So many questions remain unanswered. WHERE is the final budget posted from the BOF? Does anyone else agree that with the "live" streaming the "officials" are attempting to feed us with "what they think we want to hear"? (Maybe this should be terminated .. I could not believe the HBOE presentation to the BOS was NOT part of that live streaming meeting!! - it ended before that presentation).
The BOF stated during the last two meetings that no one seems to be interested this year - because they have received no emails, letters or phone calls. Let your voice be heard. I agree that most comments, suggestions are ignored but we must persist demonstrate that we are interested and engaged. Think about bifurcation (supported by 70%+ responses in the exit poll last year)- the least they could have done was to post a bifurcation question on the ballot. IF IT IS EARLY ENOUGH TO GET A BONDING QUESTION ON THE BALLOT (which I do not support we have too much current debt) .. THEY COULD ALSO INCLUDE A BIFURCATION QUESTION. Let the voters decide if they want to vote on those two budgets separately.
Listen and watch the live streaming carefully .. interesting comments are made. I believe a few "super" volunteers are directing the focus of this town. We need to "RECYCLE" volunteers and not allow them to serve on one or more committees or groups at a time. If we do .. the direction of the town will be altered. Watch the "town planning" videos too .. one individual publicly stated the fire house on main "... had to be moved". Really?? whose dollar will they use (OURS!!). Another parent at one of the last HBOE meetings suggested their budget be rounded up to 1 percent to get their technology funds boosted. Would he like to make a donation? I also question increases requested for "meeting-Travel" expenses. In this day and age, telecommuting is a real option and these individuals should ask their associations to provide that option for current and future meetings.
WHAT planet do these folks live on? Where is this money? Obviously BEFORE THE PUBLIC MEETING AT RHAM -- BE INFORMED. View all the BOF and BOS meetings in the last month. The BOF publicly discussed "answers" to potential questions at the town gathering at RHAM. A favorite was ..every one is suppose to be bare bones and yet there are two positions listed on the website -- so they are being frugal and hiring at the same time. We all know that the million dollar park (which they all said we voted for) is only maintaining the sports fields while the other plantings are dying. Of course now, as I predicted, they will blame it on the extreme winter. These plantings were dead or dying before last Fall. I have asked in the past (never received an answer) .. are all the classes offered by parks and recreation self-sustaining or are we footing part of that bill too, where are the figures for pre and post school care. WHY are parents still driving their kids to school. Maybe we should charge the daily commuters a fee for the NON-USE of the required transportation (buses) we pay for with our tax dollar? Why is there so much printed material at the meetings … if all documents were available electronically, voters could have their own copy without the expense of paper and toner. For those without computers/printers at home the few copies needed for those individuals could be prepared on site. (Just have 10 or less copies available for the audiences). Why are postage fees so high at the schools and town? Look at the total expenses for running "offices" in this town. Some are as expensive as departments/agencies on the state level. WHY are so many clerical workers needed in our small school community? Next time around ALL candidates for the HBOE need to be "grilled" and challenged -- we need to know if they will be rubber stampers, think out of the box and question budget items.
At this point .. I want the TRUTH and not "packaged answers". I would like the towns current website maintained and updated . It is difficult to locate meeting, some minutes are not posted and some pages give error messages. I phoned town hall 2 weeks ago and was told it was being updated. It should not take this long.
Fellow posters -- we are being left out of the loop. Some ideas and suggestions are unrealistic in this economy. They need to think out of the box, they need to check all the numbers (I believe the HBOE still has a $4800 travel expense written into the budget for the superintendent's office). Are any of you receiving more than one e-notify email from the elementary schools - why? We pay these employees well and two individuals are emailing the "exact same" information. "Open space saves the tax payers money ... read the letter to the editor in the current Rivereast. The author suggests every email the budget address at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
There was also an impression that some departments budgeted for items and those items are replicated on the CIP requests. IF THIS IS TRUE, this practice must be stopped.
We are in the home stretch it is NOT TOO LATE. Let your voices be heard. VOTE NO on the current budget as it stands. We should be at a ZERO level .. if fuel needs to be adjusted up, they need to adjust other line items DOWN. We cannot afford another tax hit. PUSH FOR "ZERO" budgets where the bottom line matches last years.
THANKS!! ..
