My view: Vote NO INCUMBENTS for Hamilton Board of Selectmen and School Committee

Both the Hamilton Board of Selectmen (BoS) and the Hamilton-Wenham School Committee (SC) have positions that are opening up...one on the Board of Selectmen and three on the School Committee.

For Hamilton Selectman, the position currently held by Bill Bowler is up and he is running for re-election.  His opponent is Jeff Hubbard.

On the School Committee, the positions currently held by Richard Boroff, Tess Leary and Lauren Prior, are being by challenged by Roger Kuebel, Bill Dery and Sean Condon.

All four of these positions are extremely important for the future of our town and schools.  All four of the incumbents have held their current positions long enough.  It is well past time for all four to step aside and let new candidates step forward to correct the many mistakes made by those currently in office.

Here are a few of the reasons why I feel this way...

On the School Committee, the members now seeking re-election have burdened the taxpayers of Hamilton and Wenham beyond the tipping point.  Since 2001 (the last 10 years), the cost of overrides imposed by the school district have totaled nearly $44 million.  Yes...that's MILLION, and that's just the cumulative override costs.  It does NOT include the Cutler Boiler project or the additional 2.5% added to the tax levy each year.  Those same overrides now cost the taxpayers of our two towns nearly $7 million a year...every single year...forever.

So how do you feel about re-electing the very people that proposed, supported and defended the costs that have resulted in nearly the highest property tax rate on the North Shore?  These are the people that made it critically necessary to conduct a complete and thorough operational audit of the school district because of their inability to provide an education for our children at a reasonable and sustainable cost.

They are also the same people that voted against the audit from inception to citzen petition to approval and they are now doing little or nothing to implement cost saving recommendations from the audit report.  On the contrary, they are seeking to implement changes that will serve to INCREASE costs, not REDUCE them.

Example: You have undoubtedly heard about the Latin teacher salary that is included in the new school budget....despite there being NO Latin teacher. Or how about the unused $300k found this year in a kindergarten account?  Or the fact that this year's school budget is expected to be underspent by about $1 million?  Or that $350,000 in expenses were included in this year’s budget to cover unemployment costs for layoffs... but NO layoffs occurred.

Despite all of that, the SC wants an additional $350,000 to put into their reserve E and D account.  Thankfully, both Wenham and Hamilton"s Finance Committees and Boards of Selectmen have all said "NO" and have voted to to fund the school budget with a $500,000 decrease. Bravo.  [Read the full story here in The Patch]

One member who is running for re-election, Richard Boroff, had this to say when asked by the Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle "What experience would you bring to the School Committee?"

ANSWER: "Three years ago I was chair of the School Committee and led the committee to success in getting passed the largest override we had ever had."  That statement alone should convince you to vote for ANY candidate other than Richard Boroff.

(Note: The override was for $1.8 million and at the end of the school year there was more than $800,000 left over...which the district naturally kept and now taxpayers continue to pay that unneeded $1.8 million every year.)

It's time for a big change on the School Committee...a clean sweep.  Please vote for Roger Kuebel, Bill Dery and Sean Condon for School Committee.  That's a good start in the right direction.

Let's move on to the Board of Selectman...

As I previously mentioned, Bill Bowler is seeking re-election.  Bill's been around town a long time and has served Hamilton well on several different boards.  But it's now time for him to step aside.  It's difficult to understand why he is running again considering all the controversy surrounding Hamilton since he began serving as Selectman.  Perhaps the medical insurance benefits he, and he alone among all the Selectmen, receives from our town has something to do with wanting to hold on to an elected postion.  Not a single (non-employee) elected Hamilton official takes advantage of this insurance perk.  Only Bill...compliments of the already over-burdened Hamilton taxpayer.  At the League of Women Voters Candidates Night held on April 27th, in his closing statement, Bill said: "I hope to be re-elected, but if I'm not I'll probably put my hat in the ring for Zoning Board again or something like that."

It's unnecessary to go into detail about Bill's record of obstructionism (he has referred to it himself) or the legal problems he has caused and burdened our town with.  You need only recall that it was REQUIRED, by the Essex County District Attorney's office, that a member of the BoS read out loud and for the record at last year's Annual Town Meeting a portion of the DA's letter to the town regarding multiple violations of the Open Meeting laws.  Bill read the text as required, but without contrition, and certainly without enthusiasm, and he offered no apology to the residents of Hamilton for his part in the unlawful activities.  He is one of only two remaining members of the BoS that were involved with the offenses described in the letter.  It's time he was replaced by someone without "skeletons" in his closet...someone not known by so many as "Grumpy".

Please support and vote for Jeff Hubbard for Selectman.

My view: Vote NO INCUMBENTS for the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee in Hamilton and let's start heading in the right direction rather than continuing down the wrong path, led by the wrong people.

UPDATE: 5/27/11: Hamilton voters overwhelming supported the notion of "No Incumbents" and elected all new members to the three positions on the School Committee and the single position on the Board of Selectman yesterday.  Thank you!

