CURB-Tiverton

LIBRARY BOND & FTR CHARTER AMENDMENT APPROVED BY VOTERS

2011-11-08T22:27:00.004-05:00

Both the bond for a new library & the FTR Charter Amendment were approved by the majority of voters on tonight's special election. Congratulations to both library supporters & FTR supporters.
For those disappointed by tonight's FTR outcome, keep in mind that this is one chapter in a much longer story. Reading the tea leaves to understand voters' decisions is always a dicey proposition. It's clear voters wanted to eliminate the Financial Town Meeting, and FTR supporters successfully persuaded a large majority that the FTR was a good alternative. It remains to be seen what voters will think of the FTR once it's in place, but I respect the right of the majority to decide, and tonight they chose the FTR. There will other important decisions before Tiverton voters in the next year, and I think making this town the best it can be for every resident is worth continuing to work for.
Thanks to everyone who got out to vote, talked with others in person or on Facebook, and took the time to learn about the issues. Even with the disappointing FTR result, I'm proud to have made the effort for what I thought (and still think) was best for Tiverton, and I'd do it again in a minute. And I'm proud to have stood with so many community-minded people in this effort. And I'm pleased to know that at least tonight assured we'll have a new library to meet the town's needs.
Keep the faith.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

POLL LOCATIONS / OPEN UNTIL 8pm TONIGHT

2011-11-08T13:42:00.001-05:00

For anyone not sure of your voting location, go to this link to see a map of voting locations for today. The polls are open until 8pm tonight. Make your voice heard, and encourage others to do the same.
http://tivertonlibrary.org/library/?content_id=197

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT THE FTR (QUESTION 2 ON TUESDAY'S BALLOT)

2011-11-07T13:07:00.004-05:00

On Tuesday, Tiverton voters will be asked to consider making a major change in our system of government and adopt an FTR system to replace the Financial Town Meeting as the way we approve our budget and tax-levy. Before making this decision, there are some basic issues to consider.

Both the Sakonnet Times and Newport Daily News have analyzed the FTR plan and strongly urge voters to reject it. The FTR is also opposed by the School Committee, the long-time Chairman of the Budget Committee, and half of the original members of the committee formed to write the FTR plan. Does this sound like a proposal voters should have confidence in?

Under the FTR (and unlike the FTM), two Town Councilors could veto voters' decisions at the referendum if they disagree. When else do we allow politicians to overrule voters? Shouldn't voters be the ones overruling politicians? Does this sound like democracy?

Under the FTR (and unlike the FTM), voters will have no ability to vote "no" if all proposed budgets on the ballot are bad. And if there is only one budget proposed, we will pay to hold an "election" with only one choice and no way to reject it. Does this make any sense?

Under the FTR (and unlike the FTM), there could be a second "runoff" referendum two weeks later, where the top two votegetters on day one are the only ones on the ballot. Since the FTR allows unlimited budget proposals with just 50 signatures, the top votegetters may only have received 15% on day one. We would end up with a runoff between two choices that received only 15% of votes on day one, with no way to say no if both are bad. Does this preserve voters' rights to decide?

Under the FTR, there is no limit to how many budget proposals can be on the ballot, with just 50 signatures needed to put one on. Voters will need to understand the consequences of dozens (or more) of proposals for a $40 million budget. Does this sound quick or easy?

The Pro-FTR group and TCC have raised over $8000 to try to sell this FTR plan to voters as being good for Tiverton, including robo-calls. Yet in their recent postcard-mailer, they don't mention any of the FTR's supposed benefits for voters. They mention only the baseless claim that it will "control taxes", and a sinister plot of "insiders" who are trying to stop the FTR. Does this sound like a plan being pushed for our benefit, or theirs?

Neither the FTR Committee nor the Town Council ever bothered to contact the state agency charged with overseeing the legality of town budgets and tax-levies to see if the FTR plan would comply. That agency, OMF, has now made clear that they will review only the one official town budget, putting the legality of all other budget proposals on the ballot in question. Does it sound like due diligence was put into creating this FTR plan?

This FTR plan has never been tried anywhere else, and even its authors admit there are flaws that they claim can be "tweaked" later. Shouldn't a major change in our form of government be "tweaked" before being put before voters?

Tiverton voters have a history of taking changes to our Town Charter very seriously, especially ones that will broaden the powers of the Town Council over voters. Consider all the facts and questions about this FTR plan. Ask yourself: unless you fully understand it and its consequences and are certain it is in the best interests of Tiverton, does it make sense to make it law? And if you agree that the FTR will be far worse than the flawed FTM, please take the opportunity to inform others as to why it's so important to take the time to vote to preserve our democracy. A recent Charter Amendment was decided by only two votes, so every vote counts. Please make your voice heard on Tuesday.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

ON TUESDAY, REJECT QUESTION 2 (FTR)

2011-11-06T20:03:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday, your vote will determine what we, as a community, want our town to be. I urge you, in the strongest possible language, to make time on Tuesday to vote against the proposed replacement for the Financial Town Meeting, the FTR.

If you think that anything would be better than the Financial Town Meeting, think again. The proposed FTR is a hugely complicated process that few (anyone?) can understand. It is not a straightforward, time-tested process; it is an experiment that no other city or town uses – a risky experiment that introduces many more problems than it solves.

It is up to you. Read the editorial and letters in the Sakonnet Times and Newport Daily News. Search “CURB Tiverton” online. I am confident that when you realize all the potential pitfalls you will agree with me that now is the time to vote No.

One last thought prompted by the latest news that our local “taxpayer” group just reported a pot of $8,000 to spend on persuading you to support their FTR. If you’re tired of the barrage of campaigning for Tuesday’s election, just think of the exponential increase in electioneering for the unlimited number of budgets that the FTR allows on a ballot. Multiply the letters, cards, signs and nastiness for Tuesday’s one ballot question by 5, 10, 50 or more and you get a sense of the FTR’s madness.

Make time to vote on Tuesday. Pass the message on to just five of your friends and together we can put a stop to this chaotic, divisive mess.

Vote NO to the FTR proposal ~ REJECT QUESTION #2

Laura Epke
Tiverton, RI

FTR PLAN SHOULD BE CALLED "LEAVE NO LAWYER BEHIND"

2011-11-06T00:51:00.001-04:00

Imagine waking up the day after the Tiverton’s special election to find that the library bond was approved by voters. A week later, two members of the Town Council decide to subvert the will of the voters and veto the bond’s approval.

Sounds crazy, right? But a similar scenario will be possible if the FTR proposal (Question 2) is approved: two Councilors could veto the results of the budget referendum and overrule voters’decisions on the budget and tax-levy. Giving politicians the right to overrule voters is the key element of the FTR, and just one of many reasons to reject it on Tuesday.

FTR proponents now admit that this plan would give broad new powers to the Town Council, not just to veto the tax-levy, but to “reduce budgets” or raid the General Fund. In their view, it’s good for politicians to overrule voters. They now brag on yardsigns that the FTR is designed to “control taxes”, although the FTR is so poorly written there’s no way to know what will result. The one certainty is that it will result in a flood of lawsuits. The FTR should be called “Leave No Lawyer Behind”.

FTR proponents claim “struggling seniors” are their concern. The fact is that the TCC-majority Town Council could help struggling seniors and families at any time by expanding tax-abatements for low-income taxpayers. They won’t do it because then they would have to pay a bit more to make up the difference. They use struggling seniors as human shields to hide their real purpose: lower their own taxes at all costs.

Just this week we’ve learned that OMF, the state agency charged with approving town’s budgets and tax-levies, has made clear that it will review only the one, official town budget on the ballot. Any alternative budget that is approved will not be in compliance with state law. The FTR Committee and Town Council never even bothered to run this FTR plan by the state.

I’ve been the primary advocate for replacing the outdated Financial Town Meeting (FTM) for years. But this FTR proposal will be far worse. Tiverton deserves a fair, workable system, and any reasonable analysis makes clear that this isn’t it. It makes no sense to jump from an old, slowly-leaking boat, only to wind up on the Titanic.

Had the FTR been in place in 2008 & 2010, two Councilors could have overruled voters and forced $3.5 million in cuts in services. Instead of a town with intact services and a budget surplus this year, Tiverton would have been a crumbling basket-case.

If you agree that Tiverton deserves better, and that the will of voters should be respected, please vote to reject question 2 (the FTR).

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

NEWPORT DAILY NEWS: "VOTERS SHOULD REJECT" FTR

2011-11-05T14:32:00.003-04:00

The Newport Daily News has also come out in opposition to the FTR, in another well-thought-out editorial. The takeaway: "As bad as the current system is, voters should reject this attempt to replace it".
Added to the Sakonnet Times editorial, it's clear that any reasonable, unbiased analysis will show that the FTR is worse than the FTM, & to quote the Daily News, Tiverton "voters deserve better than that".
Read the full editorial in the weekend edition of the Daily News. And let everyone you know about the danger of this FTR, & that BOTH local newspapers weighing-in have strongly opposed it as bad for Tiverton.

Brian Medeiros
TIverton, RI

STAND AND BE COUNTED

2011-11-05T14:29:00.003-04:00

As a citizen of this town for 72 years, I have never witnessed such bad behavior, by some of our residents in my whole life. While I am not going to discuss the politics of Tiverton, I have to say that while the newspaper articles or television discussions have been interesting, they have been very disturbing to me at the same time.

There are some who have spoken or written comments over the past months or made insinuations about some of our citizens at one time or another by calling them thugs, liars, people who misrepresent the facts, cronies, slimy, sleazy, and lastly thieves! As a citizen of this town I beg to differ, and I am insulted as you all should be! Enough is enough ! We are not children but good and thoughtful adults who want what is best for Tiverton, nothing more, nothing less. Do we make it our responsibility to intimidate people at the meeting, absolutely not! There are some who like to hear themselves talk and go on too long but that's why we have a moderator who makes sure the meeting runs smoothly, and kept under control.

Two years ago, to make it easier for everyone, instead of an evening meeting during the week we changed it to a Saturday morning, because some thought it would bring in more people, and it seemed to, but now we are informed that Saturday is not a good day, because it keeps families from attending games or family functions'. My family and I came home early from a college graduation to make sure we made the meeting so we could vote. It's only1day out of 365 for maybe 4 hours,. I personally do not find it to be an inconvenience, but no matter what concessions we've made, it's not good enough, only because some factions want the meetings gone.

We are a diverse group from many different walks of life and educational backgrounds who are now living their lives here as did their parents and grandparents before them. As we all know the Financial Town Meeting is a Democratic process, a privilege, and it's our responsibility, to attend the meeting to hear the budget and taxes presentations, listen to all sides, then vote for what we believe is right for our families and our town. What is wrong with that ?

Some people believe the FTR is a good thing, and maybe for some it is, but not for me. I believe if we give up the Financial Town Meeting this piece of Democracy we now have will be gone forever. Your voices will be silent, and decisions will be made for you. I can't believe this is what some of you want, but in the long run it's your decision. Just don't be talked into something that you may regret in the years to come. You know the old saying, “ If it looks to good to be true, it probably is,” just give it a lot of thought please!

Don't give up on something that gives us, a right to be heard, a right to disagree, and a right to vote. Stand up, be proud ,and be counted.

Patricia A Curran
Tiverton, RI

SAKONNET TIMES EDITORIAL: "TOWN CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS UNTESTED FTR"

2011-11-05T02:33:00.000-04:00

Tiverton's Special Election is this Tuesday (Nov. 8). It's crucial to spread the word to as many Tiverton voters as possible about Tuesday's election, & the many good reasons to approve question 1 (the new library) & reject question 2 (the FTR). TCC has raised over $8000 to fool voters that this FTR is a well-thought-out system, or will magically control taxes. We're counting on word of mouth, grassroots efforts, getting the facts out in the media & online, and of course having those who share our view show up at the polls on Tuesday.

The latest TCC postcard started arriving in mailboxes today. It drops all pretenses that the FTR is a good system, will increase turnout, will make things easier, etc. The only messages are that the FTR will "control taxes", and that there are shadowy unnamed "insiders" who are conspiring to stop the FTR (never mind that with a TCC-led Town Council, THEY are the insiders). Apparently this conspiracy now includes the Sakonnet Times, the School Committee, the long-time Budget Committee Chairman, half of the original FTR committee, and the State of RI, who dared remove illegally placed FTR yardsigns from state-owned land. It's the same old fear and smear tactics we've had to endure before, backed by all the tactics $8000 can buy.

