getters will be elected to the School Committee.
Be sure to vote the back side of the ballot as well.
Sample ballots by precinct are at this link on the town website
On the back of the ballot, there are town Meeting candidates and a non binding referendum question about our form of government.
If there are not thirteen town meeting representatives on your ballot, I encourage you ...

... to write in a candidate. You could elect yourself or a friend or a neighbor by writing in their name. Only a few votes are needed and if you get family and friends to vote for you, it is likely that you have enough to be elected as a town meeting representative. This is a great way to be informed and have a chance to vote on issues before the town.
Click here to read on!

Back to the Future

Several comments have stated that the 2007 Department of Revenue (DOR) report found that Dartmouth was among the best run towns in the Commonwealth. That statement is a bit of a stretch of the findings. The full report can be read at this link,
http://www.town.dartmouth.ma.us/Pages/DartmouthMA_BComm/Finance/DartmouthJuly07.pdf

What the 2007 DOR report showed was a failure of leadership in the town. Without a doubt, the people who were running the day to day operations were doing what they were tasked to do, that was not the problem. The problem was that the town leadership, Select Board and Executive Administrator, had not planned for the continuing budget shortfalls that were occurring and had no plan to correct the problem beyond a massive override request.
True: the report did not find that the town was badly run. it states, "

Conclusion – Our review found that routine financial practices reflect department heads’ careful attention to legal requirements and internal controls. We believe that sufficient checks and balances are in place to ensure that town assets are protected from both human and process errors. Of acute concern for Dartmouth, as is the case in most Massachusetts towns, is the lack of structural balance and sustainability in revenue and expenditure trends. To further complicate matters, the use of the fall town meeting to supplement the budget places an expectation on the select board, executive administrator and director of budget and finance that budget fixes will be found to accommodate departmental spending.

At the time, Dartmouth voters were being asked for an $8.5 million override. The DOR report details how we got there,

Exhausting Certified Free Cash – At a 2006 fall town meeting, Dartmouth appropriated all of its available free cash ($1.7 million) to balance the FY2007 budget which had been approved in the prior spring. It had also created more revenue for operations by dramatically increasing its FY2007 local receipts estimate. In the past, when actual local receipts exceeded intentionally low estimates, the surplus flowed to free cash. Now, with no unexpended free cash to carry forward and lower expectations that local receipts will exceed high estimates in FY2007, the town should not anticipate the availability of certified free cash to supplement the FY2008 budget at a 2007 fall town meeting. It is our understanding that actual local receipts collected during FY2007 are projected to meet the aggressive target that had been set. However, surplus revenue, and consequently free cash, will be less than in the past and may require downward adjustment to revenue estimates for FY2008.

Essentially, the town had burned through its reserves in order to keep things running. When the reserves were gone, the whole process came to a screeching halt.
I believe this was done on the mistaken belief that ...

... the situation was temporary and if the town could get through a few lean years, everything would return to normal.
The DOR pointed out in their report this was not the case. The shortfalls were permanent and increasing. The DOR said this to the town's leadership,

While each of our recommendations will improve operations, there are several related topics that deserve special attention from policy-makers and management alike. Specifically, they are Recommendations 1-4 (Present Multi-Year Financial Forecast, Avoid Use of One-Time Revenue for Current Year Operations, Develop New Reserve Policy and Conduct Quarterly Budget Projections, respectively). Implicit in these individual recommendations is the larger concept of financial planning. A town-wide financial plan is the integration of multi-year revenue projections, adopted polices (such as reserve policies), and analyses of organizational goals and their long-term impact on expenditures. The purpose of this plan is to call attention to the community’s fiscal condition and the alternatives available to manage it. Whatever form such a plan takes, it should contain the following core elements:
1. Multi-year outlook (3-5 fiscal years)
2. Inventory of revenue sources and projected increases/decreases
3. Expenditure projections that reflect labor, expenses and planned service levels
4. Impact of financial goals/policies are assigned a specific dollar value
5. Integration of infrastructure investment based on approved capital plan
6. Current-year revenue and expenditure monitoring
7. Presentation format that facilitates meaningful communication to the public

The DOR recommendation was to get a fiscal plan, monitor how you are doing with the plan, and communicate that to the public. All things that were NOT being done by the Select Board and administration up to that point. Notice the DOR did not find fault with the planning because there was NO PLANNING. That was the fatal flaw, the failure to use forecasting to respond to the fiscal conditions that the town was facing. It was not a failure to execute a plan, it was a failure to have one. The town's leadership was to blame for that. Click here to read on!

