CLT UPDATE
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
"If you think education is
expensive, try ignorance"
Thanks to teachers' unions, libraries close
Voters in nearly 60 percent of Massachusetts
communities considering property tax increases this year have turned
them down, one of the worst approval rates in recent years....
At least 54 Massachusetts communities have scheduled ballot measures
this year seeking permission to permanently increase the local property
tax levy, under the state's Proposition 2½ law, which limits tax
increases. Seventeen towns won approval for the tax-hike requests, 23
failed, and voters in two communities approved some ballot measures but
rejected others, according to a Globe tally....
In December, the Globe found that two-thirds of overrides in 2006 were
rejected, meaning 2007 is on track to be the second-straight year in
which more override requests fail than pass. The anti-override trend
follows more than a decade of mostly successful ballot measures.
"Something has to be done and continuing to raise property taxes isn't
going to solve the problem for very long," said Barbara Anderson,
executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. "The
Legislature will respond responsibly when they absolutely must, and it's
our job to make sure they must by not giving them more revenues, either
local option or higher property taxes." ...
[Gov.] Patrick, who ran on a platform of reducing property taxes, said
he understands voters' frustration with the ongoing tax hikes.
"I'm frustrated, too," he said, "but we never promised we'd be able to
do it with a magic wand."
The Boston Globe
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Voters in Mass. communities increasingly reject overrides
The readers in Northbridge, though, are not suffering alone.
Strapped for cash, towns in Massachusetts, including Saugus, Medway, and
Gloucester, are doing what many consider unthinkable.
They are targeting the library, outraging readers in a state that boasts of its
intellectual capital, and leaving a few not-so-silent librarians fighting for
the right to borrow books in their towns....
The problem Northbridge faces is not unique. From Randolph to Newbury, Ashland
to Wrentham, library directors have been struggling in recent years, facing
cutback after cutback.
The reason is simple economics. With health care costs, fixed costs, and utility
rates rising, and revenue flat or shrinking, many towns are forced to make
difficult choices or ask voters to approve property tax overrides.
The voters, many of whom are getting their information from the Internet, are
not always sympathetic. In Northbridge two weeks ago, 59 percent of voters
opposed a $3.7 million property tax override, effectively deciding they would
rather see deep cuts at the library and schools than pay, on average, $728 in
increased taxes this year.
The Boston Globe
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Cuts put towns' libraries at risk
With less revenue, many scaling back
While substantial differences still separate them, people on
both sides of the recently defeated Proposition 2½ override agree on one thing:
It's time to sit down together and figure out an alternate financial plan for
Newburyport's schools....
Nearly half of the city's 11,765 registered voters turned out Tuesday for the
special election -- a percentage City Clerk Richard Jones deemed "very
significant" -- sending the proposed $1.58 million tax increase to fund the
city's schools to a resounding defeat, 3,286 to 2,212.
"This is just the start of a dialogue that's been missing in Newburyport," said
Paul Acquaviva, spokesman for Yes for Newburyport, the group that lobbied for
the override. "We need to keep having this discussion." ...
City Councilor Gary Roberts ... who chairs the council's budget and finance
subcommittee, said one critical first step would be for all sides to focus on
the single largest portion of the city's budget.
"We need to accept responsibility for the part of the problem we have control
over, which is benefits and salaries. We can't change the state formula for
spending. Eighty-one percent of the entire city budget is benefits and
salaries," said Roberts, who voted against holding Tuesday's special election.
"Everyone says those are fixed costs. They are not fixed costs," Roberts added.
"The mayor negotiates, and we approve. We're responsible."
Mayor John Moak, who also chairs the School Committee and was a prominent
supporter of the override, said he isn't ready to rule out another shot at an
override for the November ballot, when he is up for reelection.
"We have to investigate all avenues we have right now. It's my job to listen to
the public," Moak said. "Certainly the vote was 'OK, we don't want an override
right now.'"
