Conference 7.286::maynard

    Hi Frank,  Good idea you have here.  And believe me, the work you
    people are doing with the commission is not going unnoticed.  Thanks.
    
>   1.  What bugs you most about the government of the Town of Maynard?
 
    In regard to the way the school committee is run.  It was my
    understanding that one function of the school committee is to oversee
    the work of the superintendent.  It appears the two are walking hand 
    in hand much too often.  In other words, the school committee rubber 
    stamps every request of the superintendent.  How was the superintendent
    able to get an assistant when there supposedly was no money available? 
    This was done after lecturing the teachers about budget constraints and
    the fact that they would have to sacrifice some of the things they've
    had in the past.  I'd really like to know what the ratio of
    administrators to teachers is now and what it was, say 15 years ago.
    
    The size of the budget may be too much for the selectmen/fincom to handle. 
    The time could be ripe for a full time manager to oversee it.  Unfortunately 
    this will probably result in a great deal of politicking.  At this time, 
    there is a need for the town to come together instead of pointing fingers 
    and placing blame elsewhere, which brings me to...
    
    Tax collection.  Why is it that there is roughly 3/4 of a million
    dollars owed to the town in back taxes?  Is it the tax collector's job
    to go knocking on doors and threaten to break kneecaps?  Can the town
    afford the lawsuits that may be necessary to get the money that it is
    owed?  What really can be done?  I've read that Framingham published
    the names of the people that owed back taxes, but I don't have any idea
    how effective the results were.  Should the interest penalties be
    eliminated for these delinquent taxes in an effort to get this money? 
    I believe the state did this a couple of years ago.
    
    DPW.  Is it really necessary to get the new sidewalk plow/sander toy
    out every time there is an inch of snow?  I know that the majority of
    the DPW workers are hard working but you sometimes get the feeling that
    this department is a cash cow.
    
    Police and fire departments.  The working conditions for these people
    are a disgrace.  But, once again with the political climate of the
    state and town in regard to taxes, it looks like these conditions will 
    remain that way for who knows how long. 
    
    
>   2.  What is the one thing you would do if you ran the town for a day?
    
    This is only a pebble in a beachful of sand, but I'd consider
    penalizing people that don't participate in the town recycle program. 
    This program results in direct money savings for the town and is
    beneficial to the environment.  The only problem is it is not
    "convenient" for people.  The volunteers do a tremendous job.
    
    Try to bring the different governing boards together to air out their
    problems.  Hurling insults at people through the newspapers, etc. not
    only deepens the anger, but it's also pretty rude.  Where and when this
    can be done beats the hell out of me.
    
    					Steve

> 1.  What bugs you most about the government of the Town of Maynard?

    it's a small request, but I'd be happy if the various boards published
    agendas in the beacon. I'd probably attend a few meetings if I had any
    idea what they were discussing. I'm a pretty aware maynard resident,
    but I never go to meetings. published agendas would provide interested
    people more impetus to attend meetings, and provide other people with
    at least minimal information about what's happening.

    I agree with .1 that things may be getting too large for volunteer
    boards to handle. running even a small volunteer group with a budget of
    a few thousand dollars takes a lot of my time; I can't imagine how 3
    people on the select board can run an entire town!

    a really small (but important) point: I'd like to see the meeting later
    this month be called "town forum" instead of "town father's forum."
    some of those "fathers" are mothers!

    (in response to .1: it *was* kind of obnoxious reading those columns in
    the beacon where town officials dumped on each other. the good part was
    that we townsfolk got to get some information that we wouldn't have
    gotten. of course, it's not clear who was telling the truth and who was
    just being rude, but seeing that rudeness is part of the information
    that we got. on the other hand, it was embarrassing to see how poorly
    written all the articles were, *especially* those from people
    associated with the schools. what does that say about the education
    that we're providing kids in this town?)

>>  What bugs you most about the government of the Town of Maynard?

    The *major* thing that bugs me is the perception that many area residents
    have of Maynard as lacking commitment to education.  I have owned a home
    here for several years and just bought a new one.  I plan on staying
    for a while and do not want to see my property value stagnate
    because the town is perceived as not caring enough about education.
    Therefore, I would like to see serious consideration given to joining
    a regionalized high school.

....Margaret

    reply to .3
    
    	How does property value relate to education?

>    	How does property value relate to education?

    if people perceive that we don't care about education, then they'll be
    less willing to buy houses here. that's one of the major factors in
    families' decisions about where to live. if people stop buying houses
    here, then the prices will either go down or stop going up. either way,
    we lose.

    another reason is that we don't have a good school system, the town
    will get a reputation for being, well, less smart. that's not good,
    either. personally, I think that education is incredibly important, and
    I don't think I'd want to live in a town that disagreed with that.

