What's At Stake

In 2 weeks we will once again go to the polls to decide whether we want to preserve town services by raising our taxes. On five occasions in the nearly 30 years since Proposition 2 ½ was passed we said yes. It is difficult to imagine anyone thinking that the $8.5 million those votes added to our revenue base could be removed without crippling current service levels in Milton. In other words, those votes were necessary to preserve what we value in a community.

This year we are faced with a potential lose of services significantly greater than in prior years. Our normal need for an override every few years, as so famously noted by our retiring Treasurer Kevin Sorgi, has been compounded by a loss of over $1 million in State aid caused by the severe recession. The result is deep cuts in the big departmental budgets --Police, Fire, DPW, and Schools—with smaller cuts in virtually every town budget.

These are tough economic times. Some Milton residents know this first hand. All of us share the psychological burden. Some who would otherwise support an override may not be able to because of economic challenges. This is understandable. On the other hand, as a town Milton has held up well during the downturn. While home values in the Boston metropolitan area have declined 19% in the past year, in Milton they’ve grown 3%. The difference to the owner of a medium priced home is over $115,000 in assets over just a 12 month period.

Faced with both economic pressures and the loss of essential services we become frustrated and anxious. This has created a desire among a few to “send a message”. Their reasons vary. Some want to target their frustrations on the unions. Others wish to blame those who oppose commercial development and the tax revenue it could bring. A group of elementary school parents want to focus their frustrations on the French Immersion Program.

There is a well known expression for this kind of thinking and the actions it could produce. It’s called “cutting off the nose to spite the face”. It means a needless and self-destructive over-reaction to a problem.

Does anyone harboring these thoughts believe they will not suffer if the override fails? I’m going to try your patience and laboriously list the major impacts of the contemplated cuts. I defy anyone harboring any of these single issue frustrations to deny that they will bear a far greater consequence for their protest vote than their intended target. And I ask them, long after your feeling of satisfaction has passed, and the consequences have become palpable, how will we ever get the services back?

Service Cuts If the Override Fails

Police Department

- loss of 5 police officers
- loss of 6 traffic supervisors
- loss of 2 emergency 911 dispatchers

The traffic supervisors are the crossing guards who protect the hundreds of children who walk to Milton schools.

The loss of 5 officers will have serious consequences. In a recent interview Chief Wells points out that Milton will have fewer than 50 staff for the first time in 100 years. Not only will response time be affected, but so will patrols. For many years now 5 officers have patrolled the Milton streets in the evening and overnight hours. This will be cut to 2 patrols.

Fire Department

-loss of 5 firefighters

On top of losses in prior years, this will require the closing of one of the three fire stations. Outgoing chief Malcom Larson describes the consequences as “delayed and inadequate response to emergencies” as well as greater risk to firefighters.

DPW

The loss of yard waste pickup will likely cost many residents a substantial portion of the proposed tax increase to privately contract for removal of clippings, leaves and other yard waste.

Schools

-loss of 47 staff, including 32 teachers

There will be drastic changes throughout the system. Superintendent Mary Gormley
says “educational quality on all three levels will suffer. Let’s look more closely.

High School

The following cuts would have the strong possibility of having the High School placed on academic probation by NEASC.

• Elimination of over 12 more full time staff, including teachers from the English, art, history, mathematics, world language, music, family/consumer studies, and physical education/health departments
• Cuts to support staff, library, business course, and the guidance department
• Increased class sizes: 25 to 30 in electives; 25 to 35 in required core subjects
• More than 400 students in study halls
• Reduced graduation requirements
• Fewer Advanced Placement Courses
• Elimination of World Language and Humanities classes
• Elimination of Interactive Math Program
• Elimination of lab activities in science classes
• Additional increases in fees for athletics, clubs, and activities


Middle School

The team teaching concept, long recognized as a sound educational tool for the challenging circumstances of 1000+ middle school students, will be eliminated.

• Elimination of 6 team teachers in math, English, science, and geography/history
• Elimination of 2 world language teachers, 1 art teacher, 1 computer teacher, 1 librarian and .5 physical education teacher
• Elimination of leveling for English language arts, and possibly for math
• Elimination of the entire Latin program, in which more than 80 students currently participate
• Reduction in frequency of world language classes to every other day
• Elimination of Grade 6 writing program
• Increase in electives class sizes to 25-30 students
• Increase in English, math, science, social studies, and world languages class sizes from to 24 to 30
• Reduction in time available for common planning, curriculum meetings, parent meetings, peer observation and other activities that contribute to a better education for your child
• Elimination of physical education classes for some students
• Elimination of the honors art program (ACE)
• Implementation of study halls, which are discouraged by the state’s Department of Education
• Closing of the library during the day

Elementary Schools

-Loss of 11 classroom/specialist positions leading to larger class sizes
-classes with 34 children and only one classroom teacher
-all instructional aides (who currently assist teachers in classes of 26 or more)will be eliminated
-elementary schools will be restructured, so families may end up with children in more than one school.
-children may have to attend school outside their neighborhood
-children may have to attend kindergarten in one school, and then switch to another for grades 1-5.
-many more children will be bused across town.

The breadth and depth of service cuts is so great that dozens of residents have committed to educate the entire town and support an override to prevent them—even in these difficult times.

The organization is called Invest In Milton. We have two weeks left to get this information into the hands of all voters so they can make an informed choice.

Here’s the website:

http://www.investinmilton.org/

We need your help. There are a couple of things you can do.