For anyone looking for an unbiased analysis of why the FTR should be rejected for the good of Tiverton, or to persuade someone on the fence, read the editorial in this week's Sakonnet Times. It's well-thought-out review of this important question, concluding that "the town can do better than this untested FTR with its scattershot budget barrage." Please read the full editorial in this week's paper, or view it online at www.eastbayri.com (under "Opinion / Editorials"). And encourage everyone who may vote on Tuesday to do the same. Unlike TCC, we're not afraid of voters who have all the facts making up their own minds.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

WE ARE THE 99%: REJECT THE FTR

2011-11-04T18:23:00.001-04:00

Over the next few days the onslaught of pros and cons on the FTR will surface as Nov. 8th gets closer. As an advocate for community, education, democracy and for majority, I encourage my friends and neighbors to look at the heart of what will happen if the FTR is passed.

Look past the power struggles, look past the nasty comments, look past the pseudonyms and threats, look past the over exaggerated numbers used to scare and alarm and look into the real heart of what is at stake if we, the majority give up our right to vote. If we, the 99% give up our voice to the 1%. If we, who care about programs and services that enrich, provide and educate is suddenly left up to a select few. Look past wanting to be "right". Look past wanting to "win". Look into what we will have to sacrifice if the very fiber of what holds a community together is ripped at the seams.

We are the 99% who care about how we grow. As a town, as a network, as a neighborhood, as a school, as a family, a sports team. We are the 99% who realize the current FTM is NOT the solution- but we are willing to find one that serves us better as we progress. We are the 99% who work, who struggle, who look out for one another, who care about our children, who understand the power of choice and voice. We are the 99% who may have disagreements with each other,but are willing to listen, who complain about taxes, who work two jobs, who stay at home, who tuck someone in at night, who teach compassion, science, math, art, history and what it means to stand up for what you believe in. We put out fires, rescue, defend, protect and serve. We are the 99% who know the value of books, technology, updated programs and services. We are single family, extended family, blended family. We are individuals who seek what is right and just for the greater good-the common man, woman and child; and not for what is good for just a select few. We attend soccer games, basketball practice, theater productions,debates, meetings and church. We care when someone we love is hurting. We offer help when someone has fallen.

We are community. We are the majority. We are the 99%. Don't let the 1% take this away.

Gloria Crist
Tiverton, RI

REJECT THE FTR: DON'T GIVE YOUR RIGHTS AWAY

2011-11-03T12:30:00.001-04:00

The real motive of those who want the proposed Financial Town Referendum (FTR) has finally been exposed. It is not about greater participation or about voter intimidation or about private votes or anything else. It is about one thing and one thing only- their taxes.

Remember that the same group that is proposing this FTR over the years has proposed and supported cutting over $3 million dollars to our schools, cuts that could only be made up by actions including closing an elementary school and eliminating all extracurricular activities. But it would have cut taxes.

Remember that the same group that is proposing this FTR proposed cutting Tiverton's membership in the League of Cities and Towns and in the Chamber of Commerce, cutting the Town Planner position to half-time, and eliminating most of the funding to our Economic Develop Commission. We should be sending out a message that Tiverton is forward-thinking and attuned to the needs of the business community, but this kind of penny-wise but pound-foolish cost-cutting sent a clear message to the business community that we really aren't interested in being a business-friendly community. But it would have cut taxes.

Remember that the same group that is proposing this FTR proposed cutting Visiting Nurses Services, Newport County Mental Health, and Newport County Women’s Resources as well as the Samaritans. To cut funding to organizations that provide essential services to people who otherwise lack them, would mean that some of our community would be unable to continue to live in town rather than an institution or be forced to live a life whose quality would be less than dignified. But it would have cut taxes.

Remember that the rise in the tax rate was prompted primarily by debt service on voter-approved bonds and by loss of state revenue, not by extravagant spending by the schools and town.

If your only goal is to keep taxes low at all costs and you don't care about the long-term ramifications of such a strategy, then vote for this FTR. But, be careful what you wish for – it may be your trash collection, the fire or police department or whatever town service you like and use that they cut next. And you will have given up your rights to let them do it.

But, if you want to be the one that gets to decide whether the needs of the community are met, then keep your rights. Don’t turn them over to the minority or to a two council member veto. Vote NO on question #2 on November 8th.

Jim Arruda
Tiverton

PRESERVE TIVERTON: VOTE TO "APPROVE" QUESTION 1 (LIBRARY), "REJECT" QUESTION 2 (FTR)

2011-11-02T18:56:00.001-04:00

The November 8 special election will be a pivotal one for Tiverton. The stakes are clear, and the differences are stark.

On one side are proponents of the FTR proposal, who advocate that politicians should be able to veto voters’ decisions on budgets and taxes, and favor lower taxes without saying what they would cut to achieve it. On the other are those who cherish the rights of voters to decide without threat of being overruled by politicians, and resent a small special interest group trying to change our form of government to an FTR plan designed to favor their political agenda.

FTR advocates claim it will increase participation, but the evidence from other towns that changed to a referendum show little or no increase. In fact, the confusion of this FTR process and the elimination of the right to vote “no” if all proposals are bad could lower participation. Regardless of the process or the turnout, the guiding principle should be that the majority of voters decide. The FTR subverts the process by allowing the losing side to prevail by giving just two Town Councilors the ability to veto voters’ decisions.

Ask FTR proponents this question: why would allowing two politicians to veto voters be good for Tiverton? When they say “tax-cap protection”, what they’re talking about is protection for them against the will of the majority. This FTR is in their best interest, not yours. If they can veto voters and force cuts to services, the first targets will be the schools and the library (ask FTR proponents if they support the library bond).

Don’t be fooled by the spin that a vote against the FTR is a vote to keep the Financial Town Meeting indefinitely. Many of us remain dedicated to finding a workable FTM replacement, and a Charter Commission will be soon be elected. That group, representing all voters, can develop a strong FTM alternative that respects voters’ rights and can win wide support. Does it make sense to replace a flawed FTM with a more flawed FTR?

Even the FTR’s author, Jeff Caron, acknowledges that the plan has flaws that he says can be “tweaked” after it’s passed. Shouldn’t a plan to alter our form of government be “tweaked” before being put before voters? Sadly, it was rushed to suit a political agenda. Beyond the clearly negative aspects of the FTR, how many unknown consequences will there be?

Unlike at the proposed FTR, the majority of voters will decide the fate of our library and our right to decide our budget and taxes, free from the veto of two Councilors. If you support our library, and cherish your voting rights, get out and vote to defend these things from those eager to take them away. Defend your rights and invest in our community by approving question 1 (library bond), and rejecting question 2 (FTR proposal).

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

FTR PLAN DOES NOT MEET STATE LEGAL STANDARDS

2011-11-02T01:40:00.000-04:00

Note from CURB Coordinator Brian Medeiros:
The following letter was sent this week to the Tiverton Town Council by Budget Committee Chairman Chris Cotta. The bottom line is that under the FTR (and unlike the FTM), any alternative budget & tax-levy on the ballot will not have been legally advertised & approved by OMF, opening the town to a flood of lawsuits. Note that the FTR Committee & Town Council never even bothered to do what Mr. Cotta did with a single letter: to run this FTR plan by the state agency charged with approving budgets & tax levies! This tells you all you need to know about the diligence afforded this major revision to our Charter that voters are asked to put their faith in.

RE: Ballot Question #2

Dear Tiverton Town Council Members:

After an exhaustive review of the supporting documentation for the proposed Ballot # 2 question, which would change Tiverton’s use of a Financial Town Meeting to an All Day Referendum, it became apparent that there are legal issues not resolved in the proposed charter changes. I inquired of the regulatory state agency, Department of Revenue, Office of Municipal Finance regarding the legal notice requirements, budgetary review and approval processes. Please see attached letter to the Office of Municipal Finance dated October 6th, 2011. Of great concern was the proposed concept of permitting elector budgets on a ballot without being vetted and approved by the Office of Municipal Finance. The ballot question and related charter changes offer ballot access to electors without following the same stringent taxpayer protection reviews or notice requirements that the municipal budget must endure. Please see attached response letter from Director Greschner of the Office of Municipal Affairs dated 10/26/2011. It is now clear through the response that the Department of Revenue will approve only one budget and one tax levy for the Town of Tiverton whether such budget exceeds the statutory tax cap or not. The Department of Revenue will not approve several budgets from the Town as addressed in the charter change proposed.

What this means is that any budget supported by a tax levy that has not been preapproved, heard and advertised in accordance with state laws can and will be challenged by any aggrieved taxpayer in the Town. This has far reaching consequences both legal and financial for the Town.

State Law requires a detailed budget summary set forth in a statement that the revenues and expenditures are certified by the President of the town Council and the property tax estimates have been computed in a manner approved by the State Department of Revenue. Please see the most recent summary approved by the Department of Revenue prior to the last Financial Town Meeting on file with the Town Administrator, Town Clerk and Tax Assessor’s offices. That summary was prepared in accordance with rules and regulations established and adopted via the State’s Administrative Procedures Act in support of the State Laws granting taxpayer protections for municipal budgets, tax disclosure and tax levies.

Contrast this to what is being proposed. Under the All Day Referendum (FTR) entire new budgets (elector petitions) can be placed on the election ballot. None of these new budgets will contain the necessary review, certification and approval that state law requires nor will any of these new budgets meet the stringent requirements of Rhode Island General Laws. To say that separate budgets (elector budgets) as provided by the FTR are similar to amendments made at the annual financial town meeting is clearly wrong and unlawful as they fail to provide the requisite taxpayer protections required per Rhode Island General Laws related to budgetary review, tax disclosure and tax levy approvals and notifications.

In light of the newly received information attached, I request that the Town Council provide notice to the public that Ballot question #2 does not meet the legal standards required for taxpayer protections required under State Law and to further require that the Board of Canvassers provide said notice at each of the applicable polling places on November 8th the day of the special election.

Sincerely,

Christopher Cotta

Budget Committee Chairman

TV FORUMS ON COX CABLE & ONLINE

2011-11-01T02:07:00.002-04:00

The TV Forums discussing the Library Bond & the FTR proposal will re-air this weekend on Cox channel 18. The Library forum airs FRI @ 7pm, SAT & SUN @ 11am & 7pm. The FTR forum airs immediately after: FRI @ 7:30pm, SAT & SUN @ 11:30am & 7:30pm.
Both forums can also be seen online at www.tivertonvideos.blogspot.com .

Brian Medeiros
CURB-Tiverton Coordinator

SUPPORT THE NEW LIBRARY

2011-11-01T02:01:00.000-04:00

Learn from the Past, Cherish the Present, And plan for the Future

1820 – Subscription Library opened at Seabury Store, Tiverton, RI

1888 – Converted into Free Library

1914- Templars sell building to Union Public Library

1923 – Union Public Library moves to its current location

All at Tiverton Four Corners Area.

1846 – Whitbridge Hall Library opened on Lawton Avenue

1937 – 1939 – Lydia B. Essex Library built on Highland Road

1971 – North Union and Essex Libraries consolidated to meet state standards

All located in the Stone Bridge area

1881 – Garfield Hall Library opens at Main Road and Conanicous Street

1929 – North Tiverton Library opens at Hooper Street and Main Road

1967 – Library relocated to Hilton Street

1974 – Fire damages the Library building

All located in North Tiverton

1900 – Rev. Charles Gordelier founder of Library on Crandall Road to serve

East Tiverton residents

2003 – The Economic Development Plan prepared by Edwards & Kelsey mentioned that the Library Trustees had formed a Building Committee to design and construct a new Library “Tiverton is on the Move!” Let’s make that statement a reality!

2006 – The Comprehensive Community Plan states that “The Essex and the Union Libraries together provide less than 5,000 square feet of library space to a community that has grown considerably. Due to fire regulations the Essex Library is currently restricted to serving no more than thirty patrons at one time. In accordance with state standards which take into account

present and future needs of the community, a new Library would require an area of approximately 32,000 square feet. (The proposed new Library will be 23,886 square feet.)

This historical account shows that our Town of Tiverton has always exhibited the legacy of learning and supported equal access to the pursuit of knowledge and intellectual and social growth in each and every corner of our town. This Library has been years in the making well developed and well vetted for Tiverton.

November 8, 2011 - will now be our turn. On this day we will be asked to continue our support for our Public Library. It is this new Library or NO Library. The current one can only accommodate 17 patrons upstairs and 13 patrons downstairs in the Children’s Section, and that includes staff, and is not handicapped accessible. This is absolutely unacceptable in a Town of 15,780 (highest growth in Newport County – 520 new residents since the last census). Tiverton is an amazing place to live and raise a family or retire.

