Friday, January 27, 2012 19:19

Amateur Night At The Town Hall

December 13th, 2011

For starters and some background:  Here’s the Town Meeting warrant article we voted in creating a stronger Town Administrator, this was passed by an act of the Massachusetts Legislature.

Bill H.2330

http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H02330

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special laws to the contrary the Board of Selectmen in the Town of Clinton shall authorize and empower the Town Administrator the powers and duties to hire, appoint, remove, subject to the provisions of civil service law and of any collective bargaining agreements as may be applicable, all department heads, officers, members of the boards, committees, commissions, and employees or other individuals under the jurisdiction of the Board of Selectmen.

SECTION 2. Appointments of department heads made by the Town Administrator shall become effective on the fifteenth day following the day notice is filed with the Board of Selectmen, unless the Board of Selectmen by a majority vote of the full board, vote to reject such an appointment within that period.

________________________________________________________

The understanding is that the BOS has given their power to the Town Administrator to hire and fire as well as what is outlined above. It is specifically worded with the phrase SHALL AUTHORIZE,  This isn’t vague at all.

To find out what duties are actually under the covers, the specific duties, and whether or not (although implied) the TA has the authority to supervise or be responsible for department heads, the Town Administrators new contract must be requested.  This is a public document and can be obtained under the FOIA.  Since the ability to hire and fire is already codified it stands to reason he has the power or responsibility to act as “supervisor” or put slightly differently, that department heads are his direct reports on a daily basis.  To not do that renders the very reasons for hiring and firing these professionals very superfluous.

What is the BOS trying to do? It’s like giving your supervisor at work the right to hire someone and then letting the president of the company boss the new hire around usurping the authority of the supervisor.

Now interchange Town Administrator with supervisor and president of the company with BOS, It doesn’t add up does it?

The recent actions by the BOS are likely not about who the Fire Chief reports to but more of a collision of personalities. The Chief hasn’t been popular with certain member of the BOS, some for a long long time, others for a shorter period. Whether you like of dislike the chief, the BOS has a “thing” for him and is trying to exact it’s pound of flesh. It seems like amateur night at “the apprentice” to me.

Let the Town Administrator do his job, the BOS doesn’t need full reports complete with time sheets and raw statistics from these departments, they need the TA to compile them and provide them an executive summary. They certainly aren’t acting like a truly professional board. The latest tempest in a teapot is a diversionary item best left to be resolved by the Chief and the TA.

Everybody is focused on a personality clash and will probably not even notice the Tax Classification that they will slip by screwing job producing businesses and will most likely raise the split to the maximum possible this year. How much more will you or businesses be paying??? Stay tuned!

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It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again

October 1st, 2011

I’ll start with with an apology to Yogi Berra for using his famous quote about seeing Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris hit back to back homers.

Three members of the BOS are at it again, Dickhaut, Leblanc and Dziokonski  who is newest member of the anti-rifle range triumvirate are pandering to the exclusive South Meadow “enclave” and again trying to ban the Clinton Police Department from firearms qualification behind the former landfill. This land is owned and within the confines of the Town of Clinton. (This is not the rifle range but an adjacent parcel of land) Remember this will cost all taxpayers more money in overtime and the use of an inferior trailer that they proposed. The land in question is an eminently safe location and the only minus is that about 14 petulant prevaricating residents out of 14,000 are whining about the noise. These are the usual few residents that are from both Clinton and Lancaster who want their own private Idaho up there on South Meadow road. Yeah this is the same crew that wanted to stop the railroad from running at night and who complained to police about the Galloping Gaels football team making to much noise at their games (all 8 home games that is).

Well the three voted Wednesday night September 28th to allow the police to qualify there one last time (only because  time has run out again this year) and to never do so again. They also wrongly voted to withdraw from the lawsuit with the town of Lancaster. They don’t have the power to do so, only the law committee does.

Their ban will also disallow the police or others to use the 100 year old rifle range EVEN IF Clinton wins the lawsuit. This is a slap in the face of all taxpaying Clintonians  (Well not the 14 out of 14,000 petulant prevaricating whiners).

