Saturday, February 23, 2013
There's usually low turnout at open town meetings or few candidates for representative ones.
Would you give up a Saturday in March to vote on your town's budget? How about a few nights a week for a month? Open town meetings statewide typically draw a small percentage of the community's registered voters—a few hundred people at most. And many of them leave before the meeting ends. Representative town meetings usually have few who run for open slots. How can participation be improved? Tell us in the comments.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
FACES appealed to the Board to make safety near the General Chemical site a priority and the Danforth Museum has been granted conditional approval for leasing the Maynard Building.
Here are six things you missed at the selectmen's meeting Tuesday night. Also discussed was the water issue at Eastleigh Farms. 1. Framingham Action Coalition for Environmental Safety (FACES) wants the town to put up bilingual signage, give notifications to neighborhood residents, provide fencing, and make plans for future demolition of the General Chemical properties on Leland Street. FACES expressed concern that children play in and around the property, the property has potential for squatters or inhabitation by homeless people, and there is contaminated water on the property that must be covered. “This board has instituted a task force that has been very active in looking at these buildings to develop a plan,” said Board Chairman …
42.27981
-71.41634
Framingham Town Hall: Memorial Building
150 Concord St, Framingham, MA
/articles/6-things-you-may-have-missed-at-tuesday-s-town-meeting
800226
/locations/7337009
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Eastleigh Farm owner Doug Stephan maintains that he will not be able to sustain the farm if he has to pay for its water.
The Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed Tuesday night to table the vote on Eastleigh Farm for a month, making it clear that meetings about the ongoing water bill issue must be held in the next four weeks. Should the board decide to charge farm owner Doug Stephan for water usage, the charges would be effective starting July 1, said Selectman Dennis Giombetti. Stephan’s attorney, Bill Mayer, opened the discussion asking for a delay on voting whether Stephan will have to pay for water on his farm. The question remains whether Eastleigh should be treated as a private business or a public preservation site. The board is divided on the matter. Selectman Ginger Esty said, “Are we as a community going to go back on process because we got what we…
42.32986
-71.48182
Eastleigh Farm
1062 Edmands Rd, Framingham, MA
/articles/eastleigh-farm-water-bill-still-in-dispute
1707216
/locations/7330011
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Selectmen agreed with the town’s chief financial officer's recommendations to beef up Framingham's rainy day account, and increase property taxes by 1.5 percent.
Thanks to a larger-than-expected state aid contribution, the town will be able to place funds in two accounts that previously were not funded in the proposed 2013 budget. The budget also includes a tax rate increase of 1.5 percent. The Board of Selectmen followed Chief Financial Officer Mary Ellen Kelley’s recommendation to place extra money in a retired employee benefits fund and into the town’s rainy day account. The board voted 5-0 to support the budget article at Town Meeting, which is scheduled to begin April 24. The budget will now go to Town Meeting with a tax levy increase of 1.5 percent, which represents an average increase of $144 a year to Framingham homeowners. The bulk of the extra money will fund a state mandated retirement…
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
With the backing of more than 2,300 signatures, the organization Framingham Save Our Schools wants a level-services budget, not a level-funded budget, for the schools.
* Elimination of elementary music programs * Higher fees for high school sports * Elementary libraries closed a couple of day a week * Fewer buses and every elementary child within two miles of their school, must find their own way to school or pay for a bus. These are just a few of the realities that a level-funded school budget has had on students this year. Concerned over the roughly $20 million that has been cut from the Framingham Public Schools budget over the last three years, a local grass-roots organization called Framingham Save Our Schools (SOS) has formed. The non-profit group consists of parents, retirees, white-collar workers, blue collar workers , and Town Meeting members. What do they all have in common? They are worried …
GM
8:52 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
I'm with you on your comments, Andy. Having spent a few years involved with our town's government, I have come away with a strong belief that local government is the best place to ensure that government in general is effective and efficient. The local community is where people understand the true needs of the residents, and where people are in the best position to judge the urgency of the needs … more ›