Admin: That's good. It's a computer touch. Alright, so we got video… So your audio is muted. Admin: So, it says audio and video. Admin: And I could maybe try to make this… Admin: We don't need to paint that bigger. No? Okay. Admin: Alright, you guys good, or… Yeah, that's fine. We'll be distracted. I'll be around if you need to get on the Wi-Fi or anything like that, so… Okay, guys. No, thank you very much. Thank you. Admin: You can call the mentor. Oh, yes, I wasn't picking that up, so…
Admin: Let's call the Saturday, May 2nd, Select Board Retreat. Order a tank during 3AM. Admin: So everybody, I look forward. Admin: I want to introduce you to Jeff Dutta. Admin: outside. Admin: Cheers. Admin: Here, good morning. Jeff, why don't you take it from here? Admin: I don't want you to… Admin: How far does this pop? Admin: They're not central robotics. Admin: Okay, I'm back. Admin: That's so good. Admin: Bye. Admin: Marketsman. Admin: I beg your pardon. No, we're all eating things. We have breakfast, we have lunch, we're eating, that's what we're eating. That's why it's a retreat. Okay, I'm eating.
Admin: Yes. Yes, true. Admin: Yeah, I can make it, yeah, a little bit bigger. Admin: That's… that's great. Admin: Dude? Yep. Admin: No, not really. I had it open for my agenda, at least I don't… Admin: I'm playing on the outside edge. Admin: Good. We're great. Thanks. Good morning. Admin: Couple focus meetings for the first time. Admin: point, so just… for existing people, but just my background in local government at UMass.
Admin: Started on a Finance Committee in 1976. Admin: She has a slept through a spoon. Admin: I just love it. Admin: meetings and commissions. In 1980, I became an administrator, but spent most of the early 90s, doing interim administration work, went down to town until then. Admin: That, not ready against its stone. Admin: Hit that as well. Admin: At, the 92, I went. Admin: 2… stolen permanently until 2001, went to Franklin.
Admin: 1 to 19, and it's fired. Admin: 19, and, probably on my 9th. Admin: Here's my 20th intro assignment. Admin: Ow. Admin: But before every tide, and I sits every tide, so intellect. Admin: Work with me on. Admin: accomplish by clicking. Admin: wide variety Issues and problems. Admin: Greek words, dysfunctional through words. Admin: So… I started doing this in 1988. Admin: Sweet. Admin: Do a handfuls up here.
Admin: It's probably a phone call, so… Admin: Hopefully, all that means is I come with a pretty good perspective. Admin: That's that we'll see some interesting. Admin: Appreciate. Admin: Perfect. Admin: Lovely. Admin: I know you just said, I was like, So… Admin: Rent Rogers get elected. So, right? Admin: wanted to give you a seat inside. Tell me about the rest of your… Admin: Here it is! Here it is. And that's, you know, the issue of, all of, like, an official… Yeah, you can sit on the fade hall.
Admin: But, why don't you… Big sleeve. Admin: Bye. Admin: No, I think it's a little hard. Admin: Yes. Admin: It's harder now than ever, by 50 years. Admin: Just like the world. Admin: Okay, so it's just part of that. Admin: It's built. Admin: You run as an individual, but now you run… Admin: He doesn't have to always agree, but that's how you can succeed. So, that's a little bit about my background. Admin: Take people and get going, any questions? Admin: Wanted to do a little, exercise.
Admin: Folks, just have some fun. Admin: That's your knowledge. Admin: Fun. Fun for you! Fun for us. Oh, God. It's not fast enough. So you gotta work individually, by yourself, for us to get 3 or 4 minutes. I hope, Admin: So flowed. Admin: Alright. Admin: Thank you. Admin: Very much. Admin: Oh, goodness gracious. Do you know how much you know about the wealth you live, work?
Admin: Okay, time's up. Admin: got the same answer as I did at the start. I remember the movie. Yeah. Admin: Oh, take the break. Admin: I don't know anything. Admin: I think we're bringing out a little guess or something. There you go. Admin: Oh, and I got one. I really should know, sorry. Admin: I guess so. Admin: There's several, yeah. Admin: Yeah, if you don't know it right away. Admin: Keep moving. It's not gonna come to you. Admin: The steak beverage. Admin: Donuts, what do you mean?
Admin: See how it happens. Admin: Jesus. Admin: Oops. Admin: This is an exercise. Still realizing how much I don't know. Admin: Massachusetts College. I know more about Tara Marine than Massachusetts. Admin: That's okay. Admin: Yes. Admin: The Massachusetts state force. There's a state horse? Who is the legislator putting this group? Admin: I don't think it matters. Admin: Pretty much. Admin: See how even though I don't say something.
Admin: Mr. Ray. Admin: That's why you need to check your computer. That's correct. He wouldn't cheat! Admin: I don't allow that anymore. Yeah. Admin: Oh, yeah. Admin: Excellent. Admin: They have sarcastic answers. Yeah, well, that's what… I'll go with sarcasm on the state officials. That's a good one. Oh, you should know that one, Chris. That one you should know.
Admin: See, Southside. Admin: In 2 more minutes. Two more minutes? Yeah, because you know, you know, you don't know. Admin: A private F. Kennedy one, I should note, there's a lot of love story. I'm binge! Admin: 11. Admin: Awesome. Admin: Sounds good. Admin: That's an important answer. I have no idea. Admin: I mean, I don't know, getting a stigma needs a couple of percent. Admin: applied skills. Admin: Right? Admin: So if anyone wants to know, families fast failure on it seems to me. So, it's been high school. You know, didn't you want to bring a math quiz. That'll be great. Good for budget management.
Admin: Good. I feel like that's so dope. Admin: I do that. Admin: Very short, correct? Admin: Sounds great. Admin: You're all set, you're all set, you're all set. Yep. Admin: I mean, it's got… it's… Okay, so, now, Admin: After what he's done, you put your heads together and now see how the team. Admin: Welcome. Admin: All right. First one. I think you're gonna write it down, so you know it. Admin: State of Massachusetts is the first form of regiment, with white officers, and it was called
Admin: Is that the 51st? I'll answer that. Oh, come on! Oh! Let me give you the answer. Oh, okay. You didn't see that question, so… I know! I'm like… Admin: I just… I didn't see it. It wasn't numbered. The movie Glory, right? That's a Washington. Fantastic. And I gotta figure out, we're just gonna say it, and then we're all gonna be like, yes! Admin: Well, that sounds… I'm not sure it's true. Admin: Alright, so write that down. Alright, how many counties in Mass? I had 7. I had 7.
Admin: I'd succeeded. Admin: Okay. Everybody forgets Norfolk. Norfolk. Aaron Reedy. Admin: What about Western Mass? Admin: Are they in Berkshire County? They don't. Berkshire. Is there really? Yes, I…
Admin: Nice. I'd say we got plumbing. Admin: Oh, one of the Aqua? Okay. Admin: I feel safe at night. So you're fine, Lance. Nobody knows. Admin: stick bird. I said Katie. I said Siegel. Admin: Does that sound accurate? Is it? Chickadee? Chickadee. Same as Dane, I think. Admin: First United States First College for Women.
Admin: Orson Wellesley. Oh, when I typed that Smith or Simmons, I wanted to have. Admin: But I don't know if that's… Oh, well, I think you're right. I think it is. I think it's an estimate. Admin: Smith asked, but I just saw it. I walked all the camp, and I can see what you think Wellesley? Wellesley, maybe Smith? Admin: I think I was thinking Wellesley, and I wrote last night that I was saying… Look, it's probably best. Admin: Well, I don't know, I think Wellesley sounds right. I actually don't. I feel like Wellesley Center.
Admin: It's fast. Admin: Why would you ask this? I forgot, I'll swing. Admin: Show of pants. I think well. Admin: Alright. Admin: The Olympic sport of basketball was invented at what Western capacity? Admin: But there's a, museum there, right? Yeah. Admin: This is the Basketball Hall of Fame. Yeah. Yeah. Admin: Okay, Massachusetts Bay Fish, I know this one. It's a sacred pod hanged over the house. A sacred cod. I had the clown.
Admin: That's a scary for us. I've got a hard time thinking of the Michigan. I know, I know that, I know that, but… I don't know that. Admin: Safe beverage. I said milk shake. I said coffee. I had Coke, too, but it's hot. I said cranberry. I try to prep the front lights. I would go with cranberry. Yeah, cranberry. Alright. Oh, yeah. Coach about it.
Admin: Okay. Admin: what Hall of Fame is it holding? I thought… Hold? Isn't it Basketball Hall of Fame? No, Basketball Hall of Fame. What do I know? I thought it was. That's what I've grown up. Admin: I was just in Holyoke. What did you think? I saw no Halls of Fame in Holyoke, I was just there last weekend. What do you think? Admin: I don't know. Admin: Holy oak, but there's on the drug side. Admin: I still think it's not basketball. I thought basketball was different. I was well aware of that.
Admin: Definitely Springfield. That was gonna be my only guess in basketball. I have no idea. I don't know why they have the best primary boys, I'm the only one that came up with that. Oh, okay, cool. Admin: Okay. Okay, cool. Well, I love the prop as well. Admin: How many championships have the Celtics won? NBA championships. Admin: I said 32. 18, I think it's, like, I keep forgetting what they say. It's 14 or 15, but maybe it's 18.18.
Admin: Well, Chris, it's a final answer. I don't feel it's second. Admin: Explore the difference. Admin: Because I think they want it out here. Oh, I don't know. Or is it? Admin: a Boston Terrier. Admin: No, that's too expensive. Yeah. Admin: I went with Collie. Admin: I like the box, too. Well, I've never seen… Admin: I have no idea. I had the small fire cuff, the spotted Fire Cup stuff, which I can't remember. Oh, what about a Dalmatian? Oh!
Admin: Is there a Terrier, not Costa Terrier as well? Yeah, there's one Terrier. There's a door-plugged Terrier, I wonder if they've ever… Admin: The Pilgrims established their settlement in Plymouth at 1620, but then developed and developed friendly relations with what Native American tribe? Admin: Is it blocked off. Admin: Yeah. Yeah. That's where I want to. Oh, I would keep going with that, that makes a lot of sense. Great minds. I have no idea what it spoke. Admin: I had no idea about that. I know, per state to pass a compulsory gambling box? That's a driver's box. Oh, I thought testing or vaccination. I didn't even know what compulsory meant, so… Like a compulsion. I have to look it up.
Admin: Compulsory means you have to do it, right? Admin: And I'm gonna say… gun ripple? Admin: vaccines. Admin: I wrote the impact. Admin: It's gotta be colors. Admin: We have a lot of benefits, so… I was, like, the 1918. Admin: I actually like that, yeah, I like that. In the Revolutionary War. Admin: Washington forced all of those troops to get vaccinated. Admin: Actually, it might have been before that, actually. Oh, yeah, I like Jackson. I feel like Jeff gets real good at LSL. Admin: I have a feeling we're gonna be so wrong in all of these, be like, oh, yeah. We'll be humble. Next time we need bread.
Admin: How many Super Bowls have the Patriots won? I think 4. Oh, I saw 6. Oh, he said it very quickly. I thought 6. Oh, and in my… I think he won 4, but there was 4 before him. Oh, six might be right. I think top three won. Admin: You've got 7 rings. Yeah. I think it's not. I didn't know if they had any… I want to say, like, 9.
Admin: You think it's wonderful? You think they've tested it before? You didn't have any before? Admin: She sounds very… He is way wrong. There's no way… I'm gonna say… Okay. I said 96. I said 90. Admin: Hot. Admin: 95. Is Route 9 an interstate highway? Yeah, I thought the interstate was from the forward here, as I can get across the state over here.
Admin: That's 90%. But it's only… what runs the longest is from Massachusetts. I said 90. Yeah, so I said 90%. Admin: 90 or above? Admin: In Massachusetts, it has to be in Massachusetts, but yeah, but, you know, but think about 9, it doesn't go all the way up to, like, Washington. This goes north-south.
Admin: But it is the longest in our state. It is. I mean, is that gonna be… is this a true question? Admin: It's not. It's gonna be 95. I think even out of the state, I think it's long. Admin: No. All the way to California? Oh, that goes all the way to California, never mind. It doesn't go all the way to California. Going into the state. No, I know, but that would be another question.
Admin: Western Massachusetts? It still should be 90. Yeah. How long after now? Okay. What's the state? Of course. Admin: Oh, horses ass, I have no idea. I have no idea. I couldn't think of a name of a horse. Admin: You would know which one. I don't know, but I said, in the case. Admin: I don't know the names. The only one that came to mind was Clyde. I wrote down Clydeck, said it out loud.
Admin: Slidesfield is, like… I definitely don't know. Oh, I'm gonna go with Karen's answer. I don't think they duplicate. Admin: But this is a horse. It's not a fern. But I don't think there's… We've got a whole agenda. Admin: What is wrong with the feeling? What did you have?
Admin: It's like a lot of Celtics, but there's also a lot of… What's it like? Admin: 13. 1 to 13. 13, 13. I had COVID-15. 13 seems like to remember. Admin: Say good. Admin: Okay, how about 14? Admin: All right, this is how… If it's 6, Admin: Okay, I can catch you better, right?
Admin: The state game bird. I said turkey. I had a turkey. I had a turkey. I said… Admin: I do like… I meant peso. Turkey's a joke answer, but no one. I like peso. Admin: What's the snake reptile? I had spotted salamander. Oh, yeah. I just said a snake. I only say this because one time eating during COVID, we had a Admin: hour, hours-long discussion about spotted salamanders. And doesn't my son go out the next day and find one? I would say a loose salamanders, they're even more of an issue. I didn't even think they were a thing, and then he comes home.
Admin: Oh, I can show you a picture of that at no point if you'd like. I don't know, that's what I'm going with. It might be. Admin: I don't know, I wrote gecko. I think we have gecko growing around, I have one at my home. I feel like it was, like, a thing that kids brought before, or they have. What about a state insect? I'm a mosquito. What about a state insect, mosquito?
Admin: Lastly, I said butterfly. Admin: I think a butterfly's an insect. Not ours, ours is that. I don't think butterflies an insect. Admin: It's not a male. Admin: Okay, are we gonna go through the taxonomy? Ingram phylum, class, order, family, genus, I did tell. Whatever you say that? I think it's Hughes, Joe. Admin: Yeah. I don't think… spend a lot of money in that building could answer it. What about the… when did, RFK… no, it's RFK, when did you even run?
Admin: Get you over. Admin: No, he was killed after his brother. History. Failure. Yeah, I don't… definitely no reference. I think we got one. Oh, there we go. Okay, I'll go with it. I could be wrong. Kennedy Compound Hyannis 4, right? Yep. Admin: That's the only one I… Who is the state artist? Bob Fossey? Admin: Did you know this rhythm? No. Oh, who's a guy in Channel 2? No, he's on Bob Rock. He's the dancer guy!
Admin: John Singer's sergeant. Admin: Oh, that's a… Let's go with it. I don't know, another one. Admin: Banksy. Easy. London. Banksy, got you. Admin: second largest creature of agriculture after Wisconsin said asparagus. I put granite berry. What did I not think of that? Admin: I don't know. Asparagus is very popular in the western parks. Admin: Have you seen anybody useparagus hair? I have it 3 times a week. I actually, for some reason… Because I literally have it all the time.
Admin: Sorry, I'm good with this. Admin: Let's go with cranberries. Oh, I think go with cranberries. Cranberries? Yeah, it is. Okay. I actually didn't… that didn't cross my mind. The hint at the Wisconsin part. But they have a lot of water there, so that… Admin: Alright, the Mather School, founded in 1639, is Oregon's oldest public pharmacies. Admin: But I don't know what. I get 49. Me neither. Admin: 1638? In 1639, I think they were still treating medication, you know, was,
Admin: They had to start somewhere. They had to start… they were mixing potions there. Let's try it. How many times have the Red Sox won the World Series? Three. Admin: And State Tree, I had time. Oh, I had a help. That was a good one, too. Thank you, Sharon. Admin: Would you put, What do we…
Admin: Oak, elm, and thigh. Birch, what about… Birch. It's not birch. Let's go with oak. Okay, here we go. Alright. Admin: So, you were close at 54. 54. If you go to the Boston Common, there's a big factor, 54, right? 14. Oh, Karen was 13! So, you probably missed Dukes.
Admin: Oh, yeah. And then you have Berkshake, New Hampshire, and then… all the ones in the East. We read it off the whole west side, that's the 13th. Admin: Your way. Steak burns the chickadee. You got one, right? So… Admin: First Women's college, Mount Holyo. My daughter lives across… You guys, basketball, Springfield. That's collide you got. Cranberry juice you got. The Volleyball Hall of Fame. How did I got him?
Admin: Should have gone with your first RIP team. No, talked myself up. It wasn't the last one, you know, years ago. Admin: What's the snake dog? Oh, Harrier. Admin: No, it's an active Terry or Terry? Oh, it is a Terry. Oh, no! I'm gonna have to ask AI. The first compulsory was, school attendance. Alright, that's good. How many students walk?
Admin: 31-6 for us. So it is… We lost the two in 86 and 96, and then he won 6. Wow. So it was 6? Yeah. Oh, I guess right. Yesterday. Admin: Interstate 90. It goes from the airport to, okay, yeah. 95 only starts in Rhode Island, so not that long before you think about it. And 95 all the way to Portland and Oregon, so it's the longest time… Oh, it goes all the way you're working. Yeah, so anyway.
Admin: The horse at the Morgan. Oh, alright! Family Cups. Admin: Forget the ones in the third, the 40, right, because we were only here. Well, you were wishful. Very wishful. You were right. Yeah, the safe bird is this group, wild turkey. A wild turkey. Hang out. Admin: Look at it. Admin: This one, I know because I live in the town that came up with Ladybug. There was Ladybug! That ladybug! You should as well. Yeah. 1968, you're right.
Admin: Yeah. Or 68. Yeah. I understand you guys. Norman Rockwell. Cranberries, absolutely. Oh, that's a good spot. Admin: The Bathur School is the first public elementary. Right. Admin: Sox have won 9 times. I mean, they won 3 in the last 20 years. But they won in 03, 0… 19. Oh, man.
Admin: you know, and the elm tree. You had elms, yeah. You had elm, so hopefully… Wow. Well, that was… Admin: Yeah, that was fun. You asked for a pun? I did, I did not deliver fun. Anyway… Thank you, Jeff. That's this end of the… Admin: So I… alright, so cool. So, Admin: Because, again, remember, and just to reiterate, when I work with boards.
Admin: You know, one of the things in common, well, every board in every town operates a little Admin: You know, if you're on the school committee, it's the state law. This is what you get to do. Admin: But, you know, different charges, different home rules, different bylaws, different screen traditions. So, Admin: So, getting what works for you folks, based on a lot of those things. As you know, you spend a lot of time on trivial things. Admin: You have to do, because in 1843, a woman passed a bar, said the select board, select men, select board, and alpha had to do that. So, if I ask you what the three most important jobs report, I would say, you're grading them.
Admin: Oh, listen. Admin: -Oh. Admin: We take care of the streets, right? That's wonderful. Admin: Roads and roads. Admin: -Oh. Admin: Budget funds. Admin: I heard a good stuff. Admin: Everybody got such a difference. Admin: Those are my three, but reworded differently. Admin: Yes. Admin: Yes, they take care of the residents. Sorry? Take care of the residents? Admin: manage. Admin: So… So usually what happens when I send out a questionnaire, I decide people, I get 14 different answers. Admin: Because not everybody get on the board, and what's their consensus on what it does?
Admin: things we're supposed to do. I mean, there's a lot of things that… Admin: There's no wrong answer. So, but when you're on a board, whether a school board or non-profit. Admin: So, the number one thing for boys to hire the person that's going to find a select decision. Admin: Network for that bird, figure out a communication strategy. Admin: Stan. Admin: Evaluate each other, have honest conversations. Admin: Because that's… Who the holds. Admin: this whole organization, yeah. You have the elected leaders, she's the appointed leader.
