This result shows the glaring inefficiency of Town Meeting. The election attracted 8x as many voters as the stacked Town Meeting... and the result was overwhelmingly the opposite decision of the small number of voters at Town Meeting. The rest of America does not do Town Meetings for this very reason. They are too small of a sample size and they tend to attract like-minded individuals who end up taking care of each others interests with the money from 98% of the voting public who are too busy to attend 10 hour town meetings. How do we go about eliminating Town Meeting and implementing townwide votes instead (at the voting booth) to make budget decisions?

Selectman George Barrette's assessment is right on.
I do see the need for a new Fire House both to allow the Westborough firemen to do their job, and to maintain the image of our town. A new Fire House will help attract new residents and businesses to the town which will help keep property values high and solidify the tax base.
Westborough does need to live within the Prop 2 1/2 limits established by the State. By keeping the Fire Station funding inside the Prop 2 1/2 limits we'll need to start making some tough decisions about funding projects going forward. I look back on some of the items that were approved during the Town Meeting back in March and going forward we'll need to start asking ourselves - is the new Fire Station more important than a new street sweeper or new carpeting for the Library?

It's a shame that people feel that a big reason for building a new fire station is to maintain the "image" of the town. As we say at the fire department, the facts, however interesting, are totaly irrelavant. The need for a new building is for increased space for employees, fire inspection services, apparatus and to have a building that is of critical importance during hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes that will meet the state and federal building codes and not fall down.

People move to Westboro because of the schools. But when the school budget (FY13 41.9M) is 46% of the entire town budget (FY13 89.7M) then something is wrong.

I come from a family of firefighters and police officers (both local & state). The town should have prioritized those 2 departments before spending millions of taxpayer money on new schools. BTW, there still is no response to my question regarding that little perk that is afforded town employees if they live outside of Westboro and send their children to the Westboro schools, for free at taxpayer expense. I say start cutting there.

I don't believe the numbers of students attending Westborough schools because their parents work here is significant. I would suspect it is lower than the number of families living in town sending their children to private schools outside the system.

The taxpayers have sent a message to the selectman and Mr. Malloy that we need to cut taxes. Lets hope they hear the message.

It's a perk that no other local town affords it's employee's. I know of at least 4 town employee's who take advantage of this. If you choose to live outside of Westboro and send your children to the Westboro school system, you should move to town and pay your fair share. My property taxes are $10K + and we don't have children so I'm subsidizing this perk.

I don't agree with Bob's assessment of the Town Meeting. Bob, did you go? What I saw was not a stacked voting block. Many issues were hotly contested, but the anti-tax speakers/voters didn't have enough support. The sample size can only be as valid as our residents make it. (By the way, I was there, and I voted for the debt exclusion. Then, I learned more about it, and changed my mind going into Tuesday.) I think that when 2% show up for Town Meeting and 14% show up for a controversial vote, Westborough has a bigger problem than the town meeting format itself. I think we've lost a lot of "income diversity" as it has grown more expensive to live here, and as we shift closer to a Weston/Sudbury/Bolton kind of town, more people assume that we will spend whatever we have to to have the best of everything, so they don't show up. ...And that's OK with me.

It's certainly a top priority to build a new station. I don't think anyone who has heard the presentations or seen the facility can argue that. It's a prioritization issue and unfortunately, expenditures are never presented in order of priority. We should be told "here's what we have available to spend, and here's what we want to spend on each article". I think that would make it easy for the voters to do the right thing. If articles were listed and discussed without the assumption that we taxpayers are a bottomless pit of resources, I think we would have a new station by now, and the carpeting in the library (and many other things) would be waiting in the wings. Town government, as I recall, backed nearly every article unanimously. That's a problem.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, it appears to me that by the time we get to Town meeting the powers that be have already made 'their' decisions and just dealing with the formality. For the most part those who voice valid objections are normally poo poo'd. I also find it interesting how you are constantly asked to give your address. I'd like Mr. Molloy give his address every time he comes to the floor. Haven't residents been already checked on a list before they gain entry. However, the real problem is obviously, financial miss management. There should be a lot more number crunching going on at town hall.

Correction - The Advisory Finance Committee is actually appointed by the Town Moderator. 9 members with staggered 3 year terms.

Tom -

My interpretation of the vote was that the town voted against this funding mechanism, not the need for the fire station itelf, because I have read many postings here that agree with the need for replacing the fire station, but the posters still voted against an override to fund it. Several posters said that the funding could be done within the levy limit, so why go outside it.

I agree with you that direction should be given to the Board of Selectmen - but they don't get much input. One of the selectmen told me that the selectmen wanted input from residents about they would want to see cut if the under-ride proposal from last year was put up to a vote. The only response was salaries for town employees. What this selectman found interesting is that no one proposed cuts in services - or anything that would directly cause inconvenience for them personally. So if people have ideas about how to make the town run more efficiently or what services should be cut so that taxes can remain flat or go down - my guess is that the selectmen would be more than happy to hear them.

I have never seen the plans or design for the new fire station. I heard it was like the Taj Mahal with all kinds of bells and whistles not found on fire trucks. The voters are saying lets look at this again down the road. Way down the road.

Mr Faris,
Please get your facts straight. Tim Dodd does not sit on the school committee and he is not a teacher in Westborough. It seems to me that your information on Tim Dodd are similar to all of the verbal manure that you have been slinging. Why haven't you run for public office since you are so well informed? The town needs people to step forward and work rather than sit on the side lines and spout off.

People do not have to serve on a town committee or commission to be involved in town government. Showing up at a public meeting every now and then when there are issues you are interested in, and if you cannot show up, then sending in comments via email. The Conservation Commission has many public hearings where no one shows up other than the people who are applying for a permit.