The Boston Globe - North Edition
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Next up: Schools' financial future
After vote, sides come together
The recent deadly fire in Randolph where two young boys
perished is a sad reality. The Randolph fire chief worked with budget cuts that
resulted in two fewer firefighters showing up for that fire. The politicians in
town, who, apparently not wanting any share of the blame, said the budget cuts
resulted from a Proposition 2½ override defeat at the polls. They also said more
firefighters probably wouldn't have saved the boys. The fire chief seems to
disagree with that opinion, saying you fight fires differently based on
manpower.
Do Randolph voters who rejected the recent override share some of the blame for
this tragedy? Had the override succeeded, would there be two boys alive today?
The Boston Globe - South Edition
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Letter to the Editor
Do voters share blame in fire?
As Randolph prepared last week for the funerals of
stepbrothers Emmanuel Labranche and Valensky DuGuaran, the victims of a
fatal house fire May 17, residents and officials were divided as to
whether the town could have done more to avert the tragedy....
The department has 50 firefighters, town officials said, down from 55 in
2002. The Fire Department answered more than 8,000 emergency calls last
year.
In the midst of the controversy, Randolph residents themselves have
faced some painful self-examination.
In March, town voters rejected a $4.16 million Proposition 2½ override.
Of that, $108,000 would have been for the Fire Department.
The Boston Globe - South Edition
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Trying to put a dollar value on fire safety
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
Proposition 2½ overrides are being defeated in record
numbers across the state during this year's tax-hike season. More
taxpayers are showing up at the polls to vote them down, just saying:
"No, enough is enough. We've given you all we can afford -- spend
it more wisely and leave us alone!" High voter turnout is reported
in many of the elections. Taxpayers increasingly have reached the
limit of their own budgets, their patience and good will.
Tax-and-spend override supporters are playing the
usual card left in their hand after defeat: reducing or
eliminating the more popular municipal programs: things most agree
government should provide. Meanwhile, public employee benefits
stand unscathed, unaffected. But with each passing day, more
taxpayers are coming to recognize the real problem with municipal
spending: Insatiable public employee union demands.
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance"
a teachers union bumper-sticker once proclaimed. Of course, the
most insatiably greedy union of the crowd meant "feed us more!"
Otherwise, the most powerful union in the state would never stand
quietly by as libraries are being closed, falling like dominoes around
the state. Like trash pickup and reduced public safety, libraries
have become early casualties of budget reductions. Public
employees overall continue to prosper.
Public employee unions even eat their own in their
incessant push for more, higher, and better benefits for their members.
Even when some towns sacrifice six policemen to balance the budget, the
benefits for those remaining increase. If a town must eliminate a
dozen teachers, those who remain will get only fatter and more
comfortable. If five firefighters must be let go to balance a
budget, those who remain will still see pay raises and continued
benefits as the cost to taxpayers escalates and services diminish.
This is the union way: "Look for the union label"! Then they
blame taxpayers for the cuts in personnel and services, come back and
demand increased staffing later.
Override proponents have taken to down-and-dirty
gutter tactics after their defeats, blaming every calamity and
catastrophe on taxpayers refusing to shoulder ever more of a burden.
The most despicable example followed Randolph's recent override defeat.
The unfortunate death of two young step-brothers in a house fire was
cause for the fire chief and others to point the finger of blame at
apparently selfish taxpayers!
But for $108,000 the two boys might have lived, we're
expected to believe! Negotiated union contract increases, aka
"fixed costs," far exceeded that amount: Randolph was seeking a
$4.16 million override. So don't blame the voters and taxpayers --
if anyone, blame the town's greedy, insatiable public employee unions.
I'll bet an override of $108,000 earmarked for the fire department would
have passed if seen as necessary for public safety.
I'll also bet that the vast amount above $108,000 --
most of the remaining $4.052 million -- was intended for
"education and the schools" -- "for the children," you know.
Demanded by the Education Industrial Complex, as most overrides are.
That thread-worn excuse is a fraud, because two of those children just
died in a fire. (Not that more firefighters or money to hire them
would have been available even had the recent override succeeded --
until the next municipal budget included it and new hires could be
made.)
"How many more must die?" before the unions loosen
their selfish stranglehold on city and town officials? "How many
more must die?" before those cowed elected officials recognize the real
problem is the unions, that the only solution is inevitable -- sooner or
later? Some of them are finally beginning to recognize the root
problem as well.