My most sincere thanks to Selectmen David Sargent and William Connolly Jr, for voting in favor of us taxpayers and also the 100 year old tradition of parents teaching sons and daughters gun safety and target shooting skills. The politically correct tripe this gang spews and the contempt for the majority of their fellow citizens is nothing short of remarkable and narcissistic…They now have their private little enclave and you can’t discharge a firearm at that totally safe rifle range or take an awful motorboat on their pond and by the way they don’t like your Green and Gold  Galloping Gaels football team and the cheerleaders making all that noise …you soccer moms better knock it off too, or they’ll ban that as well.

Waaaaah!

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Planning, Blackmail and Inconsistent Policy

August 5th, 2011

The Planning Board is the latest Clinton board to not follow a set policy, They also don’t use consistent decision making points to approve projects. This isn’t a blanket indictment of the entire board but an opinion that some members should stop playing “king for a day”.

In some cases it’s sure, go ahead and build a plain vanilla building, we’re fine with that, in others such as Auto Zone we have near extortion, new concrete sidewalks, new granite curbing all part of the plan before even going before the board as they must have done their homework and seen how other similar projects by larger corporations were treated. It does seem that if a local entity were to propose a similar project it would just slide through the process.

For the Planning Board to nearly chase a national chain and the jobs that come with it out of town, over a ridiculous feature such as a brick facade, is just mind numbing.  Do they think they’re living in Sudbury or Weston, or do they thing they’re going to turn our unique little mill town into a tony bedroom community?  Sure they need to make sure building designs aren’t hideous but basically twisting their arm to get more than the infrastructure improvements they seemingly included in their plans is just plain blackmail. What is their policy, is it written anywhere or is it just applied haphazardly? It seems like a game to try and get as much as possible out of these larger corporations, that’s terrible anti-business policy in action.

Lucky for Auto Zone the Planning Board botched the hearing and were able to reconsider the same night. Bad for us that they can’t run a public hearing properly. If they had run it correctly, and delayed the project, Auto Zone just may have said have a nice day we’ll put it in another town. Not to mention that the property owner did the town a favor and demolished the existing structures that were there to make a buildable lot.

We as a town have a lot to learn about professionalism and how to run a $38 million dollar corporation. Has the BOS gotten off their asses yet and hired anyone for the “hybrid Economic Development / Town Planning position” ? it’s only been a year now…Yeah I didn’t think so.

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A Concerned Citizen

June 30th, 2011

Mr. John Martin addressed the BOS last night during public comment and told them that they “needed to change the way they delivered services” due to reduced state aid – This is an understatement, They need to meet regularly like previous boards did. When I was on the BOS from 2005-2008 we met every 2 weeks accept during July and August. Certainly more than the once a month or so they meet now. They should be meeting every other week to not only carry on our business but to brainstorm on how to make Clinton a better, more prosperous town. How about reigning in costs as Mr. Martin illustrated?

Regionalization, the BOS talked about this a year ago and it slipped through the cracks, Mr. Martin reminded them which is great! It all comes down to a something called leadership. Anyone can be trained to run a meeting but to lead you need to step up and lead by example. Clearly the Clinton BOS doesn’t know this or how to do it. First you need to meet more than once a month, second, you actually need to come up with original idea’s or tried and true idea’s other towns have implemented and then put them into action.

People like Mr. John Martin are very important to our town and it’s citizens, We need watchdogs and especiallyn a watchdog group to hold the BOS to some kind of standard, to keep these elected officials working for “We the people” and to give pro-active input on important subjects and policy issues.  I will give Mike Dziokonski his propers as he actually volunteered to take care of some items the BOS has not dealt with.

They put a spin on it like they were doing all manner of things and we don’t know what’s going on. Of course things are being done, if not the town would close down. There are subjects that have been discussed and not executed or implemented, some are which Mr. Martin was talking about when he said They “needed to change the way they delivered services”. The main point Mr. Martin illustrated  was to change with the times and economy, become pro-active and actually work on the things that will help Clinton thrive or at least survive.

Thank you Mr. Martin, you have my support and my thanks for being OUR advocate. Please keep up the good work, if you need any help or information I’m here to help.