    					-- hs 

    Do you know that Maynard rates in the top 100 schools in Mass. That
    we spend more money per student that the other 240 schools systems
    in Mass. Did you know that or supt. is one on the hifhest payed
    in the area. I sent 2 kids throw the school system and they did
    great. How can you get better education in a school system if you
    can not get rid of the bad teaches (UNIONS AND TENDER).
    Also must people move to Maynard because the price of houses are
    lower that the surrounding area
    

>>    	How does property value relate to education?

	 I think that if there is a perception that Maynard doesn't care
	 about education then prospective home-buyers with children will not
	 be attracted here.  If the demand for homes in Maynard goes down
	 then the supply of available houses goes up.  This will cause
	 prices to drop (or possibly remain constant).
	 
         ....Margaret	 

What bugs me most about town government in Massachusts in general, and
Maynard in particular, is the town meeting system.

Town meeting systems are NOT democracy, because it is too easy for a
special interest group to get together and show up at a meeting
en-masse and legislate into existance regulations that are not in the
best intrest of the true majority.  (The Action 24-hour store law, for
example.)

I am a firm believer in government by representation.

Towns should be governed by a town board system.  I should have an
elected neighborhood board member who is authorized to represent my
concerns at the board meetings.  If I am concerned about something, I
can call or write my concerns to my board member, who provides this
service to the town citizens that he/she represents, in return for a
token compensation that comes from the taxes I pay to the town.  (Say,
$1000 to $2500/year per board member.) At town meetings, the public is
invited to COMMENT,  but not to VOTE.  Only the board members vote.  I
think that this change would lead to higher quality government, as well
as reduce the stress/anger/emotional issue level surrounding many of
the town issues.

    I don't know how to properly compare schools. There are too many
    variables. I do know that perception is at least as important as
    reality -- even if we're among the top 100 schools in the nation, if
    people perceive that we don't care about schools, and think that our
    school system is bad, then we're in trouble because we'll develop a bad
    reputation. that will bring on all the problems I made in my previous
    note, and our property values will suffer along with our reputation as
    a town.

    					-- hs 

>Town meeting systems are NOT democracy, because it is too easy for a
>special interest group to get together and show up at a meeting
>en-masse and legislate into existance regulations that are not in the
>best intrest of the true majority.  (The Action 24-hour store law, for
>example.)

>I am a firm believer in government by representation.


    I agree that TM doesn't work very well, but it IS the ultimate in
    democracy. each person gets to speak her/his mind. the problem is that
    no one cares. in fact, the special interest groups are doing the right
    thing; too bad everyone doesn't.  that's the theory. in practice, jeff,
    you're right -- TM doesn't work. representative TM is an alternative,
    but I really like the fact that I can vote directly. 

    another problem is that I don't think that most people have enough
    information before they come to TM. it's not easy to get it (let's face
    it, the select board really doesn't want 10,000 people to show up for
    their meetings!); perhaps the town should do more than just send out
    the warrant in a plastic bag (and at that, one which frequently goes
    right into the trash). there has to be a simple way for them to
    disseminate information about the various articles.

    As a member of the fincom in the town of the pass 15 yrs all I can
    say is that the fincom meetings are held on Tueseday evening at 7:30pm
    an are open to the public. Yet noone come down not even the press.
    Also the Tuseday before the annual  town meeting the Fincom has a
    open meeting to discuss the warrent with the public yet only Town
    officals show up. If you are interested I'll post what dept/boards
    we will be meeting with an at what time.
    

    
      How about getting that warrant review meeting on the local
    access cable channel.  Even though not everyone has it, it would
    still reach more people than are showing up in person.  Maybe
    if they knew in advance and found that some issues impacted 
    them directly they would come to the meeting.  
    
       Most towns have local cable access now and this is exactly
    the kind of stuff that it has been set aside for.
    
               Mark

    Just a note to thank everyone for their replies so far.  Keep them 
    coming!!!  I reviewed the ones recieved so far with the Charter
    Commission last night and everyone ( particularly the non-deccies)
    was impressed.  
    
    Last May I sent out over 100 questionnaires to just about every elected, 
    appointed and full time employees and got back 15 responses!  Without 
    getting into detail, none of the MAJOR boards and Committees bothered 
    to respond.  That's why I decided to turn to you folks.  
    
    Our next meeting is at 7:00 on Wednesday, February 7th.  We will meet
    on the first three Wednesdays of every month through June, at least.
    
    One of the big issues we're facing is the elected versus appointed 
    status of various town boards and agencies.  Any comments?  Do you
    feel that would be more likely to participate in town government if
    you could get appointed rather than having to run for slot on a 
    board?
    