“Rhode Island Constitution – Section 1. Duty of general assembly to promote schools and libraries. -- The diffusion of knowledge, as well as of virtue among the people, being essential to the preservation of their rights and liberties, it shall be the duty of the general assembly to promote public schools and public libraries, and to adopt all means which it may deem necessary and proper to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education and public library services.”

Please find it in your hearts and in your budgets to support the building of our new library, which will provide much needed construction jobs in our area! It will be our legacy for generations to come. A living breathing space that will adapt to the future needs of our community…a place where our citizens of all ages can gather and truly be lifelong learners in our “Knowledge Based Economy”.

Sincerely,

Sally A. Black
Tiverton, RI

FLAWED "FTR" POOR SUBSTITUTE FOR FTM

2011-10-30T21:45:00.002-04:00

Tiverton’s Financial Town Meeting is imperfect and pretty messy. That’s democracy. The question is; will the proposed replacement, the FTR, be a better way for voters to directly decide the town’s budget and taxes? Does the FTR provide an improved process that is fair to all voters and protects their rights? I don’t think so. Take for instance one piece of the puzzle – the Financial Town Hearing.

Under the FTR system, the Financial Town Hearing is designed to be an informational meeting for the public to debate all the budget proposals as they will appear on the ballot for the “referendum” two weeks later. Sounds like Financial Town Meeting without the votes, right? Wrong.

First, this meeting will be on a Tuesday night and anyone can attend. It will be similar to the Financial Town Meeting except that the FTR does not limit the number of budget proposals. Instead of spending a Saturday morning understanding budgets, we’ll be spending more time on a Tuesday night trying to understand the 5, 10, 50 or more budgets on the ballot. And, any group (union, PAC, political party) will be free to pack the room, unlike Town Meeting which is restricted to registered voters.

Second, those proposing budgets via petition are not required to attend this meeting. Any resident can collect 50 signatures and not show up to defend, or take public responsibility for, their budget. A petition budget can propose a non-specific million dollar cut (legal or not) and no one is responsible for explaining what services will be cut if it wins. Organized groups can easily coordinate an effort to manipulate the ballot and avoid public scrutiny.

Third, you will not be able to propose changes to budgets at this meeting like you can at Town Meeting. The opportunity to propose changes via petition budgets happens three weeks earlier. Remember, you will not be able to vote no at the FTR’s “referendum.” Like an election, you’ll be instructed to vote for one of the choices. Petition budgets are supposedly the way to vote no.

If you want to decide whether or not you like one of the budget choices in time to propose changes (i.e., vote no) you’ll have to get involved with the budget process well before this meeting. And, it will be your job to get the information you need because the FTR does not require any public hearings before the time to submit petitions. Nor does it require any advertised public notice of the time deadlines for submitting petitions.

I would like to have a fair, workable alternative to the Financial Town Meeting but, for me, this FTR isn’t it. On Nov. 8, please join me in voting no to the FTR.

Laura Epke
Tiverton Budget Committee member

DETAILS MATTER: VOTE TO REJECT THE FTR

2011-10-30T03:22:00.001-04:00

As an original member of the FTM changes committee (FTMCAC), I am not against replacing the FTM. But if we are going to change a form of government that we’ve had for over two hundred years, it should be because it is an improvement over what we have and not because some are still angry over a FTM that happened over 1 ½ years ago. Emotions should not drive this decision (whichever side you are on). I am urging you to vote NO on the proposed FTR on November 8th because details matter and it introduces more problems than it solves.

Details matter. Voters can’t vote no; if you don’t like any of the budgets you have no vote. If the majority voting can’t agree on a budget the first time, then we are forced to have a runoff of budgets chosen by the minority (still can’t vote no). If there is only one budget, it wins by default but the town pays to hold a referendum anyway. How is this process more democratic if voters can’t reject budgets they don’t want, especially those chosen by the minority? Why would we waste thousands of dollars to hold an unnecessary vote?

Details matter. Unlimited budgets are allowed on the ballot. Citizens can propose budgets with just 50 signatures each and don’t have to attend any hearing to explain or defend them. Citizens can propose budgets with undefined cuts that will be determined AFTER the vote, we’ll find out the consequences later. There is no required notice of when the “citizen proposal” period begins (better be paying attention). Elected officials will be forced to adopt their budgets one month earlier when less accurate information is available. Illegal budgets that don’t meet state requirements for education or that propose unbalanced budgets (revenue doesn’t cover expenses) are allowed on the ballot. How does any of that provide a framework for a fair public debate and vote?

Details matter. The FTMCAC was advised by the town solicitor that language be included to specifically require or exclude a two council member veto of a majority vote. Language was written to exclude it and ensure that voters could NOT be overruled (see April 11th minutes). Yet the current FTMCAC rejected it. The result is that two town councilors will be able to overrule voter decisions. Why? Do they think the people of Tiverton need to be protected from themselves? Or is this a failsafe just in case they don’t like how the majority votes in the future?

As the old sayings goes…Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? Surely we can adopt a simpler, easier alternative that preserves majority rule (similar to those already used in other communities). Vote to REJECT the FTR, Question #2 on the November 8th ballot.

Deb Pallasch
Tiverton, RI

TV FORUM ON FTR & LIBRARY BOND RE-AIRS THIS WEEKEND

2011-10-28T01:09:00.002-04:00

Chris Cotta & I appeared on a live TV Forum tonight, opposing the FTR proposal. Jeff Caron & Nancy Driggs spoke in favor. Hopefully we made the point about why this FTR plan is bad for Tiverton, far worse than the FTM. It re-airs FRI @ 7:30p, SAT & SUN @ 11:30a & 7:30p, on Cox channel 18, immediately after an informative forum on the Library Bond (which airs FRI @ 7p, SAT & SUN @ 11a & 7p). Tuesday's School Cmte mtg follows the FTR Forum at 8:30pm tomorrow & 12:30pm SAT. Your feedback is encouraged.
APPROVE question 1, REJECT question 2

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

SCHOOL COMMITTEE: YES TO LIBRARY, NO TO FTR

2011-10-26T23:10:00.002-04:00

A big thank you to School Committee members Sally Black, Deb Pallasch & Carol Herrmann for standing up to the TCC diehards who attended last night's SC mtg in an attempt to intimidate them into backing down from voting to oppose the FTR plan. Someone joked it was like TCC decided to "Occupy the School Committee". Despite all their bluster, our SC majority had the guts to do the right thing & tell it like it is. Especially with the Council majority just using their office to push their political agenda, we're lucky to have these women representing us & our kids. GREAT JOB, & THANK YOU!

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

BUDGET CMTE CHAIR: VOTE "NO" ON THE FTR PROPOSAL

2011-10-25T09:48:00.008-04:00

After much fanfare and one sided discussion by Jeff Caron and Nancy Driggs regarding their proposed “All Day Referendum” to replace the annual financial town meeting, I am left with little recourse but to refute their wild claims that this proposal is the best medicine for what ails Tiverton.

First, it isn’t the process of an annual financial town meeting that is troubling to me, nor should it be to you. Lack of taxpayers at any of the financial town meetings has been predicated on the fact that electors are satisfied with whom they have elected to operate their government. If there were general outrage over what transpired at the annual financial town meeting, most if not all who run for those offices would be voted out.

By and large the largest groups of vocal antics of the financial town meetings come from the malcontent group of TCC taxpayers, inclusive of Jeff Caron, Rob Coulter, David Nelson and others who refuse to absorb any of the new school building debt, let alone recognize the loss of general revenue sharing, state aid and reimbursement of vehicle excise taxes. This group tried in vain to create an ordinance mandating the council require a 4/5ths vote for any excess levy only to find they were about to create more litigation than they bargained for.

The end result was to appoint Jeff Caron and a bunch of TCC cronies to develop and ramrod charter changes that accomplished their personal goals down our throats this November instead of seeking qualified candidates to run for an elected charter commission that was tasked with ferreting out all issues with changing the financial town meeting to an appropriate alternative. This group was tasked with generating a system that grants two members of the council more power than ever envisioned previously.

Caron and his cast of characters did not consult our town solicitor, any historian regarding charter amendments or constitutional areas or even with the state board of elections regarding taxpayer resolutions or the office of municipal finance regarding tax disclosure and levy notice requirements. Their proposal allows any taxpayer with fifty signatures to offer any resolution within fourteen days of the public hearing and twenty four days prior to the “All Day Referendum” even though state law (17-19-7) requires any ballot question submitted for a legal election (which the “All Day Referendum qualifies as) must be submitted to the State Board of Elections no later than fifty days prior to the election. Had Caron simply read election laws he would note that per 17-19-5 computer ballots to be used at any election shall be printed and furnished at the expense of the state by the secretary of state and turned over
to the state board of elections.

This point brings to issue the subject of appropriate tax disclosure and levy notices required for Caron’s election process. The office of municipal finance under the direction of the state department of revenue requires a set notice for tax disclosure purposes and tax levy changes. The specific notice requirement can be found under RI General Laws 44-35-5, 44-35-6, and 44-35-7. None of the applicable state laws were reviewed or incorporated into Caron and Driggs charter changes.

The fact that Caron and his charter changers allow simply a bottom line adjustment without justification or disclosures is in complete contrast to state laws requiring the taxpayers be appropriately noticed of the suggested changes. This requirement isn’t simply for the municipal budget proposed but for all proposed ballot submissions. Nowhere do Caron and his gang provide such notice nor do they contemplate who will pay the exorbitant costs to provide same. Worse yet is any levy adopted that hasn’t been appropriately noticed will surely be subject of significant legal proceedings from the aggrieved parties.

Lastly, with respect to the new process as being compliant with the election laws that allow absentee voters to participate in the elective process. According to the proposed changes, anyone including those on military duty is allowed to vote in abstention. Again, simply reading RI General Law 17-20-2.1 regarding mail ballots, Caron and crew would have found minimum application time requirements that do not comport with their FTR proposal. This failed process holds true for both the orginal day of the “All Day Referendum” and the so-called”Run-off election” process. State law requires an application be filed with the local board not later than 4:00 P.M. on the twenty first day before the day of the election. Being that the “Run-off election” will be held fourteen days after the original FTR date it is impossible to allow absentee votes at the so called run-off election and the same holds true based upon filing dates for the original FTR.

Caron and crew have acknowledged at numerous public venues,including the public hearing that there are problems that haven’t been addressed in their charter changes. They maintain that they will be able to “TWEAK” the process as it evolves. The questions you need to ask yourselves should include - are we willing to allow the governance of Tiverton to be set on policies that were not thoroughly vetted? Are you willing to adopt a process already known to need tweaking before it even begins? Are you confident that this group of taxpayer malcontents have really placed your best interest at heart or have they followed the misguided advice and consent of
the TCC group with which they have associated?

I too have issues with the Financial Town Meeting but through all of it’s faults, at least I know that you have the opportunity to attend and be heard, that it is legal and binding and that those who you have elected to represent you are doing their jobs by advocating for the programs and services you demand. I am not at all impressed
with the work completed by Caron and crew, and ask that you please vote no on Question 2, the Financial Town Referendum, on November 8th.

Christopher Cotta
Tiverton, RI

FTR WOULD LET POLITICIANS OVERRULE VOTERS

2011-10-21T01:33:00.002-04:00

On November 8, Tiverton voters decide on a change to the Town Charter, replacing the Financial Town Meeting (FTM) with a Financial Town Referendum (FTR) as the way Tiverton decides budgets and taxes. As someone with a long-time commitment to finding a workable replacement for the FTM, I am adamantly opposed to this FTR plan. Instead of a consensus improvement, this is a politically-motivated plan designed to give a political minority the ability to defeat the will of the majority. While the political-spin says the FTR would be more democratic, it would actually allow politicians to overrule voters’ decisions.

The most outrageous feature of this FTR plan is that it would allow any two Town Councilors to overrule the decisions of the majority of FTR voters. It was devised by TCC, the same small political group that’s supported lawsuits against the people of Tiverton to overturn majority decisions at recent FTM’s, as well as a failed ordinance allowing the Council to overrule voters. This is why they’re desperately attacking those who oppose this plan. Library supporters need to consider the absurdity of the FTR, under which two Councilors could negate voters’ responsible decision to provide funds to pay for the new library bond without drastic cuts to library, school and community services.

The FTR features countless absurdities. It allows an infinite number of alternative budget/tax proposals, even illegal ones, with just 50 signatures needed to put one on the ballot. Imagine walking into a voting-booth and having to pick from fifty (or more) complex plans for a $35 million budget! Unless you plan on spending weeks extensively studying all the plans, you’ll have no clue of each proposals’ consequences on taxes or services until it’s too late. And the "hearing" where plans will be discussed? Even with just 10 proposals, even with a 30-minute limit for each, you'll need five hours just to get partial information. And what if there are twenty proposals? So much for the convenience of the FTR.