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Economic Trash Talking

May 27th, 2011

As the majority of  Massachusetts towns go, Clinton doesn’t follow…because we’re smarter, or so BOS candidate Mike Dziokonski thinks.  At the recent candidates night, Board of Selectmen candidates talked about an important economic policy, that was the annual setting of the residential-commercial/industrial tax rate split. Dziokonski said, “I think we’re smarter than 89 percent of the towns,” referring to Champagne’s figures*. “I don’t think it’s a deterrent to business,” he said, adding the actual rate and actual tax bills were attractive. “I’m fairly happy with the split.

*Mr. Champagne was referring to the fact that 89% of cities-towns have lower rate splits (309 out of 348) and 241 have no split (69%)..

How presumptuous to say such a thing. Clinton is most likely in a worse financial mess than 89% of the cities and towns in Massachusetts, not smarter. That’s not to say we don’t have smart people here, but the failed economic policies of the past are why we’re in the fiscal morass we’re in.  Dziokonski doesn’t think it’s a deterrent to businesses, to which I say he should go talk to our small business owners and ask them what they think.  I have and they are hurting from it. Look no further than your small neighborhood market or garage, how does this almost doubled property tax effect them? Look at larger businesses like Nypro and Weetabix. They pay astronomical tax bills, if they didn’t maybe they’d have the ability to hire more employees. Mr. Dziokonski also said “I think businesses in this country are presently taxed at the lowest rate since just after World War II”. This is a misleading statement, in general the largest of our corporations such as GE for instance, do take advantage of loopholes in federal tax laws, not the small to medium businesses that are located in Clinton. This was a really disingenuous comparison of federal taxation vs local property taxes and is pre-election rhetoric to enable Mr. Dziokonski to justify the lopsided rate split Clinton uses.  But then again he thinks we’re smarter than 89% of the communities in Massachusetts!

Mr. LeBlanc said “he was against changing it in favor of businesses, saying a change would not help attract business; availability of space was a bigger issue”. That too is a fallacy as Clinton has many empty factory buildings and storefronts. I guess he’s trying to cover his posterior since as Chairman of the BOS he’s let the position of Director of Community and Economic Development languish. Empty since September 2010, previously manned by someone who was totally inept and did nothing for a year and vacant for a long time prior to the inept office holder.  So just about 2 1/2 years of no Economic Development activity in Clinton. This was also on their sponsor, MaryRose Dickhauts watch.

So as you can clearly see there is a connection in that they are all anti-business, they don’t realize that a thriving business community is the key to increased tax revenue and a better Clinton.

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Discount Coupons and Ducks

May 17th, 2011

Discount Coupons and Ducks

I’m sure some of you will disagree and there will be a hue and cry about this subject but c’est la vie.  However, this is factual and as taxpayers you deserve and should expect transparency in all facets of your local town government.

Some offices such as the town treasurer that are now elected should be appointed (IMHO) as I am being reminded by the following items. The first example of why is that at tax time all town employees received their W2 forms. Simply insert your finger and pull it open…Hmm, what’s this, a discount coupon for 20% off at H&R Block! I wonder what this is all about. In fact this situation leaves me with more questions than answers

* Were local accounting firms allowed to make bid proposals to advertise on these legal documents?

* Were they outbid by H & R Block?

* What was the bidding process?

* Was the bidding process advertised?

* Was there even a bidding process, and if not, why not?

* Did the town receive compensation for this advertising or did only the vendor profit?

* How do local accounting firms feel about this slight? Do they even know?

This is just one small example of the need for an appointed treasurers position that reports in to the newly created STRONG town administrator as a check and balance. What do most citizens and taxpayers know about our local financial situation and all the responsibilities that go along with it such as Bonds, Bans, Free Cash, Payment Schedules, Interest Rates and all manner of fiscal and financial activity and responsibility…I think that I know the answer. Not much…they’re too busy with other more important aspects of their personal lives.

And please, I don’t want to hear that old adage “My door is always open, nothing is hidden” – The average taxpayer wouldn’t know where to start to look. I’ve seen behind the curtain and it’s not the Utopia you’d want to believe it is.