    Thanks again,
    
    Frank 

Frank:
    Perhaps you could start a note to let us know what happens at the
    commission meetings. As Art mentioned, there's not enough press
    coverage of what goes on in meetings. And how about having WAVM carry
    it on TV? I know that the Concord selectboard meetings are televised,
    but I've never heard of any meetings in Maynard being carried on cable.

    re: elected vs apointed. I worked on the recycling committee on the
    board of health for awhile. it certainly was easier to get involved
    that way than to have to run for office, but I like the idea of people
    being elected. that should make them more accountable and more
    well-known to townspeople, although I wonder how many people actually
    vote, and how many of them actually know anything about the candidates.

    are there some particular positions that you have in mind?

    					-- hs 

    The State requires that we coninue to elect a Board of Selectmen,
    A School Committee (including the Assabet Vocational High Committee
    Member) and a Moderator.  After that, the Charter Commission
    may recommend that any board now elected become appointed or vice
    versa.  
    
    Presently, we elect a Board of Health, Assessors, Town Clerk, Town
    Treasurer, Housing Authority, Library Trustees, Board of Public
    Works, Constables, and a Planning Board.  All of the 33 Charters that
    have been created since the creation of the Home Rule Amendment in 1966
    have reduced this number by making most offices appointed by either
    the Selectmen or Town Administrator.  Since Prop 2 1/2, the number of
    elected offices has dropped even further.  In general, the Library
    Trustees and Housing Authority seem to retain elected status because
    of the manner in which they recieve and spend money.  We are meeting
    with the other Boards on the above list to find out whether they feel
    they could be more effective and get more talent on their Boards by
    being appointed rather than by remaining elected.  
    
    Running for an office is a hassle and I know this first-hand because 
    the Charter Commission is elected.
    
    I wonder who out there would volunteer to serve on a Board if they 
    didn't have to go through the signature gathering and (perhaps) the
    campaigning process just to serve the Town??
    
    Frank

A few thoughts off the top of my head: 

	Make recycling mandatory, ie: a penalty for not participating, 
	since it costs the town more money that way. 


	Regionalize (at least with one other town) the administration of: 
		The police
		the fire
		the schools
		the library
		anything else possible. 
	It is ridiculous to believe that each town has to duplicate 
	everything from stem to stern. 


	Stop the people who dump into the Assabet within the Maynard 
	boundaries. 

    
    RE: Last
    
       I believe there has been quite a bit of proposed regionalization:
    
       Wastewater Treatment: Acton to join Maynard and share costs?
    
       Schools: Maynard looking into the feasibility of merging with
                another system.
    
       Fire:   Stow is considering utilizing Maynard's Fire/Ambulance
               Dispatch as they may eliminate their dispatcher
               positions to cut costs (and pay Maynard a per call fee)
               much as Acton and Boxboro do now.
    
               These are some good idea's that should help contain
               costs and still provide an acceptable level of service.
    
                                      Mark
    

    
>       Fire:   Stow is considering utilizing Maynard's Fire/Ambulance
>               Dispatch as they may eliminate their dispatcher
>               positions to cut costs (and pay Maynard a per call fee)
>               much as Acton and Boxboro do now.
    
These types of things are great starts in the right direction.  What I 
had in mind were more steps down that road, like: 

	One police chief (and associated administration) for Maynard 
	and Stow (for example).   

	One fire chief (and administration) for two towns. 

	One library administration over two towns.  Library hours can 
	be worked so all evenings are covered by one or the other.  
	Policies are the same, resources (capital items and people) are 
	shared where possible.  

	
let's keep using Stow as an example.  There are towns larger than 
Maynard and Stow combined that provide fire, police, library, etc 
services of good levels.   Just because there are town lines in 
between shouldn't matter.   There's no reason we can't do it with one 
administration.  

I'm glad that towns are beginning to leverage off of each other (as in 
the dispatch example).  I hope that towns will soon begin to truly 
regionalize in services other than schools.   	

    It has been a while since I updated you on the progress of the
    new Town Charter, and I've been getting a few phone calls from
    people wondering about the status, so here's an update:
    
    Under State Law, The Charter Commission was required to submit it's
    final report to the Selectmen by November 1, 1990.  We met that 
    deadline. We have, therefore, completed our work and there
    can be no further changes to the proposed Charter.
    
    The remaining steps to acceptance are:
    
    1.  The entire proposed Charter must be printed by the Selectmen
    and distributed to each "residence" in town containing one or
    more registered voter prior to 14 days before the next annual
    town election.  Since the election is May 6th, the distribution 
    should take place sometime in the middle of April.  Mike Gianotis 
    has bids on the printing and I believe he has arranged for the 
    distribution via the Sunday Chronicle bag system, which is much
    cheaper than mailing.
    
    2.  The Charter Commission will hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday,
    April 24th at 7:30 in the Upper Hearing Room of the Town Building
    to answer any questions about the content and/or intent of the
    various provisions in the Charter.
    
