Keep Framingham Affordable
Working to Keep Your | 
|
Every tax is a pay cut. |
|---|
| Town override plan is much too ambitious | Friday, November 19, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Charles Brody, Framingham | Framingham Tab |
|
Your recent editorial (Oct. 29th column by Rob Haneisen "Is all this really
necessary?") about the proposed debt exclusion override for Framingham
is very much on target. While it can be argued that some of the projects
are worthy, the total plan is much too ambitious.
Years ago, Memorial Building insiders snickered at a proposal to spend $8 million for an upgrade to the building. People are either laughing or groaning loudly at the thought of spending $24 million to upgrade a building that has already seen many significant improvements over the past 10 years. There are some school projects on the list that might interest some voters, however implementation of this plan will make many overdue school projects wait for many more years. Many of the usual suspects will complain and protest this override proposal as they did with the high school override and the operational override of 2002 which won by 350 votes. I worked on the Yes campaigns for both overrides but I will work on the No campaigns of any future overrides. The combination of the overrides and a large reevaluation have pushed the taxes up very rapidly in a short period of time. I was glad at the time, but the No campaign could have won the election of 2002, had they been better organized and had they started earlier. The town manager is doing his job by advocating for the need to rebuild the infrastructure of the town and the list of projects is long. It is never a popular idea to spend large amounts of money, the timing of this proposal is dubious at best. The town needs to come up with $5 million more to finish the high school project; there are shrinking state and federal aid dollars coming in and expenses for health care are mushrooming. If you believe that the $90 million comprehensive debt exclusion for the Town of Framingham is a great idea, I have one question: Who are the people that will run the Yes campaign, donate money to the campaign and provide the much needed energy to win such a difficult thing to sell to the voters? Override campaigns are always contentious, they are difficult to win and the margin of victory is usually slim. I expect that this proposal will lose steam and be withdrawn before if makes it to Town Meeting, but in the event that it does, the No forces should be ready to mobilize and gather support to defeat this override. |
|
Send comments to:
hjw2001@rcn.com
|
|