As far as removing anyone from office - you can't "remove" someone unless there is an opponent in the election.

Tom
You are right...speaking directly to Faris and I agree with you 100%. If you don't like what's happening contact your selectmen as opposed to the verbal trash.

Mr. Koenigsberg, your comments are filled with a certain arrogance and a tone disdain towards criticism or expressions of genuine concern for the current financial condition of our town. That same underlying tone from town meetings. Nobody has pointed the finger at you and quite frankly, when you volunteered for public service you have to be able to handle the heat while at the same time be able to listen to the opposition who you might not always agree with but, have valid points. Instead not shoot them down. Whether 1 person or 1,000 people show up at public hearings every voice counts and yet, you still don't seem to get the very simple fact that right now the message has been sent the overwhelming majority of residents are not happy with the way things have been done and it's time for change. Maybe, you inherited the problems but, the old way clearly is not working. So, don't be too quick there. You might be surprised come next elections.

Fellow Taxpayers,
I wanted to have a conversation about forming a "Taxpayer Protection Group". Its obvious that the leadership of Westborough is not protecting taxpayers. This group would not be a formal group like the other town committies. It would be idependent of the political tones associated with town government. Also, we could use the Yahoo Group Format or the Patch to communicate our message. Since this would be more than one courageous taxpayer, the selectmen are likely to give it more attention. Please reply to this message if you have interest.

Steve

Not sure how encouraging people to show up at public hearings or to make comments on issues they care about is considered arrogant or disdainful - but hey it's a free country. I don't know where you have been but there have been a lot of shots taken at me over the past couple of weeks.

As far as whether I get it - of course I do. I think it's arrogant on your part to think your interpretation of the election results is any better than mine. Even Mr. Faris agreed that we need a new fire station but not now and not the way the project was to be financed - if I read his comments correctly.

You can sit here and say you want things to change - but making comments here is not going to do it. The only way it can be done is by showing up and participating. Make an appointment to see the town manager and go over the finances, or give him a piece of your mind. Show up at Selectmen's meetings. Run for office, start a campaign to get the Charter changed to a form of government that you think will be more responsive to people's concerns.

If you think you do not have the time to do any of this - then nothing will change. I'd like to be surprised at the next election - I'd like to see more people run for office and see some real discussion of the issues and proposed solutions about how to fix them.

Felow Taxpayers,
I wanted to let everyone know that I have asked Jim Malloy to define "Average Single Family Tax Bill ". This is what he uses to measure Westborough standing on taxes versus other Metro West towns. We have noted on the other blog that this is not a good way to compare similar homes between towns. I will let you know how that goes,
The other issue I noted is in the 2010-2013 School Budget, It looks like it has increased an average of 2% per year over the 3 year period 2010-2013. Can Mr. Malloy explain why? We could have funded some of the fire station cost with this money.
Steve

FY10 FY13 FY10-FY13 Total % Inc. Av. Yr to Yr Inc.
INCREASE
$38,255,528 $41,282,909 $3,027,381 7.9% 2.0

Hi, Tom - I actually removed Mr. Faris' inaccurate post - in the future, if anyone wants to delete something they've posted, you have the ability to do that yourself. Also: a reminder to keep things civil - no name-calling. No posing as someone else. Persistent abuse of our commenting guidelines will require us to close comments on this thread, but that's not necessary at this point. We welcome the ongoing conversation; thanks!

There's an old Japanese saying..."Fix the problem, Not the blame"

Danielle

Thank you. It would be nice to able to edit (change) something already posted.

Applause for Mr. Harris comments. Odd that you call him out by calling him a foul mouthed bully when in fact he's done the same thing everyone else has, shared an opinion on the topic. This is a man who gave years of his life to the town, put in countless hours making this a better place unlike a bunch of grand standers who show up in the final hour screaming unfair. Mr Harris has delivered years of value to this town. I suggest if you're really concerned about the direction of the town that you take his suggestion, grow a pair and run for office. Quit whining about what others are not doing for you and become one of those people that is accountable. I'm sure someone will step up and whine in your place.

Thanks Mike ...quite a tag team of Faris and Capriole....pretty good humor but not much fact or substance.

To Mickie Aylward
You are correct sir. The School Budget has increased 2% per year for the last 3 years. That is why the taxpayers should talk with the school committee on what can be done to force the teachers union to take a cut of 1.5%. Also, cut town budgets line by line. Until this is done, the taxes will keep going up and make Westborough a less desirable town.

I wish these people would do a better job gathering accurate information before spouting their verbal manure. It's really getting pretty bad. Please do your homework ...oh I know that means effort,work and time which none of these spouters have ever volunteered for a town committee or ran for public office. More of the same....it's
getting pretty deep. Poor public infrastructure...ie police,fire,roads and schools lower property's values. I 'm pretty confident that all tax payers want lower taxes. Our public officials need to be prudent with their financial decisions rather than taking the bazooka approach BLOWING UP the town budgets that the WESTBOROUGH SPOUTERS have suggested.....give me a break.

Dominic - the value of anonymity is to keep focus on the topic instead of changing the focus to an individual as you did with Mr. Harris when you said some "mischievous adolescent ... stole a good person's name to annoy the people of Westborough". Particularly unpleasant are your comments that those disagreeing with you are insulting, while you don't view your own as equally insulting.
There are many that are unhappy with the tax rate including myself, the diffence is there are people who get involved in the process and try and change things, there are others that only voice opinions at the outcome and want to be viewed as activists. The number of names on a list that have made many contributions to this town is an impressive list, the difference being the majority of them are not showing up after all the work is done and complaining about the process or the outcome. If you are truly unhappy with the tax rate or the outcome the please do get involved in the process and make a difference instead of making noise.

Actually I've had the pleasure of being taken seriously continuosly thru the entire process.