What the town of Templeton has never done (according to town meeting records and town clerk) is vote to accept MGL c45, section 2 that states:

Section 2. A town may elect a board of park commissioners, consisting of three or five persons and prescribe their terms of office, or the members of a town planning board or department of public works, or road commissioners may if so authorized by vote of the town act as park commissioners therein. In a town which has not elected a board of park commissioners or has not authorized the town planning board so to act, the selectmen shall act as such board of park commissioners and have authority to approve or disapprove the acquisition of lands by eminent domain as set forth in section seventy-nine of chapter ninety-two and shall have all other powers and duties of a park commission.

What the town of Templeton did do, back in 1948 (according to town meeting records) is accept MGL c114, sections 22 - 26.

Section 23. Said board shall have the sole care, superintendence and management of all public burial grounds in its town, may lay out any existing public burial grounds in its town or any land purchased and set apart by said town for such cemeteries, in lots or other suitable subdivisions, with proper paths and avenues, may plant, embellish, ornament and fence the same and erect therein such suitable edifices and conveniences and make such improvements as it considers convenient; and, subject to the approval of the town, may make such regulations, consistent with law, as it deems expedient.

From the sections of MGL c114 that the town accepted, the cemetery commissioners do not have authority over parks and playgrounds. Seems Templeton has been doing it wrong for a while and this is why records such as annual town reports are critical as well as the information on the town web site. Templeton residents deserve nothing less and they should demand more!

 Been a while, so here goes.

Why file and open meeting law complaint?

When an entity that is supported by public funds and / or represents the public, as in you, there is guidance, there are rules and laws that govern / guide those entities and they matter.

One thing in the open meeting law states that for a public body to meet and conduct business, there needs to be a quorum (majority) present to do so. There is a requirement of the law to do certain things upon election, appointment, employment. One thing required of elected/appointed individuals is to, upon election/appointment is to obtain/be given, a form titled certificate of receipt of open meeting law materials. You sign it & date it, attesting to receiving copies of the open meeting law, attorney general's regulations, 940 cmr 29:00-29.11.

This form further states by the individual signing, the individual attests that "I have read and understand the requirements of the open meeting law and the consequences of violating it. I further understand that the materials I have received may be revised or updated from time to time, and that I have a continuing obligation to implement any changes to the open meeting law during my term of office."

For the first time that I can recall, email sent out from town administrator, who is also the ethics liaison, sent email out to all concerned, with the information required. Some of it was/is forms to be signed, "tests" to be completed, and others, such as conflict of interest law summary, to be read. While it is easy enough to fall into that open meeting law violation box, holding a meeting of a public body without a quorum and taking action, such as accepting minutes, should not be one of them. I mean, we have 7 members and we only have three here at proposed meeting, even if it is a 7 member board, commission or committee and you only have 6 active members, 3 does not equal a quorum. When we have an elected member of a public body also serving on a couple of other public committee / commission, people should not expect this to happen. It should not happen and it is an important detail, being able to count. On another front, this is why the details of our annual town reports and the town's website are so important; how else are towns people, taxpayers, residents suppose to know how their government is suppose to run if they cannot even see the correct information on the website they pay for? If you cannot look at an annual town report and see who serves on what, how much you pay your employees and then look at town website to see who is still serving, who has moved on and where there might be openings for you to volunteer, the most basic principle of our government is broken. That would be access to information that is current and correct, that would be transparency and accountability and that is why I believe it matters.

Lastly, if you want people to participate in local governance and want people to attend town meeting, DO NOT ask them for money for a dump body or infield groomer and get the money and then go spend it on something else. Lies or deceiving people really pisses them off! I post this as a resident/citizen of the town of Templeton.

 I am a self-certified pain in the Ass,  what I have encountered and seen in just about a year and 1/2 back on the bos, I feel I need to be; so, which came first, the chicken or the egg? First mention I find of open space committee is in 2003 annual town report, on page 1, under report of selectmen, with a committee report in 2004 Templeton Annual Town Report, page 81. John Henshaw is shown as being on open space at time formed. According to town meeting records, community preservation committee did not become accepted by the town until annual town meeting 2007, article 45, with no mention of open space committee. Community Preservation Committee is a mix of elected and appointed members.