Which reminds me of another teachers union
bumper-sticker slogan:
"If you can read this, thank a teacher"! Thank
an individual teacher, perhaps -- but you owe nothing to the
unions but the unconscionable taxes they already extract.
 |
|
Chip Ford |
The Boston Globe
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Voters in Mass. communities increasingly reject overrides
By John C. Drake
Voters in nearly 60 percent of Massachusetts communities considering
property tax increases this year have turned them down, one of the worst
approval rates in recent years.
From $5.2 million in Saugus to $78,000 in Topsfield, voters have turned
down the pleas of town officials and activists, who say they need the
tax hikes to cover increased labor costs and avoid laying off teachers
and cutting services.
At least 54 Massachusetts communities have scheduled ballot measures
this year seeking permission to permanently increase the local property
tax levy, under the state's Proposition 2½ law, which limits tax
increases. Seventeen towns won approval for the tax-hike requests, 23
failed, and voters in two communities approved some ballot measures but
rejected others, according to a Globe tally.
Most of the rest will vote before July 1.
The state's proposition 2½ law prohibits local communities from raising
property taxes more than 2½ percent higher than the previous year unless
they get permission from voters. The law was passed in 1980 to address
an outcry among taxpayer advocates that property tax hikes were getting
out of control. In December, the Globe found that two-thirds of
overrides in 2006 were rejected, meaning 2007 is on track to be the
second-straight year in which more override requests fail than pass. The
anti-override trend follows more than a decade of mostly successful
ballot measures.
"Something has to be done and continuing to raise property taxes isn't
going to solve the problem for very long," said Barbara Anderson,
executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. "The
Legislature will respond responsibly when they absolutely must, and it's
our job to make sure they must by not giving them more revenues, either
local option or higher property taxes."
Governor Deval Patrick has invoked the increasing failure rate of
Proposition 2½ overrides as he stumps for proposed legislation that
would allow towns to assess a new local tax on meals and hotels, and
give them access to reduced-cost state pension and health insurance
networks. Dozens of select boards and other local officials have
endorsed the proposals, collectively called the Municipal Partnership
Act.
That so many communities say they need large tax hikes to meet ongoing
costs indicates a systemic problem, Patrick said in a phone interview
Friday, adding that the way local government services are funded needs
to be reformed . "That's just not a sustainable model, and it's a
particular hardship for seniors and people on fixed incomes," he said.
To alleviate property taxes, Patrick said he would like to have the
state income tax credit now used by seniors expanded to all homeowners.
The provision was not included in House and Senate versions of next
year's state budget.
The override rejections are becoming increasingly painful for local
officials as large requests -- including $5 million in Shrewsbury and
$4.1 million in Randolph -- go down despite vigorous campaigns by town
and school officials.
In the past week, six of seven override requests have failed to pass.
West Boylston voters decisively rejected a $3.1 million tax hike
Thursday. Groton and Dunstable both rejected tax hikes last week to fund
increases in their contributions to the Groton Dunstable Regional School
District. Newburyport voters turned down a $1.58 million tax hike
Tuesday, while on the same day fewer than 200 voters turned out in Otis
to reject a $150,00 increase. In Gill, voters rejected a $300,000
increase Monday. In Franklin, voters supported a $2.7 million increase
Tuesday.
"The stakes are higher," said John Robertson , deputy legislative
director for the Massachusetts Municipal Association, who tracks local
tax-hike votes. "The problems are bigger, which leads communities to
seek bigger questions, which makes it harder to win."
Patrick, who ran on a platform of reducing property taxes, said he
understands voters' frustration with the ongoing tax hikes.
"I'm frustrated, too," he said, "but we never promised we'd be able to
do it with a magic wand."
Communities try various strategies to persuade taxpayers to hand over
more of their cash to fund municipal services.
Marshfield voters had the option of approving a $4 million tax hike, or,
if that number proved too big to swallow, they could vote for a smaller,
$2 million increase. The town won approval in its April 28 election for
the smaller amount.
