If you are paying attention, the FY 2017 Annual Town Report is now posted on Town web site. The following comes from the selectmen portion of the report:

Future Aspirations
As Templeton continues to progress towards financial stability the Board plans to change focus
from financial correction to financial efficiency & operational standardization. We intend to
explore both of these routes equally in order to promote a healthy work space and cost effective
savings for the tax payers. We are hoping to increase communication with surrounding towns to
discuss openly points of possible synergies and methods of strategies. Encouraging department
heads to reach out to other department heads from neighboring communities for ideas and
promoting training of our current staff to allow them to think about how their job can be done
more effectively while maintaining extraordinary service.

On page 78 of that report is an item from the special Town Meeting of October 20, 2016. It was about FY 2017 budget supplement.

On a motion duly made and seconded the town voted to amend the 2017 annual town
budget as voted in Article 4 at the annual town meeting to add the sum of Eighty-Seven
Thousand Five Hundred One Dollars and No Cents ($87,501) to the long term debt
service line of that budget (Account No. 100-710-700-59-5910-000), and further to
transfer said sum from the stabilization fund to pay for the foregoing
Defeated/October 20th @ 7:56 by hand count requested by 7 or more voters.

Prior to the vote, Advisory Committee member Jeff Bennett pointed out that according to the current balance number given to the Advisory Committee before the meeting, that $87K represented about half of the stabilization fund and that it did not seem prudent to make that move. Thank fully it did not happen, as Advisory found out later, the actual balance of the stabilization fund at the time of the meeting was around $90,000.00. After that vote and meeting, selectmen began a verbal assault on Advisory Committee, even going so far as to profess that people needed to get the permission of the Moderator regarding what material people can bring into Town Meeting with them. No, the moderator is not the paper police. If you check, Julie Richard was a member of the select board at that time and I was a member of the Advisory Committee. Now, I would like to represent you on the Board of Selectmen, where I will speak up for you.

It is time for a change, I ask that you VOTE Jeff Bennett for selectmen. Thank You.