and Bridgewater
June 29, 2008
I have taken the past couple weeks to ponder the ramifications of the Bridgewater Over-ride vote, the overwhelming majority of Town residents who consistently vote against tax increases, and what it all means.
First of all, I am pleased that nearly 6000 people came out to vote on a Saturday. The 3500-4000 residents who have each and every time (four attempts now) make a point to come out and vote – you deserve credit for coming out and making your voice heard. The over-ride proponents (who have gotten close twice), also deserve credit for bring an issue forward with a proposed solution. This process is what Democracy is all about.
Now, as a community, we are left with moving forward with the choices made. Some of the issues now evident:
(a) Bridgewater Selectmen now looking towards a Special Town Meeting to balance the Town Budget. This is necessary since some of the revenue presented by the Selectmen to the Town in May now appears (although the feeling is not unanimous since one Selectmen stated “not willing to concede the issue yet”) to be theoretical. The first issue is the $200k in ‘snow & ice mitigation’ from the State; Rep. David Flynn came before the Selectmen and told them not to count on it. And now, there are questions of when we might see the $600k for the 40R Project we voted.
(b) Bridgewater-Raynham Schools will be losing all regular education (special education aids will be kept, by law) aids for Grades K & 1. The Aids are present to assist the regular teachers as class sizes have gotten larger. This step was necessitated by the budget amounts approved by both Towns at the respective Town Meetings.
(c) Loss of large amount of funding for the Library – further reduced hours. Loss of funds for the civilian dispatch program at the Fire Dept – meaning firemen will continue to man the phones rather than assisting in emergencies.
(d) B-R Schools Summer Reading Lists now “Recommended”. To many, this was something of a surprise. It is something that the B-R School Committee and Administration have been aware of as a very real possibility. With the reduced hours at Bridgewater Library, and for the purposes of this requirement, more importantly the loss of borrowing privileges at any neighboring town libraries, there was no way hundreds of students could read the required books. As a public school system, we cannot require payments for materials to certain groups of students; thus in order to have required book, they would need to be provided to some of the student body. And this cost could not be borne by the District. Yes, the College has said residents could utilize their library, but there are not many of the summer books in their collection.
So, where does the Town go from here? Hopefully the Government Study Committee will have recommendations. The Town has struggled for the past years to determine a direction and method to get there. My primary concern is no clear chain of command and ability to set a direction. Some Town Department Heads are appointed by Selectmen, others by other Boards, and still others by direct election. The “Town” cannot set a direction when the chain of command and follow-thru on direction is not required.
I believe the time has come for a Town Mayor and nine-member (one each of seven precincts and two at-large) Town Council to run Bridgewater. Further, that the Town Mayor have control over all functions (with approval by Town Council) to hire/fire and set policy. If we do not like the direction, then at next election we elect someone else. However, I want to stress this again, it would only work if there is hire/fire power to make sure goals and plans are implemented. The Town is a nearly $50M enterprise, without any clear plan. It is time to run the Town like a business.
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Joseph Gillis Jr.
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