"We had initially looked at a $4.5 million override, which would have
carried us through three years," said Marshfield town administrator John
Clifford . "But most people felt that the $4.5 million number was too
much for voters to accept. We decided we had to offer a lesser option."
While the approval will allow the town to restore some services for the
coming fiscal year, voters might be faced with another tax hike for the
2009 budget year, Clifford said.
Many towns facing large deficits have tried to bargain with voters. In
Amherst and Ashland, for example, town leaders crafted long-range fiscal
plans and promised that they would not seek tax hikes for a few years if
voters approved this one. Neither town was successful.
Amherst voters rejected a $2.5 million override on May 1, and Ashland
voters turned down a $2 million tax hike on May 15. Ashland Town Manager
John Petrin said the override would have allowed the town to restore
services and positions cut last year. The town already has added fees
for trash collection, increased school bus fees, and shuttered town
offices on Fridays.
"The system is not working anymore in this state for municipalities,"
Petrin said.
The Boston Globe
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Cuts put towns' libraries at risk
With less revenue, many scaling back
By Keith O'Brien
The Northbridge public library was built to last with marble floors,
cast-iron book shelves, and thick, gray granite walls. And just in case
anyone ever forgot, the founders made their intentions clear in 1914 on
a bronze plaque outside. The library, they said, was to be "maintained
forever."
But even forever has a bottom line. And yesterday, budget cuts and voter
indifference in Northbridge finally caught up with the institution
officially known as the Whitinsville Social Library. Its doors closed at
2 p.m. And though they will reopen again this week, people in
Northbridge, population 13,100, will notice a difference.
The town cannot afford the $200,000 needed to keep the library fully
running for another year. Once open 40 hours a week, it will be open
just 12 hours starting this week. Six of the library's nine employees,
including both full time librarians, are out of work starting today. The
Whitinsville Social Library will not be a library so much as it will be
an isolated house of books, cut off from the state public library system
and funded solely by private money left to the library over the years.
There will be no children's story time. No summer reading program. No
Internet access. And no way to borrow books from other public libraries.
The library, founded in 1844, has become what it once was: an outpost.
The readers in Northbridge, though, are not suffering alone. Strapped
for cash, towns in Massachusetts, including Saugus, Medway, and
Gloucester, are doing what many consider unthinkable.
They are targeting the library, outraging readers in a state that boasts
of its intellectual capital, and leaving a few not-so-silent librarians
fighting for the right to borrow books in their towns.
"A library in a town is really the center of literacy," said John Rauth
, chairman of the board of trustees of the Whitinsville Social Library.
"And it's really a blow to the culture of a town to lose that access."
The problem Northbridge faces is not unique. From Randolph to Newbury,
Ashland to Wrentham, library directors have been struggling in recent
years, facing cutback after cutback.
The reason is simple economics. With health care costs, fixed costs, and
utility rates rising, and revenue flat or shrinking, many towns are
forced to make difficult choices or ask voters to approve property tax
overrides.
The voters, many of whom are getting their information from the
Internet, are not always sympathetic. In Northbridge two weeks ago, 59
percent of voters opposed a $3.7 million property tax override,
effectively deciding they would rather see deep cuts at the library and
schools than pay, on average, $728 in increased taxes this year.
Voters in Saugus made a similar decision this year -- and with similar
results. The Saugus Public Library, though still funded through the end
of this fiscal year, will close its doors Tuesday, needing time to
prepare the building to be shuttered by the end of June. And Medway's
library, though still open, is cut off from the state library system,
just like Northbridge, after an override failed last spring and the
library budget was gutted.
In the library world, this is called "decertification" and, for locals
in places like Medway and Northbridge, it's no small penance. A
decertified library is not part of the public library system. It may
remain open, but the people who live in that town are unable to borrow
or request books from other libraries.
Randolph's public library, the Turner Free Library, suffered that fate
last year. With a larger budget behind it in the new fiscal year,
Randolph now expects to regain certified status. But there are plenty of
other ways a library can struggle. Gloucester lost its bookmobile three
years ago. And when an override failed there in April, the library
director quit in disgust. The acting library director, Carol Gray , says
the next thing to be cut in Gloucester, if needed, would be evening
hours at the children's library.