Admin: Making sure that that works well. Admin: That's how you're gonna thrive. Admin: The next thing is policy and direction. Where are we going and how we get? Admin: It's not like, gee, what are we doing next week? You know, what do you want to do with 3 to 5 games? Where do you want to be? Because… Admin: He's… Admin: It's so caught up in all these other things that take time and energy. Sometimes you don't take the thing. Admin: I, you know, say, live in a great time. Admin: I just want to make it a little better. Admin: But where are we gonna take?
Admin: But it was one of my priorities. Admin: taking the time to figure those out, I know you can focus on things, but that's, Admin: That's critical thinking. Somebody wants to… you know, you have a housing plan, a rec plan, a master plan that goes through every plan you have, and does the board have a plan? Admin: The most important board in the whole town needs to have a toilet. Admin: If you have one, great, and it's updated every year, that's great. That's, you know, school has to do a strategic plan, the library has to do one. They all have plans.
Admin: If you have a plan, you're already checked off of Xbox. Admin: And the other thing is really… Admin: Solve problems that can't be resolved by somebody else. What that really means is the change. Admin: a role to play. She's got a role to play. Admin: You understand, and sometimes those end up Admin: You know, kind of clash, clashing a little, not out of malice, but… Admin: a lack of understanding of what role, how it's played. You know, your charter has your job, your charter has her job. Admin: Like, try to… try to work within those. And it's hard, because you want to help. The neighbor shows up. Hey, my sidewalk's terrible. You call the manager, call the DW? Say, I'll get my shovel out, fix it myself.
Admin: So, understanding those changes, and trying to stay in those lanes. Admin: It's hard. And then you have a thousand other things to do. Admin: But on a global… You know, viewpoint. Admin: That's what wizards. Admin: Second of all, you all run as individuals, then you join a team. Admin: The team doesn't have to reel. Admin: It's good to have discourse and points to do that would make you strong. Admin: But… Admin: Treat each other with respect, dignity, and listen, and, you know, after the vote, the vote's over, life goes on.
Admin: working hard, you see really highly functional boards. They respect each other's opinion. Admin: You might be on the short end of 4 to 1 boat, but that's why it is viable. Admin: Okay, I did get my way this time, but… okay. Admin: And… and then not going down the social media, or at the coffee shop, and… Admin: I suppose they don't know what to do with it. Admin: We're on a team. Gotta stick together. Admin: Despite differences. Admin: That's hard. Admin: as well. Admin: So, the tone of… tone and discourse, and, you know, I took that out of your own… you know.
Admin: read that once in a while. It really kind of sets how it's supposed to work. Admin: So… Questions? Comments? Admin: Ideas. Admin: You know, it's funny, you, Coach, mentioned the routine a couple times. Today, I had one of my big, big notes that I felt like Admin: changes a long way, but I feel like kind of failed as a team. And I think this is a real good way to start. And not… not any particular person, but I feel like it's… Admin: stressful for the last 10 years or so.
Admin: To move out that stress, and… Admin: start to trust one another, and I think particularly the team trusted each other, and I think that at that point, it would make it a lot easier. Trust each other, too. Admin: To respect each other, four-to-one kind of a vote. I think social media is really hard. Admin: trusting of us, if things appear on social media, that we may not have posted, that someone else may have posted, and it's really hard to say… it's an example because he's new, but long, you know, if…
Admin: one of his supporters starts bashing me, you know, I'd like to assume that he has my back, and he'd say, you know, that's really not what happened, or you need to learn to respect regardless of what her thoughts are. Do you know what I mean? Like, that kind of thing. But I don't want to encourage responding to social media, because I think it's just kind of never-ending. Admin: back before that needs to have the asking board, that kind of clause, so I feel like if we can all agree Admin: Do not necessarily have to have the last of words, sometimes you just have to let it… Admin: See, the uncomfortableness of the book.
Admin: Just to piggyback with that, so… Admin: Yeah, it's a little, it's a little hard here. I, you know, I manage 200 people. Admin: So, problems all the time, so, like, Jeff, problems. Admin: about Chris, and I say, okay, well, me and Jeff aren't gonna solve your problems, right? So, I call all three of us. Or I'd say, you know, hey, I'll be the mediator, and I'll say, I'm in between them, and I'll hit the right story, get the right story, and then if it doesn't solve that, then I bring people.
Admin: But communication is key, I think. You know, if none of us talk, I'm talking. It's not gonna help anyone. Admin: That's the caveat of being on this… on an elected board, is that… that… that does bring a tricky dynamic to solving issues sometimes, I feel like. Admin: No, you can't. Executive session has to be, but I do think that… Jane…
Admin: I've under… my understanding is that other town managers have kind of managed the board a little… maybe managed this in the right way, but, you know. Admin: had communications with the board a little differently, and I think Jane's kind of already on a path of that, of, like, sitting and meeting with us, and maybe having conversations that can kind of, like, work things out before we're in meetings. So, like, you know what I'm saying? Or, like, make… Admin: mediate and or, like, just work out some, maybe, pieces that could be a big deal, but then we can figure it out before a meeting, and it's not a big deal, you know? Stuff like that. I can speak to that. It's a big barrier.
Admin: Ability not to communicate. Admin: I'll talk to her. Admin: Yeah, it's tricky. It's very tricky for what she… and obviously, she's not subject to it, so the ability to sit down with that is, so, you know, try to get everybody's perspective on… Admin: Not averages, something. Admin: Struck. Admin: to that point, so part of, part of what I would like to get started by the…
Admin: is to sit down with folks when there's something… yeah, we'll sit down one-on-one or two-on-one and talk about the budget. We did that with the health insurance. I was just gonna say the health insurance. The health insurance is a great example, and we took you through the staff if you need to. And then I'm going to ask you, what do you need to be able to make this decision? You may have enough information there, you may need more information. Admin: it may be important for you that the public… we're going to still present the information to the public. We still have to talk about the health insurance at that May 12th meeting, but we'll present the information to the public, and you can ask the same question. Admin: So the public benefits from the conversation, but if there's more information that you need to feel comfortable with whatever your decision would be, I'll get that to you. And then you can ask those questions in the open session.
Admin: This board has a nice tradition of telling you to bring something forward one time, and then voting on it the second time. You don't have to do that for everything, but do that for a lot of things. So you have the conversation, have that conversation. Admin: You get your questions answered. And then you can make your decision, you have time to kind of think about it, make sure… ask us more questions if needed. Admin: So, yeah, but if there's something that you need to make your decision, or you're conflicted about something, you… whatever it is, bring that to me. Because when I sit down with chair and vice chair, we're setting agendas, and we're, you know, working for stuff, like, well, you know, Sal would like to hear more about this kind of information, so… or, you know.
Admin: Karen needs more information about whatever it is, we'll make sure that we have that. Then there's an understanding of Admin: Okay, this is, you know, this is a sensitive issue, or this is… this is whatever, or at least the things that people need to be mindful of, that… Admin: Anyway, I didn't think of, to want to make sure that it's that. Admin: That's why I… I specifically cited this, Admin: In the last time managers review. Admin: is about… The communication between board members and Admin: That individual's role in what they play.
Admin: Because… with, you know, back in the day, he handled that significantly well. Admin: Between all the foreign veterans at that time. Admin: And… for that. Admin: the net negative, as you mentioned. I got mocked and written online for bringing up that select board can't handle Admin: With the town manager, and those aren't the roles and responsibilities, and it's like. Admin: Until you're up here and you realize the dynamic that happens, what goes on, experience that.
Admin: that viewpoint. It is… Admin: Night and day. Like, there were so many things when Fidel was town manager that issues that I would have brought up Admin: Listen, I bring up stuff all the time. Admin: that he handled with me, and then had it squashed, corrected, or, you know, worded differently, and then it… the meetings were public, or whatever, and then I didn't have to complain about XYZ, and vice versa, it's not always just my way kind of thing, but it was… he would kind of…
Admin: Navigate, you know, things to have a very productive meeting, unlike what has recently happened. Admin: I play a part in that. I never deny that I don't. Admin: But, like… The dynamic already with Jane, I can see, is heading towards that. That is gonna be… Admin: Highly more productive. Admin: With the current atmosphere that we have. Admin: Times pass, so… so yeah, interview for a world… it's all about, and it's a little bit of that.
Admin: I don't think it's the world. I think we're in the world of social media, yeah. It will help us be less… Admin: talking point, I would say, by Jane's work prior to me. Admin: Now everything's not cooking. Admin: Perfect, obviously, but it definitely is going to help the situation. Admin: Well, it's always a balancing act, because when you're a manager, it's like… she runs the town. Well, you know, you get it on both sides. Yeah.
Admin: You can't pay attention to all that. Admin: Because you're being… no matter what you do, sometimes you're going to be criticized by someone. Someone's not gonna like it. Let's in your chair. Yeah, exactly, and you can't be criticized. You can't… If I sit back, you know how horrible that would be? Sitting my chair? I guess it's also not get triggered by it. That's a big part of it. Yeah. Admin: ignore the noise, right? And I know it's really hard. Admin: Like, see the noise? I think that the triggering card Admin: As far as you could get triggered, but reacting to the triggering is what gets everybody going, and the energy, like, I think you have heard of it, is what you're really trying to avoid.
Admin: One of the most difficult things is knowing what's the same. It's the hardest thing for a public official. Admin: Even a parent. Do I add one more thing to this? Is the world going to be any different? It's a skill that takes a lot of time to figure out. I don't have to add my two cents, because it's not going to change anybody's mind, and… Admin: But… It's a hard thing to do. Admin: You always want to try to defend your position, or advocate for your position. You want one more by the capital. I've already heard what you said 6 times, so… Yep. Trying to practice that skill is…
Admin: A lot. Admin: Great. Admin: So, is there anything that this board, if you were sitting here today and say, over the next year, there are one or two things you can do differently? Admin: as a board, albeit. Admin: You know, you talked about it having facts. Admin: I don't know how you can have each other's backs during the meeting. Admin: structure of the thing. You know, I mean, I know sometimes there's been some instances where I may have been disappointed in the chair or the vice chair, and not squashing something that's in the midst of the action.
Admin: But I don't feel it was my role during the meeting. Admin: to say, hey, hey, hey, you know what I mean? Like, I know you can say point of order, or, you know, whatever, to kind of try and stop it, and I'm not accusing anybody necessarily, because it happens all the time in different places. Admin: I don't know how to do that when we're in a meeting, because I feel like some that just have this one for any meeting, then it kind of derails the meeting a little bit and changed the energy in the room, and I think… Admin: So, you're having a discussion about something? Admin: And I want. People can be respectful, people can… Listen.
Admin: Listen, you can still disagree. Admin: 100%. Yeah, yeah, I guess, I guess it's the trigger part of it. If I'm sitting at home and watching new media, what do I think? I just think it has… Admin: Unfortunately, I think we've gone off rail sometimes. Of, triggering of different opinions, and people getting upset with one another, and, Admin: I think just trust is in there, and there's fear with people saying something or bringing up something from the past, which I've said before, that it would be really nice if we could just leave the past, but I know it's really hard to do that.
Admin: It's a lot of caution and passion. That's up to the GSA. That's right. Admin: Whichever. Whatever, I'm… yeah, I don't know. Admin: But… I think it's the emotional thing. I think it's… Admin: And I think it's the distrust behind it. Admin: Bye. Admin: the board. Do you remember? Distrust what? I feel like there's not a lot of trust with us as a TV trust in their self-black respect. Admin: But I think an S to… they need to bring it.
Admin: respect each other. Okay. Admin: And I think that stems from… Admin: Outside stuff, not necessarily what happens at the table. Admin: Because I feel like that. I don't actually agree with that. No, I don't. For me. For me, that's what I'm trying to fix. I don't… Admin: when I come into a meeting, I just… Admin: I really just want the respect of all of the five of us, the five past people, that they seem to respect each other at that time, at that meeting, and, you know, be engaged, and be in the conversation, and, you know.
Admin: That's… that's what I'm talking about. Admin: if I got into an argument with you, or Sal, or Chris, or Karen outside, I'm not bringing that to people like that. I really try to compartmentalize those things and those issues, but then I would be the first person to say hello to you. I would be the first person to say, you know, I don't… when you're there in those meetings, you need to be engaged, you need to be respectful to each other. Admin: And I just… that's not always happening. Admin: See that? Admin: But this isn't about individual you, it's more about, the process and the body that you're a part of.
Admin: Who is the ultimate authority? Admin: Who is the ultimate authority overall? Admin: True, it's true. Admin: you know, people. Yeah, I thought you were talking about it at the meeting. Sorry. You're right, but it's the people who elected you, and all of you have been elected, so you all have the… Admin: The power that the public has elected to take this role. Admin: And so whether you disagree with each other, or agree with each other all the time, another time. Admin: The respect isn't… Our residence class, or my colleagues. Admin: And so that's… Admin: you know, in the moment, you believe in the process, right? Each of you gotta leverage the same process.
Admin: Each of you has that power that you bring to the chair, you know, to the seat that block. Admin: So, you have, if you respect the process. Admin: then, you know, you can go to… you can always go back to that, like, I respect the process. I respect the people that put each of us in these chairs. Admin: And so you all have a role to play, you're saying what you believe in, you're following, and you're following that. And if, to Jeff's point, if you're the losing end of a 4-to-1 vote, that's okay, because the public benefit is from the conversation.
Admin: And so, as long as… as long as that… that's kind of the guiding principle. Admin: And I totally agree. You know what I mean? 100%. I guess maybe the only piece of that is, is that I do respect the process, I do respect the residents, but that still means that we also have to respect each other. We don't have to agree with each other, but we have to respect each other. So is the person running the show? Admin: If someone makes a comment that you think is disrespectful, it's like to gavel. Admin: It will be. I've probably been a chair. Admin: We want to practice now? No, no, I have no problem. I have no problem asking. And if we have to take a 5-minute recess, that was one of the things that stuck with me last time with you, then that's what we'll have to do. But yes, it will be, yeah.
Admin: So, any barriers to… It's true here. Admin: people, and… That's to be respectful, but… Check it. Admin: Whoa. Admin: Well, I'm bigger. Admin: You start with me? You know? You sat in the wrong seat. No, like… Admin: I always sit here and say the same thing. I'm just as guilty as other people have done things. I'm not gonna sit up here and be like, I've always been… always been right, I…
Admin: I think what… Admin: The biggest takeaway for me the last 5 years that I've been on is knowing when not to… Admin: react, not wanting to get another bite of the apple, like you mentioned, not having left work. It's very difficult for me over the past 5 years to believe I can sit here and bite Admin: Productions, right? Admin: I think she had both press releases. Admin: Oh. Admin: What? Admin: it's the same… like, am I… I'm supposed to just ignore this right now? That she goes sad and pains the room as soon as I start talking. That is what she has done multiple times. I understand that. This is the issue. No, the issue is what you want to…
Admin: What the fuck? Admin: I agree with you, but what you haven't witnessed is precisely what just happened right now. Admin: You give, you can't control whatever. Admin: I understand that. Like, I'm now supposed to just… Yes. …finish my thought. Admin: When… Admin: It's just very different. It's never… it's never reciprocated. For my very first meeting I ever attended, if people could go back and look at the meeting.
Admin: The vote per chair ended up being 3-2. Karen getting elected to chair in 2004, my very first vote. And the very next thing that I did is did the acclamation vote with Ann Landry, and voted for Karen per chair, so, you know… Admin: It's… the history that… that I have, that is semi-public, etc, it's hard… Who? Admin: Invade that, and realize… you're supposed to move on, and I understand you can't bring up 2021 stuff.
Admin: But it's extremely difficult. It had to do with my family at the time, for me to move past that. And for me. Admin: like, my… one of my biggest faults is I typically don't forget anything. Someday I will. I do forget if I lock my car. Yeah. Long-term stuff, I don't forget anything. And it's very difficult for me not to have that anger and fuel behind the words that I'm saying. Admin: When certain things happen. Admin: And I want to move on. I do. I am very happy that this situation is happening right now. Not this current one, 5 minutes ago.
Admin: very happy, and I think that this could be a… Admin: a launching more, especially with Jane. Admin: just taking over. Admin: For us to be all rowing in at least the same direction, fortunately. So you have what? Admin: I understand it's very difficult to define. Admin: I understand what you have to… Admin: Each topic, that's all you have. It's just hand, no matter what. Admin: She or she says, you still have time. Admin: It's just very bad. Can I just say something in the moment right now? Of course. Would it bother you if I got up and spoke yesterday?
Admin: Do you think that… because I'm trying to get behind the disrespectful thing that you have, but… But you know, you know that it's… Admin: specifically walked out of the boat, or turned her back, or started going for her bag, every single time I start to speak to her. She could be being turned to herself right now, so I think you're both… Admin: like, you're triggered by her leaving, she could be triggered by something deeper as well. So I think it's one of these moments of… But at which point… But at which point in this entire thing that has transpired.
Admin: Was that part? Admin: Did I say anything? Okay, I understand that. You know what I mean, like, for us in this moment, like, your thought… Admin: We'd like to hear the rest of your thought, so you being disrupted by her, that… Admin: That's the kind of stuff that I'm hoping that we could block out, because sometimes things happen. Sometimes my former debuts and I have to run out. Nothing to do with me at the moment. And so that's really hard to figure out. I understand, because there's no… And it's hard to… but, right. With you and I, there's no history of you doing that. I think that's her point, though.
Admin: I do think that that's Karen's point, and correct me if I'm stating it, but I think what she's trying to say is that Admin: to be a functioning board, especially at this time. What we're going to discuss later on this agenda, feel free, is that Admin: We need to… Admin: Forget some of the history, because we need to be a functioning part of the sense of this town. Admin: Not easy. Totally get it. And it'll be the hardest year any of us are gonna… even though it's his first and my second, but for… especially for the senior ones, like, this is probably the hardest year you're gonna have. Yeah, correct. But that's… but that's the crux of our year. I'm very…
Admin: happy to say that I am… I am willing to, like I said, at least grow in the same direction. Admin: Respectfully, cordially, at least for the meetings there. Admin: And for me, that is a plus. Admin: a big step, because you can say you don't know what goes on in people's mind, so I understand that, but I'm willing to say it now, and if I don't do it. Admin: Tell me, Chris, you know? Like, after the bag, quiet. Admin: XYZ, but I'm demonstrating that now, because I know that,
Admin: Upcoming meetings, override discussions we can have prompts later with that. It's going to be extremely problematic for all of us. Admin: Because override passes, fails, whatever number it is. Admin: We inflated the budget, we did this, it's all on the 5 minutes. It's not on me, on all five of them. Right. So, I'm willing to… So that's what we're going to really need to have each other's… Admin: I don't want to say backs, but teamwork of, you know, you maybe saying something behind the scenes about how we come to discussions or whatever. That's not really having the towns back at the same time, not only are we trying to have each other?
Admin: Right here. But it's the talent that we really have to worry about. They're going to be super animated and excited, too, so it flows from the top, so if we can show them how calm we are about this, and Admin: forgive me, embrace the override, it's gonna fall down and say, we've got it, people. If we say we got it from the top, it's gonna work, we can make sure, or as happy as we possibly can be. Which, that's gonna flow down. Admin: But if we're, like, chaotic and mad at each other, that's what's gonna flow down. We're never gonna come up this form that's below us. 100% agree.
Admin: Sounds fair. Admin: Oh, what was the original question? The various, yeah, I have learned. Admin: No. Whatever… what everybody's gonna do, I did. Admin: You know, you spoke about the overall, he might get the point Admin: Some people, I don't want to have a little bread that that's big. I want a little old one, or I want a bigger one, or it's gonna have a lot of vague discussion. Admin: And any override we would have any wish there have been, it's a really difficult
Admin: Have to figure out what's the right fit. Admin: asshole in Wuhai, and then everybody second-guesses, yeah, well, you did, you know, because they were all experts. Admin: You know, so… That's the second thing I never could say. Yeah, right. I should be keeping track here. Admin: But it's just… so I was just going around the room to say, if everybody's on board, you would have been the first one. Admin: But we don't quite variants at all, anybody. Admin: Bye. Admin: I can work with anybody, right?
