Postive News

We received a comment that we only post negative articles on the blog. A review of the blog articles shows that is not true. There are many positive articles. There are articles that are critical, articles that pose questions, articles that present positions on issues, and articles that explain complex issues.

The following items appeared in Town Bulletin #30.

"The Selectmen are very much in favor of having the Board of Selectmen meetings taped
for airing on the public access channels and have asked the Town Administrator to
begin discussions to enter into a long term contract with the folks from the Pemi-BakerCommunity Access Media."

"The Selectmen are continuing to find ways to level fund the 2012 budget and taking
steps to reduce costs and become more efficient without giving up essential services.
This is evidenced by the fact the Selectmen have announced that the Parks & Recreation Director position will be full time in the summer and part time for the remaining months. This will not affect the Summer Camp or the After School programs."

Taping the Select Board meetings provides the public with access to the meetings and allows those who attend the meetings to review what was discussed.

The Coalition has supported making the Director of Parks and Recreation Position part-time during the winter for some time. As Paul Branscombe says, this will save some money without affecting the essential services provided by the Park & Recreation Department.

Your Website is Disgusting

I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU PUT WHAT YOU DO ON YOUR BLOG. YOU ARE ALWAYS NEGATIVE, WHINY, AND ACT LIKE 10 YEAR OLDS. DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE THEN TO PUT LIES ON THE WEBSITE? YOU SHOULD NOT BE A RESIDENT OF ASHLAND, YOU NEED TO MOVE OUT OF TOWN. THE TOWNSPEOPLE HAVE HAD ENOUGH WITH YOUR NEGATIVITY AND COMPLAINTS.
START BEING POSITIVE FOR A CHANGE. HOW ARE THE SELECTMEN SUPPOSE TO DO THEIR JOB WHEN ALL YOU DO IS DOWN THEM, SMARTEN UP AND ACT LIKE ADULTS FOR A CHANGE. ASHLAND IS A NICE TOWN SO LEAVE IT THAT WAY, STOP CAUSING TROUBLE FOR NO REASON AT ALL,EXCEPT TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER.

A Broken Promise Not To Vote at the Select Board Work Sessions

Earlier this year when the Board of Selectmen changed their work sessions to Monday mornings at 9:00 A.M., Jeanette Stewart promised that the board would only vote on emergency items.  Last week the board voted on and approved a number of warrant articles totally over $250,000.  At last night's meeting, the board discussed several warrant articles that had been tabled for further review but did not review the approved warrant articles for the public.  Instead the board had to be asked to review the approved articles, but did not provide their rationale for approving them. 

The problem with the Monday morning work sessions is that they are difficult or impossible for most people to attend.  This point has been raised, but the board has chosen to hold the work sessions at that time anyway.  At the morning work session the board spent about 2 1/2 hours discussing the warrant articles, the budget, and other matters, but did not review any of this at the meeting last night.  In fact, last night's meeting would have been over in about 20 minutes if Steve Heath had not come to discuss two warrant articles for the fire department. 

The board did review the first Monday morning work session at the following Monday night board meeting, but they have not done so since.  We think is important that the board keep the pubic well informed about matters discussed in the work session, especially when significant matters like warrant articles totalling over $250,000 are concerned.

An Anonymous Response to the Article on Jeanette Stewart's Appearance Before the Budget Committee

We received this anonymous comment and are publishing it without editing.

I did not feel Ms. Stewart's presentation was exceptional at all, as she was essentially not asked any in depth questions for any line item. After attending several Budget Committee meetings, it was obvious that the Budget Committee did not ask Ms. Stewart penetrating questions, as they have to other department heads when the individual departments have come before the Budget Committee with their budgets. It's also odd to me that the press was present for this presentation by Ms. Stewart, yet have never been present at any other Budget Committee meeting. Apparently someone is starting their 2012 campaign a bit early in the season.

A Preview of Warrant Articles

The following is a list of the warrant articles that were approved at the Select Board Work Session on Monday, November 14, 2011:

1.  $10,000 for the Master Plan
2.  $10,000 for police radios
3.  $1,500 for repair/maintenance of the Town Clock.
4.  $142,00 for a large pay loader
5.  $125,000 for road repair capital reserve fund

Other warrant articles that are still under consideration pending further research are as follows:

1.  $55,000 for a  4-wheel drive loader - considering lease options
2.  $27,000 for the Fire Department roof - considering doing the project in sections
3.  $16,000 for Water tank for the fire department skid unit - get other estimates

A warrant article for $20,000 for a fire fighter through an Americorp grant was rejected.

If voters were to approve all of the warrant articles as currently written, taxes would increase by about $1.00 per thousand. 

Praise for Jeanette Stewart

We received the following anonymous article.

I Understand Selectman Stewart did an excellent job presenting the budget to the budget committee on Thursday night. It is great to see a selectman care enough to take the time to work well with the budget committee. She should be commended for doing such an excellent job as a selectman. I hope this gets out to many people, so the townspeople will be aware of this when it comes to the next election. This shows Ms. Stewart really cares about the town of Ashland.