Town Meeting, May 2007 - There is hereby established a Community Preservation Committee (“CPC”), consisting of nine (9) voting members pursuant to MGL Chapter 44B (the “Act”). The composition of the CPC, the appointment authority and the term of office for the CPC members shall be as follows:

 One member of the Templeton Conservation Commission as designated by that Commission.

 One member of the Templeton Historical Commission as designated by that Commission.

 One member of the Templeton Housing Authority as designated by that Authority. 

 One member of the Templeton Recreation Committee as designated by that Committee. 

 One member of the Templeton Planning Board as designated by that Board. 

 One member of the Templeton Board of Assessors as designated by that Board. 

 Three members to be elected at large from the registered voters of the Town

 I am pretty sure there is MGL to deal with vacancies and or resignations and then there are the appointed members, which come from other elected boards, as in planning, , assessors, housing authority, which have their own appointing protocol and then other appointed boards, etc. We then have advisory committee by-law with vacancy remedies and then we have selectmen appointments that are annual, such as town counsel, capital improvement committee, which is spelled out in by-law for that committee. On open space and others, there needs to be research and a decision on what is what. From my research and from what it states in 2003 report, I come to conclusion this open space committee was formed by bos so it should be covered in our procedures how appointments and vacancies are done, as long as we are consistent, in my opinion. I still believe we, as a board, should do diligence and take a look at by-law concerning appointments of town officers, etc. We could then have some direction that is clear and concise, as in we do this and when that happens, we do this.

 Young, Holly

Wed 1/27/2021 10:09 AM

To:

•  Bennett, Jeff

Morning Jeff:

 

I finally had some time to update the broken links you sent. Two hours later, I believe I got them all fixed. 😊 See below

 

Templetonma.gov - personnel policy link goes to login page. fixed

 

On templeton1.org, personnel policy link opens right up this site is owned by another party-I wouldn’t recommend using it. CivisPlus told me it could be used to get into your computer. They are working on trying to get it closed down.

 

Most of expired contract links do not open - gives error 404 page not found  these are fixed now

 

FY2019 budget information links go to error 404 page not found (shows templeton1.org. these are all fixed

 

under reports:

community services - FY2019, 1st quarter report, link broke, error 404 fixed

 

finance team, FY2019, 1st quarter link broke fixed

 

FY2017, 1st quarter link broke. fixed

 public works FY2019 no 1st quarter, 2nd quarter report link broke. There was no report for FY19 1^st Quarter, Bob was new that month.

So, one of the things that you, the taxpayer, pay for, should work a little bit better for you. Town website has become one more important tool to help keep you informed, but like many such items, it is only as good as the information put on it and when things do not work as they are suppose to, well, it becomes quite useless. Hope this helps anyone who uses the Templeton Town website to try and keep up.

 I was a bit surprised that any other member of the Templeton board of selectmen at the meeting of Wednesday, January 27, 2021 did not seem to have much to add to debate on appointments to town committees. No other member seemed prepared to challenge a point of a mention town by-law, nor what it states in selectmen operating procedures. There are more than a couple of contradictory points on how things should go. One point, it is/was a public meeting with an agenda and I have always thought and felt, there should be debate on agenda items, same as say a town meeting; that is part of the purpose of having a meeting in the first place. 

No real comment on how I am interpreting a by-law or a policy. The by-law I used as a reason to question appointments in mid year could be read as annual appointments for only certain positions or boards, such as trustees, town counsel, etc. I believe selectmen need to come to meetings prepared rather than just ready to act blindly on what is put in front of them and yes, that does take some effort, but that is what it is about; putting in some work to serve and support those who elect you to do just that; look out for them. The item was an appointment to a simple committee, and it could have been completed as presented, but, I also believe we, as selectmen, should be aware, more than most, of the procedures and processes that are in place, supposedly designed and or created to ensure town business is done in the right way and keep ourselves and the town out of trouble or difficulties and I do not believe that following a process  wastes anyone's time. 