Admin: I've been a big boy. Admin: Very difficult conversations. Admin: Thank you. Admin: You know, I… as Jane said, the town elected us, right? Admin: And I'm here to work for the whole town, I don't know what works for me. Yeah. Doesn't make a difference. You know, it's an absolute no difference. Admin: Yeah, no, I've… I've dealt with barriers of having conversations, or… respectful. I, I think sometimes. Admin: There's a difference between, Like, just because you disagree on a topic, which…
Admin: there's five of us here, because we're very different people. Doesn't mean you can't respect the other person's opinion, and I think that it's really important, especially going forward in the next couple of months. We need to make sure that Admin: we need to work together, compromise, respect each other's opinions, because that's how the work's gonna get done for the town. So… Admin: Yeah. So, I mean, in respect, very high scale, right? So… If I'm unemployed. Admin: I'm not being respectful to anybody else, I don't want my children to see it on me.
Admin: Great, right? It's televised local towns, and my reputation is… Endis quote. Admin: So, I'll… I'll buy that figured. Admin: I don't really have any squabbles with anybody, because I don't really have any history of working on the parking committee, because I'm used to people hating, so… I don't hate you. A lot of people hate parking people. I don't hate you in any way, shape, or form for that. Admin: That's a lot of stuff. I, I… Not from you! Not from you! Not from anybody on the board, it was the public. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah. But I had a great time on it, so I figured if I can have a good time on the parking, this is easy.
Admin: I try… Oaks on you. I… I've had a great time. I… I… Admin: I can work with pretty much anybody, and I know how to keep my mouth shut. Admin: That's nice for it. Admin: So, coming into the Select Board 7 years ago, I had finished up 5 years on the Finance Committee, where we definitely… there's a 9-member board, it's a little bigger, but we never spoke outside of meetings, and we came in and we had healthy discussions, and sometimes you were on the… the…
Admin: You don't like the way a vote went, but… Admin: Sometimes on the Finance Committee, people vote Admin: 9-0 anyway, even though they don't necessarily agree with it, but the public benefited from the discussion as a public meeting, so it would be great if this board could focus on that work as well, in that kind of respect, and I completely agree with you that Admin: residents elected us, and you also mentioned, somebody mentioned the discuss and vote policy that we've had for years and years, but last year kind of, got put to the wayside. It does give the people who elected us time to weigh in, and I think that's an important part.
Admin: Acting as a team, and having that kind of decision-making flow out to the community, and have the response that we want. Admin: So… Admin: That's good. I can work with anyone. I work with the public for a living, negotiating, you know, legal deals, everything. Thank you. It's really fun when you own buddies. Admin: Despite the setup. Admin: Yeah, we all were. Admin: it, it, it, no… Admin: I can't wait to get to the meat, you know, when you've been… if you're on a board that isn't like that, it's like…
Admin: you're gonna go to a meeting. So, you want to be the first one, despite the issues you're gonna face and difficult decisions. Admin: If everybody just tried it. Admin: But, yes. Admin: All right, so, any other product comments on? Admin: Alright, so, I mean, a lot of that falls on the person that runs the meeting to make sure that everybody's respectful. Admin: Okay, thank you. Admin: It's funny. Animated. It's funny, but I read this, it's just like common sense to look at this thing. Yeah, but you would… you wouldn't believe how uncommon that is. I don't have to bring it on a piece of paper.
Admin: Even so, in the business world. Admin: Okay, there's expectations. In the not-for-profit world, you get hand-picked to be on the board, right? In this word, age of residency are the qualifications to be the most important seat now. Admin: And a lot of people don't… that's not necessarily natural to them. So, I have that written down. Admin: look at it once in a while, just reminding each other that, hey, we're all in this together, and it is about the citizens, it's not about anyone.
Admin: But people are electing things now, Really quick. Admin: It's already been paid, so… Can I say one more thing? Because I wrote a note on the agenda. I talked about flowing the top down. Admin: And my note was, is there a lack of confidence and our trust in the SLET Board? I think Admin: We want to make sure that the residents have a lot of confidence in us this year. I mean, that's what they… not necessarily trust us, but have confidence in us that we'll be able to make some of these decisions. Admin: and apply. Admin: Oh, no, but… Well, you know, I thought of Karen's comment about sometimes the board income went 9 to zero, because they wanted to send a message to the community, I'm guessing, even though you might have not been on board.
Admin: Not you personally. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but still have today, and I can tell you all those 90 votes are not everybody agreeing, but they're getting the job done, putting it forward. Right. Admin: Okay. Admin: Policies. Anybody need a two-minute breaks? Admin: BioBricks? Look at you guys, higher straight. Okay. Admin: You had, only one person sent in and shared. Jane, I may have misunderstood, because I…
Admin: stuff I wrote down, but did… didn't we talk about, like, maybe talk about here instead of going through all this, because it's a lot about ethics… Admin: sort of talks about, like, our policy features of, like, doing, like, a little subcommittee or something, and then bringing it to the full board at some point, because it's so… Yeah. Yeah, over time, I've heard board members say. Admin: we need to fix this, and we need to fix that, or we need to modernize, update some of our policies, you know, there's a thorough looking. School committees do this.
Admin: regularly, even though the policies and stuff, yeah, because there's so much that comes from the state that schools have to be up with, right? So, select boards don't, but, it's useful Admin: to, I think create, like, a policy subcommittee to do that work. I was talking with Karen about that. She might be great to see that. Admin: Just because it's a methodical look at all of your proposals, and then that brings it forward to the board to discuss it in both, so… but it doesn't take up… it's not 5 people trying to…
Admin: you know, based on two people, and then you take direction, and then you go back, so… Yeah, no, I agree, because some of these are, you know… Admin: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they definitely need to be modernized and, like, Yeah, alright. Admin: So that's kind of future agenda, right? Admin: I mean, I… feedback from everyone, but I think that that kind of makes the most sense. I mean, we could definitely go through the SSIT protocols if we want to, and I know that you submitted, the social media stuff that Tom's gonna use. Yeah, that's the draft policy, I just wanted you folks to see that. Yeah, yeah, but I…
Admin: I think to go through, like, our… Admin: Yeah, Sal was the only one who sent me any policy suggestions, and his was, Admin: was interesting, it was… I don't… the chair should not be… we shouldn't exclude the people that are up for election. Admin: From the chair, which is a current policy that you have now. That was… that's your… that was what you're one thing… I feel like I have the most experience. So I guess the question is, do you want to…
Admin: Again, put this on a standard week or two, whatever, and then… Admin: Yeah, I think so. I think it does make the most sense to formal subcommittee, and it doesn't have to stay around, maybe, like, school committee, I don't know, maybe they wanted to, but I do think that they should be looked at and updated there on the other side. Admin: And just go through them, and then bring it to the full court. Admin: So, I just have one question on the next page, it says chained, Admin: Is that a policy? Is that a separate discussion? It would be sort of a policy, so there was a request to talk about chain of command at a software meeting here at the retreat, and so what I suggested was more of a chain of treating what you call
Admin: when, right? Yeah, like, something goes on, what's the protection order, so everybody… Right, I have this problem, who do I call? And it's useful as a public document for the community. Who does anybody? Who does a resident call when they're having a problem? Whatever it might be. But then also, you know, how the court… Admin: Yeah. It also stems from… And it's, you know, we got this year where Admin: One group in town got some information before the town manager got some information, and some of the information… sometimes… well, I'm only… I only know… well, I probably know the others, but…
Admin: How do we relay to… Admin: residential groups that have organized organically and get information that they then disperse that the town manager isn't even aware of at the moment, who really should be dispersing information out of respect for the town manager's role and making sure that all the right people know about it before. You know, I know it has to do with Admin: something gets on social media and explodes, but sometimes the chain of communication, I think, can be streamlined a little bit. Sometimes a committee or a department may get information and doesn't know that Jane is supposed to be the one that disseminates it, you know what I mean? Yeah, so there's two things. One is, is there a clear…
Admin: Data, communication between The board and the manager right now? Admin: Yeah, we just go to… So you… that's not an issue. No, no. It's the community or other things that might be taking place that, and I'm… and I'm not saying this in a negative way, but I feel like it's a more streamlined, organized way Admin: So people know whether or not is it legit information that's being dispersed or not legit. Sometimes you hear something, and unless it's gone through a vetting process of three different… Admin: people, you know what I mean? Essentially.
Admin: No, well… Admin: I was still on the previous one, the board ethics protocol changes, and my only question with moving now to subcommittee help was I had Admin: Just mention it. Now, it's that. Admin: For the entire length that I was a chair. Admin: between the public and board members. All I heard was. Admin: that we are not following Robert's Rules of Order, we have to adopt Robert's Rules of Order. I heard it about 18 times. And the answer was, we'll discuss it at the retreat. Admin: are at the retreat, and we are not discussing it. I'm the only one bringing it up. So, to me, that feels a little bit disingenuous that it was used against me for an entire year.
Admin: Only to just vanish when we get in the running. Well, did you… did… No, I didn't have to. We did. We took a vote to select for a meeting. I didn't… I didn't… Did the vote. There was no… Admin: The vote was to… to… Oh, on the agenda item. Admin: But we said that we were going to bring it up at the Select Board Retreat. Admin: No, it's the entire year I was chair. I heard it every single meeting. Somebody got paraded up, crashing me for not following Robert's Rules of Order, has reasons, even though I was following Robert's Rules of Order, any other way of conducting
Admin: no special thing that I was carving out that randomly didn't apply. It was just used as a tool to trash me. Admin: Here we are, and we're not discussing it. And I, like… Wait, but did you ask? No, I didn't ask. That's the problem, is somebody did, and now it's not getting discussed. Admin: Oh. Admin: So I think my understanding was… and in fairness, I didn't know this originally, is that the town needs to adopt it as part of their… Admin: I just… every committee decides what…
Admin: I just thought we always had follow-up. I thought that was, like, a blanket thing you had to do, was follow-up's fault. So, I think what Chris is saying is that, in my opinion only, is that we would have that discussion when we go back to our policies. Admin: And procedures, and adopt them formally. I didn't realize we need to adopt them formally to our policies and procedures. Admin: I guess he… Nope. Admin: If you're going to have a discussion, do you have a copy of Robin's Rules before? I show my computer. Yeah, I got everything very technical, and
Admin: So before you jump on that bandwagon, or don't jump on that bandwagon, understand what… Admin: Adopting. Adopting, versus if the board has always done something. Admin: The process the same way, does it pay? Admin: And you have written policies about some of those things. Admin: You can decide whether you want to go to the next step or not. Admin: Yes. Because there's no rule that says you have to absorb. Admin: Yep. Admin: But you can. It's always been the privy of the chair on how to run a meeting.
Admin: But unless the board had adopted. Admin: All, you know, so… Yeah, yeah. To me, that seems like you have to run Admin: agents, like Melissa had just mentioned, and I… Admin: I don't see the issue, but… That's for an entire year. Admin: And now it's not. Admin: It's still very convenient. Admin: So, I guess, did you point that… What's that? Admin: I think the way that it's… Oh, is… go ahead. Admin: But in the last… Yeah, the way that it's always been. Like, it's… it's semi-up to the… It is work. Yes, like, the public comment thing was the biggest thing, how… and we're going to be discussing that as… as…
Admin: a future agenda topic, too, at a meeting. It's just… Admin: Public comment was always at the beginning of the meeting, you have 2 minutes, pretty standard. If you allow someone to speak, then you have to allow everybody to speak. Admin: But what Melissa and I instituted as chair is that, in addition to that, you could also speak on each agenda topic. Admin: This is? Yes, yeah, so after each agenda item. And for the most part, like, because it was a lot of times during meetings that Admin: Members of public, or… Admin: people that were on committees or whatever put up, have valuable input. It was always the awkward.
Admin: We might let them speak, now I'm gonna have to let someone else speak. It was always that weird gray area. So that's why we changed it to be more, you know, open to that kind of thing, to take the awkwardness so that people know that Admin: you know, when some discussion comes up that they know more about us on, they're bringing it up then, not at 7 o'clock. At 9.30 when we discuss it. Admin: And, you know, you take the good with the bad, because then there was a sixth member of the Sonic Court, essentially, on almost every single topic.
Admin: I'm a problem. So, like. Admin: It's… but once again, it was up to the chair. That's how you run the meter. And if you don't like it, change the rules. Right, if you don't like it, change the rules. So, like, where I worked, Citizen had 3 minutes. Admin: Just like you said, in a public session, 2 or 3 minutes is a pretty standard. Admin: there, and we won't be smiling gender, and, you know, so, but… Admin: if you want to tighten up your rules or make them consistent, then the board should do that. That's up to the board. So, you don't… I mean, the last thing you want to do is be accused of trading differently. Correct. Everybody wants to get the same bite of the apple, whatever that is.
Admin: So… Is that something that… Admin: It's going to be viewed in the policies, or that's going to be on a generator. That's a future project that I think that the vaccinated. At least on the public comment aspect, yeah. But your first comment was more generic about the policy. Admin: Bye. Admin: Yeah, generally, also. It's posted, I know the chair runs the meeting. Admin: The board discusses that they want to do it that way, or they want to tighten it up? That's… Admin: Certainly something that should be a topic of discussion. Just want to be consistent.
Admin: quite the person? If I may, I, I… Yes. Oh. Admin: The chair, in our policies, it is very, cut and dry. The chair runs a meeting, but to your point, we are a four to five. We make these decisions together, so, Admin: So, I would agree with you, and that's been my experience on other boards, that when we're talking about major radical changes about how meetings will be won, that I know when I was chair, I was…
Admin: tried to introduce consensus agendas, which we could still do, which was relatively minor, but however, I brought it to the board, and we talked about it, and we gave it a shot. So, I would love to see us getting back to that, so that Admin: board numbers are all being treated as the one-fifth equal weight collected by the public that we are. So, because I… and we can talk about it in a… Admin: Policy definition, and maybe flesh out what we mean by the chair runs the meeting. Admin: Because the chair is not an authoritarian picker, the chair really should work with the team and get input. And…
Admin: Yes. Admin: Right there. Admin: So it sounds to me, yeah, it needs to pass subcommittee. Admin: Oh. Admin: So… Okay. He'll react with me next week. Admin: But… Sounds good. Admin: And then that's a positive may kind of needed by office or her room. Admin: Put, you know, set aside time. Admin: Yes, excellent. Admin: I guess the next one is a override. Well, this is timely, as it is 10 o'clock.
Admin: And so we'll… we'll get into the next… oh, I didn't know what you were saying timely for. So, and I know that we're here until 1, we don't have to stay until 1. What time is lunch showing up at 12? Admin: Quote. So… G'day. Admin: Do you want to deal with the last conversion? Admin: No, because, Ms. Herrick has another obligation, and I think you said 11… Okay, alright. So I want to make sure that we have a good hour for, for that. So, this question, when's the last time you had it? 2018.
Admin: So you're looking at 2028? Yes. Yeah, forward… Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Okay. Admin: Post. Admin: Can we take a break? Yeah, take a break. Yeah, break. Admin: I don't get that. Oh, I don't know, I didn't like the… Admin: This document gets updated after the school of narrative, but we'll take you through it first.
Admin: That's a point. Admin: You don't need it? No. It's fine, but the numbers now. Admin: That's exactly, exactly. And look at that, and I foreshadowed a little bit of that during the meeting, like, that we're barely levels first. Admin: Who's up? Admin: Yes, we did it just now. Thank you. No, you're right, you're absolutely right. Well, we gotta get into that, we're in that window.
Admin: I said I haven't looked even at the packet yet. Admin: Oh. Yeah, that. We're not giving it to you, so… Yeah, right. So, Madam Chair, before we get onto this competition, there's one thing Admin: I need to ask for an executive session next week. Admin: Either Wednesday morning or Thursday. Admin: Pertaining to litigation. So we have a vote.
Admin: A little bit of litigation. Admin: And… 35th. Admin: That's what… that's what caps available, what's in, or anything that they're saying. It'll all be on Zoom. It will probably be always… okay. Either one's fine. Admin: What was the Thursday afternoon would be turkey, too. There's, like, literally, like, after 1 o'clock, yeah, great. Admin: Like, Wednesday morning… Or Thursday afternoon.
Admin: Oh my, who either works for you… Admin: Is there a preference? Because we're just inside right now. Do we know what time Wednesday morning? Admin: We could do 9, we could do… Karen and I mean at 9, unless you already, we have a 10. Admin: 10 or 11 a.m. Then 9 would be preferable on Wednesday morning, for… That would do well. How long do you anticipate, K? I think it will only be half an hour.
Admin: Not long. So, but there is… there is a case, and we have to hire counsel on soon. Admin: We have to… we can't use our own counsel. Oh, sounds great. Yeah, recommended by Council. It's the new council. No, I mean by litigation. Yeah. Admin: Exciting. Exciting and not. Alright, 9 a.m. Whatever. 5 a.m, 9 a.m. Admin: Alright, Maddie, I'm gonna go with 9am on that. 9 a.m. on Wednesday? 9 AM on Wednesday morning, if you could email everybody back on that chain, 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, executive session on Zoom. Okay. I can set that up, and then…
Admin: Yeah, we… I'll have Laura posted early on Monday. Yeah, perhaps, yeah, have her post that agenda item that you have already. I already broke the agenda. 9 a.m. That's it. So, post it for 9 a.m. Admin: So, 7 o'clock. All right. Town Hall opens at 7.30. Admin: Alright, thank you. It shouldn't be very long time. Admin: Alright, so… Admin: We're going to take you through this override conversation. Sharon, I have asked her here. We… she's been hard at work,
Admin: as other members of the Uptown staff have, to start looking at what FY28's gonna look like. Admin: And then we just sat down on Thursday with the school committee, school department, rather, to talk about, FY28, and so we got their projections, their assumptions, and so that changes some of this conversation. That is the second packet. Admin: Okay. Admin: So you can take this home. Admin: And we'll… they'll be posted as part of the minutes of this meeting. Admin: So Sharon, if you want to take us through… Maddie's got it projected.
Admin: And I think you're gonna have to speak up to get over this sound system, the error. So… Admin: all of you at town meetings, you all have seen this slide. This is just what we had at town meeting about where we are with our reserves. So. Admin: We started with $17.3 million, or just over that, which was $2 million less than the prior year, so we're starting to deplete our reserves. And with all the uses of free cash since it was certified.
Admin: We end up just over $8.7 million, and then we have our general fund stabilization, and then also our income reserves. So we're about $11 million, or $11 million, which is 8.3% of our net available revenues. Admin: So this is where we kind of are before I calculate any regeneration for fiscal 26, since the year is done. So whatever that regeneration would be would be added to that $11 million. So if it's a $3 million number that I always assume, we'd be looking at $14 million, which is a $3 million.
Admin: reduction from where we've been. So, it definitely is… Admin: each year, it's getting a little bit worse in terms of how much free cash has got done. I think, like, 24 and 23 Admin: We were using just slightly more recap than we regenerated. Now, we've got a bigger, like, gap in between a $2 million gap last year, and it looks like we could approach the year, depending on what regeneration looks like. So that's important to note, because
Admin: bond rating agencies really like to see 15-20% reserves in the bonding. So, we really are… Admin: playing with fire, continuing on the path of spin off, because we could have our bond rating shipped from us if we don't get an override soon. So, the other thing that I should mention about the bond rating is you only do a bond rating when you're doing permanent borrowing. Admin: And if we were to go for an override school 28, I would do everything in my power to not let that second tranche of debt hit in 28, right? I banned for a year, and then we'd be borrow exactly what we need. You know how sometimes
Admin: projects when we borrow and we offset, like, we didn't survive, there's money left over, and then I have to transfer it. There would be less of that if I made advance out of no more buying numbers, because the projects would be huge organically. Admin: So… Admin: the Treasurer and I have been thinking about that as an option. Let's do a ban. We'd have to go out to the bond rating agencies right away. You can ask that? So, that's acronym. Do you understand a ban and a bond?