Unlike the FTM, you can’t vote “no” if all proposals are bad. Unless a plan gets over 50% of the vote at the first referendum, voters will have to show up again, forced to vote for one of two plans rejected by over 50% of first-day voters! And if only one proposal is on the ballot, we’ll have an election with one option and no ability to reject it.

Our Charter requires election of a Charter Review Commission within two years. It will have the ability to create a workable, non-political FTM alternative that respects the will of the majority, and is an improvement over the FTM. This FTR is an untested experiment, a political move to override majority-rule as our guiding principle. We would never allow two Councilors to have the ability to overrule the majority decision of voters in this upcoming special election, so why would we allow it on budget votes? If you oppose giving two politicians a veto over your vote, and replacing the FTM with something far worse, vote to reject the FTR (Ballot Question 2). Get the facts: visit www.curbtiverton.blogspot.com or search CURB-Tiverton on Facebook.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

RESPONSE TO NANCY DRIGGS' ACCUSATIONS OF "LIES"

2011-10-19T22:46:00.002-04:00

Responding to Nancy L. Driggs’ response to my letter to the Sakonnet Times (September 29th), the Newport Daily News and the Fall River Herald News (both during the preceding week), in which I voice severe criticism of the Referendum proposed to take the place of the Tiverton Financial Town Meeting:

The points I make are all distinct possibilities and therefore none are “lies”, as averred by Ms. Driggs.

The chief problem with the proposed Referendum is that it requires each citizen to do the same work as the elected Budget Committee. While closely watching the process unfold and making one’s wishes known........in a representative democracy, the notion of each citizen being urged to present his/her own budget will quickly lead to chaos.

The myriad of budgets that would surely be proposed would be enough to bore, offend or annoy any populace. The opportunities for financial mischief in this proposal are endless. If you are concerned about the lawsuits that have been initiated because of past Financial Town Meetings, they will be as nothing compared to the blizzard of suits we will see, if the FTR were to be adopted.

The genesis of this proposal is not the well-being of Tiverton the town or its citizens. Rather, it is the aversion of some of the wealthy and some of those who anticipate (through rose-colored glasses) of becoming wealthy, to the concept of progressive taxation. Progressive Taxation means two things: (1) At a fixed rate, as for real estate valuation, if you own valuable property, the amount of tax you pay will be higher than others pay; and (2) if you earn a lot, your earnings will be taxed at a progressively higher rate, as the amount of your earnings rises.

And there is an irrefutable logic that supports this: Those who enjoy greater material wealth do and will benefit more from the use of our “Commons” (air, water, roads, sewage disposal, schools, police and fire services, natural resources) than those who are not as wealthy; it is a supremely fair and legitimate method of taxation.

The proposed FTR is a crass attempt to subvert this system by hiding a morass of details and impossible conditions in a sea of words.

As for my affiliation with the Tiverton Democratic Town Committee, Ms. Driggs implies that I should be wearing a scarlet “D” whenever I venture out in public (h/t: my friend David). The truth is that most this diverse group of fine people are dedicated public servants, employed or volunteers, often both. Every reader who is interested in the Town’s vital needs is invited to join us. We will help you magnify your voice in our representative democracy.

Harris Gruber
Tiverton, RI

REJECT CARON COMMITTEE'S FTR PROPOSAL

2011-10-18T21:30:00.002-04:00

Tiverton voters. On November 8th, you have the chance to vote on whether or not we should change our longstanding method of deciding how we spend our local tax dollars. On November 8th, you get to vote on whether or not we should eliminate the Financial Town Meeting (FTM) and permanently replace it with the Financial Town Referendum (FTR) as proposed by the Caron Committee. On behalf of the Tiverton Democratic Town Committee, I urge you to vote NO!

Yes, our FTM is not perfect. Yes, sometimes it can get contentious and folks can get ornery. Yes, sometimes people's passions get the better of them. No one will say that our FTM's are pretty or easy. But democracy isn' t meant to be pretty or easy. No one expects everyone to agree with each other in a democracy and we do expect people to be passionate about their beliefs.

Don't be fooled by the rhetoric from those who support the Caron Committee's proposal to eliminate the FTM and permanently replace it with a poorly designed annual budget referendum. Contrary to what the Caron Committee states, at least in the past 10 years (I can only speak to my time in Tiverton), no legal authority has declared any FTM vote illegal and no single "special interest" has controlled our FTM. Contrary to the Caron Committee's explanation, their budget referendum proposal will not make our budget process more democratic, it will allow for minority budget proposals to become the final budget and it will not increase voter participation!

Allowing anyone who can get 50 signatures to put a budget proposal on the ballot is ludicrous – my Mom would say that whoever suggested doing that simply has no common sense! Contrary to what the Caron Committee suggests, it does mean you could have 5, 10, 100 or more budget proposals to choose from each year – and only one of those – the one put forth by the Budget Committee – has to be defended at their proposed public hearing! Yes, you could have a budget proposal that calls for eliminating all funding for schools and for town government – no roads, no snowplowing, and no library – and that proposal could be approved in the referendum. Is it legal? Well that doesn’t matter with the Caron Committee’s proposal!

So, now about how we vote on these various budget proposals. Let’s say there are 5 proposals on the ballot. In the first round of voting, two of those each get 22% (a minority) of the votes cast (meaning 56% of the votes cast were for the three other proposals). Those two minority proposals go to a runoff referendum. So, yes, at that point, basic rules of math mean that one of those two minority proposals will get a majority of votes in the runoff. But these are still proposals that only received 22% of the votes in the first round!

What about increased voter participation? The research clearly shows that budget referenda in other towns has only increased voter participation when there was a contentious issue on the ballot – say requiring residents to pay for trash disposal. Then, if a runoff was required, voter participation in the runoff dropped significantly.

Oh, and yes, I am a Democrat and there are folks writing letters who want to make it seem like Democrats are bad people. Well, I try to have a bit of a wider view of the world and recognize that we all have our viewpoints and we aren’t always going to agree but I don’t hold a grudge against anyone, or their ideas, simply because they are a Republican, Libertarian, Independent or carry some other label. So, if you simply don’t like Democrats, then disregard my advice. If you have an open mind, please make your decision based on as much good information you can get.

Now, you might be right that our current FTM needs to be revisited and changed to make it more effective, or that we should find a better alternative to the FTM. I simply ask you to look carefully at the details of the Caron Committee’s proposal. Peel away the layers of the onion and I think you will find it is rotten at its core. I urge you to vote NO on the November 8th ballot question to eliminate the FTM and replace it with an annual budget referendum.

Mike Burk
Chairman, Tiverton Democratic Town Committee

FTR = BUDGET BINGO AND 50 SIGNATURE RAFFLE

2011-10-14T23:39:00.002-04:00

The more I read through the Financial Town Referendum proposal, the more I realize the budget process will become a “Budget Bingo”! The mere fact that anyone who wants or doesn't want a particular budget or item can in fact do so by just getting in on the “50 Signature Raffle”, and Bingo, 50 signatures gets your budget proposal on the ballot with no questions asked and no answers given!

This proposal completely reduces the value of the Budget Committee who is given the job under the Charter to balance revenues and expenditures in a thoughtful and deliberate manner, and who meets weekly for months in noticed open sessions. The Committee scrubs the budget recommendations from the Town Administrator, all the Department Heads, and the School Department all in conjunction with the Tax Assessor then brings the finalized budget to the Public Hearing where it’s presented to the Town.

I have to wonder what the ballot will look like. Will there be columns with each proposal named for what it will represent? So if you're a person who follows the budget process, then I guess you will go through every column until you find the budget proposal that suits you, vote yes and you're done! But how will you know what you're voting for is a legal budget? You will have to do the math to know if your budget will put the Town over the tax cap. Oh but wait, TWO members of the Town Council can veto the vote of the people if the budget isn't what they think it should be. If one of the Bingo Budget passes, it will be sent to the Budget Committee who must try to deal with a budget that is neither supported nor defended. Does this make any sense to anyone? No other community in Rhode Island has such a cockamamie budget process.

I don't know about you, but I find this change from the Financial Town Meeting to this Financial Town Referendum to be very dangerous all you have to do is think about it - how has it been vetted? A change of this magnitude should have gone through a Charter Review Commission duly elected by the voters of this town, which would have taken the time necessary to be sure that every aspect of this proposal is legal and practical and fully vetted, not as in this case a group selected by this council. In essence there are still more questions than answers.

Democracy is messy, and the Financial Town Meeting isn’t perfect. However this proposal isn’t the silver bullet.
What do we have to lose? Everything!!! Vote No for Financial Town Referendum on Nov. 8th.

Joanne Arruda
Tiverton, RI

BEWARE SIDE EFFECTS OF REFERENDUM "CURE"

2011-10-08T16:19:00.002-04:00

Call me cynical, but whenever I read about all the wonderful benefits of replacing Tiverton’s financial town meeting with the proposed referendum, I am reminded of those ads for wonder drugs I see on television every night.

The proposed referendum, we are assured, will cure Tiverton of its uncomfortable, hours-long financial town meeting and relieve voters of the burdensome ordeal of having to listen to public debate and clarifications before casting votes, leaving us all free instead to walk through fields of tall grass picking daisies on a sunny May morning.

What I am still waiting to hear is the equivalent of those warnings spoken quickly in hushed tones at the end of the television ad. You know the ones: “Use of this drug may result in sudden death, paralysis, etc.” If held to the same truth-in- advertising standard, the referendum’s supporters would have to disclose that adoption of this referendum proposal may result in the Town Council’s veto of taxpayer-approved budgets, passage of illegal budget proposals and/or budget proposals opposed by a majority of voters.

If, after considering any of the unadvertised “side effects,” you experience a sudden rise in blood pressure lasting more than four hours, I suggest you see the town councilors who voted to approve this “miracle cure” referendum immediately.

Harris Gruber
Tiverton, RI

"FTR" REFERENDUM PLAN A CONFUSING EXPERIMENT

2011-10-06T23:22:00.002-04:00

Tiverton voters are being asked to vote on a charter amendment this coming November that proposes a budget process that no other city or town uses. As we learned at the hearing, this is an experiment that was written just for Tiverton. I’m sorry, but I’m skeptical. And confused!

I have read the pages and pages of this cluttered amendment over and over. I consider myself intelligent, but it took me hours of study to even begin to understand it.

Here are just a few examples of the problems I see:

1. We have been told that we will receive all the information we need to vote two weeks before, but section 301 e) 5) states that attendance by budget proposal originators shall be optional and at his or her discretion. What?! The people recommending them do not have to tell us what they were thinking, what the consequences will be if we vote for it or even show up at the hearing? The charter will allow an unlimited number of budget proposals and no one has to defend or explain them? At least at the Financial Town Meeting we have the chance to hear explanations of budget items.

2. Looking at the time line in the back, it states the Budget Committee, schools and council must now have their budgets completed by April 10. “The second week of May is too early” was a common complaint at the FTM because the info is often preliminary as we are always waiting on the state. Now we are going to push it back to April making the numbers even less accurate. Why would we intentionally do that?

3. I have no idea, and I defy anyone to tell me, what section 301 c) 2) “access to ballot” means. Will the schools and Town Council have access or not?

I ask all Tiverton residents to go to the town website and read the FTR amendment and then answer these questions: Feel good? Understand it? Is this what the proponents are telling you? Is everything clear? Or like me, have you found it so wordy and vague that one can interpret it however one chooses.

I defy anyone to tell me – clearly - what a “yes” vote would unleash. For these reasons I am voting no for the FTR amendment in November, and I encourage all residents of Tiverton to join me.

Susan Krumholz
Tiverton, RI

REJECT THIS AWFUL REFERENDUM PROPOSAL

2011-09-29T23:59:00.003-04:00

I pray that the good people of Tiverton come out in droves to defeat the awful all day referendum proposed by the TCC, Jeff Caron, Nancy Driggs and others for adopting an annual budgets every year. I say this not simply to defeat the maligned group of those who don’t want to pay any taxes at any costs, but to those who year after year are content with the current process and don’t come out to the annual financial town meeting. Life as you know it now in the town of Tiverton will become even more divisive and there will be no turning back at least for a long while.