1) Forward a link to this post to anyone you think needs to know the details of service cuts

2) Make a donation to help finance the final pieces of communication and other crucial activities. Any amount, whatever you can afford. You can donate online at the website, or send a check to:

Invest In Milton
99 Nancy Road
Milton, MA 02186

Board of Assessors Endorsement

The three person Board of Assessors is charged with the evaluation of all real estate and personal property in the town of Milton. Current members are Kathleen Heffernan, M. Joseph Manning, and Thomas Gunning. Mr. Gunning is running for reelection against Todd Greenwood.

Unlike many Boards in town, the Board of Assessors has had little infusion of new blood in some time. Mr. Gunning has served in this post for 42 years. While one can only marvel at the length of service and dedication to the town, it is time for someone who comes from a different generation of Milton residents to step into this role and lend their voice to the deliberations. It is true that we would be losing Mr. Gunning’s experience. On the other hand, this is one of the most experienced Boards in town. Mr. Manning has been a board member for over 50 years, first elected in 1957.

Todd Greenwood is an ideal candidate for this board. He’s a 20 year resident of the town. His children attend the public schools and he is involved in a number of social and sports activities. He represents Precinct 7 as a Town Meeting Member. He has a graduate degree in Business Administration and has spent a good part of his career working as a Quantitative Analyst for major corporations. As a demonstration of his commitment to hit the ground running should he be elected, Mr. Greenwood has already completed the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s course for Assessors.

Todd has had a difficult time engaging his opponent in a discussion of the office for which they are both running. Mr. Gunning chose not to appear at either the Milton League of Women Voters, or Milton Cable debates. This deprived the residents, especially many of the new residents who have only lived in the community for a decade of two and have never seen Mr. Gunning, from weighing the two candidates.

I think we need new energy on the Board of Assessors and I think no candidate should take the voters for granted. Please join me in voting for Todd in tomorrow’s election.

Check out Todd’s website and blog here:

http://greenwoodforassessor.com/index.html

By the way, GET OUT AND VOTE TOMORROW. We have an important Treasurer’s race, in which I hope you’ll support Charlie McCarthy for reasons already stated. In any event, it is your duty to vote.

Milton Town Treasurer Endorsement

For the first time in many years Milton voters will be selecting a new Town Treasurer. Running for the office being vacated by the retiring Kevin Sorgi are Janet Lorden, James McAuliffe and Charlie McCarthy.

Perhaps due to the long interval since this office was contested there seems to be a great deal of confusion about the position, its duties and responsibilities, and the types of experience best suited to the job. I’ve heard residents talk about the need for accounting experience, sophisticated investment background, and “knowledge of finance". Some people go so far as to describe what amounts to a Chief Financial Officer position.

In part the confusion emanates from the specific experience being emphasized by two of the candidates, Janet Lorden and James McAuliffe. Because their backgrounds are in finance/accounting, which they understandably tout, many voters assume that these skills are central to the function of Town Treasurer. That is not the case.

In Milton, as in most towns, financial responsibility is decentralized. Budgeting is the domain of the Finance Committee (Warrant Committee), with final approval by Town Meeting. The books are kept by the Town Accountant, who reports to the Board of Selectman through the Town Administrator. We have outside auditors who go over the books, and a bond consultant to advise on debt issuance.

The treasurer/collector (occasionally separate functions in some communities) is an operational department head. The duties include:

The billing and collection of all town taxes
The timely deposit of all collected funds
The investment of funds not needed immediately in highly safe instruments, emphasizing safety and liquidity over yield
The management of payroll and employee benefits plans
The issuance of short and long term borrowing

While there is certainly a great deal of record keeping involved, accounting is not a function of the department. The investing function is properly circumscribed by state law to ensure safety of the funds. A community, especially in these economic times, cannot be chasing high returns. If we wished to do that, we’d turn the function over to someone like Fidelity.

One unstated, but widely agreed function of the job is that of “independent watchdog”. As an independently elected town officer, the treasurer has the ability to sound the alarm without fear of job loss if he or she feels the town’s interests are being jeopardized. Consequently, the office holder should be someone the residents know and trust. Someone who has a track record of service to the town. Someone who has exhibited a concern for the community apart from any considerations of a paying job.

I believe that person is Charlie McCarthy. Jim McAuliffe and Janet Lorden are good citizens of Milton with fine backgrounds. But they seem to be running for a position that does not exist. Charlie McCarthy, on the other hands, has attributes for this job his opponents simply do not.

Consider this experience. He’s led the preparation of three town budgets. He knows more about where the money comes from and where it goes. As Selectman, he shared the ultimate role in the issuance of town debt, and worked with the current Town Treasurer and Town Accountant to prepare presentations to the bond rating agencies. Their success in obtaining an improved rating lowered substantially debt costs to the town. He had a key role in both the school building and Council on Aging building projects. He knows the functions of those departments and consultants (Selectman, Assessor, Accountant and Bond Consultant) the Treasurer works with to carry out the office’s responsibilities. And he’s run his own business, including meeting a payroll and managing staff.

If you really want a good sense for which of the candidates has the strongest grasp of the job and the specific experience appropriate to it, spend a short time viewing the Milton League of Women Voters debate and the Milton Cable debate here:

http://charliemccarthy.com/CharlieMcCarthy/Media.html

Also, check out the interview with Charlie at the 02186.mytownmatters.com blog, an excellent resource for Milton news.

http://02186.mytownmatters.com/?p=1783

I suspect you'll do as I will, and vote for Charlie McCarthy on April 28th.