Admin: What? Admin: A ban is a short-term borrowing. So, when you do a permanent borrowing, which is a long-term borrowing, you always have to have fraud rating. A ban is a short-term, year-lust borrowing, and so… Admin: We don't need a block rate for that. So, for our free cash lines by $3 million, or, you know, we… Admin: have an override year in between when we might be able to regenerate tasks to make it so that the bond rating is jeopardized, because every year it's been a crash. It's definitely been one of those. If we regenerate, wonderful, but if we don't, we're really putting our bond rating at risk in
Admin: Ahead of some of the biggest bombergs we've ever had, so it's very dangerous what we're doing. Admin: Well, it just… the bond is where we sell bonds, right? Admin: He issued debt. Admin: That's… it's almost like a mortgage, but it's a quick issuing. Yeah, and that's why we have to have the ratings, how… which I'd like to… Admin: So that, do you want to explain… what's the difference when we went to a ban? How is that different? I thought it just made sure it turns on. Yeah, but we borrow that. Admin: It's a short-term borrowing. When you do a long-term borrowing, they want to know
Admin: you know, kind of financial update. Where are you at? What is your status currently? Admin: And if we really care. Admin: I think I had asked the question of the bonding agent, if we were to get downgraded, what grade? Admin: I've lost over a million dollars in interest. Admin: Hold on. Admin: To be able to straight down. What's the interest rate bias to do with the payer? Admin: person. Or… Admin: Is it higher? No, not… not really. It's… it's just… it's just another instrument. A lot of people will ban everything until the project is complete, and then they temporarily borrow. We've always been on the…
Admin: the entire time I've been here, I feel like the interest rates have been pretty low, so we've always tried to borrow, thinking it would never get lower, borrow the whole thing up front. Now that the interest rates are more Admin: a little more variable, really want to pick our time very wisely about what we choose from. What's an example of the current rate? Or which one? Or… Admin: I kill them in Rico, what? Admin: Percentage group, Admin: We're paying 3.3-something… Admin: For our bond. So, yeah, we're already… we bonded the first tranche of debt, and it was about 3.3, so you're really looking at…
Admin: Thank you. Very well. Admin: tens of millions. No, I know, but still, I was… But what you're talking about… Admin: going, you know, being downgraded, there's a significant dollar amount difference in the interest rate that they'll see. The band usually is in the same vicinity, not terribly different from what a permanent borrowing would be, because we… they still look at your bottom fee, you just don't need it upgraded. Admin: you don't need it done every time you issue a ban. So that was… that's what we've been discussing. Hopefully, I mean.
Admin: Obviously, if interest rates were to drop and it was more advantageous, that would be, you know, hard for us. So there's always a lot of elements at play when you're borrowing, but knowing this override being a problem, we can talk about different options in terms of, Admin: you know, having a multiple choice on the ballot, and that's always an option, but then I had mentioned in the beginning, kind of, not multiple choice, but multiple options for other communities have done it, where they're like, okay. Admin: a $5 million overbride includes this, a $7 million override includes this, and then people think they could say no altogether for their… they could take the work that they're most capable of. We'll find more about that later. Yeah.
Admin: But then another option is, to have Admin: the amount that we want, spread it over a course of several years, so that, you know, if debt was to evolve in that same year, it would be as impactful. So, let's say it was 9, so over 3 years, I'll take 3 million. Admin: So, it spread it out. So that's… those are some… some of the ways we can talk about structuring it. Admin: But definitely a conversation we need to have at this point, because I think we're really there. Can we also do a little analysis of the cost of borrowing? It is like refinancing your mortgage multiple times. There is… there's a specific cost, right, with working with our…
Admin: issuers, who each have a high-level summary and Admin: So that we're aware, and then potentially also talk meetings somewhere. Admin: So, you mean in terms of that conversation that we have with the bonding agent about our options? So, when… Admin: Oh, it's the project. $3.1 million that you did on one year borrowing, it cost $90,000. Admin: That was just interest. Yeah. So, so you do have, you do have interest that you're paying interest when the amount as large as it's supposed to be.
Admin: Yeah, so interest may be… Right, but there's also the cost of doing the bond. I'm telling you that I'm not confident. Admin: Oh, no, I'm not saying that. Your question is… Admin: what's it? Difficult issuance cost, 20 grand. And I don't need it now, I'm just wondering if you have that information. The issuance, the first project debt was, like, $400,000. So I just think it would be helpful… It's not a small, it's not a small… Exactly. It's $400,000.
Admin: is that… Admin: $380, and then a $20,000 fee, or, like, what… Yeah, we can get that for you. I don't know how it breaks down. Yeah, we were paying our bonding agent. S&P does our bond rating, that's our campaign. Because if we borrowed 38 times, we're paying 38 fee. I wouldn't… I wouldn't… I know, I'm… Sharon. Admin: You know what I mean? I just… I'm… I'm thinking in that direction, because… because of the trend of our free cash falling, I really don't feel as comfortable, even going into this last tranche, that we would stay in AAA, see that kind of lost
Admin: I love the tranching approach, and the try-not-to-order approach. I just want to be cognizant, and have us be cognizant, because there are always trade-offs, and one of the trade-offs I see is Admin: Or refinance, not refinancing fees, more loan fees. Issuance fees. Yep. Although, when you say that refinancing fee, I feel like more people will understand that. I know it's not the correct term, but I… Yeah, it's like refinance. Yeah, it's like… it's usually less than a permanent bar, because, like I said. Admin: have to have a bond rating called to do a permanent borrowing. That access to the cost of the borrowing as part of that task.
Admin: So… Admin: And the other thing is, is the treasurer is the one that kind of decides, you know, we do that together, but the law says she's the one who decides how long we run our… all that stuff, so that's, like, part of the conversation, so… Admin: getting us both on board where we seem to be on the same page. So that's important to know. Admin: So the next… Always bring that to us. Yes, absolutely. Admin: But then in the end, it's… it's her call, so what comes to you is usually what… what she's agreed, right? I can't cover things on her. No, I guess it's my point. I mean…
Admin: But she's on the same page. We're both very sensitive to the timing of this… this override in borrowings, and just trying to manage it in a way that makes sense and lessens the pain for the business. Sharon, to that point, you just said something interesting that I want to, have them understand. Admin: when you're talking about banning the debt, the interim, and keeping the second tranche out of FY28, Admin: There would be interest for that. Depending on the timing of when I did it, there could be interest that would be showing up if it's still 28-foot knockers.
Admin: Right. So, so with that understood. Admin: This is part of the move that we're looking at November. Admin: Or a book, is that correct? Admin: I think it just would be easier to build as part of it, but for… to build fiscal 28 without knowing if we have an override, it's going to be hard. The numbers are what I would need to build a structural deficits for it, and it's hard. Admin: I mean, sometimes what you'll see with an override is they'll build two budgets, one with an override, one without. I would not want to build that budget without an override, because I would be highlighting positions, because in order to get down to where we need to be.
Admin: mass layoffs that we would have, and I don't want anybody to feel job insecurity. I feel like Admin: That's part of the strategy, is not have that conversation in public, or not have a document that highlights anything that we need to feel about. Admin: So I don't totally appreciate what you're saying there. Admin: But to help, in my opinion, to help residents understand that I think we need to build Admin: And I know that's not an easy task, but I think people need to realize Admin: We are the layoffs that are gonna have it. Admin: maybe not… Admin: position-specific? I just don't know how you build the budget without being obvious. I think that, especially on the town side, everything is done by department. If I build that budget, I tell them how many positions I'm putting forward.
Admin: I don't know, that's where I'm a little bit… it's not just you two, right? It's the two of you. Oh, no, it's… You're like, these are the hard cuts, no, we're gonna have to meet. Yeah, and I think people… there's… there's a… there's a mindset that, you know. Admin: we spent willy-nilly. Like, there is that mindset, not all people, but I've definitely heard it, and I think people need to realize teachers may be on the line. Admin: these officers, firemen, DPW, like, I think they need to realize Admin: The reality of what it looks like if this doesn't pass.
Admin: But what's also interesting is some people think we have too many teachers, too many resources. So, I've heard that during the election this year, like, got too many of this, why do they need a new car? So, I think people's perceptions of… There's a lot of the town spent its money Admin: The education part of it is important, because… and we hear it during the budgets and midterms, that three-quarters of the town does not hear it. So, when you try and answer the people that are giving you the false information, face-to-face, you're like. Admin: these cars with Pennsylvania B and C, they're like, no, they don't really, you know, it's the education part of it, so I don't know if that will help you understand what you're… because I agree with you, but is there a way to… I mean, the way I would do it, in general, would be… I'm sorry, did you want to comment? No, I'm just wondering.
Admin: No one pays attention to local governments left. Admin: One slide per day. Can you build an argument between September 10th to November X. Admin: Does that give you enough time? Admin: Get message out to the citizens. Admin: for the fall. Admin: Because that's a point of clarification. Are you talking a November town meeting presentation? A former election? Or a vote November 26th. So, an override is called by select work by town, so we're talking about a November path.
Admin: So that's. So that when we're building 28, they'll really already know whether it's… So we need a special Tommy to talk about it. Admin: No, town meeting doesn't do it, it's, for public development. Admin: So the question in the origins. Admin: Yeah, because you're not really voting on next year's budget. Right on the ballot? Admin: Can you get… It's not a good idea. Admin: You do the boots on the ground required, educate citizens. By ourselves, without town meeting? No. In two months. Oh, from September. Right. Town meeting has no aspect of this at all. Because it's not an annual town meeting.
Admin: Right? All you're asking is for a valid question. Admin: Obviously, when you do it in the spring, sometimes the ballot question is either before or after the town meeting, granted. Because, to your point, what am I voting for? If I vote yes, I get what I got. If I vote no, sorry, throughout the door. So… Admin: My… well, I appreciate her concern about, hey, four of these people in this department are losing their job. Admin: as a citizen, what am I going from? Right, I agree. I think you can do the same thing, though, without actually building a budget that highlights
Admin: positions within a department, especially on the town side, it's very transparent where every dollar is going, and so I think that I can't build the budget the way you're looking at. The board has to vote to put the valid question on the ballot. Admin: They're gonna wanna help. Admin: all of that. But you could say the number of positions are actually building the budget that would highlight who they are. The budget's a million bucks, but it's going to be 800,000, whatever, right? No, it'll be… you have to identify… we're going to communicate this, we have to identify what's at stake. Yes. What is at stake? Because what do you get if you vote yes, and what do you…
Admin: Can you do that in November? Admin: And my experience, on 2 months, you can't get everybody to… Admin: It's not too much. We're starting this conversation, because he's right, everybody takes the summer off. I don't know, I… This is Reading. You don't pay attention to Reading in general. But I guarantee that we don't want this thing to pass, let's definitely ignore town meeting. Admin: I guess, what input would we get for how many that would change? Yeah, fine.
Admin: I'm just looking for buy-in, we explain it to them, and we have an army of 186 Admin: who are also like, I don't like it either, but here's what's at stake. So otherwise, it's the five of us. It could be an informational session, but you don't… it's not required, is what I'm saying. Right. Yeah, so I understand… I'm surprised, but… but I… Admin: This has to be a coalition. There's a silly question that I don't have to ask you. Can you… Admin: I totally understand what you're saying, but to Karen's point, if we called a special town meeting to get that buy-in, essentially, and understanding of what's going to happen.
Admin: But there's no real vote, either. Well, what's the difference between getting Town Maiden to buy in and bringing the residents? Well, I do understand… Admin: First of all. The town meeting would be a town meeting if there's nothing on a warrant photo. Yeah, that's exactly my point. It would be an information… Right. I'm sorry? Information's gonna have… Admin: So, we have… I'm actually…
Admin: She wants it on the Dallas did. I'm not… I'm asking you, because I don't live here. Admin: On the second week in September, after all the little kids are back to school, you're gonna have two months to educate people. I don't know how big your home is. Admin: And you're not gonna have a venue. Admin: Except if you have a lot of it, you're gonna have to have all these as your point. You're gonna have to have all these meetings, and… Admin: To educate people, and you don't have, you know. Admin: Gonna do the neighborhood meetings, gonna do the public hearings, gonna do all that stuff. Oh, look, I have team, we have strategy. I'm not worried about that. We've been very transparent, even when we were asking for two schools, that an override's coming soon. I've never failed to make that clear on every time I open my mouth at any time. This is not a surprise. I mean, people have taken it very seriously.
Admin: Yeah, I think, I mean, people got up at town meeting and spoke of the override as if they're already convinced of its need. So, well, at any rate, I think we're getting a little bit ahead. So, I think it would be good to kind of go through, and let's have the board look at the numbers, look at the structural deficit, and let's have that conversation first. Admin: Before we start worrying too much about logistics right next step. Alright, so the next slide. Admin: Can you scroll it up? Because I can't really see it. Looks like it's… Yep. Admin: There. Hold on. Let me fix this. Here… Let's go.
Admin: Thought. Admin: It's here… Where is hide non-meeting? Admin: Recipients here… That's you. Admin: No. Admin: Elf? Admin: Much bigger, so now you can scroll up a little. Click on the participants at the bottom. Admin: There we go. Now I get that. Admin: Is it bigger? Admin: Yeah. Can I scroll to the next slide, what does it look like? Admin: Good luck. Admin: Very complete. Okay, that's good. Admin: Yeah, you can't hide the… These are the… these are the same slides that you saw at the meeting anyhow, but essentially, this is kind of projecting out, our reserves compared to that 7% minimum that we hold with, red being the minimums and blue being what our actual reserves are.
Admin: Fiscal 26 and 27, are estimated, and I say down below what I'm using. So we actually used $8.57 million in fiscal 26 when you include the 6. Admin: 475 for fiscal 27. If I were to spend another 6.475 in fiscal 27 to support fiscal 28, Admin: That… that is where I project we will be at the end. Admin: So, it absolutely does not look great. I mean, because we're right in line with a 7% minimum, and bond rating agencies want 15 to 20%.
Admin: So, it's definitely… the decline in free cash is going very quickly, and that's why I would advise that 28 be the year, that way I'm not using that 6.475 to still 27… have an override by that time. Admin: So, it was called Alex. 6.7 are because of the events that we asked them about, so they can. Admin: No, the 6.475 is what we're using in fiscal 27? Yeah, we use fiscal 7. Admin: That's right. Well, a lot of that is, you know, police overtime, $900,000 is supposed to be started off at $6 million. Then, if you look at the prior slide, you can go back to the,
Admin: Okay, grabs me. Admin: Sorry, fingers came here. Admin: This one? No. So you see those town meeting votes right there? The 405-246, the $1,686, and the 64… 6.475, that's where the number comes from, because that's what's been voted since town meeting, since the free cash has been certified. Admin: And that's where that number comes from. There must have come out of free cash in fiscal 26, and that's where that comes from.
Admin: So… so that's how we got to the 8 point, and it could very well be that way. If we were trying to get another year out of fiscal 28, we could very well be in the $8 million number. I mean, snow and ice was a big surprise, so… Okay, so let's go back to the, Admin: Next slide, that one. Admin: So you can see, like, yeah, here. This… this is showing us free cash used as compared to free cash regeneration. The red is regeneration, and the blue is free cash used each year. Admin: In the earlier years, you can see that we're using a lot less free cash than we're regenerating. And now, as we get up to the more current years, the blue line is above the red, meaning we're using more free cash than we're regenerating.
Admin: But you can see in 23 and 24, it was just slightly, so free cash wasn't going down that much. But the fiscal 25 now, we're at an… we're at levels of free cash where we cannot regenerate, and so we have $2 million that went down for fiscal 25, and I would expect at least that much for fiscal 26, so… Admin: It definitely is not a comfortable space to be. Admin: Now, talk a little bit, too, about how historically we have Easter Cash purchased fire trucks outright, and now that they are so much.
Admin: So, taking a million three, or whatever the cost in these states, right out of free cash, directly… We don't take it out of free cash, we take it out of our operating budget with free cash support, so kind of indirectly, but yeah, I mean, we… So, we talked about a policy. Do we need policy updates where Admin: And you've always said our internal watering threshold, we have plenty of bandwidth, sorry. So… Admin: We had talked about potentially borrowing more for things like a fire track. I mean, most communities do borrow for a fire truck, but we've kind of been able to build it in because we have that discipline built into our budget of 5% debt and capital, so there's always at least $3, $4 million of capital.
Admin: Saving cash out of our budget. Admin: You know, we could buy ourselves more time by spreading it out and borrow it, but every time you borrow, there's interest to borrow, it costs money. Admin: So, it… and then there's also the insurance cost as well. But we've been able to manage, but now that a fire truck is over a million dollars, it's something I would probably be borrowing for going forward, so speak. Well, they gotta nail down their prices. I mean, over the… yeah, over the last few years, I feel like we went from a $600
Admin: For a $700,000 higher tax, and now $1.3, $1.4 million. So they've doubled in cost and just varied. Admin: Or, frankly, so… And kind of something. That's also creation, yeah, different cookie. Admin: So this is, the history of our Profit 2.5 overrides, and this was the slide that I showed last year at April Town Meeting, just to make people aware, when they were voting on those two debt exclusions. Admin: that it's out there. It definitely has to happen. So, in 1993, we had a $2.4 million override. In 2003, 10 years later, we had a $4.5 million override. And then in 2018, we actually got an override for less than the last one.
Admin: That lasted 15 years. So, time value of money, I feel like the one we got in 2018, is too small, and we're lucky that we got 10 years out of it, if you ask me. Well, and in 2017, it was, what, $7.5 million that failed. It failed, yeah. Yeah, so… Admin: I was hearing that with sales, and then we did an analysis in 2018 to bring back this number. And I have all the survey research data that we did at the time.
Admin: Because… there were the 2017 overarching today. Admin: It was very big. It was a number, it was… it was like most of us going to the school department, and so when we went to the 2018, it's, there was… it was town and department, modified ask, and it was also, with the attention of the last few years. Admin: So, it was supposed to be a 5-year. Oh my gosh. It was supposed to be 3 to 5 years. 3 to 5 years.
Admin: And it was very swift. You knew exactly what was being approved in each department, you know, what positions… what positions were supported. Admin: That's to my point, what I said earlier. But I think that's what passed that last time. I think… Yeah, people knew what they were going to lose, or knew what they were going to keep or gain. Admin: It was… yeah, well, it wasn't… there wasn't so much of, we're going to lose this many positions. It was more like, you're keeping this many academic coaches, or, you know, this many…
Admin: It was definitely a piece of what you were gonna lose. Yeah, with that, yeah, you're right. They definitely had more information about what they were gonna lose at the second. But it was also… we talked a lot about trust. We talked a lot about, they have to be able to see whatever's proved actually happens, so that accountability… 100%. So that has to be part of Admin: the value proposition with this next override, is we're very clear
Admin: about what we're asking for, you know, and how long we want it to last. This was supposed to last 3 to 5 years, we're well beyond that now, in part because of COVID, and in part because we've had the free cash Admin: you know, bandwidth to support us this long, but we can't… we're really… The big thing that you have to mention Admin: Yes. Admin: partially what you said. It's the ARPA money that came in. That's why this existed. Admin: The school's got $2 million for the literacy. That would have had to be added somewhere else. That alone is just completely hosing your whole budget. Well, and they're getting to the point where they need to do with other curriculum.
Admin: But fortunately, they, the data backs up that, which is very wisely. Admin: What was that? Data Expo meeting that was presented on the school budget, Joe Bentley. Admin: It's a good curricula, all of the… grades and everything. Admin: have gone up significantly since 2023. Yes, we, John. Next slide. Admin: Oh, quick question. Admin: So, Sharon, you think that's… I'm curious, so our budget's now… we should talk about percentages, too, in comparison. So, 132…
Admin: Whatever weak number we come up with, it'll be helpful for people that are paying attention. Admin: to see back in 2018, that 4.150 was roughly what percentage of the budget at that time? Okay, that makes sense, that makes sense. Yeah, I don't know that we took that approach, but it definitely, would be helpful. It would show respect. Put it in perspective. Absolutely, yeah, okay. Absolutely, it would show in respect. Admin: This is hard to see. Yeah, I can only scroll up so much, or it flips to the next slide. Oh, really? Okay. Well, we have it in front of us. We have it in front of us. So, this was what I had sent you, but this financial forecast is, is,
Admin: since changed after meeting with the school department, so I originally thought that our free cap for fiscal 28, if we didn't do an override, would be $7.71 million. Admin: And so we're gonna bypass that for now, because we're gonna go over the forecast at the end. It actually changes and goes up, because of the things I've asked the, Admin: The school department to give me. Admin: So let's move to the structural deficit, because that might be easier. Admin: Let's see. I think… What is that? It's the,
Admin: After the financial forecast. It's the accommodated cost. So, we are able to control how much we spend on our operating budget. It's the way that we build our budget is, Admin: you know, accommodated costs are taken off the top, and then we split the budget, and that's where that percentage comes in, 3%, 2%. Admin: Yes. Yeah. Admin: No, it's a different slide. Admin: Oh, you're pulling up the whole… Not that, no, no, no. The, I haven't got to that yet. I figured I would go over the structural deficit, then I would show up.