This poorly worded ballot proposal for the upcoming November election is bad on a number of accounts. The worst problem touted by those who put forth this piece of garbage, lies within their statement that “ an all-day referendum process which will be more inclusive and allow far more people to participate in setting our budgets and property taxes in an informed manner” is an outright lie. These manipulating charter changer’s decided that any group of fifty can put forth their own budget (legal or illegal) on the ballot that will be voted upon by the taxpayers in lieu of attending the annual Financial Town Meeting. They go on to insult your intelligence even more by stating this process will “only” take ten minutes of your time as if you cared more about the time involved instead of the actual substance of the proposed budgets.

Moreover, none of the so-called taxpayer initiative budgets put forth with fifty names will have to be substantiated at any public hearing. The only budget that will be reviewed is that of the Budget Committee, but anyone else can put whatever they want on the ballot and never have it justified. How pray tell does that make me an “informed voter” and why would I ever let anyone put forth a budget signed by just fifty when our current quorum requires a minimum of three hundred and one voters.

So if I placed myself in Jeff Caron’s shoes, I would generate ten different budgets, each bringing my taxes down below the current level and then write letter after letter to the good people of Tiverton declaring you have alternatives to save you money. He can surely get fifty of his cronies to sign up. After all, who doesn’t want to pay less taxes. That my friends, is exactly what someone will do should this poorly worded all-day referendum pass. It will not matter that there is a budget committee, a school committee or a town council. Your community will be run by a bunch of malcontents, as they prey upon your sensibilities by advocating unjust and unsupported budgets at the expense of educating your children and grandchildren, or they will decimate other municipal departments simply to save themselves a few coins.

If you think I’m lying then ask yourselves this. Did I as a taxpayer vote to build three new schools? If yes, did I come out and support the annual tax increases to support the bonds that were used to build the schools? There were many more who voted on building small schools (2540 taxpayers to be exact) than those whoever attend in total (in 2008, taxpayers attending the FTM 1018 ) at an annual financial town meeting. My point is there are groups hell-bent on striping current service levels in favor of their own agendas at the expense of municipal services that you’ve come to expect.

Simply recall that Jeff Caron spent a couple of years on the Budget Committee not getting what he wanted, then with Chairman Cotta gone for two years Caron and his cohorts from the TCC ran the Budget Committee into the ground going nowhere trying to decimate the community and now Caron’s cohorts are dominating the Town Council, appointed him to this all-day referendum committee on behalf of the TCC (you’ll remember Neslon stating the great prize (payback) will be the all day referendum in lieu of getting his last charter changes adopted) What better way than to create a venue to deceive and corrupt the actual voting mechanism as a method to achieve their success after failing in every other attempt.

Please don’t be deceived by this tomfoolery. Our annual budget process may not be the ideal and our Financial Town Meeting may not suit your personal taste, but at least we know what we have and how it works. Putting forth ten pages of small print charter changes to achieve an all day referendum that has absolutely no control mechanisms is an absolute farce.

When you look at the budgets passed before and after the new schools, the Town of Tiverton did very well on behalf of the ratepayers. No bloated contracts, no overpriced vehicles, not every project or whim was entertained. Tiverton has always run a very conservative budget but as in any system as large as forty million, there are ways to achieve efficiencies and savings. Before you are inclined to throw the baby out with the bathwater by adopting this ill-conceived all-day referendum idea, shouldn’t we first demand to see from the newly elected TCC group put on the Town Council, what have they done for us to date? Other than postpone every agenda item two and three times, making no decisions, failing to provide key employment contracts for the security of both the town and key employees, and continued lamenting about Financial Town Meetings from the past to litigation generated by their own actions of stripping away funds provided to the School Department granted by your vote, this group has been the biggest underachievers ever! Why would anyone grant them the ability to change how our community adopts a budget and set an annual tax-rate.

Please come out and vote NO, against the all-day referendum question at the special election being held on November 8th, 2011.

Alexander Cote
Tiverton Budget Committee Member

"FTR" REFERENDUM WILL ALLOW ILLEGAL BALLOT PROPOSALS

2011-09-29T20:23:00.002-04:00

If you think that when you go to the polls to vote on a referendum, all the choices printed on the ballot are legal, you may need to think again. Should Tiverton’s proposed Financial Town Referendum (FTR) be adopted, even illegal budgets will be allowed on the ballot.

The FTR provides a petition process for any resident to put a budget on the ballot. Keep in mind that the 50 signatures required for a petition budget will be carefully checked by the town clerk to ensure that they are all from qualified Tiverton electors. Why would we bother with this step, I wonder, when no one is certifying that the budget proposals themselves are legal? Why wouldn’t we have someone with the necessary background in municipal finance and law check the five different numbers that make up each budget proposal as well?

I thought one reason for changing to a financial referendum was to stop the fighting and lawsuits that have resulted in recent years from budgets that passed at our Financial Town Meeting. How does knowingly allowing illegal budget proposals the chance to get approved do that?

If the budget approved is illegal, what do we do then? Maybe we just spend another $500,000 on litigation and let the courts decide. If that’s what happens, we’re right back where we started from.

Let’s find an alternative to the Financial Town Meeting that leads to less budgeting-through-litigation rather than more.

Carol Herrmann
Tiverton, RI

IF FTR PLAN PASSES, BRING YOUR CALCULATOR

2011-09-20T19:49:00.001-04:00

It’s a good thing that I have a calculator because I sure am going to need it if Tiverton decides in November to replace the Financial Town Meeting with the FTR.

Some people like it because they believe the line that it will only take 10 minutes to vote. Have these people thought about what a ballot might look like? It would be a ballot with an unlimited number of budget questions (maybe one, maybe 50) each question containing five very big dollar amounts — all at least six figures.

If you assume that most voters won’t just throw darts at the ballot, the first step will be to compare the budget questions. Let’s see ... get out my calculator ... the school budget in question #1 is $25,623 less than question #3 but $51,113 more than question #2 so I guess I’ll go with #2 ... but ... the municipal budget in question #1 is $73,342 more than question #2 ... but ... the tax levy in question #3 is $21,976 less than ... you get the drift.

How am I supposed to figure this out in 10 minutes. And this is only three questions. What happens when there are ten or 50? One councilor actually said that 1,000 budgets on the ballot would be a good thing.

Never mind that the ballot won’t tell you why a budget is higher or lower than another. Nor will it say if the budget is higher or lower than the prior year. If you don’t want to throw darts, you’ll just have to do substantial research before you vote. Or, just believe those attractive cards you’ll get in the mail or the pleasant robo-calls.

This council actually believes the FTR would be a good thing and be better than the Financial Town Meeting. I think it would be a completely irresponsible way to determine the town’s budget and totally unfair to voters.

I will be voting no to the FTR. I hope you do too!

Anne Ferreira
Tiverton, RI

VOTE "NO" ON FTR WHILE YOU STILL CAN

2011-09-08T14:00:00.002-04:00

Did you ever hear of a referendum where you can’t vote no? Imagine a Financial Town Meeting where only those voting in favor of a budget were counted.

If Tiverton voters approve the charter change to replace the Financial Town Meeting with the proposed Financial Town Referendum — the FTR — that’s what we’ll have.

Instead of the Financial Town Meeting, we will have a new system. Every spring, we’ll go to a polling place, be given a ballot that may have one, five, 50 (or more) budget proposals, and be told to “vote for one.” You will not be able to “reject” budgets no matter how bad you think they are.

If there is only one budget on the ballot, that budget will be approved regardless of how many voters oppose it — one voter’s approval would be all that’s needed. Why hold an election if there is only one budget? Why would we deliberately set up a system that spends about $15,000 of taxpayer money to conduct an uncontested election with a predetermined outcome?

Alternatively, instead of one budget, there may be many, because the FTR makes it very easy for any residents to get their own budget on the ballot. All it takes is 50 signatures on a petition. The FTR does not require any oversight of petition budgets — legal/illegal, prudent/imprudent; get 50 signatures and your budget will be on the ballot.

Be aware though, the ballot will show bottom line budget numbers only — not what is included or excluded in a budget or whether or not it’s legal.

And remember, whether legal/illegal or prudent/imprudent, you will not be able to vote no. If you can’t in all good conscience vote “for” any budget, then your ballot will not be counted and a budget will be chosen for you. Even if the majority agreed with you that all proposed budgets are bad, the minority that picked a budget will rule. Why would we deliberately set up a system that does not ensure majority rule?

As much as I’d like to see the Financial Town Meeting go away, I cannot support the FTR. If we want the people to directly decide the budget, then the people must be able to vote their yes or no decision, not just a yes.

The good news is that you will be able to vote no on replacing the Financial Town Meeting with the FTR. So, vote no in November, because you won'’t be able to afterwards if the FTR passes.

Laura Epke
Tiverton, RI

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A TAX CAP IN TIVERTON

2011-09-08T13:36:00.002-04:00

Is there a tax cap in Tiverton?

Yes, Virginia, there is a tax cap in Tiverton as there is in every city and town in the state. At the beginning of each year, the Division of Municipal Finance sends out a letter advising each city and town of its tax cap. Tiverton is no exception. The authority to administer the tax cap is granted to the Division of Municipal Finance located in the Department of Revenue.

Just a little history.

In July, 2006, the General Assembly passed a bill (known sometimes as 30-50 or Paiva Weed) but always known as the “tax cap”. What it did was change the cap from a cap on the tax rate to a cap on the levy. After 2006, the cap was based on a percentage of the prior year’s levy and for the next year (2012-2013) that levy can not exceed four percent (4%) of the levy for the prior year. The law also provides communities with the right to exceed the tax cap if the community can show, among other things, a loss of revenue or the increase of emergency expense, all of which have to be certified by either the State Auditor General or the Department of Administration. The burden is on the community to show it comes within such an exception.

What does the law provide?

The law itself as passed by the General Assembly is confusing if the Town has a Financial Town Meeting the way Tiverton does. The law is very clear that if in a community where the respective city or town council approves the budget and sets the levy that any increase over the cap must be approved by a four-fifths (4/5) vote of its full membership; or, stated another way; two (2) members of the council can block any increase. For Tiverton, where the Town appropriation body is NOT the Town Council but the Financial Town Meeting, the law was less clear. However, when the Division of Municipal Finance issued its regulations specifically laying out how communities were to comply with the law, any confusion was clarified. You be the judge of this language.

(Be mindful of this fact – when regulations are issued, they must be advertised and be subject to a public hearing. Then and only then when so adopted, they have the force of law. No different than IRS regulations, wetland and septic system regulations issued by a government agency.)

Section 3.07 of the regulations states:
“3.07 Once a city/town is notified that it may exceed the levy cap applicable to that year, the approval by at least a four fifths vote of the members of the governing body of the city/town, or a majority vote of electors in the case of financial town meeting community, must be certified in order to levy a tax in excess of the cap.”

So, what is the dispute?

Simply put, the question is which body in Town should have the authority to exceed the tax cap. The prior Town Council took the position that the Financial Town Meeting was the appropriate body to decide if the tax cap was to be exceeded. Both under our charter and in the Town’s history, it was the body that voted appropriations and levied the tax to carry out the appropriations. In effect, the voters decide whether to tax themselves. No one else does it - not the Budget Committee, the School Committee nor the Town Council. To decide otherwise would have allowed two (2) members of the Town Council to veto any proposed levy or any levy passed by the Financial Town Meeting no matter what the needs of our community were.

It would have given the Town Council a power which it never had historically or had under our charter. And, from a policy standpoint, should two (2) members of the Town Council have that power?

Does that mean then, that the Financial Town Meeting has unlimited
power to exceed the cap?

No, it doesn’t. Let’s take the 2010 Financial Town Meeting as an example. Remember that the Budget Committee, under Chairperson Jeff Caron, cut the school budget by $1,000,000 and recommended major cuts in the municipal budget. Unless you were Rip Van Winkle, any reader knew that the School Committee and the Council would seek to restore some cuts to maintain services in the Town even if the tax cap was to be exceeded. At the Financial Town Meeting, those recommendations were made and the tax cap was indeed exceeded and the voters passed a resolution so stating.

Following that meeting, the Town Council had the burden of proving to the Division of Municipal Finance that the exceedance was permitted under the law. The Town’s request showed that it had loss of non property tax revenue (primarily from state cuts) of $1,054,900. After reviewing the Town Council request, the Division of Municipal Finance certified a loss of $1,107,082 and approved the amount requested by the Town.

On June 15, 2010, the Division of Municipal Finance in its letter of approval stated in part …… “The Town is certified to exceed the property tax levy by no more than $1,054,900 for the Fiscal Year 2011. “By no more than,” not an unlimited amount. The Division of Municipal Finance in approving the Town’s request also DID NOT require the Town Council to approve the excess by a four-fifths (4/5) vote.

