Can you hear me now? Verizon says No!

Verizon received 3 negative comments about the poor service they have provided in Middleboro and removed the comments.

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The last comment asked of Verizon 'Can you hear me now?'
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Oddly, the comments failed to address ALL of the issues surrounding Verizon's poor service.

Verizon

At the Middleboro Board of Selectmen's Meeting on 3/17/08, Verizon and Comcast again discussed the issues surrounding the local access programming that Verizon fails to provide with no satisfactory resolution beyond more promises, weather-permitting! And you just know how unpredictable that inclement weather is!

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Of course, Verizon was suppose to have local programming available in 3-6 months (that would have been October 2007 at the latest), but you know, the engineer was out of the country, and the equipment was only delivered recently, and this is a super-duper complex project, and .... and .... and .....

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If you don't have Verizon, you might want to watch the ongoing saga that is much like a soap opera. But if you have Verizon, you can't watch.

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Verizon has been advertising that they provide local access programming. And Verizon has been telling prospective customers that they provide the service.

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And there's much else that Verizon promised but failed to deliver.

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Shall we talk about all those new subdivision that were pre-wired that Verizon ignores?

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If you made the mistake of switching to Verizon, you might want to speak out -----

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From Nemasket:

Perhaps some of the people who are not happy with the lack of service from Verizon could express themselves at the new Verizon FiOS store in Newton, located at 224 Needham St. If the carried signs outside the store mentioning broken promises it may even get media attention. Add you comments here.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/03/19/3336911.htm

Middleboro #1

During the past year, many of us have had an opportunity to meet residents of Middleboro and listen to their suggestions, ideas, complaints.
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One of the most striking impressions I gathered from listening to voters was the sense of disenfranchisement, that no one listened or responded to complaints. Problems brought to the attention of the Board of Selectmen are ignored. The unnecessary frustration level was evident.

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A complaint was presented to the BOS at Monday's meeting (3/17) that will be ignored.
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Residents and Town Employees of Middleboro offer an untapped resource.
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Because the single Monday Night Selectmen's Meetings are frequently filled with hearings and important business, the idea has been tossed around to offer a Saturday Morning work session intended to process the town's bills for payment, offer ideas and suggestions in a less formal environment, listen to voters, speak with department heads.

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The disconnect between the Board of Selectmen and department heads became embarrassingly conspicuous last year by the questions posed by the Selectmen that clearly indicated a lack of familiarity.

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The need to maintain a dialogue is obvious.

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It has been suggested that periodic reporting of the business of each department would allow voters to understand the changes in needs during the course of the year.

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Rather than publishing the departmental statistics in only the Annual Town Report presented to voters, wouldn't a monthly or quarterly comparison of the previous year's figures provide for a greater understanding?

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And few residents understand the responsibilities that fall within the jurisdiction of each department.

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Many of the issues revolve around the lack of transparency which remains unchanged.

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If townspeople are paying the bills, shouldn't they have the information? Shouldn't their complaints be heard?

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One of the major concerns is the necessity of a full-time, experienced Town Manager who is an active and involved participant of THE TEAM.

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The following job listing appeared on the MMA site and hopefully represents sincere efforts by the BOS to fill the position in a timely fashion:

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Town Manager

Town of Middleborough

Middleborough, Mass. (population 21,100), is seeking a Town Manager. Salary up to $130,000. Town is 40 miles south of Boston near Route 495/24 interchange. Town Manager reports to five-member board of selectmen, elected for three-year terms. Town has a $60 million budget; 125 full-time employees. Town Manager should have strong communication skills, ability to work with citizens and department heads, strong financial management skills, and negotiation skills. B. A. required; M. A. desirable; 10 years of municipal management experience, or equivalent, required. Resume and cover letter by mail to MMA Consulting Group, Inc., 41 West St., Boston MA 02111, by March 31, 2008. EOE/AA. (exp. 3/31) MMA

Middleboro's Voting Machines

It sounded innocuous enough when it was presented by the Middleboro Town Clerk.
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New machine to comply with HAVA.
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Old machines are Diebold, no longer serviceable. Isn't that the company ..........?
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Too many questions to ask. Must be okay. Right?
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Middleboro has not yet purchased NEW voting machines. Let's ensure that a PAPER AUDIT TRAIL is included before we purchase new machines.