Meanwhile, hours of operation have been shrinking at libraries in
Ashland, Wrentham, Melrose, and Holliston, just to name a few. Leslie
McDonnell , the library director in Holliston, said she had no choice
but to trim hours. Utility costs there have more than doubled since
2002.
"It's astronomical, the energy costs," she said. "So, as a result of
these kinds of things, there's no padding anymore."
David Gray, spokesman for the Massachusetts Board of Library Directors,
said there is really no simple, statewide solution. Since libraries are
primarily funded by the town or city that they are in, it is incumbent
upon the town to step up and find a way to keep the library running and
fully staffed.
"We sort of have a saying in our office that every community gets the
library that it deserves. And that sort of means, if there's support,
the library is often well maintained. And if there isn't support, the
library often doesn't get the staff, hours, and materials it needs,"
Gray said.
Towns are often forced to choose between providing free access to books
or hiring a couple more firefighters or police officers. Saugus town
manager Andrew Bisignani said public safety has to come first. In the
cold, mathematical world of budgets, public libraries have a label they
cannot shake. They are a "non-essential service."
"People are looking at the cost, the price, because with diminished
budgets, every dollar counts," said Mary Rose Quinn , the library
director in Saugus. "But what's forgotten is that the value that we
offer far exceeds anything that anybody pays."
For librarians like Quinn, this is personal. As they see it, this is
Massachusetts, home of the first lending library, opened in Franklin, in
1790, with books donated by Benjamin Franklin. This is a state that
prides itself on higher education and boasts a higher percentage of
college-educated adults than any other state in the United States. Here,
among all places, libraries are being targeted?
"It's not supposed to happen," said Wendy Rowe , chairwoman of the board
of library trustees in Medway. The beauty of the public library, she
said, is that it is always there and it is for everyone.
"That's the thing that really gets to me," said Rowe. "Libraries are the
soul of the community. They're community centers -- not just books. And
anybody can go to it. Not just school-aged kids or seniors. Everybody is
welcome to come. . . . And [in Medway] it was open more than most things
in town. At least it was."
That changed last year. After budget cuts, Medway slashed library hours
from 40 to 20 hours a week. The staff, once 11 people, became three. The
library there now is without a library director and a janitor. Rowe does
both jobs.
"I can clean," she said. But so far she has been unable to convince
voters or town officials about the importance of the library. Meanwhile,
in Saugus, Quinn is preparing for an even more troubling end. As it
stands right now, the Saugus library has no funding for the 2007-08
fiscal year.
"We're hoping for some reprieve," Quinn said. "Some miracle."
For Saugus, that could be a trash fee. If approved by the town selectmen
next month, residents would be charged $104 annually for trash
collection, raising about $1 million for the town, and the Saugus
library could remain at least partly open. But the hour of miracles has
passed for the library in Northbridge.
Yesterday, in the waning hours of operation there, people came in to
return books and say good bye to the librarians who are leaving.
There was Jim Furrey , who claims to check out more books than anyone
else in town, and Paul Ostrosky, who comes to use the Internet.
There was Dot Lane , 82, who said she has been crying over her library,
and Fred Erickson, 91, and his wife, Dot, 87, who have been coming to
the library for 60 years.
"This is sad," said Dot Erickson. "This is sad to have this happen to
this beautiful library. What are you going to do about it? Not a darn
thing."
The Ericksons know times are tough in Northbridge. The schools, the
senior center, the police and fire departments -- they are all facing
cuts. But the Ericksons will especially miss the library.
"Goodbye, everybody," Dot Erickson said as she and her husband edged
toward the door. She said she has just one wish for the library.
"I hope it's open again before we die."
The Boston Globe - North Edition
Sunday, May 27, 2007
NEWBURYPORT
Next up: Schools' financial future
After vote, sides come together
By Kay Lazar
It may end up being hashed out in living rooms, on the floor of City
Council, or even along the waterfront. While substantial differences
still separate them, people on both sides of the recently defeated
Proposition 2½ override agree on one thing: It's time to sit down
together and figure out an alternate financial plan for Newburyport's
schools.