In summary, although Tiverton has a Financial Town Meeting, it is subject to the tax cap despite allegations to the contrary. And those that assert those allegations should check the facts. If the charter does get changed in favor of a Referendum, which would give the Town Council a power which it never had historically and the voters of the Town give the Town Council that power – so be it. But, it would give a minority of two (2) the veto power over the majority.

Louise Durfee
Tiverton, RI

NOVEMBER 8 SPECIAL ELECTION: TIVERTON'S FUTURE ON THE LINE

2011-09-08T11:45:00.006-04:00

Over the next two months, CURB-Tiverton will present information on, and discussion of, the two questions Tiverton voters will decide at the November 8 Special Election:
1) approving or rejecting a bond that will make possible the building of a new Public Library;
2) approving or rejecting a fundamental change to the Town Charter that would replace the Financial Town Meeting (FTM) with a Financial Town Referendum (FTR) as the method of determining budgets and taxes, and allow any two Town Councilors to overrule the decisions of the majority of voters.

As usual, there is much misinformation about these issues being put forth by special interests who know their views won't prevail through honest debate. The purpose of CURB-Tiverton remains to provide accurate information and honest debate of issues, in order to assist Tiverton residents in making a decision on the best way to preserve and enhance the quality of life for all Tiverton residents. The ultimate goal is to find consensus among reasonable people on how best to balance costs and benefits in order to achieve a "responsible budget" that meets the needs of all residents as cost-effectively as possible.

Please visit this website (www.curbtiverton.blogpsot.com) and the CURB-Tiverton page on Facebook for regular information and the opportunity to share your views, and continue to look for regular CURB email updates. And encourage friends, family & neighbors to do the same. The best antidote to efforts to impose on the town an extreme, self-serving, anti-Tiverton agenda is residents who are informed and active voters.

Brian Medeiros
CURB-Tiverton Administrator

TIVERTON DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE APPLAUDS RESULTS OF FTM

2011-05-17T16:11:00.001-04:00

Members of the Tiverton Democratic Committee (TDTC) joined about 330 Tiverton voters at Tiverton’s May 14th Financial Town Meeting (FTM) to support the budget recommended by the Tiverton Budget Committee and led the defeat budget amendments, including one by Tiverton Citizens for Change (TCC) leader and Budget Committee member Joe Sousa which once again targeted the schools by attempting to cut $1 million from their budget.

“Our members have been strong advocates for a rational and responsible budget that meets the needs of the town and school district while not overly burdening the average taxpayer,” stated Mike Burk, chairman of the TDTC. “Unlike other groups in town who jumped on the bandwagon at the last possible moment to try to gain political points, we have consistently advocated for the budget approved by voters at the FTM. We applaud the work of the Budget Committee under the leadership of Chairman Chris Cotta for putting forth a rational and reasonable budget and the decisions of the FTM voters to support the budget as recommended.”

The TDTC also led the efforts to defeat a taxpayer resolution on the docket which would have stripped any savings from the Town's general reserve above the charter required 3% of the current operating budget. After many difficult financial years caused by state aid cuts, our unreserved fund balance was at a mere 3.25% of our total budget. Burk stated that, “With pension liability and capital improvement issues on the horizon, including a November bond referendum for a new library, we should not be reducing savings. A reduced reserve would almost certainly lead to a reduction in the Town's credit rating, which in turn would significantly increase borrowing costs to be passed on to taxpayers. This TCC sponsored resolution is another example of their short-sighted thinking and fiscal irresponsibility. The leaders of this small special interest group simply do not want to pay their fair share and support our community. FTM voters made a wise choice in soundly defeating this resolution."

While efforts are underway to try to do away with the FTM, the TDTC is cautious about any of the existing proposals. “While the FTM isn’t perfect, it has proven to be a sound way of deciding on the Town’s finances in a forum which allows everyday voters to be heard. We urge caution in considering any proposal that would eliminate this vestige of American democracy”, said Burk.

The Democratic Town Committee believes in a community based and inclusive approach to government. They support and promote healthy discussion around important issues facing the community and to that end invite all to share their thoughts, ideas, and needs as a community with them at info_requests@democrats02878.org.

For More Information Contact:
Mike Burk, TDTC Chairman
burkmike@verizon.net
401-527-2692

DAVID NELSON VS. DAVID NELSON

2011-05-17T15:57:00.002-04:00

The forked tongues are at it again ...

"I urge the community to come together to take this important step for the sake of our families, especially our children, and our future. Let tonight be the beginning of that coming together."
-Dave Nelson, Tiverton Town Council, President Tiverton Citizens for Change
(from a letter to the editor advocating replacing the FTM, Sakonnet Times 4/14/2011)

"As always, there will be the usual cadre of vicious and vocal critics who will smear taxpayers and use misinformation to accomplish their aims, and nothing stops them from proposing a higher tax increase to break the tax cap from the floor with no advance warning."
- Dave Nelson, President Tiverton Citizens for Change
(from a TCC "Press Release" calling for voters to attend the FTM, TCC website posted 5/12/2011)

Yes, both quotes are from the same person.

If you trust this group and this Town Council, go ahead and follow their lead. I'm not.

Laura Epke
Tiverton, RI

LETTER: JOANNE ARRUDA

2011-05-17T15:44:00.001-04:00

May 15, 2011

At Saturday’s Financial Town Meeting the TCC/Tea Party were there as the usual obstructionists. What I witnessed was the President of the TCC as well as their most active members giving their usual orders to their followers to get up and regurgitate what they want said, so that when the leadership of the TCC/Tea Party get up to speak they look like they are reasonable and cooperative people who agree with everything the Schools and the Budget Committee recommended, and that is the furthest thing from their minds. What’s sad is that those who get up to speak to the so called “issues” do it for keeping in the “good graces” of the upper echelon of the TCC.

This year’s budget was fair and reasonable. The Budget Committee reviewed each and every aspect of the budget without making any deep cuts, why, because every department as well as the School Committee did their jobs by keeping the budget well below the cap. At no time was any budget area over the cap, in spite of what the members of the TCC/Tea Party may have or will continue to spew.

This Town Council with the exception of three members has nothing but their own personal agendas at the forefront. They care only what it means to their own bottom lines as it relates to their tax bills. Why, because some live in multi-million dollar homes, not like the most of us, who stand to gain more because if their tax bills are in the tens of thousands of dollars the savings they realize are far larger than the most of ours.

So now this year the members of the Council who are TCC/Tea Party will now take credit for the lowest tax rate increase in 10 years. Please know that most of this TCC/Tea Party leadership didn’t even live here 5 years ago. Those who were elected to this Town Council won their seats by promising “No Tax increases” yet this year they are patting themselves on the back for a 2 percent tax Increase! What a farce.

The TCC president publically states the TCC now supports the Budget Committee’s recommendations, well that didn’t seem so on at least one occasion when, they, the leadership of the TCC were at a Budget Committee meeting and all but suggested to sue the Budget Committee for a position that was taken by the Committee as it related to a vote on the School Department’s bottom-line budget. When the Budget Committee stood its ground to their slanted questions, the TCC leadership stormed out of the meeting before the end.

A word of caution, the majority of this Town Council’s next attempt will be to strip away our voices by implementing an all-day referendum in place of the Financial Town Meeting come November. Don’t be hood-winked into thinking that mechanism of approving and appropriating the Town’s budget will be good for the Town. This question has come up in the past, and the Town’s people answered by a resounding “NO” vote. No one says that the Financial Town Meeting or Democracy for that matter is perfect, but it works.

The handful of the most active TCC/Tea Party members have done nothing constructive in this Town except turn the Town upside down, pit one neighbor against the other and that is a shame.

Joanne Arruda
Tiverton, RI

RESPONSIBLE BUDGET OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVED AT FTM

2011-05-14T22:24:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to everyone who attended today's Financial Town Meeting to support the Budget Committee's responsible budget recommendation. Both the school and municipal budgets were overwhelmingly approved, despite the expected TCC-led efforts to cut school funding. And the shortsighted proposal to take money from the General Fund was soundly defeated.

Defending our community and schools against those driven by short-term self-interest is an ongoing process. But as with David Nelson's ill-fated attempt to pass a "tax cap" ordinance that capped no tax but would take away the rights of Tiverton voters, people getting involved really can make a difference. And despite all the misinformation and conspiracy-theories that get put out there, facts and logic do matter.

Today's pro-Tiverton result is exactly why CURB was started, to advocate for a responsible budget that supports our community & school services while containing costs and tax-increases. The blog, the email updates, and Facebook page are intended to present accurate information and reasoned opinion about what's best for all who live in Tiverton. Preserving Tiverton is a year-round process, and CURB will continue to provide information and discussion of important issues. It's also a vehicle for discussion and sharing your views. Please feel free to email your thoughts for the blog, or comment on Facebook. There's nothing more crucial to the success of democracy than an informed and involved community. And it's heartening when people of various backgrounds and views stand together to do the right thing.

Brian Medeiros
CURB-Tiverton Coordinator

LETTER: SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS WILLIAM REARICK

2011-05-11T23:14:00.000-04:00

To All Tiverton Taxpayers,

I would like to take this opportunity to review the Tiverton School Department’s process that it followed in developing its 2011-12 budget which will be voted on at the upcoming Financial Town Meeting. The Tiverton School Department operates under the Laws of the State of Rhode Island and under the rules of the State Board of Regents and with direction provided by the Rhode Island Department of Education. The budget building process begins each year in the late fall, with an initial budget proposal being submitted to the Tiverton School Committee for review in early January. During the budget building process I received requests from my building principals, which identify educational priorities which after careful deliberation were then incorporated into the preliminary budget proposal.

The initial draft of the 2011-12 budget proposal of $27,179,940 was submitted to the School Committee on January 5, 2011. Under state law municipalities and school department’s budgets can only increase by 4.25%. This year’s budget projects a level funded amount in state aid. While the initial budget proposal was below the State mandated spending cap, the Tiverton School Committee asked me to reexamine the budget proposal to see if additional reductions could be made to the budget without reducing the current level of programming. Based on this criteria, I resubmitted a revised budget proposal to the School Committee which contained the following staffing reductions.

Full-time special education teacher (elementary)
Full-time special education teacher assistant (elementary)

The elimination of these positions combined with savings the School Department realized as a result of receiving a very favorable rate from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, the retirement of three teachers, along with reductions to the capital account allowed the School Committee to approve a final budget of $26,936,506 of which $57,204 will pay for capital items, equates to a 2.6% percent increase in spending from the previous year’s budget. I would like to point out that the School Committee held five public meetings before it finalized its 2011-12 budget.

If the School Department’s 2011-12 budget is approved it will result in the current level of programming being maintained for all its students. If the School Department’s 2011-12 budget is not approved, advanced placement courses, athletics and music could be adversely affected. Class size at every grade level would likely increase from current levels.

I want to make voters aware that the Tiverton Budget Committee supports the School Department’s 2011-12 budget request and will be recommending this amount at the Financial Town Meeting which will be held on Saturday May 14, 2011 at 9 a.m. in the high school gymnasium. All registered voters are eligible to participate in the Financial Town Meeting. More detailed information regarding the School Department’s 2011-12 budget proposal can be found on the School Department’s web site, tivertonschools.org.

On behalf of the Tiverton School Committee, we urge all voters to attend the Financial Town Meeting to have your voices heard.

Sincerely,

William J. Rearick
Tiverton Superintendent of Schools

YOUR VOTE MATTERS AT THIS YEAR'S FINANCIAL TOWN MEETING

2011-05-11T10:38:00.003-04:00

Tiverton's Financial Town Meeting is this Saturday. Although there has been far less dispute over this year's budget, it's just as important that every voter know the facts and make an effort to attend and vote to support the Budget Committee's recommendations. It's a smart balance between maintaining crucial town and school services and containing spending and taxes. The bottom line: if approved, it will result in a 2% tax increase (about $2 per week for a $300,000 home). Municipal spending increases 3.28%, while the school increase is 2.57%.

Anyone tempted to skip this year's FTM should remember that in 2009, with a similar lack of advance controversy, low turnout allowed a small group to spring a surprise level-funding proposal that passed by five votes. The same people who attempted to eliminate funding to groups like Visiting Nurses and force drastic cuts to school programs can try again this year. Those who showed up last year to stop these cuts shouldn't let that effort be wasted. Devastating cuts to the schools will not only harm education, but create problems that will cost more to fix down the road. It's hard to imagine the community supporting a library-bond if this occurs.

Don't be fooled by the usual misinformation. Some are using a change in how state-aid is accounted for to suggest school spending is way up. To expose this accounting trick, simply look at the docket for the FTM, where the actual budget numbers are listed and the changes explained. Voters should also reject a resolution that would take money from the town's General Fund to offset taxes. This is the kind of shortsighted action that put us in a hole in the first place, and could result in a lowered bond-rating and a lack of emergency funds.