DCTV Channel 18 Candidates Forum rebroadcast schedule

Dartmouth Rotary Club 'Meet The Candidates Night' 2010

ShowID 559
Event Date: 3/18/2010
Length: 01:55:45
Category:Town Events
Producer:Joshua Moulding

Schedule Information:
3/20/2010 at 1:59 PM
3/21/2010 at 12:59 PM
3/22/2010 at 10:29 AM
3/23/2010 at 7:29 PM
3/24/2010 at 12:29 PM
3/24/2010 at 11:00 PM

(continued after the jump)

Schedule Information:

3/25/2010 at 10:29 PM
3/26/2010 at 11:29 PM
3/27/2010 at 10:29 AM
3/27/2010 at 10:35 PM
3/28/2010 at 12:59 PM
3/29/2010 at 10:29 AM
3/30/2010 at 7:29 PM
3/31/2010 at 12:29 PM
4/1/2010 at 10:29 PM
4/2/2010 at 11:29 PM
4/3/2010 at 10:29 AM.

Click here to read on!

Dartmouth Rotary Candidates night

I was not able to attend or view the candidates night forum at the Town Hall last night. I'll try to catch it on DCTV later.

Did any of you see it or attend?

What did you think of the candidates?
On what issues did you agree or disagree with them and why?

Tell us in comments.
Click here to read on!

Mr. Gracie speaks about his candidacy

Dartmouth voters, my name is Frank Gracie and I am a candidate for the Select Board seat that will be vacated by Natalie Dias.

I believe that leaders in government should never lose sight of the fact that the taxpayer is the one to be served. Leaders should always keep their finger on the pulse of what the taxpayer desires for their town, and what services they deem important. The task is then to help figure out what is the best way to fund those services. The best community that the taxpayer wants and can afford should always be the goal.

Our town has made great strides in recent years to overcome many of the financial obstacles that were before us. However, we need to stay vigilant and determined to continue the process of saving the taxpayer money while preserving services. The challenge to the Select Board is to address the needs of the entire town. Proper balance must be maintained across town functions.

Changing amounts of State aid has been the biggest obstacle before us, and we have learned that even if money is promised it may not show up. Even now as we prepare the budget for FY11 we find that projections can go from having a slightly positive bottom-line to being hundreds of thousands in the red, all in just a few days because of ever-changing information.

We cannot again put ourselves in a position where we are facing overrides or large cuts to the number of good employees we have, and the services they provide for us. We must do our best to always be proactive and not reactive.

I am a fiscal conservative who believes that debt is always the enemy. We must live within our means, just as any household must do. We cannot spend more than we take in, and that includes signing up for expenses down the road when we are not sure what revenue will be available to fund them. We cannot get complacent on those occasions when ...

... we find ourselves with a surplus and just spend it. We never can be sure of what is around every corner, so planning and saving for the worst-case scenario is prudent.

I am an early-retired engineer and love to do research and fact-finding. I have volunteered my time to try and help our community by serving on committees. I have worked on the “Tax Classification Committee”, the “Budget and Revenue Task Force”, and the “Privatization Study Group”, serving as Chairperson.

One thing I have learned is that nothing is simple with regard to seeking change. Structures, policies, and practices have been put into place for reasons that were good ideas at the time, and for the most part people have done a good job maximizing resources to keep the town running. Anything we want to do that is different than the past is difficult to accomplish, but we must be persistent and diligent in pursuing a better Dartmouth.

It is a new day and a new time, and the economy is uncertain, but we must continue to forge ahead, being creative and thoughtful about what we do. Just because the task is difficult doesn’t mean that we should not embrace the work. We must choose leaders that are willing to do the hard work and capable of being thorough, thinking things out to their natural conclusion. Making a wrong decision could be costly.

