Franklin MAtters Weekly

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Week ending - Nov 20, 2011

The new Town Council is formed and operating. The first information session on the new high school project was held. The audio recordings from that night are being posted as they are being completed. You'll be able to hear all that was said that evening.

This week we also pause to give thanks for what we have.

Nov 20

Nov 19

Nov 18

Nov 17

Nov 16

Nov 15

Nov 14

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Week ending - Nov 13, 2011

The election is behind us, there are plenty of links with the results as well as a chart showing the recent historical turnout performance of the Franklin voters.

The School Committee has re-organized. Paula Mullen is the Chair with Sue Rohrbach as Vice-chair.

The Town Council will set up their organization at the start of the meeting this Wednesday. Who will lead this group? Hmm, it will be interesting to see.

The major item coming up this week: the School Building Committee is scheduled to conduct an informational forum on Thursday, Nov 17 at the Horace Mann Auditorium to discuss the high school project. Have you reviewed the "Frequently Asked Questions" yet?

What else is coming up? The workshop for the new Town Council on Weds provided some insights on the calendar of events. Be sure to review that here

Sun - Nov 13

Sat - Nov 12

Fri - Nov 11

Thu - Nov 10

Wed - Nov 9

Tue - Nov 8

Mon - Nov 7

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Week ending: Nov 6, 2011

You get to cast your ballot on Tuesday. You can vote for change or to maintain the same, or a mix of both. I find it as a good positive that there are contests for almost all the positions this time around. I hope that this also means we will get a good turn out!

The voting booths open on Tuesday, Nov 8 at 6:00 AM and close at 8:00 PM. Absentee ballots can be filed at the Town Clerks office through noon on Monday, Nov 7.

"We all" is wishful thinking. We all have the opportunity and civic duty to vote. History has shown that 'off year' local elections usually yield less than 20% turnout of the eligible voters.

Current Town Clerk Debbie Pellegri (facing a challenge this year from Deb Bartlett) confirmed that the total registered voters was 19,991. These voters are spread among the precincts as follows:

Pct. 1 2,288

Pct. 2 2,470

Pct. 3 2,448

Pct. 4 2,684

Pct. 5 2,477

Pct. 6 2,379

Pct. 7 2,487

Pct. 8. 2,758

If you need to review who the candidates are, and for what positions they are running for, I have the information all in one place. The election collection can be found here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/08/election-2011-summary.html

Want to review the candidates during the Candidate Forum recorded and broadcast by Franklin on Oct 24th?

Town Clerk Treasurer/Collector

Board of Health Town Council

School Committee

Note: the Forum was only for the contested positions. The candidates for Constable declined to appear.

Sun - Nov 6

Sat - Nov 5

Fri - Nov 4

Thu - Nov 3

Wed - Nov 2

Tue - Nov 1

Mon - Oct 31

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Week ending - Oct 30, 2011

Sunday morning finds Franklin digging out from the first winter nor'easter. Despite the work and damage the snow causes, the scenes around town are pretty. The white snow and the autumn trees still in color present quite a contrast. The sky is clear and blue. Typical for post storm in New England, we get a great weather day.

Does this provide a parallel to our local events? The school budget has been cut, what damage that will bring to the children of Franklin remains to be seen. The School Committee and School Administration have to figure that one out. The Town Council is scheduled to add some positions back into the budget for this year according to the agenda for the meeting on Nov 2. Will they explain that taking the school budget money is really the best thing to do. That adding these other positions back is the real best use for our tax dollars? What will that discussion bring? After all is said and done will the air be clear and blue?

Sun - Oct 30

Sat - Oct 29

Fri - Oct 28

Thu - Oct 27