There's A New Group In Hamilton & Wenham

You've all heard of the citizen taxpayer watchdog group known as Enough Is Enough (EiE) right?

They're the ones that successfully ended the previous addiction to school overrides in Hamilton and Wenham and also drew overwhelming support from voters in both towns for an Operational Audit of the school district that is still being debated and considered by the School Committee (SC) and the towns.

Well, it appears there is a new group in town, known as Enough Is NEVER Enough (EiNE).

Who are these people?  You know them as the Hamilton-Wenham School Committee and their actions this past week and at last night's school budget vote is nothing less than appalling.

To his credit, school committee member Don Gallant, one of the three members on the Finance Working Group, had this to say at the opening of the discussion on whether or not to vote for a level funded school budget, less $350,000:

Gallant: "The Finance Working Group had another meeting on Monday...this past Monday night...in which 8 of the 9 school committee members were there. (*See note below) By a 2 to 1 vote...Ann (Minois) and myself in favor, and Richard (Boroff) not in favor...we passed this budget as our recommended budget to the full school committee.  This budget includes the (so-called) $350,000 give back to the towns.  For a variety of reasons we did tax too much for this current year."

He went on to say: "In my 19 years (on the SC) this is one of the highest amounts of money left in the Excess & Deficiency account."

The lone NO vote on the the Finance Working Group, Richard Boroff, had this to say:

Boroff: "I don't see any reason to give it back.  If it's a give back, it would be a give back for a political reason only and it does not make sound educational sense to me.  I've been around long enough to see the district get screwed when it tried to help out the towns do something and I'm not willing to put that foot forward."

How about putting that same foot in your mouth, Mr. Boroff?  Can you believe this guy?  He must be vying to serve as president of the new Enough Is NEVER Enough group.  But wait, there's more:

Boroff: "In all those 8 years (that I have been on the SC), the school district has taken a hit.  Every single one, except for one year.  On the other hand, the towns have funded or increased their funding and refused funding to us at times.  And one time it was a minuscule override...it was about $250k or $260k override which failed on the first go round, and we refused to accept that and went for the same thing.  It was an insult.  A very big insult."

A very big insult?  Really?  Then consider this...

It's insulting to suggest that any override is "minuscule".  In the case of the override Mr. Boroff refers to, the year was 2006 and the amount was $203,000...that year.  In 2007 it was another $203,000.  And again in 2008, 2009, 2010... and again this year...and again without end, because overrides are added to the tax levy and go on FOREVER.  So that's $1,218,000 since the override was approved in 2006.  I don't think anyone but Mr. Boroff would call that a "minuscule" amount.

Now let's go back to the first Boroff quote above where he says, ever so politely:

Boroff: "I've been around long enough to see the district get screwed..."

Is that what you call eight Proposition 2.5 overrides for the district since 2001?  Overrides whose cumulative total, over the past 10 years, adds up to $43,947,000.00.  Overrides that cost the taxpayers nearly $7 million every year going forward?  And that's NOT including the 2.5% tacked on each year to that amount by the towns.  I think it's the taxpayers that got, in Mr. Boroff's words...."screwed".

But I digress.  Let's get back to the Enough Is NEVER Enough group.

At one point in the meeting John McWane, chairman of the Hamilton Finance Committee, got up and asked a few enlightening questions:

McWane: "It is my understanding that initially you had proposed a Latin teacher.  Is that still in the budget?"

Alexa McCloughan (SC chairman): "The funding for the Latin teacher is still in the budget.  It is doubtful that we will have Latin."

McWane: "So you don't have the teacher in, but you do have the money?"

Alexa: "Correct.  We have the money in."

McWane: "Which is a little odd to me.  It seems to me that if you take something out of the budget...if you take a position out..."

Alexa (interrupting): "It's in our instructional line."

McWane: "Right.  I'm just saying that typically when you take a position out, you also take the money out.  But I guess that's not your practice."

Alexa (nodding): "That's not the case."

And finally...perhaps the most obvious exchange of the night indicating the birth of Enough is NEVER Enough:

McWane: "We should be clear that your budget, in terms of what you spend for the schools would not change under either scenario (with or without the give back).  Is that correct?"

Alexa: "Correct."

McWane: "And it's up a million dollars over last year...over the current year"

Alexa: "Uh huh."

WcWane: "Okay.  So what we're really discussing is the $350k and the question is: Should it go to your E&D...or should it go to the taxpayers' pockets.  Is that correct?"

Alexa: "Yes."

WcWane: "Okay.  I just want to make that clear."

So there you have it folks.  Please join me in welcoming the new group: Enough Is NEVER Enough.

...but remind them at Town Meeting and the polls that in Hamilton and Wenham, Enough IS Enough.

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*Question: If 8 out of 9 school committee members were present at this meeting, shouldn't it have been posted as something other that a Finance Working Group meeting?  Smells a little like a violation of the Open Meeting Laws.  Anyone care to comment?

Update 5/6/2011: click here to read what happened.