We have a great community, and have had our share of difficulties, but have moved forward in addressing them. I pride myself on my logic and common sense, and believe that my knowledge and ability to be thorough is a great fit for maintaining momentum. I am willing to do the work and put the time in that is necessary to help make our town the best that the taxpayer can afford.

I ask you to consider voting for me on April 6th so I can represent your interests and work for you.

Frank Gracie

Mr. Gracie has a website here.
Click here to read on!

Hawk and the coop-Sun Chronicle column

Sun Chronicle editor Mike Kirby has penned this column about pension abuses at the Bristol County Sheriff's office. Kirby notes that while technically within the pension rules, the sheriff has been able to avoid scrutiny. He thinks the county system is a main reason for the lack of accountability.
He writes,

"And that's why a guy like Hodgson can claim to be a hawk while allowing the chicken coop to get robbed."

It is the taxpayers who are paying ...

... for these pensions. No small wonder that the pension fund has a huge unfunded liability. The most egregious example from Kirby's column,

"... Robert Tweedie, who served as a part-time, on-call pharmacist for the New Bedford Board of Health for 22 years, making $2,200 a year. In 2001, Hodgson hired Tweedie for a $77,000-a-year pharmacist job. After working exactly three years - public retirees' pensions are based on their top three years' salary - Tweedie retired, boosting his pension from $1,171 a year to $46,781."

That means after paying Mr. Tweedy $48,400 over 22 years, the taxpayers will be paying him over $46K for the rest of his life based on his three years on Faunce Corner Road.

Sheriff Hodgson defends his practices.

Time for a new Sheriff in town.
Click here to read on!

Never ending contracts

There have been some claims in comments to other posts that the lifetime contracts which Mr. Miller signed with town employees were not lifetime contracts but merely had "just cause" language as many contracts do. That statement is patently wrong. The contracts had language which said the term renewed automatically. Here is what was in the contract.

10. RENEWAL:
This agreement shall be renewed under the current terms, except for “good cause” as defined in the Dartmouth Town Charter, Section 6-9. The EMPLOYER is under no obligation to renegotiate over changing the terms of the agreement. However, in the event that this agreement is re-negotiated to completion prior to, but not executed by, the expiration date of this agreement, the EMPLOYEE shall continue employment under the full terms and conditions of then-expired contract until such time as the new agreement is executed. EMPLOYEE shall be entitled to retroactive payment of any salary and/or benefit increases which occurred due to the late execution of the agreement. It is understood, however, that if the parties do not settle on the changed terms of the successor agreement prior to the expiration of the most recent contract, retroactivity will only be applicable if the parties agree to it as part of their negotiations, and shall only go back as far as the parties agree.

In legal terms, the word "shall" means "must be". The contract is endless under this wording. But there is more. the contract also stated the town must budget for the job ...

... and if the Town Meeting didn't fund it, the town must offer the person another job at the same pay. Here is the wording.

For purposes of this agreement, the phrase “subject to the availability of Town appropriations” shall be understood to mean that the TOWN will make every reasonable effort to secure the necessary appropriation to fully fund this position. The Select Board will have an affirmative duty to budget for the position and to speak in favor of funding this position in total. It is also understood that if layoffs or staff cutbacks are needed in the Town, this EMPLOYEE’S position will only be decreased or eliminated after the Town has already undertaken to decrease or eliminate other positions which add up to the amount of the annual salary of this position first. In the event that the funding for the position of EMPLOYEE is not appropriated or is otherwise decreased or eliminated during the life of this agreement, it is further understood between the parties to this Agreement that EMPLOYEE will be offered another management position in Town, if any exists, as determined by the Executive Administrator, for the same pay and benefits which inure to him/her under this Agreement, for the remaining duration/term of this written agreement.

As I pointed out, the term is forever. This clause makes the pay and position guaranteed. Attorney Bartulis, who drafted the contract said,

"Assuming this same language was in a number of different contracts in the Town, the Town could have a staff of potentially over-paid individuals doing less important management jobs, conceivably, just because the Town agreed not to let them go without just cause. Virtually every contract, even the union contracts which afford just cause protections, have management escape clauses which afford the employer the ability to terminate an employee at-will for lack of work, etc., as determined by the employer. This one does not."
When Attorney Bartulis met with Select Board members, his notes show that Bob Miller was one of two members who attended the conference about the contract language.