"Clearly both sides need to come to the table. It can't just be one
group," said Brenda Reffett, a founder of Know Newburyport, the
grass-roots group that opposed the tax increase.
Nearly half of the city's 11,765 registered voters turned out Tuesday
for the special election -- a percentage City Clerk Richard Jones deemed
"very significant" -- sending the proposed $1.58 million tax increase to
fund the city's schools to a resounding defeat, 3,286 to 2,212.
"This is just the start of a dialogue that's been missing in
Newburyport," said Paul Acquaviva, spokesman for Yes for Newburyport,
the group that lobbied for the override. "We need to keep having this
discussion."
Now there is talk of trying to pull together some sort of community
forum, much like Newburyport did about four years ago for budget issues,
to chart a new, longer-term school financial plan. The first, and
somewhat unusual, step may occur at 6 Thursday night with an informal
gathering at Somerby's Landing on the city's downtown waterfront.
Organizer Dominique Dear, who organized earlier town forums, hopes the
city's historic waterfront, bathed in the light of the evening's full
blue moon, will help inspire participants to take a longer view.
"There has been a great deal of animosity about this issue," Dear said.
"It's time for us to roll up our sleeves toward that common goal."
City Councilor Gary Roberts, who has spoken to Dear about possibly
holding more formal meetings on the issue, agreed that longer-term
planning is needed. Roberts, who chairs the council's budget and finance
subcommittee, said one critical first step would be for all sides to
focus on the single largest portion of the city's budget.
"We need to accept responsibility for the part of the problem we have
control over, which is benefits and salaries. We can't change the state
formula for spending. Eighty-one percent of the entire city budget is
benefits and salaries," said Roberts, who voted against holding
Tuesday's special election.
"Everyone says those are fixed costs. They are not fixed costs," Roberts
added. "The mayor negotiates, and we approve. We're responsible."
Mayor John Moak, who also chairs the School Committee and was a
prominent supporter of the override, said he isn't ready to rule out
another shot at an override for the November ballot, when he is up for
reelection.
"We have to investigate all avenues we have right now. It's my job to
listen to the public," Moak said. "Certainly the vote was 'OK, we don't
want an override right now.' "
Moak said leaders also should focus on making Superintendent of Schools
Kevin Lyons's restructuring plan work within the now tighter budget
constraints. Without the funds from the proposed tax increase, the
schools will lose 18.5 positions, including five at the high school and
five teachers in the middle school's foreign language program, which
will be eliminated. The money also would have covered updating the
district's aging computers and technology and modernizing the
12-year-old literacy program in grades K-8.
"We want to make sure the school system can do the best it can with the
funds it has," Moak said. "That was a pretty commanding vote. But we
certainly don't want to let education continue to slip in Newburyport in
regards to curriculum offerings, the level of materials we have for
people to work with, and [the ability] to continue to attract good
teachers."
But the amount of money a community spends on education may not be the
determining factor for the quality of its education, said Reffett, whose
group used state education figures to compare Newburyport's spending and
student performance to those in other communities.
"There are others who are doing better than us [in student performance]
who spend less than us," she said.
Newburyport spends more per pupil than is spent in Amesbury, Ipswich,
Lynnfield, and the regional districts of Masconomet, Pentucket, and
Triton, Reffett said. Yet Newburyport's 10th-graders scored lower than
all but Amesbury and Triton students in the MCAS achievement tests, she
said.
As both sides of the tax debate now try to bridge the considerable gap
between them, all agree the issue is likely to remain a key one in the
elections this fall.
"We are going to want to know where all the candidates stand on
education," said Acquaviva. "Candidates for City Council and mayor."
The Boston Globe - South Edition
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Letter to the Editor
Do voters share blame in fire?
The recent deadly fire in Randolph where two young boys perished is a
sad reality. The Randolph fire chief worked with budget cuts that
resulted in two fewer firefighters showing up for that fire. The
politicians in town, who, apparently not wanting any share of the blame,
said the budget cuts resulted from a Proposition 2½ override defeat at
the polls. They also said more firefighters probably wouldn't have saved
the boys. The fire chief seems to disagree with that opinion, saying you
fight fires differently based on manpower.