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The following that is currently being reported by Verified Voting:

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Great news! Thanks to the support of engaged citizens like you, one of the two important pieces of legislation we are tracking has made it out of committee. H671, the bill requiring a hand-counted audit of electronic vote tallies, was reported by the legislature's Joint Committee on Election Law with an "ought to pass" recommendation. Thank you for taking the time to help make that happen.

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Today we need your help with another important bill: H670. H670 makes the current paper ballot voting system in Massachusetts the law. Secretary of State Galvin has mandated that all election equipment in Massachusetts be based on voter-marked paper ballots; H670 just makes this excellent system a requirement of law, rather than an administrative choice.

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Massachusetts lawmakers will consider this week an excellent piece of legislation to promote accessible and verifiable elections. H670 would establish that all elections in Massachusetts be conduced on voter-marked paper ballots.

As things stand, Secretary of State Galvin has decreed that Massachusetts use only paper ballot voting systems, but H670 makes paper ballots a requirement of law rather than just a wise administrative choice.
Please fill out the form below to send a message to your legislators to support H670. Edit the message prepared as you see fit. With your help, Massachusetts will have a reliable, verifiable vote in 2008! COMMENT

2005

12/10/03: SoS Willam Francis Gavin posts state standards on voting machines and HAVA implementation http://www.state.ma.us/sec/ele/elechava/havaidx.htm

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08/04/03: Voting machine review ordered in Massachussetts

Hopkins study of flaws in security prods action; Purchase no longer 'a certainty'; California firm to analyze touch-screen systemThe story is here.

Verified Voting

Talia: You might find this interesting .....

Talia,

We previously exchanged information regarding the corruption surrounding casino gambling.

Because there is a great deal of unaccounted money involved in the process, politicians have been bought and paid for, careers destroyed.

Some of the corruption takes time to investigate and prosecute.

You might find the following of interest (emphasis mine):

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Mohegan former partner and the casino business -

Kenosha County Executive Alan Kehl submitted his resignation to the Kenosha County Board yesterday.

Kehl was indicted for allegedly accepting bribes from the Mohegan’s former partner Dennis Troha. Kehl will be arraigned this Friday in U.S. District Court.

Prior to this, Kehl was adamant in saying that he would remain in office during the federal investigation. However, at Troha’s federal sentencing on Friday, the U.S. Attorney announced that the investigation into this case would continue for at least another year and that there would probably be more indictments.

Authorities said that the information Troha provided led to the indictment of John Erickson, Kelly Infusino and Alan Kehl. Kehl was a strong advocate for the Mohegan’s proposed Kenosha, Wisconsin casino.

In early 2004, he traveled to Connecticut to tour the Mohegan Sun and also hosted a delegation of representatives from the Mohegan Tribe in February 2007 in Kenosha. Before Kehl was elected County Executive he worked in law enforcement for 30 years and was Kenosha’s longest serving Sheriff. LINK

Money is Money, Revenue is Revenue

Most voters have listened to the Middleboro Board of Selectmen create an effective argument about the need for NEW REVENUE, NEW BUSINESS, NEW COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT.

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And of course, the Selectmen fail to disclose the development they've chased away.

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Some, perhaps many, accept the soundbyte because it seems to make sense.

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In very simple terms, I have argued that whether Middleboro attracts a new business that pays real estate and excise taxes or that Middleboro saves money or generates interest income, it's a dollar. It's money in the coffers regardless of the source.