    3.  The question of acceptence of the Charter will be on the ballot
    at the May 6th annual Town Election.  The wording will be in 
    accordance with State Law:
    
    	"Shall this Town approve the new charter recommended by the
    Charter Commission, summarized below?" 
    
    	The summary will be as follows:
    
    
    	OPEN TOWN MEETING RETAINED
    
    	The charter retains the open town meeting.  It formalizes the
    town meeting as the legislative branch of town government.
    
    	BOARD OF SELECTMEN
    
    	The Board of Selectmen is retained as the key elected board of 
    the town, but is enlarged to five (5) members.  The board will be
    expected to excercise a policy-making role and assume leadership
    responsibilities in many areas.  It will have considerable powers 
    of appointment, the power of investigation, and it remains as the
    licensing authority for the town.
    
    	OTHER ELECTED BOARDS
    
    	Other elected boards and officers under this charter will be
    a moderator, a school committee, a board of library trustees and
    a housing authority.
    
    	TOWN ADMINISTRATOR
    
    	The most significant change in the proposed charter is the
    establishment of the position of town administrator, appointed by
    the board of selectmen.  The town administrator position eliminates
    the existing position of the administrative assistant to the
    selectmen.
    
    	The administrator will be a professional, especially fitted by
    education and experience to strengthen the executive branch.  He 
    or she will have the powers necessary to carry out the responsibilities
    and duties of the office.  Included in these responsibilities and 
    duties are personnel, budgeting, and purchasing.  This person will be
    the town's chief administrator, expected to provide day to day
    management and coordination of the town's business.
    
    	RECALL PROVISION
    
    	The charter establishes a procedure for the recall of elected 
    officials.
    
    	OTHER CHANGES
    
    	The charter proposes an improved budget process and capital 
    improvements program.  It eliminates the board of public works,
    investing the responsibilities of this board in the board of
    selectmen.  It also establishes a special committee to prepare 
    a code of ethics applicable to all elected and appointed town
    officials and town employees.
    
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    To refresh everyone's memory, the Charter must, by Law, retain
    the positions of Selectmen, School Committee and Moderator as 
    ELECTED positions.  
    
    
    I think that there will be an article in this week's Beacon regarding
    the Charter.  In addition, I have tried to write a few articles on
    my own relative to the work of the Charter Commission, the history
    of the efforts to get a charter for the town, and what exactly do
    we gain by having a charter.  I hope to have an article per week
    in the Beacon.  My wife hopes to get our living room painted, so don't
    count on too many articles in the Beacon.....
    
    Frank

    The charter commission was passed by the voters.  Am I correct in
    assuming the election for the two additional selectmen will be in
    September?  Also, when will the job for the Town Administrator be
    filled?
    
    					Steve

I'd also like to add my congratulations to Frank. I'm impressed by all
the hard work and the good results.

Thanks, Frank.

Liz

    FRANK FOR SELECTMEN

    RE. 20 -  Steve, the election for the additional two selectmen will
    be held on the third Monday in September (the 16th).  The candidate
    receiving the highest vote will serve the remainder of a three year term,
    expiring in 1994, and the candidate receiving the second highest vote 
    will serve the remainder of a two year term, expiring in 1993.  This 
    was the fairest way to do it, and avoids the possibility of a candidate 
    choosing to run or not run for a particular slot based on the competition.  
    
    Also, through this process, we get in line with a one/two/two yearly
    election.  Next May, George Shaw's slot will come up for election.  In
    1993, Ken Demars' and the new two year slot will come up, and in 1994,
    Anne Flood's and the three year slot will come up.  
    
    The process for the selection of Town Administrator will begin within
    30 days after the election (yesterday).  The selectmen will select a 
    screening committee of nine to plan the process. 
    
    As for my personal plans, I think I will run for Selectman in
    September.     
    
    Frank  
    
      

.23>    As for my personal plans, I think I will run for Selectman in
.23>    September.     
.23>    
.23>    Frank  
    
    When the Town of Maynard faces difficult issues, there is danger that
    people divide up into factions, of old and new Maynard citizens.  It's
    easy to understand the psychology: you just get your group riled up
    about "those people" and blame all the problems on them.  That has
    proven to be a very effective way to motivate a group of people, for a
    while, anyway.  But when the town is split, we can't solve our common
    problems because there is little trust, and everybody is busy wasting
    energy in a tug-o-war.
    
    Looking at the long term, my personal opinion is that the best hope for
    the town is in people who can talk to and understand both the old and
    new Maynard citizens.  Perhaps someone with ties to both groups, who
    grew up in town, and works at a high-tech job.
    
    You get my vote, Frank.
    
    -Steve

    Great news, Frank.  Sounds like Arthur's trumpeting has hit home.  :-)
    Someone with skills such as your own, would be a definite plus to the 
    Board.  When's the campaign start, and what can I do to help?
    
    					Steve