Admin: 14. Admin: That's, like, the last two pages of the… Big pump. Admin: Is this… Yeah. Admin: Yeah, that's okay, I wasn't… Admin: There we go. I got it. Got it. All right. There you go, so then the last… Admin: So this is the forecast. I'm looking for the PowerPoint. Yeah, that. Okay. Admin: So, I thought it would be helpful, but the area where inflation has hurt us the most, that we've had very little control, is our accommodated cost. So, I thought this would be helpful to show you, kind of, where did the number come from? Where did the structural deficit come from?
Admin: So what I gave you is all of the accommodated costs from fiscal 20, actual cost, and fiscal 25 through fiscal 25, and then I took the net difference from 25 and 20 to see how much it had changed. Admin: And then the expected, which would, I assume, at least 2.5% a year, or 15% for that 6-year period. Admin: And the difference is above the 2.5%, so that would be building on our structural deficit. So if you look at Admin: Retirement, $2.4 million of it, or $2.358 million of the structural deficit is related to… because that means that it went up over 2.5% by that much for each year.
Admin: And so, that's how this is built, is to try and come to, okay, if we assume everything goes up around 2.5%, could even be 3, how much of it is above our expectations? And that's what that last column is, is… Admin: The net change between fiscal 25 and fiscal 20. What percentage it is, you know, of a change. Admin: what… what is the expected change, and what's the difference? So, take us through one line. Admin: All the way through. So, like, do… So, if you were to look at retirement… The top one, yep. The actual expenditure is $7,168,640. The next column… $7 million. Yeah, $7,168,640.
Admin: And the net change is actually the difference between what it was in 25 and what it was in 20.4,182,630. So that's where that $2,986 ends. Admin: So it's gone up 71.5%? 71%, yes. So, and then the next column, expected net change, that's 6 years we're looking at of actual, actual Admin: expenses. So if we assume a 2.5%, because we have a Prop 2.5 budget, I put in 15%. What's 15% of that first number? And that comes to that 627,395. So that's the… that's what we would have hoped that our increase was.
Admin: But our increase was $2,986, so the difference between my expectation of what really was real is $2,358,660. So… Admin: So, that's a… that first line there is very telling. That one there was a big bopper for us, because I think that the last couple years, for sure, we had Admin: an 8.33% on our assessment from the Retirement Board, and so that, that one really hurt. So every, every two years, the Retirement Board gets, an update on their, liability and funding schedule, and so
Admin: There's a lot of things that happen at those meetings. They change assumptions, so there's mortality tables, so if people are living longer, that changes your liability. If we… if we change the discount rate that we assume that we'll get on our investments, that will change the liability by a lot, and we did. We increased it down to 6.75%. Admin: So there's a lot of things that play a role, and it causes the liability to go up. And so then they're trying to fund a bigger number in the same time frame, and so sometimes they're forced to push out a couple years.
Admin: Or insist upon higher interest rates. So the last round, it was 8.33%. They increased for 2 years. Every 2 years, they do it. Admin: But it disproportionately hit the general fund. I remember the general fund Admin: about HIPAA number that was 16% higher, because there's… Admin: RMLD, water, sewer, stormwater, and general fund. Admin: we have more employees in the general fund, so that 8.33 difference kind of hit harder on the general fund than anywhere else. So it could hurt even more in this fund than it would hit anywhere else, because this is the number that's hitting the general fund. Is this number with what we voted on?
Admin: Two weeks ago, the health insurance, the reduction. So will this go down based on that? You have zero set on this number, the retirement board decided… No, no, I'm just saying, under… under the health insurance? Like, health insurance. Admin: Is that number who'dar? Admin: change that we made. So, so that's just an example that the contributory retirements change was definitely a huge difference for us, because we were looking at almost $2.4 million more than what we would have expected if it went up 2.5% every year.
Admin: So that's generally what you're seeing. In some cases, you're going to see negative, which means that it's lower than expectation. Like OPEB, you can see that line is lower, and that's because Admin: we were forced to, when health insurance was going up, do less of contribution for OPEB. And so, in general, in the benefits area, we got 2.231 million of deficit just from those line items that make up benefits. Admin: Does that make sense? Do you think that that's gonna jump even farther at the end of this?
Admin: Checks. Admin: I do have fiscal 26 there now, but it's hidden because it's not a complete year, so I don't quite utilize it, but… Admin: Yeah, I mean, it went up 14%, so yeah, it's only going to grow more. That's why the numbers keep getting bigger, how much free cash we need to fill this structural deficit every year, is because some of these expenses are not stabilizing, they're continuing to grow. Like, I felt like we were really fortunate the first few years. I felt like we kept our health insurance in that 4% or 5% range. Admin: And then last year, we got hit with a 14. This year, they were going to give us another double-digit number, had we not done the same changes that we did.
Admin: So, those plan design changes are going to help us, because I think it's going to force a lot of people to HMO, with the relativity-based relative PTO and the HMO. It's also going to, like, Admin: we have a deductible, so it brought it down 5.17 just by doing that, so there's a lot of things that really are going to help our budget a little bit with that agreement that we agreed on, but… Admin: you just don't know, you know, and then, like I said, we don't have control of what the retirement board does, but every two years, I'm on the retirement board, but I'm on the private board.
Admin: I was not a figure of the 8.33%. I knew how much that was going to hurt, and then when I came back to them, we just recently did it. This year's fiscal 27 is a 5.3. I was able to get down 3. Admin: Yeah. What was gonna say? I just… we need to move, further, we need to move on. It's 10 minutes to 11. One thing I wanted to point out, too, special education at the bottom page. Admin: Out-of-district tuition looks like it's going down. Admin: But you gotta look at the next page. I thought we were gonna… I thought we had time, so I was gonna go through it all in detail, but we could… we can do that later. I just want to get too far.
Admin: You're right. Admin: Okay, so… Admin: In our accommodated cost, this out-of-district special ed, that's a piece that we take off the top, the school department, versus the budget buster either. It's something that Admin: We don't have real control over how much things go up. The tuition at other private schools that we might have to send our special ed students, we don't have a lot of control, and that's why it's so complicated, and it's nice that we do that, because we share that… that… Admin: that liability, that growing liability, and then you split the money after. But when you look at this, structural deficit page, you'll notice, if you're looking at the out-of-district, it looks like it goes down there to 2020.
Admin: there's a concerted effort in the school department to try and spend more money on special ed internally so that we can keep them in district. So what I felt was important information, even though it's not our accommodated cost necessarily, is to show you what Fed in district and out-of-district in total is, and it is up Admin: $645,000 above that 15% corporate debt over the 6-year span. So they definitely have taken on more in district. So, but SPED in total is up 19.61%.
Admin: Huh. Admin: 2.1 million would be expectation. $645,000 is above expectation. Admin: So if you look below, I broke it down, that's… that's total. With the in-district and out-of-district, that's net. But if you look at… I break it down further and say, how much did in-district go up? 1.5. Admin: But because Scott of District went down, the net is $645.
Admin: And I think that it was very misleading, and that's why I felt like you needed to have that important piece of information. A lot of work is done by our superintendent to put funding internally to get more of our students to stay with us instead of picking up parents who cost us a fortune. Admin: And that we have no control over the cost. But we don't want you to think that there's a trend out of the strip costs going down, that you are spending that money, it's just being spent internally. Admin: Yeah, it's really important. Admin: Because we always want to be able to service our kids. You notice here on the right-hand side, in fiscal 26, I used $6 million of free cash, and your structural deficit on the far right was $6,072,246. So if you were to look at this in detail, you could see the actual lines that blew up in our face that caused this problem.
Admin: So this is the… put in a little bit of the hole. Admin: That exists, into which you can fill it, and it buys you to nothing extra. Admin: You're just filling the hole. But then you don't fill this hole. Admin: That's a lot of jobs that get cut. That's a lot of jobs. And when you keep in mind, school departments, two-thirds of our budget, about two-thirds of our budget. A lot of that comes out of our school. Admin: And our schools are incredibly important. But I tell you, we… because we have a failed override, I think that Judge Harsley, if we made something for two characters. Like, correct. I would think that the town would still take out. That's not the good splitter money. You know what I mean?
Admin: And so, yeah, we haven't had that conversation, but it's just really important to understand that you're baselining Admin: it's a little over… it's over $6 billion, baseline. So if you're talking about an override, your baseline is only $6 million, just so that we're all on the same page. Admin: That buys you nothing, except it stops the bleeding. Is that fair? The hold that inflation has created your billing is now money that we generate in here. Absolutely. Admin: So then… Admin: So, she was talking to this… about this earlier, but let's talk about it briefly now, and we'll have more… many more conversations.
Admin: But what we're hoping that the Select Board will do is, Admin: October and over time, and we'll pick the date, and we'll go through that whole process, and we'll workshop that, and we'll have those discussions. Admin: What we're planning is to provide a multiple-choice option. So the department heads are working on their budgets. Admin: to do that level one budget. We haven't had a conversation about what Level 1 could be in a few years, because we've seen there's a structural deficit, Finance Committee has said, this is your guidance, and so it's basically like, you gotta, you gotta start here. So, part of that Level 1 conversation is.
Admin: you know, what's the high? If we were to go for an override, and we're going to do a multiple choice, what's the high? Admin: Then there's gonna be, you know, maybe we'll do three options, like Valgrum's Diff, there's a dental, and then there's your, your baseline. Admin: And so residents have a choice about what… What they're… what they're comfortable. Admin: Versus… and I think that gives us… that puts us in a better position to have. Admin: a successful… And not have to… Admin: you know, another budget. So, your department is right now already starting their, their, their Level 1 budget prep.
Admin: We usually don't start that, you know, either. It starts with capital. Admin: So that's where we're starting, is to kind of get that number. Admin: You know, and then talk about what those consequences are. What is it by? We're not talking about increasing headcount, dramatically, I'm not hearing that yet, but we might see some of that. It's important to note, for example, that the police department hasn't had a manpower study since before Jordan's Furniture was built. Admin: So we have added so much more farmers, so much more housing.
Admin: In town, and particularly downtown, with, you know, multifamily, so it, it's… Admin: Where once you could have, you know, a police… a police officer on duty do a detail or help out there, there is no bandwidth for our on-duty officers at all. They're always on calls, they're always stuff, so responding to incidents and accidents and so forth. So, Admin: So that… that's something that might be coming, right? But we need… those are the things that we need to talk about. Admin: And then, sort of the austere version is.
Admin: you know, your base… your base amount. You know, so, bottom line is to get by. Admin: The bottom line is just survive. Just to stay where you are. And keep a small amount of freedom. And that only gets you a year? Admin: Well, that's what I was… that's right. That would only get a year if we did that baseline. That's right. So then the next tier is to get you longer period, or to… or to properly staff? I think it's a… it's a fixed… the middle tier… To get a 3- or 5-year, whatever you come up with. Right. The longer term, so you're not back at the election.
Admin: Yeah, I think six is low. 6 is absolutely low, given what I haven't… that's gonna keep you dinner. Admin: No, no, no $6 million builds up the levy and stays up there, so that money now is now covered. You know, like, right now, the levy limit makes it so that you can only charge up to a certain amount, but if you get an override, you can add the $6 million Admin: million dollars of charge out to the residents. And so now you have a funding source for it that's not free cash, that comes every year. Because it becomes part of the baseline for levy benefit.
Admin: prior year bills. So I take the levy limit from the prior year, increase it by 2.5% plus growth. And so that's how that property tax number comes to being. Admin: So once you build it into your base, it's always there. That $6 million doesn't go away, it's always there. It's a $6 billion by… Admin: I don't think the $6 million is available now. Where's the number is? We don't know, but wait, there's more. Okay. I don't think we got to all of them. You haven't? No, that's the next part. So…
Admin: If you could bring up that financial forecast, we had a conversation. I thought the number would be the $7.7 million that you have on the one that I sent you, but after speaking to, we met with the school department Thursday after. Admin: And they gave us a list of, you know, what does your fiscal 28 look like? Now, we've all had to run very meetings, so I expected that every department's going to need to add some things back to run back to where they were before we started to go through tight times.
Admin: And they gave us a listing here on the front page here. This is what they gave me in terms of what they were… what they made as assumptions when building their numbers. Admin: Then they came back to me with an increase of 5.55% to fund everything. It's kind of like a… Admin: level of budget for them. But to fully cover everything, they're saying 5.55%. So when I try and get to this number, the financial forecast. Admin: I end up with a fiscal 28 number of $9 million, so I put these numbers… Right there, Laura.
Admin: There you go, okay. I did a 4% budget. I did a 4% budget, how do I fund you? There you go. Admin: That's scary. Admin: Up there on the pictures. Admin: Hang on that. Don't like that. Admin: Out of the way. Admin: So, yeah, so you did… Well, I assume that a 4%, which is a healthy budget for us. We don't always get a 4%, but that would allow for some of what we've cut over the last few years to come back to us and be afraid of a normal budget, because we have been cutting, cutting. I mean, especially on the downside.
Admin: So, I figured, okay, let's start with a higher budget than what we normally get. We normally don't do a 4%, but a 4% gets us close to the number they need. If you scroll down to community priorities. Admin: In order to get them to the number that they're asking for right there. Admin: Under K, Community Priorities, I needed an additional $783,000 Admin: for the school to start. That's the number that they're gonna think they need for fiscal 28. These are all preliminary numbers, but I think they also… It's also very, very… this is very conservative, it's very… So, say that again, I'm sorry, Sharon. Under community priorities.
Admin: That $783,000 is to get… is for the school department, just to get the numbers that they're saying that they need. Admin: And when we say community priorities, do you think of meaning, too? A community priority is something that we just agree is a priority community, and I think that we all agree schools, kind of Admin: are extraordinarily important in parent bedding, and that people want to support them in the efforts that they're making schools being one of the top… So it has nothing to do with any other priority for seniors. No, no, it's really a priority in terms of… I feel like the one thing that we all share is that
Admin: The schools do drive your property values. The value behind those schools being as good as they are drives your property values, so that's for all residents, whether they have Admin: kids in the school or not. Great point here. No, but it definitely is totally… I mean, you see a lot of people stretching to be here, because they want to send their kids to school. Admin: But we… your point, they're seeing a chart. Admin: It's true, but at the same time, like, they still enjoy the appreciation of the property.
Admin: That's all I'm saying. So they all share in the fact that that… so the school district is bringing value to the public. The way that the community priority works is it shows up in here, and then the next year it's built into base. So this is a one-time bump up within our internal budget, and then it shows up in base. Admin: What is that? Admin: I can't hear what you said black. Oh, on the first piece? Yeah, she said. Admin: This is just what they gave us, is the assumption was that curriculum increases, non-personnel budget increases, I don't know. They're just telling us that when I asked them to come up with just kind of some numbers in terms of what do you need this budget to look like? Because if we're going to go for an overall, we want to make sure that the number that we pass for is sufficient.
Admin: So, I can tell you… so, curriculum increases, they have to purchase textbooks or digital curricula. Admin: For their, their… either T-Jobs, so that's… Admin: Whether they have to buy? He didn't get details. No, tech renewal, budget, so that's $142,000. I think, I think these ones below it's how we break it down. That's what I'm talking about, yeah. So, the $142,000? That's like… Admin: Yeah, that's like computers. They bought a lot of computers with money during COVID, and then… and they're aging out, so they're actually having the computers go, but we have a one-to-one environment.
Admin: So everybody gets issued a laptop, and so it's expensive. And, but it's kind of… It is, no, the world has changed, and then, transportation increases. Admin: Thank you, Karen. This was excellent, I look forward to additional. Thank you so much. Enjoy the event. Can I ask a question on the transportation? I mean, it's the smallest number there, but it's not that… but regular day transportation, we only have to boss… we only cost kids that are two… More than 2 miles. But there's an increase of that?
Admin: Like, more kids, or just a transcript. It always goes up, it's a 3-year contract. I negotiated that contract, but we only ever had one. Admin: one bidder, it… Transportation. Admin: contracts are a scam, insofar as… there's a quote. No, it's because whenever… whenever a school department puts out a bid for transportation, only one bus company ever omits a bid, right? Jeff, it's always been.
Admin: Because it's, Admin: They all… it's kind of like… They work together. It's not collusion, but yeah. Collusion, but it's not… Admin: And the other thing is, obviously, it doesn't make much sense if you request comprehensive files. Yeah, right. So, they kind of all have circles. You don't likely to get two bits. Admin: You are lucky if you get two bits, right? We only ever get one bit, yeah. Got it. So, can I ask a stupid question again? And I'm sorry that I'm not understanding this correctly, but… so, like, this FY18 budget with an increase of 5.5, which… 28.13.
Admin: But, so, I'm still on this community priorities thing, so what is that 783 cost? It's the difference between the number they asked for and a 4%. They've asked for $62,823, this total here. Yep. That's the number I needed to fill the hole. Like, I didn't think the town would need 5.55%, so I couldn't just go up there and put 5.5%, have it spread Admin: I don't think we could afford the number that would come up. So, $505,000 is what the typical Admin: would be for the schools, and they're… you're saying… Where are you seeing the 105? Oh, no, that's what we had. There's $25,000 in community priorities in there for, sports, and what's the other thing?
Admin: Wow. For some reason, I was like, no. So I guess that's my question, that's exactly my question. So, we put Unified Sports as 105. What's in that 783 number, is my question. It's just the difference between the total. She put in that number. So, they asked me for $62,823,983, which is the 5.55%, but I did not want to take a 5.55% for the town side. I don't think we'll need it. Admin: So what I did was, is I put a 4% up above. Admin: the difference between a 4% budget and what they've asked for is $700. Got it. Okay, thank you, Beth. Yeah, no, all right, thank you. So we've spent the entire year saying 2.5% plus new growth, roughly 3% of the town budget, and then they come back to school side.
Admin: And say, here's 5.5%. Admin: This is 5.5 on operating, 5.25 COBOL. This is, a very conservative budget for them. This is not… Admin: looking for great big things. It does have some, Admin: assumptions about their… they're looking at 3% increases for their Teachers. Admin: For all their personnel, except for their parents. Admin: small group that they've been… They've been very appropriate for one.
Admin: and so, yeah, this isn't an aspirational Admin: Because at first, that's what we thought. Admin: Yeah, but they're carving… they're carving this out with these negligible numbers of grid scheme, the entire budget, except their number is now over 5%, so… Admin: Where… Between these low numbers, because you add all these numbers up, hey. Admin: Between that and what they were last year. Admin: Wait, what was that number exactly? So what you're seeing, they're looking at putting a 3% COLA on top of their steps and lanes, their, their classification chart, if you will.
Admin: If you're familiar with the school teacher salary chart, the steps that, like. Admin: So every, every year you're in, you get an initial step. Every, for graduate work credits towards master's degree, master's degree, master's plus. Admin: So on. That's a lane that changes where you're paid, and each step and lane has additional Admin: money's built into it. So as the teacher moves through their career, the chart, and they become better teachers, and so forth, they are higher up on the chart, and then their cost of living adjustment. And I think they said something like 60% of their teaching personnel sitting at that top step.
Admin: So that means they only get a COLA, which also means they don't have… so that extra, as the other teachers are moving through the… Admin: That's on top of that 3%. So there… Admin: Across the board, the teacher's gonna get a 3% between all the steps will be sent in that hour. No, no, it'll be sent, and then the steps. So if the steps are 2%, they're getting cut. Admin: Depending on where they are, it could be… But 60% of their team members are at top staff, which means all their bids. Everyone's essentially getting 3% plus on top of what they would have gotten as well. Unless you're at the top. Just so that we're clear, this is a projection?
