Selectmen are elected to work for you and to look out for you.
Seems odd they handout almost 100 thousand dollars of your money for bonuses for town employees for doing their jobs while some residents lost jobs, had hours reduced and had small businesses still trying to get back to where they were. Then the selectmen put $147,500.00 in town savings. Of interest is only 45 thousand into capital stabilization and 45 thousand into infrastructure stabilization. Selectmen reward town employees for doing their job but shortchange residents again. Putting maximum money aside for roads, drainage, sidewalks, etc. seems to be an afterthought of selectmen. Town financial management policy, which selectmen often ignore, states Local Funding – The first source of capital investment shall be the Capital Stabilization Fund. So, per the FMP, items such as new police cruisers, which helps reduce wasting money on costly repairs to old cruisers, should be paid for by the capital stabilization fund. Also, per a town meeting vote and presentation by the selectmen back in 2018, a funding source for capital is / was supposed to be meals tax, which again, selectmen ignore town meeting vote and their own presentation to town meeting. Time for town meeting to override selectmen again. How long would have 10 Pleasant Street building been standing if town meeting had followed selectmen vote on $2500.00 deposit into the demolition revolving fund? Selectmen were not thinking of residents then and they are not thinking of residents now. People need to show up to town meeting and use their authority to increase funding into the accounts that benefit residents. How long are people going to put up with a flooded road because selectmen do not seem to place much importance on it? Please show up to vote.
