During the interview process for a new Town Manager, some of the comments from the candidates were impressive and deserve a review of the Selectmen's Meeting Minutes.
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Mr. Peter Fohlin serves as Town Manager for Williamston. You may recall that Selectman Spataro publicly insulted the candidate in a bizarre display.
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The following are comments that were striking:
.Mr. Fohlin said there needs to be a common understanding of the word “deficit”.
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He said just because everyone asks for more than we can afford does not necessarily constitute a deficit, but rather a “disappointment”.
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He said the first thing to do is to determine what the actual deficit is. He created a spreadsheet to address this.
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After a couple years, he was able to perfectly forecast the deficit and noted a perpetual half million dollar deficit. This would require an override every year.
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The fundamental way to cure it is to “tighten our belts and reign in our budgets”. He said he believes in revenue driven budgets, not expense driven.
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He said there are 2 choices: more revenue or less spending. He said he didn’t know the long history of Middleboro.
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At the end of a day, a realist can project State aid.
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Once you do this, you balance your budget, figuring what you can and can’t live without. He said he didn’t believe in “saving our way to success”.
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You can’t turn to employees and not give raises because that “can’t buy the groceries”. He said intelligent choices need to be made in balancing expenditures and revenue. It is not complicated.
Town of Middleborough
Town of Middleborough
2 comments:
"A review of the Williamstown web site seems indicative of the professional environment in which Mr. Fohlin works. They even post the office hours!"
Thank you for your thoughful compliment. Our web site recently reeceived the Common Cause Massachusetts Campaign for Open Government award for posting all key government records on our web sites - one of only two municipals in Berkshire County so recognized.
Middleboro seems cloaked in a deliberate veil of secrecy. Some in positions of authority believe the lack of transparency is acceptable in violation of law.
The Williamstown web site is impressive and clearly a site Middleboro should seek to emulate.
I have attempted to elevate the level of discussion on nemasket.
Town Meeting functions best with information.
Your attention and comments are most appreciated, Mr. Fohlin.
Some of the discussion has been continued further on the nemasket forum (link on right side of screen).
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