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Middleboro has been truly blessed with a municipal gas and electric company that allows the Town to avoid borrowing because of the cash flow created. It's FREE MONEY to Middleboro that could and should generate INTEREST INCOME.

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In the Department of Revenue Report made available to the Middleboro Board of Selectmen in May 2007, the DOR recommended Quarterly Tax Billing, combined with Bi-Monthly Payroll.

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The IT Director, the Assessor and Town Treasurer have conspicuously opposed those efforts. And the Middleboro Board of Selectmen, after almost a year, appear unwilling to do their own research or make those complicated math calculations and do the right thing for taxpayers.

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When I posed the question to Mr. Shea, a candidate for Assessor in the April Town Election, the following is his response LINK:

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Quarterly tax billing would allow Middleborough to bill approximately 25 % (plus 2 ½%) of the prior year’s levy on July 1, due August 1, and another 25% (plus 2 ½%) on October 1, 2008.

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On July 1, 2008 the Collector can send out bills totaling about 6.9 million dollars. We would have most of that in the town’s coffers on or around August 1, 2008.

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The Collector would again, on October 1, 2008, send out bills for about 6.9 million dollars, due November 1, 2008.

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For sake of discussion, to make a point, let's say: The Collector can charge 14% interest per annum on delinquent taxes. We all know this.

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Could it not be argued that Middleborough is losing this 14% (call it an opportunity cost) for the amount of time it does not have those tax dollars in a Town account? If so,

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Amount of tax times 14% divided by 12 months, times 5 months (August thru December)

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$6,900,000 x .14 / 12 x 5 = $402,500 Amount of tax times 14% divided by 12 months, times 2 months (November and December) $6,900,000 x .14 / 12 x 2 = $161,000

Total interest lost = $563,500 (opportunity cost lost)

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This appears to be an absurd amount, but the mathematical logic is there. I used 14%. Try it with 7% ($281,750) or 3.5% ($140,875) or 4% ($161,000). Jessie Powell is not so wrong, is she?

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The Assessing Department merely has to provide a data dump including all new owner’s names and addresses subsequent to January 1, 2007, and an approximate assessment of any new real estate parcels “created” since January 1, 2007 (lots or condos). Any “new” accounts should already be in the assessor’s system by June 1, 2008 anyway.

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If elected, I will try my best to persuade my fellow officials to “Go Quarterly”.

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Just remember: The Assessing Department,…The buck starts here.

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Chuck Shea

Education Reform

The following offers a dialogue that we need to consider in Massachusetts regarding the costs of public education (Published with permission):

Here is an interesting article that reports changes being made in the state of Maine regardingAdminstration of school districts. Perhaps this is something for the 2/3 of MA school districts with less than 5,000 students to consider?

http://www.telegram .com/article/ 20080313/ NEWS/803130396/ 1003/NEWSREWIND

"The choices include two candidates from Maine and one from Massachusetts.

The committee says it received a lot of interest from Maine. Ms. Grout said that is because the state is regionalizing its superintendents and is cutting them down by 80 percent. “That means one superintendent will be in charge of about 11 school districts,” she said.

Such drastic cuts are leaving large numbers of superintendents searching for new employment.

"It is certainly a different direction taken in Maine than what has taken place in the Commonwealth as evidenced by the salaries of superintendents in the Globe.

http://www.boston. com/news/ education/ k_12/specials/ superintendents/ compensation_ chart/

Classroom teachers face layoffs this year due to fiscal restraints statewide. New solutions must be explored. Regionalization is a necessary direction to explore in many facets of providing government services including education. Rather than having communities regionalize all education services (which might prompt negative fiscal impacts including increased transportation costs), we as a Commonwealth could and perhaps should, consider regionalizing some key personnel and services. Regional administration is a proven model for technical schools and many school districts. It would be an interesting dialog to pursue.

This would take legislative support and serious fiscal leadership.

Kathleen Norbut

Monson