“…lets elimininate (some) costs…”
Here’s an opportunity for all of us to unite on one cause – shouters and non-shouters, CPS’ers and non-CPS’ers alike. There is one significant cost of the Town of Woodstock that we can do away with without any loss in services. We need to put together one more petition – not one of those puny 25-signature petitions, but a 200-plus (why not 400-plus) signature petition. I would sign my name at the top. This petition is intended to cut as much as $200,000 from the town budget thereby reducing the mil rate and lowering the tax burden of the tax-paying citizens of Woodstock.
I propose that we circulate a petition to convert the three Selectman positions to non-salaried Board positions just like the positions on the Board of Education and Finance. When you look at the hefty work of the Board of Education with a budget three times that of the Town operation budget, one has to wonder why our Selectman positions are salaried and the BOE positions are not. Furthermore, during the reign of our last First Selectman, her salary was raised 40% but I never heard anything about this until it was a done deal. It seems to me that there should have been some public discussion of these significant increases in compensation of all three Selectmen. This dialogue might have elicited some interesting discussion about what these people actually do. It also seems to me that all we really need is a Town Clerk, a Treasurer preferably with strong financial expertise, a Town Assessor, and the remaining miscellaneous positions that we have to manage the day-to-day business of the Town.
I say lets eliminate these costs – the Selectman salaries, their fringe benefits, and the position of Executive Administrative Assistant, their office supplies, and the cost of the useless Town web site that is an embarrassment to all and save the taxpayers as much as $200,000. By doing this we may also avoid expensive pet projects like reduction of taxes for the elderly (yikes, that’s me!), the Town cop, the Town planner, bird feeders, and bird feeder supplies, etc. Who knows… we may even save more than $200,000.
The selectman should donate their time in the same manner as the members of the Board of Education and Finance.
We’ve proved that we can make all important decisions by referendum anyway.
It would be interesting to compare the voting on this referendum with the voting on yesterday’s referendum. Would the Selectmen be able to garner 29.4% of the vote in such a referendum?
You may be on to something, Author and Dermatophyte! I would suggest some additions. Let’s start with the presumption that the ‘people’ have spoken and that no, means no. Prudence dictates that we spend our resources wisely and keep the future in mind at all times, to minimize our costs now and for years to come.
I think that what the 46’ers have been trying to say is that we shouldn’t spend one penny more than we have to… ever. After last night’s results, I don’t think anyone can argue the point. That being said, we should prioritize our budget into the two following categories: legal contracts/commitments and the physical safety of the citizenry.
So the budget would pretty much come down to education, the road crew, fire departments and the EMTs.
The town hall hours should be rescheduled to take advantage of the time of day when most everybody is there anyway… for meetings (this would also increase meeting attendance). Public hours would be from 4 to 8 PM. The offices would be also be working from 2 to 4PM behind closed doors, uninterrupted by the public. Since there are no meetings on Fridays, the Town Hall would be closed. Realtors and lawyers would just have to get used to changing the hours they can access the vault.
Since we are able to make our important decisions by referendum, we could have monthly referendums. The Selectmen could meet once a month to authorize the payment of the bills and to slate the issues to be decided by the next referendum. The BOS should become ‘volunteer’ positions.
The transfer station hours should be reduced as well. Removing Tuesdays would reduce the cost of salaries and benefits with the least impact on the ‘public’. Anything else is frosting and we don’t need it. We should be able to fund our responsibilities without raising taxes (and very well may lower them).
‘Interested’, How do you feel about this idea for cutting costs to the Town? For that matter, is there any CPS’er out there that would like to register thoughts on this idea? Or, is there some sort of conflict of interest that would prevent you from getting on board with this idea? We could all get together and sing “Kumbayah” around a fire pit. Anyone know the process for getting this petition started? I’m willing to take the lead. I’m serious. (2 comments combined, Admin)
Its easy. Compose an understandable statement requesting what you feel needs to be done…get 25 signatures for a “special town meeting”…200 for an outright referendum. Either works depending on how many people you can get interested. make sure you have the proper information, available through the town hall or state…verifying the signatures you collect. This must be done in person.
[...] For the time being where do we go from here. One option is explored under the article “Lets Not Stop Here.â€? My preference is to have a optimally functioning Town that provide the best possible services to the community – a Town that is not divided by selfish people who have some personal agenda at stake. One example of a personal agenda would be the wish to pay little or no taxes at all. This point of view is illustrated in the article, “Cinquanta’s revenge.â€? The same point of view is also expressed on Petey Racine’s sign where not only the victory in the latest Prop 46 referendum is regaled, but the “Selectmenâ€? are blamed. Sadly, the majority point of view in Town may be the selfish wish to pay little or no taxes at all. From what I have seen and heard, I don’t think I am creating a ‘straw argument’ when I say that the majority would prefer to pay little or no taxes. There may be some level of taxation that this majority would be okay with, but taxation for what? I am not at all clear what “whatâ€? might be. [...]
[...] The electorate of the Town has a right to petition, but to take a 25-signature petition and convert it into a Town-wide vote is a ridiculous exercise. I proposed that we have one more referendum – that is, to vote on elimination of the Selectmen’s salaries. Should the Selectmen receive salaries? YES or NO. I would be willing to bet $$$ that the NO votes would prevail…just like they did in the last two referenda. And, I would support this referendum with a petition of 500 signatures. [...]