Admin: We have not started negotiations with any of our unions. All of that in the fall. All of the contracts that we have right now… Yeah, we're making assumptions. …expire 2.30. Admin: Oh, that's on 27th? Admin: Alrightness. Admin: So is 9 million really the number? Admin: No, I'm not saying 9 million is the number necessary, because we do historically have about $3 million of regeneration every year. You know, usually that's, like, a low ball number for us, but I wouldn't feel comfortable bringing pre-cash use down to 3. I would like to see it at least at 2, so I would say your low number is 7.
Admin: For an overlook? Yes. Admin: I feel like it's just, like I said, it's like, the longer you wait, the bigger the number. That's about a 6% increase to the average tax. Admin: $105 million. So, 7. So, right here, you said an average home would pay $500 to $600 for a $5 to $6 million overreact. So you're really looking at more like $700 for an average home. Admin: For an average house. That's, like, about $89,000. So, essentially, the dollar figure would be over is worth… so if it's a $9 million upride, it's $9.
Admin: That $9 million, though, does not include the additional cost for the retail center for those additional costs, which is about $700. So I think the average is a little… Oh, for the average valuation? So… No, it's $800. Oh, yeah, I was gonna say, it's actually… Admin: I cook it by 900 y'all pair. Admin: I thought I got something from facilities to add… you know, to… Oh, you're talking about the operational cost related to the new buildings is another $700,000, I thought, but I don't… Is that in there anymore? No, it's not. That's those, yeah.
Admin: Yeah, that should have been on the ballot of approved. Admin: But I tried to tell people, we mentioned at the town meeting. Nobody mentioned this to me back when I said we should all be on the same ballot, so that full transparently, out there, that… Admin: That's not my saying. So, so… Here's a… Admin: So, 7 million, say, let's just say, 7 million. Admin: Status. That's a lot. But that still doesn't operating cost per… Admin: We could add the number as high as 390 is showing and still be okay, because most years… I would… the entire time I've been here, there hasn't been a year that we have not regenerated 3.
Admin: Yeah, but if we do that, if we say that, we're going to be in a pickle sooner than the beginning. Yeah, I would prefer not to do it. The numbers are scary. I mean, as they are, they're scary. I don't know how you deal with this. I mean, it would have been nicer if we dealt with it before, because we would have had the override probably this year, and we didn't have anything there. You know what I mean? Like, it would have been… Admin: like… it… I think we're all so worried about how people would… Admin: look at those to get exclusions that nobody really wanted to deal with this at that same time, but this is the consequence of weight.
Admin: It's bigger. 7 million is the sooner ticket here at a free cash. Admin: $7 million is assuming that I'm going to balance the budget, or that these $2 million. The other thing is, you've got to consider, most communities fund their capital with their free cash. Admin: $2 million is a low number for us for capital. $3 million is what we're doing at a 4.5% budget, you know what I mean? So. Admin: you could look at it like we are kind of spending that $2 million on one time, because our capital's built in, and, you know, and those things, but every year we do capital, so I look at it as what time we're doing, and set in a disappointed 5% for our budget desk capital. So whatever that difference is, when we go back out that
Admin: The debt service that we owe, that's the amount… that's the number of spent I have. Admin: So it… it definitely… It's not comfortable. The numbers are getting more out of control. It makes me very… Admin: So, regeneration-wise, what is our usual sense of regeneration? Admin: It comes from various spots. What I'm noticing on the revenue side is the investment income. Admin: Is an area. However, I was forced to take a piece of that, like, $400,000 to cover the bi-weekly recycling, or the weekly recycling from bi-weekly, because when we were looking at the rubbish contract, I was like, oh, my God, there's no way they're gonna go with weekly. So I… the numbers we were building into the budget were 20%.
Admin: Technically. But technically, we ended up at 39 and a half, and I had to leverage that… that… some of what we would have had in regeneration investment income, because we don't like to rely on the investment income, knowing that interest rates will likely fall, and we don't know how fast that will happen, or how fast we'll start to lose revenue in that area. Admin: So we don't want a full reliance on the full number. So, I'd say over the last couple years, we've been getting about $4 million of investment income. Admin: And in fiscal 27, I'm at, like, 3.3 as my estimation 3.3, so I'm really only getting $7,000 of that, so I took if I get 4 million. That's if I still get $4 billion, you know, so it's… Right.
Admin: And the other thing is, a lot of it comes from open positions on the outside. So, when we are hiring, it takes us a long time to hire. Physicians stay open a long time. Admin: And that kind of also practically cash. I don't know if we're just not as competitive as other communities, but I feel like it's sometimes difficult. Sometimes we have to go out several times. Like, the engineering position, I think they had to go out several times to… Well, we're not Philly partners. Oh, I know, but in general, in general, some of the positions are very different. Admin: So you said a building commissioner was hard. That was her. Yeah.
Admin: Peace. Admin: save money for nutrition. But with this budget that we just passed, and FY26, Admin: I mean, closer and closer to the edge of our reserves. Admin: That's less regenerous. Admin: So… Once you admit to see what a generation's gonna look like after you're right. Admin: I feel like overrides tend to, like, if they have asked… I know the last override, we had, like, positions being added. Obviously, the positions didn't get added at the beginning of the year. Admin: In every case, so if it was a large position because the position wasn't hired right… right at the beginning of our year, you have… you budget for the entire year, and you didn't have a person in the spot the entire… that first year.
Admin: have a lot of regeneration if there's decisions being added, but I don't… where we have a big structural deficit, it's hard to say what regeneration will look like, because we're just filling the hole that already exists, which is different from the last decorate. Admin: It doesn't seem like we're hiring anything. Admin: I mean, the only hiring that I can think of is the custodians or maintenance staff needed for two full-time custodians and, a new maintenance person. Admin: That's just for recap.
Admin: per kilom, joe also… he needs to show her agent's first. Admin: That's so excellent. Admin: Well, because he's… right now, he's really… he's got 4 maintenance people, but these are the people that fix everything in millions of emergency buildings. That's the benefits for, you know, for all of our buildings. Admin: And then we have sodas, of course, that's what your big thing. Retail, the whole ton of things. Admin: Well, that's what I was thinking, especially being in buildings. It would be a thought, like, to share that position early on. It's not, like, it's, like, one of them's a plumber, one's a carpenter, you know, like, you know, somebody who's a specialist in HVAC, because both of these buildings are on electricity.
Admin: They're all electric, so it's by trade, not by the, like, it's the trade, so if you have carpentry work that needs to be done around, it's the carpenters going around and doing all those work. Admin: Oh, so even with the new hires for Joe, they're not building-specific. They're not building-specific. Admin: In order for us to operate, recalc, the hours that we need to. Admin: Ideally, we need to have two custodians. We don't have to have two custodians. We can… but it's a brand new building, you want to care for it, you know, so…
Admin: Basically, you know. Admin: Right. Yeah. But because it's an all-electric building, and because Admin: you do need to have somebody who's doing a lot of this, this, you know, work with, moving the building around, making sure it's being maintained, et cetera, et cetera. So, on a day-to-day basis. But yeah, so those, those are the three, probably, four positions. Admin: In, facilitans that are really driving to their costs. Admin: So really, baseline for some points and stuff. Admin: But the benefit of that is they benefit all of it.
Admin: stuff will be taken care of quicker. Yep. That's correct. That's absolutely correct. So, we're saying the operating budget for retail is around $7.5%. Admin: I'm not looking at it right now, so… No, I think it was between the both buildings, not necessarily just facilities cost, but it was, like, the utilities cost. The insurance for the buildings, all the stuff. Admin: I could have sworn when I got from… from… Well, because I thought Greek cow was, like.
Admin: 4 or something. I thought that my 70-50 purple kind of makes sense. I feel good. It helps me. Admin: Say. Admin: But then the difference between what they pay for plans to then, it was about $400. Right, and then some of this offset by… I mean, Michelle said. Admin: I think they did a great job of being very conservative. We want to be very… 100%, but I think… imagine we had another pandemic and nobody's breaking. Fair, but recreation drives. Like, our recreation program drives.
Admin: You did a great job. A great job. And, like, I do think that that's… Admin: If we're gonna need them. Yep, and that's part of your return. Yes. Great to budget real quick. Admin: So… You see the magnitude of the pitch. Yes. Admin: So, can I ask a question? I guess I'd love your thought process on giving the option of three networks. Admin: By 3, and not 2. Admin: So we could do… but I didn't know if you had, like, a… Admin: So I like… It's just sort of a newer thing lately. You could… I don't… I haven't seen this except recently. Yeah. With other communities. Melrose did three.
Admin: And so they had a… they had a valid, question committee that put out information. The town can't… Admin: advocate one way or another, and just here's the facts, but they had something, like, Admin: repair, you know, sort of strengthen was their top one, so… They need them. They need them, yep. But it was really clear, sort of, what your options are, and I thought that Admin: We probably have a range that makes sense, where 3, you know, we have a minimum number that's really important.
Admin: kind of critical. We have a middle number that takes us a little bit longer and improves services a little bit more, and then you have a better number that's sort of, like, where the, you know, your department heads, your professional staff think that you should be, and you select work. So, you know, those numbers will come forward and make themselves, you know. Admin: We're working on it now, but, Admin: So I think 3 is usually… is interesting. Admin: To bring voters and records that they choose. Admin: So, Stoneham came in last year with a high number. That failed 14, whatever. 14.8, I wanna… that might have been Arlington, but they came in, yeah, it was, like, over 14. That failed. And that failed, and so they came in with two… they came in with multiple choice.
Admin: That were both lower. Admin: And they got the lowest. Admin: In Melrose, did they get the lowest? They got the highest. Admin: It's different communities, different set of circumstances. 100%, I'm just, I was just curious. I don't think… Two, yes. Admin: Or higher, upper. Admin: something at least passing. I think the three… Admin: I would make the argument that Admin: You can get away with it. Admin: with X, so now they're just… Admin: Going for one and grab the other two. Admin: Even though we know That's not the case. Sure. The mentality of…
Admin: a voter that would just go based off this alone. It's just like, they can get along with this. Admin: That… this is where I think I… I think that prices us up. Admin: But I feel like 3, if you're very specific about, A, how long it's gotta last, because the lowest is gonna last a year or two, but then after you're back again. Admin: Nobody wants to do that. And if you were very specific in naming them and saying, this is what you're gonna get, this is what you're gonna get, this is what you're gonna get, the highest one is gonna last you, it could last you 10 years. Admin: That will at least…
Admin: give a lot more information, and the education part of it is a huge part of it. I see your point. You're thinking of this logically. Admin: The end result is, how much money am I going to have to pay? Right. I don't care about it being. There is that… Admin: have a population that will do it that way, and it could be me, me saying, I do not afford that, I have to go here, even though I want to go here, with all the other stuff. But I feel like Admin: Sometimes, if they see all the options, they can make a much more educated guess of what they're going to get for their money. This is really what we want to know. They're going to get this with their money.
Admin: I think that's key, but… Can I ask another question? So the first tranche of spending, but not the tax bill, correct? What will the second tranche look like? Well, the first tranche is not unacceptable right now. It's coming in fiscal 27, so that's why I said that fiscal 26 would have been the perfect year for the overarching because nothing can't do until 27. Admin: How much is that thing? What's that for the average home for my main federal? Admin: Yep, no, I think the total for the whole thing is, like, what's… I don't remember… I said the first trial. I know I, I know I calculated it. Admin: Because we've borrowed $50 million per kilom, and we borrowed $20 million per recalp, so it's probably, like, 60% of the total, so maybe $600 for… That's the first trot for our total.
Admin: So we borrowed more than half the answer. Admin: So significant. Admin: Cool, significant fella. Admin: In total, it's $12,000 for the average home. I guess it just depends on how… what your house is worth. We're looking at $1,700 for the average-ish. Admin: Easy. The 1,000 plus the 7, yeah. Right. Yeah, but the debt exclusion setup, they gotta hit debt plus the 700. That's… Admin: And this is… this is what I was trying to say about CPA. Admin: And then 1% on top of the permanent.
Admin: Tax. Admin: 20% is… ends up being the overall. Admin: Center. Admin: Instead of you paying $10,000 a year, you get me paying $15,000. Admin: Just insane. Admin: Let's just keep doing it, because… It's sympathetic, huh? Admin: Yeah, so I got it by picking it up. Admin: Unfortunately, sticking to the fact that we need to tell people, if this doesn't pass, this is what needs to happen. Admin: But, like, the cuts are hopefully… I mean, I feel like the def… the fear of cuts at the school, the…
Admin: be, a bigger self outside, for sure, knowing that. Admin: Physicians will have, yeah, and what's the percentage of town? Admin: So that's gonna be also another part. So you've got 30% senior citizens, you've got 30% that have donated 40% that has gone to school. It's gonna be a money grab. Admin: I don't know. This 60% might be the louder voice than the 40% schools. Well, I think that's asking for so much money. We're gonna have to… Admin: Be a little more, specific on what will not happen if we go.
Admin: And we're going to be in a Lexington position of a $6 million… $600 million high school and trying to keep it. That's what the reality is. Recal's not going to be open the hours that people want it to be open. Well, unless it's generating money to support itself. Agreed. Unless it can be… unless it can be… Admin: Right. Even, cross, then it's not… right. So you tell me the debt on these buildings. Admin: It's gonna hit about $1,000. Yeah, total, or the average month, because there's two, yeah. Then you spoke,
Admin: Absolute bottom line of seventher. Admin: $800, or just to get by operating, right? And then, I'm thinking. Admin: A next tier to buy more time. Admin: Before the next override. Admin: So is that $3 million? That… I don't know anything about the budget. We haven't calculated back up. Admin: Okay, so… Admin: If it's $3 million, for example, I'm making up a number, that's another… so it'd be $1,000 for the debt, $1,000 for your tax.
Admin: Jed. Admin: That's where I got the 20%, because I'm $10,000, not two grand, that's… Admin: Let's present! So, despite your good idea, what is the higher difficulty? Admin: You were thinking of a 3-year tier. I was thinking of a 3-tier model. And what is the highest one, I think? Admin: So I think the highest one gets you Admin: where the town ought to. Because what the town hasn't invested in, what the town hasn't purchased, you know, it's maybe we put more local money toward paving, not just Chapter 90. You know, it's more… it's those kinds of discretionary things. Okay, more programming for elder, you know.
Admin: the Conservation Commission wants $30,000 to do, you know, work on their, on their lands. Like the fact that that's a great idea, do you think it has any political legs, even what's a patient? Admin: That's why you go with Sue, Jane. He's telling you, too. Yeah, well… What I know is basically… This board has heard, you know, appeals from the Conservation Commission. Admin: heard appeals from the council members, not council meetings directly, haven't talked about it.
Admin: were advised members across, and appealed for more money for programming. Admin: you know, so a lot of, a lot of ARPA funds. Admin: were put into our senior center, so they haven't had bees in a while, they've had lots of programs, so that's, like, now that has to be VE supported. Admin: For a lot of the programs, so that's… Back to how we used to do it before, but, you know, so yeah, you're getting a lot, heavily, for some of these more discretionary items that you don't want right now.
Admin: So… But they're not touching the money. Out of… Admin: Trust funds. Right. Any of the senior services. Admin: Correct. And there is hundreds of thousands of dollars that's not being… Why? Well, but the trust fund specifically states that it takes the interest. Yeah. Some of that, too. Burbank, you can… Not that one. It's meant for Probank. Admin: It's just been their policy. So, that personal agent has not… COVID to,
Admin: They're very conservative on how they use those funds to support programs, and that's a conversation that that board is having. Admin: Awful. Admin: But yeah, they have… Conservation does have a plus one, too, because I think I just saw that recently. Admin: Something happened. Admin: Consultation. Portrayals. Admin: Somebody's got some money. Conservation, man. Admin: But this trust fund with either Trails, Town 4, or something, but… Admin: Over 100,000 yards, and it's every scale. Admin: state. So I tax bill. Admin: next January. It's going to be the first time I see that gap. And it's only now. Yeah. Right, right. You don't have to see that until the 34th. No, I think we were going to try and get it on the preliminary bill, so it doesn't…
Admin: You do quarterly? We do quarterly billing, and so I'd said… somebody had asked, Karen had asked, when is that going to show up? I'm like, I would think it would come up January, because that's when the tax rate would be set, and DOR would be made aware of the actual, Admin: that exclusion of us. But there is a way, I asked the assessor, to include them on the preliminary bills beforehand so that they are not getting hit with a huge number, you know, like, it's getting spread throughout the Admin: 4 quarters, you know what I mean? So, that was the reason to try and get it on the preliminary bills. Okay. Yeah. So, like, it's a 20-year bar, and retail is a 15-year bar.
Admin: So as soon as that debt is paid off, it falls on your tax bill, which is the difference between an override and tax solution. You're only being charged until the debt is paid off, and then it goes away. There'll be another bill. So we only got the one-year reprieve from the high school and the library, yeah. High school library came out. That's good. Admin: At least, yeah, there wasn't building up, but still, the override wanted to come at that time. Admin: What's that? Theoretic nature of the models. Admin: You'll still be alive.
Admin: Give me gold? Yeah. Benefit of it. Admin: It's less than ideal. Admin: Thank you. Admin: But what's the pathways? But, Admin: I mean, this is a great preliminary book. Admin: What's up? Admin: Held down with it. Admin: the discussion. Admin: I feel like… I feel like President said, I'd say yes and no. I feel like to… Admin: Pretty quick experience, though.
Admin: If people really want to kind of keep us away over us for several years, they might be surprised. Admin: I mean, because really, we can't guarantee much right now. Like, you could give us that number, that 7.7, Admin: 7.75, and, you know, it only lasts us 3 to 5 years, because if things continue to go to where they're going for you, like, one of these things have stabilized and stopped growing at all big percentages? It doesn't seem like it anytime soon. Admin: So, us moving forward, do we, as a board, come up with a subcommittee about this, and send it to the select board? We can't talk about it ever exactly like this, because that's a smaller meeting.
Admin: I mean, yeah, you can have a subcommittee. Well, staff is going to… like I said, we're pulling our Level 1 budget together. Admin: We can do a couple different people present that to you, like, I typically do our budget, where we can kind of do the short version, or a little faster, where I'll… I'll structure that process. Admin: Okay, questions. Admin: There's a financial forum, I think, coming up in May, is that? Admin: Right? Didn't VidCon call that? I don't know. And then we talked about as soon as…
Admin: what the discussion was, as soon as town meeting was over, that we would start having information forms on the override to get prepared for a November vote. That's if you guys report, not us. When would we have to make that decision? Like, May 12th? I mean, do you know what I mean? Like, when is… should we really… Admin: I mean, we have to call the election. Admin: there's a certain number of days in advance your default report. We want to be well outside that window, yeah. But we would work with the court to make sure that we get that, and if we're going to try, we don't remember.
Admin: Yeah, like, I feel like those, but… Admin: Seems like healthcare is one of the biggest things. Like, we could have some $7 billion, but… Admin: we get a 20% increase next year. I do think the agreement put in place. Admin: But 3 years from now, we could challenge because of… well, every year we get a new number, anyway. So, yeah. Are you going to have this as a separate special election? Admin: Stayed out. Admin: It would be the two ballots at the same time. Yeah, I was gonna say you had to have… It'd be two ballots at the same one. I think that we have to try for November, because then I think we have a election.
Admin: I agree, and I think it will be very transparent. Even though I may be in favor of CPA, I think he's asking both her at the same time. Admin: In all honesty, it's… But he really needs you. Admin: Oh, yes, we can't see the… they have to be together, so as far as that, they may even go out and informed and have a public, you know, early enough. I think the start matters. I don't care if nobody's here in December, that's… that doesn't matter. That's why Melissa said.
Admin: They found that if they… Admin: whatever scenario happens, yeah, so November, we still have April, you're screwed. Right. You have to actually become positions. Right. Is that an accurate share? Okay. Yeah, so I think… I mean, if November were to fail, we would be probably presenting a budget that's, you know, with position spots, because now that, you know, you've got that Admin: town meeting vote, you know, not town meeting, but the town has voted and said, no, you've gotten that direction, that I don't care if services have to be impacted, get it down. That's what I do. Or we could ask again. I think sometimes people do that.