Do Randolph voters who rejected the recent override share some of the
blame for this tragedy? Had the override succeeded, would there be two
boys alive today? There is no way of knowing for certain, but more
firefighters are always better than fewer.
Right now public officials in Randolph seem to be playing the blame
game, but that won't bring two boys back to life.
The critics and towns of the Globe South region need to look at the most
recent fire as a wake-up call. What is more important? Saving money? Or
saving lives? Think about it.
Sal Giarratani
Quincy
The Boston Globe - South Edition
Sunday, May 27, 2007
RANDOLPH
Trying to put a dollar value on fire safety
By Emily Yahr
As Randolph prepared last week for the funerals of stepbrothers Emmanuel
Labranche and Valensky DuGuaran, the victims of a fatal house fire May
17, residents and officials were divided as to whether the town could
have done more to avert the tragedy.
The debate filtered down to Tuesday night's annual Town Meeting, where
residents approved a $23,000 increase in the Fire Department's budget,
to nearly $3.8 million for the 2008 fiscal year.
In the hours after the boys' deaths, Fire Chief Charles D. Foley Jr. was
quoted as saying that because of a decreased budget, the department was
understaffed, and the outcome of the fire might have been different with
more manpower on the scene.
Foley, who has faced criticism for those comments, addressed the Town
Meeting crowd Tuesday with remarks he said he wrote prior to the
tragedy. He encouraged residents to vote in the best interest of the
town's safety, and to understand the department's mission.
"The Fire Department must provide unlimited service with a limited
budget," he said, and it needs the resources to "to put the right people
with the right skills in the right place at the right time." With
Randolph's senior population steadily increasing, and with new code
enforcement and zoning regulations, an adequate budget is more crucial
than ever, he said.
The money he was asking for was approved with minimal debate, but
divisions lingered over whether a lack of resources hindered the town's
response to the fatal blaze.
Town officials have countered Foley's earlier comments by pointing out
that public safety budgets have been stable over the last several years.
Michael J. Carroll, the town's executive secretary, said the fire chief
has the authority to hire within the budget, and it's up to him to fill
the vacant positions.
The department has 50 firefighters, town officials said, down from 55 in
2002. The Fire Department answered more than 8,000 emergency calls last
year.
In the midst of the controversy, Randolph residents themselves have
faced some painful self-examination.
In March, town voters rejected a $4.16 million Proposition 2½ override.
Of that, $108,000 would have been for the Fire Department.
Some residents acknowledge that while it is impossible to predict what
would have happened with extra firefighters on the scene, it is crucial
to make sure that the question never has to be asked again.
Valaree Crawford, who has lived in Randolph for 25 years, said she voted
for the March override without hesitation, and has always felt that
people need to help fund the Fire Department. She said she hopes the
tragedy will persuade people to change their votes when it comes to
future overrides.
"We can't be cutting essential services to the town," Crawford said.
"This shouldn't have happened, and it was a wake-up call to the
community."
Others, while acknowledging the horrific outcome, say they will not
necessarily vote to increase spending for the Fire Department. It is
hard to know whether more firefighters would have made an impact, said
resident Debbi Savage.
And, she added, attention should be focused on all the public safety
departments, not just one.
Town Meeting attendees also offered support to the Fire Department.
Don Rosa, a lifelong Randolph resident, said he wasn't sure any number
of firefighters would have made a difference, but he wanted to give the
chief and department the benefit of the doubt.
"It's a real tragedy what happened," he said. "But we have to put faith
in people that know the job."
Coleen Burgess agreed, and added that her vote would not be swayed one
way or the other because of one situation, no matter how tragic.
"I'm always supportive of this town's Fire Department. I think they put
110 percent effort into their jobs," she said.
Many said it's too late for second-guessing, and they are focusing their
thoughts and prayers on the family that lost their two boys. Emmanuel,
17, attended Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton, and
Valensky, 10, was a student at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School.
The boys' family lost all it owned in the fire, and to help, the town
established two funds -- one at Citizens Bank and the other at Randolph
Savings Bank. A gift registry was set up at Wal-Mart in the boys'
mother's name, Yvrose DuGuaran.
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