Bev Days also wrote a letter in today's Standard Times on this subject. Link to that letter here (subscription required).
My view is that these never ending, guaranteed contracts were a breach of the public trust. The Select Board should protect the interests of the taxpayer, not town employees, when negotiating contracts.
I have posted extensively about what went on with the lifetime contracts and if you want all the details click on "contracts" under the LABELS menu on the left side of the page.
What do you think?
Click here to read on!

Does the Boston Herald have it in for Mr. Baker?

As David at Blue Mass Group notes in this post, the Boston Herald has been ripping Republican Charlie Baker over the last couple days.
One article notes,

Baker's salary as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim surged from $548,351 in 1999 to a high of $1.7 million in 2008. He earned $1.3 million in seven months in 2009 before he resigned to run for governor last summer, filings with the state Attorney General show.
Over the same period, premiums at Harvard Pilgrim went up by 100 to 200 percent.

What's going on at the Herald? Did they lose the script?

What do you think?
Click here to read on!

Police Brotherhood enters political ring

Tonight at Town Hall I was given a letter from the Dartmouth Police Brotherhood which states that they have taken a vote of no confidence in Select Board Chair Joe Michaud.
Some reasons advanced in the letter are comments made at meetings which were not directed solely to the police department, if to the police department at all. Another reason given is that Mr. Michaud was on the radio and expressed concern over accidents involving police cruisers. I would point out to the Police Brotherhood that the Select Board serves as the Police Commissioners in the town. It is entirely within the scope of Mr. Michaud's duties to inquire about police procedure as a commissioner. There have been a number of accidents in the past few years which involved extensive enough damage to patrol cars that the cars were declared total losses. I too am concerned about the accidents. If such accidents are occurring regularly, it is just a matter of time before one of them results in a serious or fatal injury to a police officer or member of the public. I think it is legitimate to inquire ...

... if there is a deficiency of policy or procedure which could be corrected and thereby reduce the incidence of crashes. That is exactly what has been done and not by Mr Michaud alone, but the entire Select Board. The response from the police command was thorough and concise and laid to rest any concerns. However as I wrote in this post there may be technology which can be deployed to help reduce the hazards faced by emergency responders when navigating signaled intersections. The Select Board has asked the police department to look into that. I am not sure that the possibility of using the technology would have been raised if no questions had been advanced. End of story until this vote by the Police Brotherhood.
Mr. Michaud and the rest of the Select Board have been very supportive of the Police Department as evidenced by our funding priorities. To suggest otherwise is unfair and untrue.
Like the Dartmouth Police Department, Mr Michaud has always been a part of his community. He has served as a VOLUNTEER on the Finance Committee and serves as a VOLUNTEER on the Select Board. He spends many hours in community service in other capacities throughout the region. He is a Lt. Col. in the Army National Guard.
I feel that the Police Brotherhood and the town administration have had a positive relationship. I was happy to advocate for an override to maintain more officers, I was gratified that the Brotherhood made some concessions on contract length and other issues in the last contract and that we could agree to a wage package. While the majority of the Select Board and the Brotherhood disagree about hiring the new Chief from outside the department, I think that anyone can see Chief Lee is an exemplary police administrator. I hope and expect that everyone will work to help Chief Lee make the department even better than it is.
Make no mistake, this vote is about town politics, not attacks on the Police Brotherhood because there have not been any attacks. I think it is a shame that the Brotherhood has decided to inject themselves into a political campaign. I hope the voters will see it for what it is, a transparent attempt to influence the campaign rather than a legitimate criticism.
Obviously, I am not making any friends with the Police Brotherhood with this post and I know that. But ask yourself this question, With an election a few weeks away, what was the rush to have the vote and publish it? I believe the answer is apparent.
Click here to read on!

Gracie for Select Board signs

If anyone wants to put a Gracie sign in their yard, please email me at pokanoketlax@hotmail.com Click here to read on!

Dartmouth Candidate Night Thursday at 6:30PM

The Rotary Club will have their annual candidate forum on Thursday at 6:30PM in the Select Board meeting room at Town Hall. The forum will be broadcast on DCTV Channel 18 live.

Got any questions that you would like to see answered by the candidates?
Tell us in comments.
Click here to read on!