Admin: They have a failed over right in the back of a lot, so… Admin: So we could be building two budgets again. So… Admin: I just don't love the idea when the cuts have to be salaries, especially on the town side where it's very clear where you're heading. Admin: I feel like you're pointing to a position, and I feel like that's not the problem. I don't know how to expand that budget without kind of making people very… feel very vulnerable. But they have to know that. Admin: The number on the budget anyway. Admin: retain their position. We are not…
Admin: lowballing the numbers. Well, like, the charts, everything that we showed for the town, some of the positions are laid out right there. Like, you know, you see every position in some cases. It's definitely not a company. Admin: It's not… I mean, at least on the town side, because we show you all of that, I don't think that it's comfortable. I think people will feel like their positions have been targeted if I have to do that. Or you could put just a negative number, but they know that the department is targeted, and they start, you know, fearful, and that's just not the… That's gonna happen with either committee or whatever, that they or may not get…
Admin: Or, they're gonna do it. Admin: That's just the way that it's made. Like, it's gonna be exposed, who's gonna be cut, or who isn't gonna be cut. Some committee or something is going to do that. Admin: I don't know how you… I mean, I don't know… we didn't have this situation for the last override. We weren't in a situation like this, because even though we needed the override, we weren't… we weren't hiring some positions, we were just… But the poolside was. Admin: At the last over I know. Teachers knew it was fair. They knew they were… there was teachers that were gonna… Yeah, I mean… But to your point, it was probably not a specific teacher that knew it may fall on them. The positions that we were using, or that we were cutting, or kind of potentially cutting, were just not being hired, so there wasn't a body, right? Like, there wasn't a person there, like…
Admin: We, we kind of… Admin: downscaled by tertion, right? Like, we're kind of, like, okay, this position might be, can you go do a thousand fake, so we don't tell, we're gonna get over, do you know? That's an easier way to do it, because then you're not… Admin: I could explore the teacher scenario. Didn't we say we were taking, like, language out so those language teachers in the middle school knew they were going? Yeah, exactly the failed over, I don't think it came up before that. I guess that was kind of my point. Admin: I think that's why the first… And that was the superintendent saying that's what I thought, you know? Yes, and it came up to the funder. Agreed, but I think that that was, like.
Admin: for the residents, I think that dose of reality is helpful. Admin: Because I think they need to understand Admin: you get to vote on this, but this is what happens if this doesn't pass. I think they need to know Admin: how… what… and I think that was part of the problem with the first available grant. I don't think it was a reality yet of what would we lose, what would happen, and then that's… I think that we need to estimate how many teachers should go, how many positions on that type of specific departments, or just in general. I mean, teachers speak very well. You can calculate, an average teacher salary.
Admin: It benefits it, and just… we can calculate that. I think the three things that… Admin: In my opinion, critical to residents are teachers. Admin: In those areas, I would definitely… And I think those three things really make a difference for me. Admin: And what their community looks like. Oh, 100%, and also. Admin: Just because we also want to be really clear. Admin: That it's not… Admin: The budget is people. It's staffing, right? This is… local government is mostly personnel. But it's not… so it's not manipulative when we talk about where the cuts are going to be. We're going to be realistic about where the cuts are going to be. We're not going to identify individuals.
Admin: Sists or whatever, but, you know, the way it works is. Admin: The most recently hired teacher, the ones that are the first ones laid off. Admin: Right. Admin: So, they'll… they'll know. Yeah. You know, they will know, what's at stake. And, for programming schools that make the newer side that have Admin: possible that they need to go, and I think… I just felt over right like Tom, I said, I can't even guarantee you that sports will continue. Schools are going to be prioritizing, and that's… yes, I think that was some of that conversation, like.
Admin: say that a little louder. I think, unfortunately, those are good things. Things that are not, you know. Admin: The nice-to-haves, the things we want, but they are nice-to-haves, not… Admin: They come at a cost. They come at a cost. And so, yeah, to your point, we will have to identify Admin: What are the consequences? Admin: Of, of a… if you have two options, kind of dealing with the two options. Admin: The bottom line was, if you don't pass this, bottom line, this is what happens. And then, if you pass the second one, you get all of these people, like, 36 teachers or something like that. That's right. Not naming departments or whatever. No, no, no, no. If I started off with the two budgets, if I built the budgets the way that we normally would, it would be apparent with departments.
Admin: I think Sharon's point is it's maybe not the school-side safety procedure. More clear of where those cuts would happen. Admin: Yeah. So is that conversation? Admin: That's habit. Admin: Whatever the number is, who's taking what share? Admin: Yep, yeah, it's that conversation. And also, you know, does Select Board want to have it… have the cuts be apportioned the way that we apportioned the budget, or do you want to say the town side's got to make a sacrifice? Didn't we make a sacrifice last year, too? We did, we did. Yeah. I don't think… They… last year,
Admin: when we were sitting down to talk about the budget, I was trying to build this budget, we could afford town said, okay, let's do, you know, based on the town said, we built the salary piece, and the salaries are going up 2.75%, and I thought that was a reasonable amount for us to strive for. Admin: when I went to the school department, they were like, you can't do that, that's just not enough, you know? And so, but they did have some Admin: tendency built into their auditions to special ed. They had a few people that essentially go out of districts and be residential, like some expensive cities that were on there, and I said, okay, I think we're in a position where we need to leverage that spend stabilization fund, because I can't keep this kind of a number as
Admin: a contingency right now, and I would push that number back the other way onto your operating budget. So I said, okay, let's go to a 3% budget, and the town will stay at 2.75, but we'll give you the $75,000 we would have gotten to get their operating budget to, like, a 3.43. Admin: But there had a district special effort down, so the net ended up being 2%, but the actual offering budget went… went up 3.43, and that was us kind of taking sessions, that that's an important piece of our budget. This is probably the highest number of employees in the units that are in school.
Admin: So, we took that concession. And in this case, even in fiscal 28, we're doing that as well, saying, community priority, we will get you to the number, this is what you really need. Admin: I'm willing to put it there, because we're able to make the numbers work, right? I would imagine we could probably get them to get this number down a little bit. Maybe they, you know, they may be assuming certain things, but maybe they have to do less. Maybe they've got to assume lower cores. Maybe, you know, like, there's got to be some things that they could do. Admin: But I figured to start the conversation, I'm going to put in… this is exactly what they've asked for. So this is how much that
Admin: Structural depths, it becomes just in there. Admin: I think you have to carve out what the community priorities are. Admin: Because that just makes it look like it. Admin: It's this unknown number. You have to break it up between schools, it's all school. But you have to say that. Oh, I'll definitely… Otherwise… Admin: I could just make up whatever it is. Oh, yeah, I mean, it's not… it used to be not common that we used it at all. Now, it just seems like here and there, things come up. We were using it every year to fund full-day pay. I said, okay, I'll give you $150,000 every year for the last 5 years, and that's how we funded full-day pay.
Admin: Because that was embarrassing. It fell off of the override, and we still were charging some of the highest tuitions for full-day K of any of the communities in Massachusetts. It was just straight up embarrassing. And so I'm like, let's find a solution. Admin: And so Tom Wise did the work to figure out how much… how much do we charge, and be able to reduce what's needed out of this revolving fund, and use the money that she says that she'll commit for however many years. And so that's how we did it. That was a huge priority. We really wanted to be able… you have to make sure that that backstop's bill.
Admin: filter to their face now. Admin: It's in the base. It's in the base. It's always in the base. So when I put something in as a community priority, then I put it into their base for the next year. And so each year, I gave them 150. The next year, when we're building the budget, I add that one budget. In theory, as good as that was. Admin: The cut scenario could be cut Admin: free full-day kindergarten. They could. I mean, I don't have any control of what they decide. I would hate that, because it's so hard to get there. But that is for the side points to retain. You may not, you know… That's or bad. To me, that's…
Admin: almost a luxury, but it's not a luxury. I think there's really more communities in Massachusetts that charge. It is hard to… it is hard to have that continually brought up, and it's kind of charging the highest level of tuition, but… Yeah, the school committee will have to do the work. Yeah, it's not up to us. $4,000 would… Admin: Daycare is costing you $2,000 a month. Admin: It's a market. Well, when my… When my kids were there. When my… yes. Savannah was there, it was like $2,000 a bit.
Admin: I pay for $1,000 in a heartbeat. Admin: 17 years ago, I paid $2,000. I'm like, so did I, my son's 35. Very frugal. Admin: Oh, you got some great… What's the timeline now? Admin: That's the beta. Admin: Get this to a November valve. Admin: You're gonna… So… What's your vision? Admin: Oops. Admin: So, we're gonna have, Admin: The department has… I'm hoping by… my plan is by the end of the month, we'll have faculty up on… we'll have something to present at the financial forum.
Admin: meeting on Thursday. And they have this back work, I checked, though. Admin: Ideally by the end of the month. Admin: So come June, we'll have another conversation with the board about, okay, what… what is the high? Admin: of the high. And then I'm not… they're already… they're… they know they're asking for things that I will cut. Admin: Again, but just… we haven't talked about whatever this thing is that really needs to be funded. We haven't discussed it as a community, so let's have that conversation. So it's in… it's in the ether, and we understand that this is something that we needed, but we're not having it.
Admin: And then we can start to refine what the override ask will be. Admin: We would… have some community forums. Summer's not a great time for that, but… Admin: It can refine, it can inform, that's our time to build our, you know, the information. We already have a tax calculator on the website, so I'll, update that once we come to final numbers. We'll come up with a final number in probably August. Admin: And I sent you that link, Jane, about… was it Stoneham or Andover? Has their entire financial thing online? Okay. Oh, Clear Rogue.
Admin: Yeah, whatever it is, like, for transparency. Yeah, that's money. That's money to spend. But once you get it up there. So would you expect to select the one to take an official vote? Admin: early September, late August… I should say. Admin: And pick the date. Admin: Okay. Don't you call it sooner than that, so that we can be done in more information sessions? Admin: One basket, so forth. Admin: We can't… we can't ask them to, but if they… we can…
Admin: If we have an understanding, maybe it's a preliminary look that you're going to pursue an override at this date or whatever. Admin: you know, we can still have those information sessions, but give them time and the staff to kind of… we need to refine the number, we have one. I remember for the last year, right, being in a financial form to select board. Admin: Please don't forget that. Admin: Yeah. Admin: But that's what we want to talk to different. Admin: State. Admin: outside. Admin: My husband's like, that's not the meeting? It's until after midnight. We've watched it on TV. This is local government for you, I know it's happening. I hope you've seen midnight meetings happen back then, too, you know? No, but I remember being on the phone until after midnight, because I'm, like, a half an hour away. Do you have a question?
Admin: Folks, sounds like you got? Game plan. Admin: And then, direction. Admin: Obviously, a lot of refinement. Admin: a lot of hard work by the staff. I know. …and the schools, as well. Admin: What's present ultimately to the board for… I was… Admin: obviously was not involved in class override, so I don't know how the board's a committee works. I'm like, will the select board have a meeting with Finn Compton discussing? Yeah, you know… There'll be another one. Well, usually those financial problems bye-bys.
Admin: It's just kind of run by PitComp. Admin: Like, I mean more interactions and conversations happening between the three boards, like, school committee, finance, and that topic is the overriding fund that we need to stand for this. Admin: Just because that's the conversation. It'll be set up with all the boards together. Okay. You know. Plus, you get inconsistent for the box, how long they take a certain level. Yes. Yeah, those are the conversations. Those kind of conversations have happened. Admin: between the select board and all boards… I think we need all three there. I think we need school select board. Yeah, I think we need the conversation, all three of them.
Admin: You need all three to go 3 on the top. Admin: Yeah, I agree. You gotta be all in the same… whatever that is, you all gotta agree. Admin: Then have your pitch as to why this is critical for the quality of life. Admin: Yeah, and Eric, is September too late to have that number, or is that the magic time? Admin: I don't know. Admin: Can't remember how far. Admin: We'll probably be growing the center. Admin: I just don't want us to get behind the e-ball and Instagram. I know, but I'm, like, one of those more information is better, so I don't know if I'm your… It's very sweet. It's very possible, you know.
Admin: Book rights also fail from February 1st. And then you have to go back and build two budgets if you go again in spring. I'd like to avoid that. That's what started. You would like to avoid that. They have a great, great idea for how you avoid that? Admin: It's called L1s. Admin: That's not the only thing, because you could still go. See, the last step, the CPA failed, it was on the ballot. Exactly. Winchester passed CPA, the following year, the road ride failed, the boundary cutting all the stuff… I think it was, like, 20 votes.
Admin: But it's not easy to pat your ass because we've asked so far. Ask for two guided solutions, and then come back and suffer an override, which is why I felt the need to continually say it, or if it was getting any leverage at all, like. Admin: My God, just know that there's one coming. If you're figuring out what you can afford, keep that back in mind, you know. Admin: So not everybody… not everybody's watching Financial Times, not everybody… by some way, so it's like, that's scary for me, for people to see that coming. I would see that. What made the deal right last time on a survey question was? How do you get your…
Admin: So what we look for, people get their information from their parents. Admin: Before anything else, they get registered, which isn't always good. Admin: Correct. Yes, because there's not even accurate information, there's a lot of… Admin: perspective and opinions, yes, then that, and that's the problem. Well, you also are elected officials, and you can advocate in ways that town staff cannot. We will put all that information… Wait, can we advocate for an override as a selector number? Admin: Oh, you can, you can. Yeah, there are certain singles coming in. Is there individual?
Admin: Yes, you can, yes. You can… but you have people who elected you. You have your panelists, you have the town staff, it's very… Oh, yeah, think about it. Admin: You're in a neighborhood, you're talking… Admin: Well, you brought? Fax. Yeah. You're saying… Admin: You're not saying… you don't have to say a vote yes or no. You say, this is what happens under A, this is what happens under B. But I feel like that's not always how those conversations… No, I understand that. That's the… yeah, you get a lot of opinion included in that, but yes, you're 100% right.
Admin: Right. So we need to get those, like, fact sheets together. But we'll… we'll have all of that. We'll have all that fact, all those fact sheets, you know, our operations. You can… you can do that. We'll do a video. Admin: Or two, those are, I'm not sure. Admin: Would you like a budget video? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so it'll be something along those lines, very easy for people to understand, so that we're also meeting the modalities. Some people are visual learners, some people are audio learners, some people are tactile learners, we're trying to meet people where they are, and give them information, smaller or larger buckets, so that they can find more, if they want to go deep.
Admin: 5% of people that want to go deep. So, most people, you know, you want to be able to answer their questions. Admin: There's one major correction video. It explicitly says, we are not asking for an override CSU. Admin: Well, for FY27, we're not. We hear it, it doesn't matter. I know people don't think of fiscal. We're presenting a budget that do you think that fiscal 37 does not exist. Not asking for an override issue. Does it mean… Well, that budget, that video was made for,
Admin: Yeah, and the tricky part is, is there are just things that Admin: I don't always understand, even. But, like, so we gotta try to, like. Admin: making it as simple and clear that everyone understands the terms. Like, Karen said earlier, like, the word refinance. Most people understand refinance versus, like. Admin: the issuance, or banned, or what it would be. I know for bonding, when you're refinancing, it's called a refunding. Yeah, so, like, sounds awkward. That would mean anything to anybody. I was like, what do you mean, refunding? There's tons of terms that we need to be.
Admin: use more common terms that people understand. Yes, if I say refunding, we basically mean refund. Admin: If you're an average citizen, oh, we have free cash. Yeah, yeah, no, you're right. What do you need more for? You're right. Admin: That's right. You're right, the messages are… Okay. Admin: That's it, there's a couple of items left on the… Admin: I don't know, put them on, or… Admin: They are Karen's items. I will share. They aren't, they're yours. They're mine. No, Karen was in all.
Admin: I don't know the answer for boosting community engagement and resident participation. I do think it's something, especially right stuff that we need to figure out. Admin: I think… I don't know what that means. That is, the number one thing everybody always says, right? So, yeah, 40 is a… Well, because there's been a drop-off in public participation in public life generally. Admin: it's a struggle every town I go to, saying, but how do we get more people involved, and… Admin: Number, their measure of success.
Admin: No. Admin: Certainly, you should have a lot. Between now and November, I hope you have a lot of community engagement, but were you thinking more about volunteerism? So I think, Admin: I think our volunteerism has increased. Volunteerism has increased, I think, and I'd probably rather go down the number 8 to focus more on number 7 to 10 questions. Okay. But, Admin: I think community engagement is a combination of, let's say, you know, vote yes on the overriding my… or my neighbor can vote yes for the overriding front lawn, and my other neighbor goes, what the hell's going on? So it's kind of, you know, there's a certain population that has the local payment that they get, there's a certain population that creates
Admin: Chris's information channel, there's some coalition that watches Taylor's channel, and so I don't know how many more different channels there can possibly be. Admin: to get the information around. I think Jane's podcast is going to be a really good information part. I… Town Manager Bennett is a huge thing, so I don't know if we have the ability to do that. We… we have a lot of channels for a unit. We put a lot of information out in a lot of… Admin: And it's gonna be trying to sort of meet people where they are.
Admin: You know, one thing that we do that tends to be pretty effective for this company is a water bill. Admin: So you get your water bill, and then you also get, like, the TDW newsletter, which is great, let's create a bill online. Admin: And you have it set up so you don't have the payment, the bill, or you have the bill, or they don't get stalled. So, you know, it's really hard for us to be renters. Admin: My mom lives with me, and she gets no information. Admin: Well, you should tell them. And I was like, I'll say stuff, and she's like, wait, I didn't know that. It's like, oh my god, I'm not talking to myself about that. The problem is, the very day you have. Everybody has.
Admin: 8 different ways to get conveyed, versus there used to be one or two. One or two. And so, people choose now, and so you have to spread it so far. Admin: It's a… it's a challenge. It takes a lot of staff time, it takes a lot of… Admin: But also in community engagement, like, finding a friend for office, like, that in itself is getting really hot. I just think that's a whole different… that's a whole other animal, I think. It's only a meeting every two weeks. That's it. That's right. It's a Saturday night.
Admin: So we go to line 8, which is, I think, even more interesting. I attended an MMA webinar about our internal customer, which I believe is directed more town managers, but I'm watching this, and I'm like, this really has to do with us as a board, as, like I said earlier, closed down. Admin: I think that… Admin: The community… the committees that we have, we don't really show appreciation for all of this wonderful talent we have, and that moment, the staff.
Admin: But with the community… the committees that we have. So I'd like us to try and develop some kind of way to recognize that in some way, whether it's a coffee quarterly, just to say thank you for having to see us in a different way up behind a table. Admin: And it was a really interesting, Admin: Webinar, if you cannot save this. Admin: Like, some of the different things I took out. Of course. Admin: Talking to staff, or anonymously, or whatever, is they're in the crux of what goes on. Admin: We don't see what they see, and we don't know what we don't know, so it'd be nice to be able to either have them give us suggestions anonymously, or pick their brains about how they see when it could be better, that we're just not seeing. We're seeing it from the president.
Admin: Word perspective, as opposed to… Admin: or in town hall, and see stuff that we are not putting chips, we're not doing the job. Good. And then, I'm gonna talk quickly, because then I'm gonna… Admin: How to show appreciation for her. Okay. Who hasn't arrived. Well, you know, I feel pressure. I mean, great idea, but so… Admin: My 5-pounded staff. Admin: Versus, they work for her. Admin: Well, that's… so it really is in conjunction with how to help Gene
Admin: how to support change. It's more a support thing. Okay. And picking their brains, if they find a great idea from a Linfield. Let's say they live in Linfield, and that Linfield does one thing that we don't know about. Why would we not want to know about it to see if we can perfect tomorrow? Do you mean a town government or a town hall? Admin: whatever. It could be just residential, or how do they get more people to attend a… Admin: of beer fest town hall. But not necessarily, like, how they're doing things at Town Hall, like… No, because I'm confident… Yeah, okay, that's what I'm trying to understand. No, I'm confident that they know what they're doing, but sometimes we can help them make their jobs easier, especially this upcoming ride season, like, it's gonna be…
Admin: really hard on them, and I'd like to at least try and support them. Admin: At the same time as being at the top of the helm, as they say, but to help them out in some capacity, that will make your jobs easier, because it's going to be held for them. And so, Admin: negotiation… Admin: what does the staff see as priorities? Like, sometimes I feel like Jane pairs a lot of stuff with staff, but we don't necessarily hear it. Not that we need to, but if they bring stuff to you that you think that we should kind of know about, I think our weekly meetings as a compressed. However,
Admin: We really, this year, like, brainstorming sessions, which I think is really good on that. Admin: a survival guide for surviving attacks and racism that are, like, different ways to help people understand how they can save their money, like showing seniors. Admin: Don't know that the circuit breakers are around. Admin: It's a whole population that we just don't know. Admin: and at the same time, Admin: Because we're all going to be super focused on one part of it, I think that we need to have an element of not stifling the creative part of organ a channel.
