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!