QUACK…The second telling incident is with public employees who have coverage with AFLAC. (I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials with the duck) One may wonder “Why am I getting notices that my coverage is being terminated due to non-payment of premiums, I paid for this out of my paycheck?” Then another letter comes saying the policy was reinstated: Sounds to me like someone isn’t paying the bill on time. This wasn’t a one time incident…it’s happened multiple times in a row. So, what happened?

So what else is awry in our financial house?  Inquiring minds want to know. It’s beyond the time for this to become an appointed position with a policy for reporting our financial health, bond and ban transactions and balances, debt, and every other important financial detail to the taxpaying public – perhaps via the town’s underutilized website.

But I doubt this will ever happen as long as we let this stay as an elected position.  I’m really disappointed in the Board of Selectmen for not adding the article they had to the Town Meeting Warrant.

Posted in Clinton Politics | 5 Comments »

Double Standard Budget Process

April 19th, 2011

So in Clinton we have a double standard when it comes to our budgeting process. The BOS in a no doubt political move voted 4-1 to create a full time position within the Senior Center staff.  All departments had been told to prepare -3% budgets, The senior center or COA budget is not -3%  but somewhere in positive territory.

No one begrudges the Seniors the help they need but in this day and age, when we will likely have to lay off Policemen, Dispatchers, Firemen, DPW workers, Teachers, etc why are we allowing our elected officials to add positions, this is not the time to do so unless you can by some stroke of luck, apply for and receive grant money.  This motion was made by Selectman David Sargent and voted on in the affirmative by Selectmen Sargent, Leblanc, Sheridan and Dickhaut with only Selectman Connolly fairly voting against this unfair budget maneuver.

Please remember this when going to the polls to vote in June.  Vote for a candidate that will stand up for you and be fair, to not only us taxpayers, but to the other departments that are effected by the cuts.  No one department is more deserving than another and unfairly allowing one department to add to its budget and staff while others have to cut budgets and potentially cut jobs sends a clarion message that this Board of Selectmen plays favorites.


On another subject, I was just looking at my last Blog from January and was wondering where we were in regard to hiring a replacement community and economic development director? Nothing has been communicated to us lowly taxpayers about the progress being made, if any. I was also wondering if the positions the BOS decided to let the Town Administrator fill were now filled?  No communication from the BOS, no transparency.

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Economic Damnation

January 21st, 2011

I find it quite disconcerting that the Town of Clinton via the Board of Selectmen have given such little thought and action to the area of Economic Development. After the sudden departure of our last Community & Economic Development Director (Herein called Director) you would have thought it to be a clear wake up cal,l to hopefully spark a thorough study and to restore or redefine the position with the immediacy it deserved.

I believe the citizens of Clinton are really being cheated by the laissez faire attitude this important department and function have been given. The BOS has had since September 2nd 2010, the day Mr. Duff submitted his resignation to work on this and they have not done anything accept to give it lip service.

Look no further than the Town of Bolton, They have an Economic Development Committee that meets alongside their Town Planner. Why doesn’t our reactive BOS get off their keisters and do something proactive for a change. It’s not hard to start a committee (costs nothing accept advertising cost) and if formed our local talent could bring a lot of good data and ideas. Here is Bolton’s web page for reference.

http://www.townofbolton.com/Pages/BoltonMA_Economic/index

I couldn’t help but notice the billboard in Bolton center asking residents to fill out an economic development questionnaire. Could you imagine Clinton doing something proactive like that? I couldn’t even fathom it with the current cast of characters. They voted to raise the tax rate split, becoming one of the few towns in the state to have such a tremendously high over-taxation of local businesses , that’s in my opinion. So much for economic development, it’s more like economic suicide.

So combine the fact we’re in what the economic community calls the “red zone” with regard to economic development and anybody moving a business here. For instance, if a company in Marlboro is paying much more per square foot to lease a building and could move here (ala Scholastic Book) and save quite a bit of money, it would be eaten up by the immense tax burden incurred.