Last year, when the state's withholding of $1.5 million in car-taxes put us in a huge hole, we faced a choice: invest in our town's future, or give up. FTM voters made the difficult choice to stand up for Tiverton. Subsequently, the schools and the unions agreed to necessary contract concessions.Tiverton is in better financial shape than many towns because of these efforts.

We are a community with differing views. Some prefer lower taxes and fewer services; others are willing to pay more for improved services. The Budget Committee has balanced short-term concerns with long-term needs. There are two possible outcomes on Saturday: people commit one morning to support a reasonable budget, or drastic cuts are made that result in a year of turmoil and divisiveness. I encourage all who want to preserve Tiverton to attend and support the Budget Committee's recommendations. At the end of the day, what matters isn't how many people agree with a sensible plan for the town, but how many show up at the FTM and vote for it.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

TIVERTON'S ANNUAL FINANCIAL TOWN MEETING IS SATURDAY @ 9am AT THS

2011-05-10T19:48:00.003-04:00

Without a politically-driven Budget Committee or the huge loss of state aid we experienced last year, this year's Tiverton budget process has gone smoothly and produced something that exemplifies what CURB was created to support: a reasonable and responsible budget that balances maintaining vital services while minimizing tax increases.

Every Tiverton voter is encouraged to attend Saturday's Financial Town Meeting and vote for the town you want to see. The FTM docket and other information is available online at the town website, or at Town Hall. Don't allow someone else to decide your future because you weren't there to vote. At the end of the day, what matters most isn't how many people agree with a sensible plan for the town, but how many show up to vote for it.

Check back for more information here on the CURB-Tiverton blog over the next few days. You can also email to curbtiverton@cox.net to request regular CURB email updates or submit your own views for posting. And you can also join the conversation on the CURB-Tiverton page on Facebook.

Brian Medeiros
CURB-Tiverton Coordinator

STOP COUNCILOR NELSON'S ILLEGAL ORDINANCE

2011-03-29T13:59:00.002-04:00

On Monday (April 4), Tiverton’s Town Council holds a public hearing at THS on a proposed ordinance from Councilor David Nelson. While advertised as a “tax cap”, it in fact "caps" no tax or budget, since our Town Charter gives full authority for those decisions to voters at the Financial Town Meeting. From town documents, we now know that it’s true purpose is to take that right away from the citizens and give it to the Council, in direct violation of the Charter and state law.

While the wording of the state’s tax-cap legislation is ambiguous, the Standards & Procedures adopted by the agency charged with implementing the law are clear-cut.They state that in years when a town qualifies to consider exceeding the state tax-cap, to do so requires “the approval by at least a four-fifths vote of the members of the governing body of a city/town, OR a majority vote of electors in the case of financial town meeting community.” Unless a court or the state alters these regulations, the Town Council can no more pass an ordinance violating them than it can ignore the state and exceed the cap at will. This ordinance also violates the Town Charter in ways too numerous to list here; detailed information is at www.curbtiverton.blogspot.com .

Some Councilors have already decided to pass the Nelson Proposal to “settle” a lawsuit brought by members of the political-action group Tiverton Citizens for Change, of which Councilor Nelson is President. It would give two members of the Town Council the ability to veto decisions of FTM voters. We face the unprecedented spectacle of a Council siding in a lawsuit with a special-interest group over the people of Tiverton they represent. Worse, if the Council fails to defend our FTM rights, there is a possibility of past FTM results being challenged, and the town losing millions of dollars as a result.

The people of Tiverton have long guarded their right to decide budgets & taxes. And attempts to falsely suggest taxes & spending are out of control ignore reality: the large tax-increases in recent years were the result of extraordinary one-time factors (the elementary-school bonds, the loss of $1.5 million in state car-tax funds). And because FTM voters responded wisely, Tiverton preserved town and school services, ended the year with a surplus, and now faces a minimal tax-increase request this year. Ask yourself: how business-friendly is a town with decimated schools, defunded community services, & crumbling infrastructure?

If the Council approves this illegal ordinance, there are ways for citizens to defend their rights, including legal action to enforce state law and the Charter, and collecting 500 signatures to force a voter-referendum on the ordinance. For now, concerned Tiverton residents should contact their Councilors and attend the hearing to let them know we take efforts to take our rights away seriously.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

DID YOU KNOW...?

2011-03-22T00:03:00.001-04:00

Did you know that: The Town Council majority believes they can veto the 2009 Financial Town Meeting and strip the School District of hundreds of thousands of dollars? This same Council majority failed to act when our elected Treasurer disregarded the law and refused to resign his office after he registered as a Middletown voter? Most of this Council’s deliberations on these and other public matters have been held behind closed doors in Executive Session? This Council majority has failed to focus on economic development?

Now comes the real “did you know” zinger!

Did you know that Council Member Dave Nelson, president of the Tiverton Citizens for Change (TCC), wants the Council to block the FTM from voting on budgets unless the Council first approves? While Tiverton’s voters rejected several recent ballot initiatives to eliminate the FTM, Mr. Nelson thinks he can disregard our vote and bypass the FTM through a Council passed ordinance!

Democracy works for Mr. Nelson and the TCC only when they get their way. The 2008 FTM approved a higher budget than the TCC wanted so TCC members sued the town! The 2009 FTM, through a secretly planned bait and switch by the TCC-led Budget Committee, approved a budget the TCC liked so they did nothing at the time! The 2010 FTM, approved a responsible budget that was higher than that recommended by the TCC-led Budget Committee, so TCC members sued the town.

Mr. Nelson and his TCC friends clearly think we can’t be trusted at the FTM or the ballot box! So now he wants to find another way to grab power! Come to the April 4th Public Hearing (7 pm, Tiverton High School) on Mr. Nelson’s power grab, speak against him and speak up for your right to choose how we decide our budget!

Mike Burk
Tiverton, RI

Mr. Burk is the chairperson of the Tiverton Democratic Town Committee

TONIGHT'S TOWN COUNCIL TAX-CAP HEARING: THE FACTS

2011-02-28T13:49:00.002-05:00

At tonight's (Mon. Feb. 28 @7pm at Town Hall) Town Council meeting, there will be an official public hearing to discuss Councilor David Nelson's proposed "tax cap ordinance". Only instead of discussing the document presented and advertised (as required by law), Mr. Nelson apparently scrapped that proposal and is now planning to present a new one tonight (thereby defeating the purpose of the formal public hearing). What he's presenting appears to be an attempt to get the Town Council to tie its own hands in budget matters, along with yet another attempt to give two members of the Council the ability to veto the decision of Financial Town Meeting voters by requiring a 4/5 approval by the Town Council for the FTM to approve a tax-levy in excess of the state's usual 4% cap.

The 4/5 vote part of Mr. Nelson's proposal is based on a number of inaccurate or misleading statements. He claim it conforms to all state law and the Town's Charter. In fact, it would blatantly violate the Charter, which gives exclusive authority to determine budgets and tax-levies to the voters at the Financial Town Meeting. Under Section 407 (Powers & Duties of the Town Council), section 14 specifies that the Council may order budget reductions or transfers within the budget "within any constraints imposed by the Financial Town Meeting". If the Charter states clearly that the FTM can place constraints on the Council, how can the Council pass a law giving itself authority to constrain the FTM?

Mr. Nelson also states that the 4/5 Council vote requirement is in keeping with state law. This is false. Although the statute itself was worded in a contradictory way, the RI Division of Municipal Finance, charged with creating the procedures to implement the law, left no ambiguity in the state's "Standards and Procedures for Property Tax Levy Cap". Section 3.07 reads in full, " Once a city/town is notified that it may exceed the levy cap applicable to that year, the approval by at least a four fifths vote of the members of the governing body of the city/town, OR A MAJORITY VOTE OF ELECTORS IN THE CASE OF FINANCIAL TOWN MEETING COMMUNITY, must be certified in order to levy a tax in excess of the cap." Hard to imagine how that could be much clearer.

Of course, Mr. Nelson, in his other role as President of the political action committee Tiverton Citizens for Change, has supported two lawsuits that have attempted to overrule the decisions of FTM voters in 2008 & 2010, on the contention that the 4/5 Council vote was needed. But until the legislature changes the law or a court interprets it to mean the 4/5 vote is required even in FTM towns where the Council has NO budget or tax-levy authority, RI law clearly says the Town Council can NOT override the decisions of FTM voters. Even if they try to take that authority, the Council would need to sue the FTM voters to overturn their decision. And even if THAT was successful, the budget approved by FTM would still have to be funded by the town. Without sufficient tax-revenue, that would mean depleting the general-fund, raising fees, or as one judge suggested in a similar predicament years ago, holding "car washes & bake sales". THAT is not responsible government, and it's a slap in the face to all citizens of Tiverton.

If Mr. Nelson doesn't want the voters of Tiverton to have decision-making authority on budget and taxes, there is a clear course: place a Charter Amendment before voters asking them to give up that authority to the Town Council. Three past efforts to do so (including one I co-wrote in 2008) failed overwhelmingly. If Mr. Nelson can persuade the Council to try again, that is their right. But they do NOT have the right to simply take that authority from the FTM voters and give it to themselves, changing the Charter and violating state law in the process, and the results will certainly be litigation. Mr. Nelson and anyone else insisting on the 4/5 Council vote need to explain the logic (beyond personal preferences) of allowing a body with NO authority over budget & taxes to suddenly be able to overrule the FTM, the body that HAS that authority? You can't support that idea AND claim to respect the voters of Tiverton.

Another blatant falsehood is the idea that Tiverton "needs a tax-cap". In fact, the state's tax-cap (4.25% maximum this year, 4.0% thereafter) is in-place and stringent. For all the misleading talk of the FTM "busting the cap", the reality is that the state cap can only be exceeded in a year when a town faces an extraordinary financial situation, clearly defined by the state. In 2008, we faced $30 million in voter-approved school bonds coming due; in 2010, the state withheld $1.5 million in promised car-tax funds, leaving many towns with a huge gap. The state not only must confirm the need and approve any excess tax-levy, but it also sets a "new cap" of how much the town qualifies to levy. So there is always a tax-cap the FTM can not exceed; it's just that when there is an extraordinary financial situation, the cap can be increased accordingly to give towns that option rather than necessitate gutting services.

Mr. Nelson provides slides that attempt to show spending and taxes out of control in Tiverton. Of course, anyone can selectively use statistics to prove ANYTHING. In fact, both municipal & school spending increases have been decreasing year-to-year, and both were minimal last year. Were it not for the loss of $1.5 million in car-tax funds, the tax-increase would have been well under the cap. The fact that Mr. Nelson uses a chart showing escalating tax-increases the past few years without even mentioning the extraordinary circumstances that brought them about shows that this is not about an accurate discussion of facts. To suggest these were "normal" year-to-year increases and not give the context would be like displaying a chart showing huge increases in military spending in the early 1940's without also mentioning the cause.

Most are concerned about spending and taxing issues, and would welcome a serious discussion about ways to operate more affordably without decimating community and school services. This "ordinance is just a gimmick, a means to try to change the state tax-cap law and the Charter, which the Town Council has no right to do. As for the rest of this ordinance, the Town Council can vote to recommend to FTM voters a 2.5% increase, or more, or less. Why is an ordinance be necessary? The Council could simply set a policy without attempting to take rights away from FTM voters. More importantly, if Mr. Nelson is truly concerned about the "seniors on fixed-incomes" and other struggling taxpayers (and we all should be) that we keep hearing used to justify these plans, why not focus first on improving the hardship-tax-abatement process to assist those truly in need?

Please consider attending tonight's public hearing. Even if you choose not to speak, your elected Councilors should know that taking away citizens' rights is a serious concern.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

TAX-CAP ORDINANCE STILL A BAD IDEA

2011-02-27T18:15:00.000-05:00

It’s budget time, again, in Tiverton. This year we revisit an old idea proposed by a new Town Councilor in Tiverton: a mandatory tax cap. This ordinance truly represents the “govern through my tax bill” philosophy that many in Tiverton endorse. The problem is this ordinance would take away the flexibility to deal with problems that always seem to arise every year. Take a look at our town; our DPW workers have done an excellent job this winter and what is their reward? They have gone 3 years without a contract. Look at our schools; hardly funded. I worked in the Tiverton school system for 12 years. Towards the end of my tenure I witnessed a school department that was expected to excel, but only given the minimum budget. Evidently, some would like to see the situation deteriorate further. Tiverton teachers are some of the lowest paid in the state and the town’s secondary schools are aging. There is little money left for supplies. Our resources are diminishing but the expectations are not. The results of a tax cap, that takes away the power of the town meeting, will only contribute to the continuing dismantling of our public schools and our services.