Trust me when I write that initially, I goofed often in regard to governance, which made me work hard and put more effort into becoming knowledgeable in governance so I would do a better job of serving the people. No intent of being perfect, just trying to be correct more than being wrong. I hope more effort is put into the work on budget and town meeting preparation than appears to be put into a couple monthly meetings. 

I would hope, that rather than just stating not being ready for a challenge and then just put it off, be ready for debate and be ready to make a proposal to take action on the proposed agenda item as well as a solution to any issue so hopefully it does not present itself again. I could be wrong, as I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I believe that is called learning.

From: Bennett, Jeff <jbennett@TempletonMA.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2020 8:40 AM
To: Terenzini, Carter <cterenzini@TempletonMA.gov>; Adam D. Lamontagne <alamontagne@TempletonMA.gov>
Subject: contracts/agreements

 

Looking over contracts/agreements section of town website, I see ACO agreement with Winchendon expired on June 30, 2020 and employment agreement with Treasurer/Collector set to expire on July 31, 2020.  I hope these items have not been forgotten in the midst of corona, as the case for town hall to be staffed is because town business has to be done, well . . . . . . . 

 

regards;

Jeff Bennett

 From: Terenzini, Carter <cterenzini@TempletonMA.gov>

Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2020 8:53 AM
To: Bennett, Jeff <jbennett@TempletonMA.gov>; Adam D. Lamontagne <alamontagne@TempletonMA.gov>
Subject: RE: contracts/agreements

 

Police Chief (and I’m not quite sure he had the authority so am checking) signed a one-year ACO

 

from statehouse news - January 13, 2021.

BOSTON (SHNS) – Employees who worked New Year’s Day will be the last to get paid time-and-a-half for their efforts on the holiday if Gov. Charlie Baker signs off on a piece of the $626 million economic development bill on his desk.

That bill would add the first of the year, as well as Columbus Day and Veterans Day, to the list of holidays for which premium pay will be phased out. The change is rooted in a deal struck by lawmakers in 2018 with retailers and small business groups that resulted in a ballot question that would have reduced the state’s sales tax from 6.25 percent to 5 percent being withdrawn.

The addition of the three holidays to the gradual phase-out of premium pay on Sunday and holidays was tucked into the economic development bill passed by the Legislature in the early morning hours last Wednesday.

Baker is still reviewing the bill, and has the power to veto individual sections if he disapproves. But should he sign the holiday provision, those three days would join Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4 and Labor Day as holidays that employees by 2023 will no longer get paid extra to work.

In 2018, legislators and various interest groups pursuing ballot initiatives related to the sales tax, minimum wage and paid leave struck a so-called “grand bargain” to keep those questions from going before voters.

In exchange, the Legislature passed and Baker signed a law implementing a paid leave program and gradually increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Retailers won a permanent annual sales tax holiday and the phasing out of the Blue Laws that required premium pay on Sundays and holidays.

Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst, however, has long said that in a drafting error the law did not reflect the full terms of the deal because it excluded New Year’s Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day.

The group allowed the bill to move forward and withdrew its ballot question based on assurances, Hurst says, that the language would get fixed at a later date. That date could be now.

“The Retailers Association of Massachusetts appreciates the work of the Legislative leadership to fix the Grand Bargain drafting error, and to follow through on the original deal,” Hurst said.

“Particularly in these times of accelerating online sales due to the pandemic, we must make sure our local brick and mortar merchants are not put at a competitive disadvantage under antiquated, only in Massachusetts mandates, like the retail Blue Laws,” he said.

Based on the “grand bargain” law, premium pay on holidays and Sundays dropped to 1.2 times a worker’s hourly rate in 2021 and will decrease to 1.1 times the normal wage in 2022.

When the minimum wage hits $15 an hour on Jan. 1, 2023, workers will no longer be entitled to premium pay.