There was a concerted effort back when Scholastic moved here to lower this rate a few percent per year to help in locating business here. This was wholeheartedly welcomed by our then Director Don Lowe and Chamber of Commerce Director Megan McCaffery.  Now we have a BOS with a cavalier attitude toward the business community and could care less about attracting new business. Yes, It’s a sad state of affairs when your elected leaders don’t really care to expeditiously address something this important, something that has the ability to improve our tax base and therefore our quality of life in Clinton.

I will again mention that Selectmen Connolly and Sheridan did try to lower the tax rate split only to be rebuffed by Selectmen LeBlanc, Dickhaut and Sargent.

Just wondering where the complete Master Plan is? I believe it has information about economic development in it and has not been offered to the public that I’m aware of. I did find a master plan goals document that had some suggestions. Why aren’t these used at least as fodder for discussion between the BOS?

From the master plan goals document, there is an economic development fact sheet on clintonmass.com but it links to the master plan goals document. I’d like to read that too:

-Establish an Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC): marketing, acquisition/redevelopment of difficult sites.

-Reorganize rules, regulations and standards in commercial and industrial zones; emphasize quality.

-Adopt Chapter 43D, the Expedited Permitting Law; consolidate permitting procedures wherever possible, develop a permitting guide.

-Encourage commercial development of appropriate type, scale and appearance, considering surrounding land uses, setting and context

-Make fair, timely permitting decisions by publishing clear development standards and applying them consistently.

-Institute growth management policies that encourage infill development and reuse of existing buildings over new development in outlying areas of town


-Establish a full-time town planner position.


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Local Businesses Lose Once Again – Updated With Figures

December 8th, 2010

I want to thank Selectmen Kathleen Sheridan and William Connolly, Jr for stepping up last night and trying to help keep our local businesses alive and less burdened by property taxes, also for seeing the potential of helping others locate here through a more equitable tax rate split.

To the other three, Dickhaut, LeBlanc and Sargent, shame on you! You people don’t have a clue what you’re doing. Selectman Dickhaut said “lowering the split during the past few years has failed to attract new business to town, as proponents predicted” shows a shallow, politically motivated move that will save residents a minimal amount per quarterly tax bill. Don’t spend it all in one place people, wake up and complain to these rogue selectmen.

Dickhaut has a lot of nerve and must think we the people of Clinton are stupid, during her reign our director of community and economic development left for greener pastures. The BOS under her chairmanship dragged their feet for months before hiring a replacement and when they did they hired someone who didn’t perform. Once again we have no one in this position, what’s it been 5 or 6  months now?  How in hell would you expect a token, one year drop in the split to 1.65 to have the desired effect without someone to advocate and pull businesses into town?

Will these three anti-business selectmen actually take responsibility when they push what’s left of our small businesses over the edge and out of business? What will they do when a larger business like Nypro or Dunn and Company says good bye Clinton, I can do business in another town that has a more business friendly rate split. I’ll tell you what they’ll do, exactly what they have to, put the tax burden on YOU the residential taxpayer.

When your neighborhood corner store or favorite small business is shuttered, please remember to call and thank Dickhaut, LeBlanc and Sargent for “helping you”. I’m amazed at the total lack of intelligence these selectmen have show with regard to the over-taxation of businesses and the effect it will have on our town.

Please make sure you contact the board of selectmen and make them aware of your displeasure with this poorly executed, anti-business action.

Board of Selectmen
Town Hall
242 Church St.
Clinton, Ma 01510
(978) 365-4120

UPDATE

I got official numbers with residential and commercial-industrial examples this morning, with the residential/commercial split now at 1.70 the tax increase for the average home (2010 average home value is $219,816) is $8 per year or $2 per quarterly tax bill. The tax bill for the average home at a split of 1.70 is $3106

With the previous years split of 1.65 the increase of the average home would have been $39 or $31 dollars more per year than the rate split of 1.70 that was set. This would have equaled $7.75 per quarterly bill minus the $2 that it actually increased for a net savings of $5.75 per quarter.

So for $5.75 per quarter the BOS has effectively screwed local businesses small and large. Here’s the math for a business with the exact same value as the average home.