Admin: And enabling them to think creatively, oh, might not be something that we need to do now. Something huge, takes years and years to accomplish. But if we start the ideas now. Admin: You know, and it's part of, like, the strategic planning. I don't want people to see… Admin: Chuck, that was the beginning. Admin: I don't feel like I understand what our plan is as a whole security capacity. Where do you see the board of the town in 5 years? I have no idea. And I'm pretty bald, so I feel like if we could talk about or figure out how to
Admin: What do we want to see? Admin: over why I put aside, like, your wish list of, I'd like to see… I don't even know what I want to see. You know, Admin: One… one thing you can do, and maybe, Jeff, you can talk a little bit about goal setting as board, because the board hasn't really done any board goal setting, but part of what it… the board sets their goals, right? Maybe you have three priorities, maybe Egypt has, you know, five, but… Admin: together you have three big priorities, and maybe, and I'm making this up, it's affordable housing and, infrastructure improvements, and, climate change.
Admin: And that's what I'm missing. So you have broader goals, and then you set town manager goals that mirror Admin: your broader goals. And so then I take those goals, and I break them down, and I say, okay, we have Admin: Here's what we've done in the planning department toward affordable housing. Here's what we've done, in DPW to plan for infrastructure. Here's how we've realigned the capital… the capital plan so it looks more toward infrastructure. Here's where we can put one-time monies. Admin: for, you know, infrastructure improvements that matter in the downtown, like, whatever it might be.
Admin: you know, here's how climate… we were planning climate, energy savings measures for the facilities department in these different ways. So if you have your goals. Admin: board. Admin: And then you give me my goals, it's trackable, it's accountable, and then when we talk regularly through the year, I'm updating you on… on where I'm making progress, making goals, and that's not making progress, and then when you review me at the end of the year. Admin: not a surprise, we all know how things have been launched, you know what I mean? Yeah. So, I mean, is that… Yeah, no, that's exactly right, you know, usually.
Admin: Cops. Admin: I'll send out a questionnaire. Admin: What are the three goals, say, next one to three years, and then five… That's it. George, and thanks. Admin: We write them down, then we collate them, and then, okay, we're not going to do 15 things, but what are the priorities? And some are going to have a 5-year, you know, 5-year changes, oh, but just, we're done with this tomorrow. You know, that's… Admin: or economic development. Some things just go on for a long time, and other things have a specific thinking. And then the board decides what their priorities are, obviously.
Admin: Some of those might be… Admin: what's prior, you might actually have some action items, but 80% of it's going over here, and that's where Admin: It's her priorities. Admin: Because 80% of our… 90% of our life is just the day-to-day. Admin: Right. Running a big, giant organization, but the other 10% is… Admin: the board wants the town in this direction, and that's what I'm gonna get. Those are the five things I'm gonna work on this year, next year, until you change… we've either accomplished it, or…
Admin: What changes what they want to do? Admin: And then at least you have a game plan, and then you put that out, you agree on it, you vote on it, you put it out to the citizens on your, you know, select board webpage, here's my, here's a game plan. Admin: Just like every other plant I talked about, that everybody else does. Admin: And that at least helps people focus. Now, obviously, fiscal stability is everybody's goal, every community. Right. Or sustainability, because it's gonna never go away, it's not going away in 50 years.
Admin: So, that's something you can go through. Admin: Give you a sense. Admin: Yeah, I mean, that might be one of the group. You could, you could, like, what does this look like? Board goal setting? You could do your meeting in July, if July's quiet. You could spend more time on… on your July meeting, on board goal setting, and talking about the overhead. Admin: kind of keeping that, because without these goals, and we've seen this a little bit, right? Without these goals. Admin: everything's a priority. If nothing's a priority, everything's a priority. And yeah, the next crisis shows up, and bumps, you know, and then if they've had 200% of their life, they could accomplish
Admin: Right. You know, you want something, you want something, you want something, but what's the one point? Admin: Yeah, right. There's only so much bandwidth in the organization. Well, and, you know, we have a slightly smaller headcount right now, so, Admin: you know, those are factors. Like, what does the board want to do, so that we're not… Admin: We've, we've, we've kind of… Admin: jerked our way back and forth to kind of… alright, we've done good work on, like, water and sewer rates, you know, and with the second water heaters, but that wasn't, like, a board goal, it was a reactionary response to suppression pressure. Right, and we've gone… we've done good work with it, but it was like, we're pulling resources off other things to focus on that.
Admin: So, instead, a part of a proactive approach to what is… what is the board, what do all of you together? Admin: is important. Admin: And then, it's maybe broader. Admin: but then I go and say, okay, well, if climate issues are… we're doing community composting, we're doing good labor. There are multiple ways we could look at different parts of Admin: Here's break. Admin: So yeah, so we can… I guess it's the planning part that just… you're right, in my office, I'll get it done, unless there's an accounting emergency. Look how many accounting emergencies happen today? That's the literal truth every single day. I worked from home the other day because, yeah.
Admin: hot garbage. I work from home, thinking, oh, I'll get a chance to rest. I work till 9 o'clock, and all night, and, you know, and that was just… stuff keeps coming up. That's the nature, that's the gig. That's what you sign up for. I'm all in. I love it to that. But, Admin: you know, we want to take… be able to carve that time out. So if you guys do your goal setting in July, and you can Admin: You know, get a previous agenda, send in goals, different board members to the… to me and the chair, and then we can work how that… frame what that discussion looks like, you know.
Admin: And then, then you have it. And that's roughly… probably getting a cramp, that's all I'm doing. Everybody's responsible for meeting their own units. And so… so then, by the time it comes around to when you need to do my evaluation. Admin: next June, July, right? That's how we started the contract. Got about a year. Yeah. Right, so that's… that's why I made some of those changes. Does that make sense? Yep, totally. So you have a roadmap and a plan. Admin: And, you know, if you're setting those goals in July, as you talk to members in the community.
Admin: As you listen to what other boards are saying, and how people are reacting. Admin: some of those goals will become more obvious to you, and it'll become more obvious to all of us. And so, come July. Admin: That'll be part of the marching orders that you're gonna, you know, see in the overarching request as well. Admin: Well, again, so the hot… some of the hard part of that, no instant gratification. Admin: I agree. I think, you know, whereas when you give somebody an award or whatever, oh, everybody's still good, but something might take 5 years, and you might not be on the board, but you're gonna stop the ball rolling, and people pick it up. Well, I think, I think…
Admin: Appreciation is a good thing. Appreciation's a huge thing. I know we talked about teamwork earlier, but it's also… staff is our team as well. I think they're a bigger part of our team, and so I feel like the appreciation part of it… We started community small. Admin: Hi. Admin: But I think it would be taking it to a different margin. Admin: We can go some water up. Admin: A little more accessible, a little more accessible, a little more… Admin: we can have a nice laugh, and just kind of humanize him a little bit.
Admin: I think culture. Admin: The other thing about polls, not only is it that Brewer questions and responses. Admin: In the commute, in the staff. Admin: So everybody in the organization stands for them. Admin: Beyond the day-to-day, what the focus is. So when people come up and, whoa, whoa, well. Admin: Is my focus detection. Admin: Well, it's a great way to message when you try to move it down. Admin: Can I just talk one quick thing on community engagement?
Admin: mention this capacity. It's small, it's not… Admin: I think it's small, but one of the things that I even recommend that, like, I'm pretty in the know if you go on our website, is, like, meeting schedules. Like, we do not have a calendar, a town calendar, that has small town meetings on it. Admin: Like, it's… it's not in the future, or… yes, like… Admin: before, like, as they're coming up, so people… because people have said to me before, I didn't even know they had… when their meetings were. And it's kind of tricky, because there is no central location of where all of those various boards and conservation… well, conservation's pretty consistent, but, like, all those boards
Admin: times, places, meetings, there's no central location. Well, some of the webpages have it, but on their own. So some towns have one web page. It does, but there's no centralized calendar that has Admin: when all those meetings are in one place. Oh, good. Yeah, because you have to click through each board and committee to figure out when the meeting is happening. So, that's interesting. So, what we have is a community calendar. We have two calendars on our website.
Admin: One is for meetings, and those are only the ones that are official meetings that are posted. Admin: That's the… that's the postdate calendar, and the clerk's office controls that, so… But that's not accurate. Admin: Well, it's not forecasted, it's only once the meeting is called. So it's not, like, even though if you typically, the select board typically meets, you know, this, this first and the third month, Tuesday of the month. Admin: We don't project out a future. You have to look at the agenda to see at the bottom of the thing when they're… because you can change your meeting. So then they have a community calendar that does all the other stuff.
Admin: What I think might be good is if we have sort of like a… like you were just saying, a meeting page, like, all the different boards, committees, and commissions, with what they typically need, and a link so you can find the next meeting and scan it. Admin: Because if you know that The finance committee typically meets You know, these times that… Admin: Sometimes, if there's no quorum, they have to change that. Admin: Yeah, that's changing, but it's the only place to start. I understand, yes, exactly. That's the start. It's not the week. So my professional feedback on how this happened is every single week, Monday morning, I post the week's meetings for the entire week.
Admin: unbrided recap. Yes. And that's only because that's on the calendar, and that doesn't cover people who host meetings on Thursday. Right. And it doesn't cover RMLD, whose stuff never shows up on the calendar. Admin: at all legal. I asked for them. I'll get back to them on that. Admin: So, the way that… sorry. The way that I would… the way that I would fix the town calendar is probably not fixable, but currently. Admin: tab into the account. Admin: Because my idea would be, yes.
Admin: If you had a dedicated calendar, where the select board was, all our dates are already predetermined, most part. Admin: You could have them grayed out. Admin: And then when something is happening, then it may be colored in for that day, so someone can be like, oh, the select board meets on June 30th or something. Admin: It would have been grayed out because you could see that select board meets on that date. Each board or committee could have a different color on that. It's… Admin: Super involved in what you would have to be able to do. Admin: But it's… it's definitely doable. Admin: But whether or not
Admin: Civic Plus or whatever can actually do that, it's impossible. But I think that might create confusion, because… Admin: what the town board posts is the meeting that's been called, right? So, like, it's an official meeting, it's been posted. If you post all of the select board dates in the future, and then you change a date, which you guys change meetings, you know, a couple times a year. Yeah. Admin: Or, sorry, sorry, cancel one. Admin: you know, as you go… now I have to have staff making multiple calendars.
Admin: So there's the official meeting calendar, then there's a community postings calendar, which Admin: Maddie and Jax participated as well. So, I think… I think you're right, I think we can do better, about seeing if people can find when things have it, without having to literally hunt through. Admin: I was gonna crack it to fund the future agenda and see if it's even in there. Yeah, I think that's kind of my point, just making it a little more accessible and easy. Admin: Yeah, the current time calibers.
Admin: Basic at best. Admin: And I don't think they're going to be able to prove upon Civic Plus, because it is their standard for every… Admin: Like, it's not gonna be… Right, because it follows open data law. Admin: Yeah, but, like, it is basically at best, and yes, when we click on 6, sometimes other dates come up, like. Admin: even I get convoluted when I'm clicking on these things, it's… Admin: And even go into the select board. Admin: nature or anything, sports or committees. Admin: You start scrolling the page, things are going back to 2021, which is fantastic. The problem for that is, I don't care about 2021. I want the ability to see it, but not when I go to the page directly.
Admin: Because you go to any of these pages, you're going to be ever since 21, 22. So Chad Forest, their page has a list on the left that has upcoming things. It's a little bit more up-to-date. Admin: You know, but it has… but it has to do with what's in the town forests across countries this day, this day… Who maintains that, is the question. I know. Right. Admin: Probably, he cooks. Yeah, he is probably too. Admin: Okay. Admin: So forth. Admin: Sounds like a sound. Don't work.
Admin: I have all the staff. Admin: That… Admin: Man, then we have a website for… I'm just wondering if we could look at that child harsh one, and… Admin: And make it for the other boards and committees. Yeah, cool, I'll pop over to, Maddie here. Admin: Grab it with a user machine. Okay. Admin: Pardon. Admin: Lunch is here, so… Admin: Yes. Admin: See what I mean? But see, now, in my mind… Admin: This should all be… It's cool, though, because the calendar is pretty fluid, some of these events, and so that… sometimes they don't know… This actually would be very helpful.
Admin: I mean, yeah, you still have to go through each portion of the city to figure out these things that are… but at least this list of things, where, yeah, most others don't. Admin: So it sounds like magic is usually, what, the first Monday of every month? Yeah, there are some that are very consistent, and then there are many that are not. Right. No, it's… it's… Admin: Yeah. Alright, so she's coming up here. Admin: That's, like, double. Admin: The calendar on the left doesn't exist on other people's pages.
Admin: Yeah. Also, weekly scope. Admin: Yes. Really? Weekly. Admin: Nope. Admin: But, yeah, somebody's… somebody's absolutely maintained here. They're doing a good job. Admin: every page kind of is unique. You have different people… You have different people managing it. But what if, what if when we went to the board's page, what if we had a, sort of a, Admin: Could we have, like, a board calendar where all boards stuff close to one calendar? Admin: So that if you were looking, you'd have different colors, like you said. But there's no way Civic Plus is going to be able to
Admin: I could do a lot. Because they have their… their… It's a proprietary way that's set up, but the way that… this is… this is your general meeting calendar year, and so this is set by… this is controlled by the clerk's office, and this is official… Where is that? On the homepage. Admin: And then there's… So, but wouldn't the town boards be all of the boards? Because everybody post-meeting within the town… But, like, you see what I mean? When you click on community events. Admin: Like, seriously? A whole month is a community event. We'll do stuff every day. I know, but it's like, that's kind of ridiculous.
Admin: I'm there because it's pulling from… This is pulling from an automated calendar that Sudesh has to set up. Admin: Like, the whole concept of the event, when in actuality, the event that happened today Admin: you're gonna take one look at this and be like, I'm all set. Admin: It's not helpful. It's not. Yeah. Admin: You start scrolling, and now it's Mental Health Awareness Month. Like, even, like, on the… Yeah, we can take that off. …the clerk's one.
Admin: Yep. Like, like, conservation's not even listed as a meeting for the month of May. They haven't spoken to the meeting yet. Admin: But they're very consistent, like, there's no… I guess I don't understand… But they don't post it until they get the agenda. Yeah, the agenda, the 48 hours. Look, we haven't posted our May 12th meeting, have we? And that's on here. You only posted it here. Okay, there's no agenda to go when? Admin: Yeah, under that. Yeah, the hearing notes.
Admin: So that she posts… it seems to hear… they know the hearing. Admin: Correct. But we haven't actually… No, the agenda's not posted, just the year. Admin: Because you have a hearing scheduled, that's quite a big spot. So if we didn't have a hearing. Admin: Then there'd be nothing. It would be nothing fair. Admin: So, okay. Admin: when's the meeting counter? You have sort of, like, what's actually happening, and what you're looking for is where the thing's usually. Yeah. Kind of so you can get a beat of what things… So, I see what you're saying. I think it's… I think it's a…
Admin: I think it's doable. I don't know, I gotta go. That's a lot of effort on child staff, because when things get changed, then somebody got to go back to the calendar and change it. That's why you only really wanted… Right, and I think the less time… See, there should be a way, and I've done this with my family, I finally… Admin: But there should be a way that you only have to fix it in one place, but it pulls from the other places, and there is a way to do that. You just have to figure it out how it is for government. That's right. Admin: Yeah. Well, how'd it sort?
Admin: Yeah. Because, like, my idea for how to look for today. Admin: The events of the Town Commons today. There's a lot board meetings today. Admin: And maybe there was something else? That's it. Not the 17 things that would be clickable if you would click on that. On a single… Admin: Andover has all of their stuff on their tab, their public meeting page. Admin: So they must just go from their typical days at the… out their beating. Admin: Oh, no. I mean, GBA meets the third Thursday of the month, or… Andover is using a different platform. No, this is exactly the same as ours. This is exactly the same. No, Andover itself, the entire way. It's just different, it looks different, it's the same thing.
Admin: It's the same, these are the same buttons, they're just different things, but it's the same, it's exactly the same. Yeah, but if you look at their calendar thing, like, they have stuff on their public meeting calendar, it… Oh, it's the layout of their calendar is significantly better now. Like, look at what it… it's just like I said. Admin: They're meeting on May 4th is Select Board. Some other thing was… Oh, you like how it has the cards? Yeah. We don't have that. And then they just put cancel. Admin: And they're… yeah, this is a way better way. Well, this is… they've used the whole width of the page, which we can do. That's what we should. We can do that. We have a redesign coming up in our project.
Admin: Yeah, we have a reason. Yep. Admin: Who does the redesign? Like, several of them work? Admin: Then William was tiny, and you decide. Admin: It's not a full refund, it's a, it's like a refresh. Admin: So, yeah, it's not a wholesale rebuild website. Yeah, no, no, no. They're just changing their theme, selling you… That's correct. …a $5,000, $10,000 overall, and you're like, this is fantastic, and it took them 5 minutes. Well, when we did it last time, we changed platforms entirely. Oh, great. It was massive.
Admin: That took 9 months to give birth to that website. But, like, even the news and announcements, the way that Andover has it laid out is significant. Admin: Like, everything. Like, just scrolls up a little, it'll bring it up. Like, the layout's got so much better. Admin: I mean, okay, ours is basically the same, but we also have our, social media showing up in the same window, and that was a request from Select Court. Admin: So… Admin: No, I still think Facebook should be on there, too, because there's some items on Facebook that people miss. Admin: that are on…
Admin: So here's our news. Yeah. And so it's the same thing, and then you scroll here, right? And then you have the, the issue, Jane, is to relocate Facebook under these. Therefore, you get 4 items at the top. Admin: That are bigger to see? Correct. It would only be 3, just like on Andover. It would just be like that. Yeah, and then Facebook goes underneath, and then you're gonna need something else to go to the side if it can't just… I don't… I don't think you could do that with this platform.
Admin: the social media piece is taking up that third space that they have, so you can do that, but… Oh, maybe you can't move that Facebook page? I don't think you can move that down, that's just… Admin: I know, I… nothing… And it depends on the user, like, when they see those little arrows, if they don't know to put their press around it, they're not going to see the other things. Like, you're… some people are… And then on mobile, it's gonna look. Yeah, mobile, it just makes it really… Admin: Oh, I know, looking at it now. Admin: I mean, Andover does not have… Is Trader Joe's open?
Admin: No. September? No, Andoe does not have the social media out there. Admin: Alright, why don't we take a break for lunch? Yeah. Admin: That's… that's the agenda. We're still talking about engagement right now. It's very engaging. Are you engaged? Very engaged. Thank you, and watching everything. Admin: I don't know. Admin: Like, you can update the website, you know. Admin: Yeah, these are some good ideas, and happy to… Admin: I like the pictures we have on our website. It's very beautiful heritage. Jackie's husband. Oh, really?
Admin: It's not too many, but it's, like, forever ago, too, so it's, like… Admin: Yeah, I know. That was taken by a statehouse news reporter. Just having different pictures come up, so it makes it interesting. That's a former select board member. Admin: Thanks for lunch. Get some lunch. Admin: Oh. Admin: Thank you, Maddie. Did you get someone up? Admin: there is enough food for an army over there, so I think we'll be fine. Okay. Admin: Oh, that's… Admin: Is she saying we ordered too much? Admin: I appreciate that. Admin: Alright, we're back. Admin: We're adjourn the May 2nd Select Board Retreat, meeting at 12. Sure. Second. I don't know. You gotta make a motion.
Admin: All those in favor? Admin: Yeah. Admin: I just wanted to show it to now roll. Admin: We didn't open the meeting, we'll call it. We don't have any members. All right, we are adjourned. Admin: Can I shut that video off.