Adding It Up – Part I

Ken O’Brien

The annual town election is now a week and a half away.

There are three items on the agenda about which voters will have their say.

First is the vote on the petition that will alter the form of town government from the current council/manager form of government to return to a selectmen/town meeting format.

Second is the election of three members to the Southbridge School Committee.

Third is the election of three members to the Southbridge Town Council. 

Town Government Community Forum - June 4, 2014

Referendum Proposal Is Just Plain Sloppy

Ken O’Brien

Proponents of the referendum question that would return Southbridge to a town meeting/selectmen form of government are indeed outspoken in their support of the proposal.

However, their shrill proclamations on behalf of the petition shy away from dealing with the specifics of their proposal.

Rather, they resort to two forms of response to those who provide specific criticisms of their plan. Either they provide generic tracts extolling the virtues of town meetings in general or they engage in personal attacks denigrating their critics.

Unfortunately, they cannot escape the reality that voters will be confronted with a specific proposal on the June 24^th ballot. 

Southbridge Town Meeting Petition Is A Fraud

Ken O’Brien

One of the sponsors of the petition to reinstate the town meeting form of government in Southbridge has recently demonstrated on his blog an affection for using common-world definitions in a legal context to support an opinion.

With that in mind, I’d like to invoke the Merriam-Webster definition of fraud as it applies to my opinion of the petition and its sponsors. “Fraud: a: deceit, trickery; specifically:  intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right b: an act of deceiving or misrepresenting:  trick”. 

Steeves Takes Scalpel To Marino “Plan”

Ken O’Brien

Gus Steeves

Local commentator, former Evening News reporter and prospective candidate for Southbridge Town Council Gus Steeves has published a new installment of his column “Earthborn” in the May 2 edition of the Southbridge News.

Titled “Red flags fly over petition” he examines what he terms “…a disturbing and potentially dangerous conflict”  in the petition designed to return Southbridge to a town meeting form of government.

Mr. Steeves elaborates on this assessment as follows:

Restore Southbridge's Beloved Town Meetings

Don’t Vote For “A Pig In A Poke”

Ken O’Brien

The expression “Don't buy a pig in a poke” is very old, but actually it can be taken quite literally and remains good advice.

The advice being given is 'don't buy a pig until you have seen it'. This is enshrined in British commercial law as 'caveat emptor' - Latin for 'let the buyer beware'. This remains the guiding principle of commerce in many countries and, in essence, supports the view that if you buy something you take responsibility to make sure it is what you intended to buy. 

Southbridge School Budget Meeting Should Be Broadcast

Ken O'Brien

Southbridge's Town Councilors are constantly telling us that the real work on the budget is done in subcommittee. After The O'Zone's review of how the General Government subcommittee zipped through its budget responsibility that appears a disingenuous claim at best. 

Only in my wildest dreams would anyone who watched that subcommittee report and felt that “real work was done” offer me or anyone else a job. That would be the ultimate definition of a sinecure.

There can be little doubt that the school budget proposed by the Superintendent is controversial. It is substantially more than the acting Town Manager has proposed. In addition, Mr. Reed has expressed something verging on outrage regarding expected unemployment insurance costs.

Resume The Town Manager Search - NOW!

Ken O’Brien

At the April 7^th meeting of the Southbridge Town Council, Councilor Darlene Marcucci announced the suspension of the search for a town manager to replace Christopher Clark. Based upon the advice of the search committee’s consultant, the committee decided that to continue at this point would result in a dearth of candidates because of the pending petition to return the community to a selectmen/town meeting form of government.

In an earlier article I suggested a course of action that would result in delaying the effective date of any adoption of the proposal for at least a year and the date of it actually taking effect for at least two years.

In a comment on the same article I stated that I would put forth a suggestion for dealing with the town manager issue in the interim.

Well, here’s the fulfillment of that promise.

Cool It

Ken O’Brien

The old saying goes, “Sin in haste, repent at leisure.”

In the context of government, the value of this aphorism was recognized by the founders of the Republic.

A key goal of the framers was to create a Senate differently constituted from the House so it would be less subject to popular passions and impulses. "The use of the Senate," wrote James Madison in Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 "is to consist in its proceedings with more coolness, with more system and with more wisdom, than the popular branch." 

A Dry Run?

Ken O’Brien

This week’s public meetings of Southbridge’s governing bodies should provide an interesting set of counterpoints.

On Monday the Town Council will receive a presentation from the Town Clerk on the fate of a citizens’ petition. Sponsored by a group calling itself “We The People” headed by former Town Councilor James Marino, the petition calls for Southbridge to return to a selectmen/town meeting form of government.

Group Seeks To Upgrade Town Government From 2.0 To 1.2

Ken O’Brien

The Worcester telegram reports that the Southbridge group calling itself “We The People” has obtained the required number of certified signatures to have its plan to return to a selectmen/town meeting form of government placed on the June ballot.

Town Clerk Madaline Daoust said that of the 705 signatures turned in, 587 had been certified. That was 18 more than the 569 required as mandated by the Town Charter. The charter sets the threshold as 5% of the registered voters at the time of last regular town election.

April Fools Again?

Ken O’Brien

For going on four years now I’ve been preaching that the wailing and gnashing of teeth that comes every December when the tax rate is set is pointless.

Once the town budget is approved by the town council the tax rate is effectively set.

It has been shown repeatedly that Southbridge has the highest tax rate of all local communities.

What we hear in response is that the tax rate has to be viewed in relation to the assessed valuation of the properties in the community. We can’t judge simply on the basis of the tax rate because it doesn’t tell the whole story.

In reality that’s what the less politically correct of us call bullshit.

Exclusive: Homer Simpson Comments On “Marino Madness”

Ken O’Brien

The perennial pest-ition godfathered by legendary miscreant James J. (Joe) Marino is once again making the rounds of Southbridge.

For both of you who are unfamiliar with this now annual diversion, allow me to recap.

Mr. Marino and his band of occasionally “head-butted” followers are once again circulating a petition to restore Southbridge to a town meeting form of government.

No Fracking Way In Massachusetts

Ken O’Brien

Massachusetts isn't rich in fossil fuels, but we’re going to great lengths to keep the fracking industry out of the state. Last week, the Massachusetts State Legislature's Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources approved a 10-year ban on fracking.

The measure would also prevent fracking waste-water from being treated, stored, or disposed of in Massachusetts. The legislation is moving on to the Massachusetts' House Ways and Means Committee, and hopefully, it will then be approved by that state's House and Senate.