With the residential/commercial split now at 1.70 the tax increase for a commercial-industrial property with the same evaluation of$219,816 is $624 per year or $156 per quarterly tax bill. The 2010 tax bill for a commercial-industrial property with an evaluation of $219,816 is $6014

With the previous years split of 1.65 the tax increase for a commercial-industrial property with the same evaluation of $219,816 would have been $448 per year or $112 per quarterly tax bill.

So as you can see from these examples, commercial-industrial business owners were already paying a ridiculous sum for their property and and now will pay even more. Would you bother to keep a business here, or locate here with such an inequitable rate? The BOS members that voted for this were given this information and still opted to pander to residential voters, most likely for political reasons. Again I applaud Selectmen Sheridan and Connolly for having the courage and foresight to try and make the rate more equitable and help small (and large) businesses remain viable and to keep their doors open.

When businesses close or are unable to hire because of this viciously unfair rate I want the BOS members who voted this rate split in to take full responsibility for their anti-business actions. I would hope now that you folks have this information you’d demand the same.

I really hope pandering to the residential ratepayers for the votes they hope to gain is worth the $23 per household they saved people.

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An Equitable Tax Rate Split Or Not?,

November 30th, 2010

Clinton has a terrible tax rate split right now, 1.65, the state max is 1.70. Other towns that have successfully attracted businesses, and I’ll group them all together – commercial, industrial retail, etc have done so through a more equitable tax rate split or even a single tax rate.

For those that don’t understand what the tax rate split is here is a quick definition: This option results in two rates: a rate for residential and open space property and a higher rate for commercial, industrial and personal property.

Clinton now charges businesses 1.65 times the residential rate. The decision to tax property classes at the same or different rates is made annually by the board of selectmen, or city council with the mayor’s approval, after a public hearing. (M.G.L. Ch. 40, § 56.)

Today Clinton has a rate of 1.65 for commercial/industrial property which unfairly penalizes them for just being a commercial or industrial piece of real estate. Please understand this isn’t just a large employer like Nypro, but your small mom and pop convenience store, coffee shop or retail store. These small businesses where the owners barely eek out a living bear the brunt of subsidizing our tax base.

When I was on the BOS we dropped the rate one year from 1.70 to 1.65 and the next year I believe it was dropped to 1.62 or 1.63.  This was when Scholastic Book decided to locate in Clinton citing the trend toward a more equitable tax rate. This in turn brought a taxable business along with employee’s to Clinton. Yes, if I remember correctly they did have a TIF with a ten year increment, but that wasn’t the impetus for them to locate here, it was the trend of a lower split they cited. They were not “hit” with a change in the split until after the change in the makeup of the BOS.  In December 2008 the BOS in an anti-business move raised the split to the state DOR’s maximum of 1.70.

The changes in the split from 1.70 down to 1.63 that were voted in during my tenure amounted to about a $12 to $15 per year increase for the average household. This translates to an average increase of $3.00 to $3.75 per quarterly bill yet decreases the prohibitively high taxes on small businesses which ultimately helps them stay in business.

I can’t wait to see what this years version of the BOS does to help our community. My bet is they opt to keep near the maximum split available which will keep businesses from locating or relocating here and keep squeezing the small mom and pop businesses for all they are worth. In other words they won’t be helping in creating jobs or getting businesses to locate or relocate here

For those who don’t know what a TIF is:  It’s A development tool designed to help finance certain eligible improvements to property in designated redevelopment areas (TIF districts) by utilizing the new, or incremental, tax revenues generated by the project after completion. Under TIF, property taxes within the TIF District are frozen for up to 23 years, the property owners then make Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS) to a “special allocation fund”. The proceeds of the fund are then used to reimburse the developer for eligible project costs or to retire indebtedness incurred to cover those costs.

A TIF is just another tool to help with economic development, yes they help but aren’t the be all, end all for economic development. A more balanced tax rate split is without a doubt one of the best ways to increase economic development. Another point is that both the community and economic development director and the chamber of commerce advocated for a more equitable split.

I wonder who will be working these issues now that Clinton has NO community and economic development director? A pro-active board would have already addressed this.

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