Middleboro's Gain is Southbridge's Loss

For the first time, the Middleboro Town Meeting Warrant Articles and the Town Budget were actually available for town residents 3 WEEKS BEFORE TOWN MEETING!

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Historically, town meeting voters have picked up their copy of the Warrant AT Town Meeting.

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The budget appears balanced and budget projections, never previously done, appear within reach.

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This accomplishment was under the tutelage of the interim Town Manager, Steve Lombard.
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Mr. Lombard has a low key style and got the job done without a fuss, and by working to make the information available on time, voters have circulated the warrant and discussed it and investigated it PRIOR to the public hearings. It seems that Mr. Lombard focused on working with Department Heads, working with the Finance Committee and presenting the budget in a timely fashion to the Board of Selectmen, and it was accomplished.

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The Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen are working together toward a common goal, instead of the previous hostile relationship created by Mr. Lombard's predecessor.

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In short, greater transparency has been created. We're not where we need to be as a Town with the current condition of the pathetic Town Web Site, but the availability of the budget information has been a good start.

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And Middleboro's future appears brighter with a new Town Manager arriving who can proudly advertise a triple A bond rating from his current employers. Not so Middleboro with our current A2 bond rating that costs a premium for historical poor choices.

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While Middleboro's future seems bright after a legacy of FUZZY MATH, courtesy of the creator of the method of municipal finance, pity poor Southbridge that seems to have taken on our problems.

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It seems Middleboro's Retired Town Manager, from whom no one ever asked for the Town Hall keys, has pursued his great love of spreading the FUZZY MATH model to other towns, as well as spreading comparable loosing landfill deals.

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Rumor has it that the same attorney who negotiated Middleboro's Waste Management Whopper recommended Mr. Healey for the Southbridge Landfill Fiasco. And Mr. Healey's FUZZY MATH prevails! Anyone remember how the numbers changed?

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Mr. Healey's revenue figures are a source of wonderment like a Chia Pet he waters at night.

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Middleboro has much to be thankful for during Mr. Healey's reign. One major accomplishment might be a casino agreement that should have netted the Town of Middleboro + $20 MILLION for a percentage of slot revenues that Mr. Healey successfully reduced to $7 MILLION.

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Great job, Jack! We're forever thankful!

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To Southbridge residents: Jack won't overstay his welcome. He'll run out of assets to sell to fund expenses, but could you return the Town Hall keys?

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You might want to check what the carefully worded Department of Revenue Report had to say about Middleboro funding expenses with one time revenue sources and other things or what the Auditors reported. Sorry! You won't find it on the Town Web Site! But you'll find it HERE.

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If you have any doubts about the Waste Management deal in Middleboro, you might want to check out the Southbridge site. At least the residents appear better informed and more concerned about their environment, like those nasty things that get dumped in rivers: RATS

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Gee, do you think the stuff dumped in the Nemasket River could have anything to do with the decline of the herring? Does anyone know? And what do you suppose will happen if the mega monster comes?