All material on this blog is directed to members of the general public and is not intended to be read by my fellow Board members,
nor do I intend for any readers to convey such material directly
or indirectly to my fellow
Board members.
Saturday, April 29, 2023
If you are not going to follow the bylaws of the town, voted in place by town meeting, whom you are directed to report to, you should not get paid.
Are you referring to things like: Committee shall, after due consideration of the subject matter of such articles, report thereon to the Town Meeting, in writing, such recommendations as it deems best for the interests of the Town and its citizens. Copies of the report of the Advisory Committee shall be made available to the voters at least two days before all Town Meetings.
I'm sure the simple " Yes and No" totals are exactly what the authors intended to displayed and give the taxpayers all the information they need.
This is the New and Improved Transparency. Right in the voters guide the Administration tells you it gives you "Plenty of information". see below: This Voter Information Guide provides you plenty of information so you may be prepared. Here is the format the guide follows:
Article # and Title Article Sponsor Vote Required
Anticipated Motion: The anticipated motion to be proposed by the Select Board. These mostly mirror the original warrant articles.
Summary: A brief description of the reasons for – and impact of - the article. Comments and Recommendations of the Advisory Committee
My words: We are in trouble, we need to act fast, swift and decisive and change behaviors that we repeat over and over. Our numbers dont look promising. If you disagree, please step up and show me the way! I would love nothing more than to be wrong, but so far everything leads me to believe we are a rudderless ship. Our Administration is literally the naked king parading around with his Cheerleader VP Currie. I mean, the entire Board of Selectman just reported the fidings of their review. That result being Adam "Meets Expectations". As soon as they finish the review, VP Currie announces that Adam is doing a Great Job! This is baffling? Does He not understand "Mixed Messaging"
I Hear the Audit letter was completed on April 6th. Maybe we need to adjust more pays! 24 days later and I have seen no audit. I hear our TA plans on the end of May...........violating another bylaw I believe...........
§ 28-8 Annual audit required. The Select Board (Board) shall, at least annually, provide for and conduct an independent audit of the financial books to be done by a reputable accounting firm not connected to or related in any way to the Town or its officers. The complete audit with recommendations shall be made available to the public as soon as it is received and it shall be posted in the Annual Town Report.
This byllaw shows it really was the BOS responsibility to pursue the Caplis $484.00 misuse of funds. § 47-1 Authority to institute and defend claims. [Amended 6-17-2020 ATM by Art. 9] The Select Board (Board) shall be agents of the Town to institute, prosecute and defend any and all claims, actions and proceedings to which the Town is a party or in which the interests of the Town are or may be involved.
With regards to bylaw section 28-8, I believe that is another grey area, ". . . shall be made available to the public as soon as it is received . . . " I take received to be when it is presented to the select board and accepted by them. Of course, that is not what is stated in bylaw, but it does leave "wiggle room" in my view. That is why I believe more of our bylaws in this town require exact wording with no doubt as to what is meant. For instance, who will hire audit firm, who will accept the audit and I do not believe it should be the administrator / select board, as it is their work being checked, hiring and presenting of the audit should be at arms length from selectmen/administrator.
Jeff, I do not disagree with the intended meaning being "received by the selectboard", but again, it implies intent, doesn't state it clearly.
The policy says it should be available in January. This should be presented far before the Annual Town meeting and the Town Meeting should not happen with out the review of the audit happening first. It truly seems financially irresponsible to set a budget then review the audit. I wonder how much of this is to hide the fact that we have not fixed items suggested since 2009 by t he DOR simply because our "financial team" refuses to do so............
Time for everyone who has promoted these folks and praised this Administration to step up with a check to cover the cost of this absolute destruction of a budget based on ignorance.
Are you referring to things like:
ReplyDeleteCommittee shall, after due consideration of the subject matter of such articles, report thereon to the Town Meeting, in writing, such recommendations as it deems best for the interests of the Town and its citizens. Copies of the report of the Advisory Committee shall be made available to the voters at least two days before all Town Meetings.
I'm sure the simple " Yes and No" totals are exactly what the authors intended to displayed and give the taxpayers all the information they need.
This is the New and Improved Transparency.
Right in the voters guide the Administration tells you it gives you "Plenty of information". see below:
This Voter Information Guide provides you plenty of information so you may be prepared. Here
is the format the guide follows:
Article # and Title
Article Sponsor
Vote Required
Anticipated Motion: The anticipated motion to be proposed by the Select Board.
These mostly mirror the original warrant articles.
Summary: A brief description of the reasons for – and impact of - the article.
Comments and Recommendations of the Advisory Committee
My words: We are in trouble, we need to act fast, swift and decisive and change behaviors that we repeat over and over. Our numbers dont look promising. If you disagree, please step up and show me the way! I would love nothing more than to be wrong, but so far everything leads me to believe we are a rudderless ship. Our Administration is literally the naked king parading around with his Cheerleader VP Currie. I mean, the entire Board of Selectman just reported the fidings of their review. That result being Adam "Meets Expectations". As soon as they finish the review, VP Currie announces that Adam is doing a Great Job! This is baffling? Does He not understand "Mixed Messaging"
I Hear the Audit letter was completed on April 6th. Maybe we need to adjust more pays! 24 days later and I have seen no audit. I hear our TA plans on the end of May...........violating another bylaw I believe...........
ReplyDelete§ 28-8
Annual audit required.
The Select Board (Board) shall, at least annually, provide for and conduct an independent audit of the financial books to be done by a reputable accounting firm not connected to or related in any way to the Town or its officers. The complete audit with recommendations shall be made available to the public as soon as it is received and it shall be posted in the Annual Town Report.
This byllaw shows it really was the BOS responsibility to pursue the Caplis $484.00 misuse of funds.
ReplyDelete§ 47-1
Authority to institute and defend claims.
[Amended 6-17-2020 ATM by Art. 9]
The Select Board (Board) shall be agents of the Town to institute, prosecute and defend any and all claims, actions and proceedings to which the Town is a party or in which the interests of the Town are or may be involved.
With regards to bylaw section 28-8, I believe that is another grey area, ". . . shall be made available to the public as soon as it is received . . . " I take received to be when it is presented to the select board and accepted by them. Of course, that is not what is stated in bylaw, but it does leave "wiggle room" in my view. That is why I believe more of our bylaws in this town require exact wording with no doubt as to what is meant. For instance, who will hire audit firm, who will accept the audit and I do not believe it should be the administrator / select board, as it is their work being checked, hiring and presenting of the audit should be at arms length from selectmen/administrator.
ReplyDeleteJeff, I do not disagree with the intended meaning being "received by the selectboard", but again, it implies intent, doesn't state it clearly.
ReplyDeleteThe policy says it should be available in January. This should be presented far before the Annual Town meeting and the Town Meeting should not happen with out the review of the audit happening first.
It truly seems financially irresponsible to set a budget then review the audit. I wonder how much of this is to hide the fact that we have not fixed items suggested since 2009 by t he DOR simply because our "financial team" refuses to do so............
Time for everyone who has promoted these folks and praised this Administration to step up with a check to cover the cost of this absolute destruction of a budget based on ignorance.