To see what is expected for next year, read the proposed budget on the school website. They are asking for very little. The staff is not receiving pay raises and the increase in payroll is only for new staff in essential areas. They are asking for meager items such as smart boards that other systems have had for years. As a former technology teacher in this system, and a community member of the technology committee, I can testify that the schools servers, the equipment that host the website and store critical educational data, are at the end of their life expectancy. A restrictive tax cap would only prevent any needed upgrades.

Proponents will argue that the votes cast for the current town council far outnumber the total number of voters at any town meeting. They will also state that the people who voted to reject the referendum to change the charter a total of three times didn’t really know what they voted on. All I can say is, “I did!” Finally, they’ll refer to Prop 2 ½ in Massachusetts and its success. I worked in Massachusetts during that transition. Massachusetts had an efficient and more comprehensive state funding formula in place. Rhode Island does not. The transition will result in only turmoil. The sponsor wants to lower his tax bill and he does not care how it affects services or his fellow citizens that rely on them.

As I post this letter, there will be some who are surprised to hear from me. After all, there is the perception that anyone who posts a letter in favor of education while teaching in Tiverton, is only doing so for their own financial benefit and not the good of our town. I am proud to prove them wrong. Please do not vote for this ordinance. When the previous council that was more pro services proposed an ordinance to allow the council set the budget, it was a bad idea. It still is!

Edward Davis

THE PEOPLE'S CHARTER, NOT THE COUNCIL'S

2011-02-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

Tiverton has a history of open, democratic, and participatory government. The people of Tiverton have repeatedly rejected attempts to give the seven member Town Council any power in setting our budget and tax rate. As recently as November 2008, with over 7,100 people casting ballots, 59% of the people voted to retain an elected Budget Committee and a Financial Town Meeting to make budget decisions on their behalf.

Regardless of how I, or anyone else, feel about the current process, we must respect the majority’s right to decide. New town councilor David Nelson is proposing an ordinance that would change the budget process laid out in our Charter. An ordinance that could override the majority with only four votes of the Council – four.

Before taking power away from the people and the elected Budget Committee (remember they were elected this past November too!), let the people decide if that is what they want. If the people have changed their minds and want the Council to now have more power over the budget process, then let them make that choice clear at the ballot box.

The bottom line, despite all the justifications and rationalizations and charts and graphs, is that THE PEOPLE change the Charter, not the Council. The public hearing on this ordinance is February 28th at 7:00 pm at Town Hall.

Deb Pallasch
Tiverton, RI

TOWN COUNCIL CONSIDERING TAKING AWAY CITIZENS' RIGHTS

2011-02-10T00:50:00.001-05:00

On February 28, Tiverton's Town Council will hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to set a tax-cap of 2.5%. With this ordinance, the Town Council would in fact be taking for themselves two very important rights reserved solely for the people of Tiverton.

Tiverton's Charter is absolutely clear that the people of Tiverton, through the Financial Town Meeting, have the exclusive authority to decide the budget and tax-levy, within the limits set by the state. Elected bodies make recommendations, but have no right to interfere with the people's decisions. Voters have overwhelmingly rejected Charter proposals that would transfer some or all of this taxing & budgeting authority to the Town Council. This ordinance is a blatant violation of the Charter. In fact, it undeniably changes the Charter, which by state law can only be done by the voters of Tiverton.

If the Council believes a 2.5% tax-cap is best for the town, the proper course is to propose a Charter amendment and let the voters hear the arguments and make the decision. Councilor Nelson, who proposed this ordinance, claims it's needed to "protect" taxpayers, apparently from themselves. If he believes this is what people want, he should follow the Charter and let voters decide. There is a discussion to be had about taxes and budgets, but the only question here is who you think should decide: the Council or the voters?

Like many, I live paycheck to paycheck. No one is more concerned about rising costs and taxes than I am. But I also recognize the need to balance lowering costs with preserving our community, our property values, and our rights. We have two choices: we can either continue to have annual battles in which no one wins, or seek common ground and compromise to actually solve problems. Even if you think this tax-cap is a good idea, remember that if this Council can impose its will on the people at the FTM, a future Council could just as easily rescind the cap and require at least a 2.5% annual budget increase.

To protect your rights, please contact your Town Councilors, inform your neighbors, and get out to express your views at the public hearing. If the people ever choose to give the Council budget and taxing authority, that's their right. But as people around the world are fighting their governments for their rights, it's wrong in every way for our elected officials to take our rights away. It will be even worse if the people of Tiverton allow it to happen.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

WHAT HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY IN TIVERTON?

2011-02-10T00:37:00.002-05:00

In Tiverton, the people set the Town’s budget and taxes, not the Council. It says so in our Charter – our Constitution. The people decide whether or not to change the Charter.

Three times Charter amendments to get rid of the Financial Town Meeting and give power to the Council have appeared on an election ballot and all have been rejected – one as recently as 2008. Three times voters have spoken loud and clear to keep power over the budget with the people, not the Town Council.

Despite this, Tiverton’s new Town Council is proposing an ordinance that would take power over the budget away from the people and give it to themselves. It’s one thing for the people to give power to the Council by changing the Charter. It’s another thing entirely for the Council to take it by passing an ordinance.

Since when can legislation change the Constitution? Since when can Tiverton’s Town Council pass a law that changes our Charter? Since when can the Council take rights away from the people?

The people of Tiverton have the right to decide if they want to limit their tax increase to 3% or 2% or even 0% - not the Council. I may not like the Financial Town Meeting but I respect the process. I may not agree with the outcome of every FTM but I respect the decision of the majority. Proponents of this ordinance do not. What happened to democracy in Tiverton?

I am one member of Tiverton’s Budget Committee stating my own opinion in this letter. If you have an opinion on this ordinance be at the Public Hearing scheduled for February 28th at Town Hall.

Laura Epke
Tiverton, RI

CURB-TIVERTON IS BACK

2011-02-09T12:48:00.006-05:00

With town-budget season under way, CURB-Tiverton is once again active, on the blog, on Facebook, and with email updates.

Unfortunately, a Town Council proposal to take away citizens' rights by imposing a tax-cap on the voters of Tiverton at the Financial Town Meeting has made informing and uniting people even more urgent. The issue is simple and clear: does government have the right to take for itself rights reserved in our Charter for the people? The pro's & con's of such a proposal are irrelevant at this point, unless the Council presents such a plan for voters to decide, as our Charter and state-law require.

Please spread the word about this threat to our rights as citizens, talk to your friends & neighbors, and get involved by contacting your elected representatives on the Town Council, writing letters to the newspapers, and attending the February 28 public hearing.

CURB-Tiverton is designed to be a grassroots way for people to get information on town matters, express and discuss ideas, and participate in your town government. Please share your views and ideas by submitting a post via email to "curbtiverton@cox.net", or by commenting on Facebook.

It's our town, and we all need to do our part to preserve and improve it. Hopefully those seemingly intent on forcing their political agendas upon the people of Tiverton will recognize that the more time and energy we spend fighting with each other, the less time and energy we have to actually tackle the problems we face as a community. Compromise and cooperation shouldn't be seen as dirty words. But efforts to bypass the law and our democratic process must be resisted. All that's needed to defeat such threats is for people to get involved in preserving their rights and their community.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton RI

RECOMMENDATIONS: SALLY BLACK & JOANNE ARRUDA

2010-11-02T09:09:00.000-04:00

In order to understand the needs and inner workings of the entire town, we set out on a mission about seven years ago to do just that-find out what Tiverton needed to move forward during these difficult times.

We attended all the meetings we could possibly fit into our already busy schedules. The Budget Committee, the Zoning Board, the School Committee, the Town Council, the Senior Center activities, Recreation Commission, the Economic Development Committee. We saw many elected and appointed officials dedicating their time and efforts trying to solve the problems of providing effective and efficient services while not hurting the people paying the bill – the taxpayers. Trying to develop the town while still preserving the rural character and beauty that we hold so dear in Tiverton. Hours, months and years of debate have led us to today. We all want to preserve our services that we are fortunate to have so we realize we must expand our tax base this is not as simple as it sounds in today’s economy.

Tiverton is an amazing place to live. It is a caring community that supports it’s Police, Fire, DPW, the Senior Center, Recreation, Public Schools, theLlibrary and Social Services, so let’s keep it that way and work hard to find a balance between these essential services that provide our quality of life and our ability to pay for them. It will take hard work, dedication, balanced thought, common sense, compromise and the Unity of Effort on everyone’s part.

Our support in this most important election cycle, goes to the candidates for Town Council: Donald Bollin, Stuart Horwitz, and Brett Pelletier. We are still pondering on support for the rest of the candidates for Council. Budget Committee: Louise Durfee, Chris Cotta, Donna Edwards, Laura Epke, and Joanne Arruda. State Representative District 70 is Jay Edwards. State Representative for District 71 is George Alzaibak. State Senate – Walter Felag and Louis DePalma. Town Clerk Nancy Mello. School Committee – Deb Pallasch and Jan Bergundy.

Running for office can be difficult, but nothing compares to governing the Town. The wheels of government churn slowly so one must be patient and persistent at the same time, and be open minded not single-minded.

02878 -- one Town, our Town. Life is for those who show up….so please get out to vote on Tuesday, November 2nd.

Sally Black
Joanne Arruda
Tiverton, RI

PLEASE VOTE!

2010-11-01T21:42:00.001-04:00

With Election Day upon us, it's not too late to make a difference. If you can, contact friends, family & neighbors and remind them to vote. Forward any emails that you find useful. If you agree with any of the "recommendation" lists posted on CURB, copy it to others, and print it out to bring to the polling place. TCC has deep pockets and has spent big bucks on ads and cards mailed to homes. By printing out a recommendation list, we can make sure supporters of a responsible budget and community & school services know who shares their values.

Above all, however you decide to vote, please vote. However things turn out, you can have the satisfaction that you did your part to preserve the town we love.

Thanks for your interest in CURB, and in your community.

Brian Medeiros
CURB Administrator

THE BIG PICTURE: WHAT'S AT-STAKE & HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

2010-11-01T19:37:00.010-04:00

With all that gets said during the heat of the moment in a political campaign, it's important to sometimes look at the big picture, the long-term view. While we all have our gripes about government, it's not some alien force imposed on us from above. Those in office represent us. And if there are things we don't like, it's our responsibility to get involved and work for changes. But government, like most things in life, will never be perfect. It's been said that our democratic system is the worst one ever, except for every other one that was ever tried. Most people want to go about their lives, not get informed or involved in government, and expect it to all go well. But it doesn't work like that. Democracy is a high-maintenance process; neglect it and it becomes a mess. The cost of having the right to decide your government is also having the responsibility to put in the effort to do so effectively.

I get asked why it matters if you vote tomorrow, or whom you vote for. The reality is that both the short-term and long-term health of our community is at-stake. All the effort that went into preserving our town and school services at this year's FTM are at-risk if candidates with personal agendas prevail. The progress made in making both our school and town services more affordable are at-risk. For all the misinformation about spending being out of control, the fact is that school spending went up about 2% this year, municipal spending about 1%, and this has been trending down each year. What the anti-tax crusaders fail to tell you (or don't understand themselves) is that the cause for this year's 8% tax increase was almost entirely to make up $1.5 million in auto-tax money promised by the State but then withheld. And a majority of voters chose to pay $3 more per week in taxes, rather than allow the State's actions to destroy our schools & town services. It was a responsible, long-term investment in our own community, in each other, and that's the reality that gets lost when some spread misinformation to exploit people's fears during difficult times. Our future, as well as present services, is what's at-risk.

It's easy to proclaim empty, feel-good words about "tax cuts". But if you do so, you have the obligation to explain what you will cut to pay for those cuts. The reality is that "quality of life" is about a lot more than taxes. Things don't happen in a vacuum. Every action affects countless other things, and the "rule of unintended consequences" usually applies. The same tax cuts on the federal and state level that were so popular with many are the same ones that pushed the financial burden down onto property taxes. Saving a few dollars in taxes today can cost us all more in the long-run by failing to make necessary investments in our community. Responsible government attempts to balance all concerns and aspects of the community, for the common good. And that's why you need serious, sincere people representing you, ones with the courage to tackle problems honestly, and even risk being unpopular in order to do the right thing.

Most if not all people agree with the bumper-sticker "issues" most candidates repeat like a mantra: create jobs, lower taxes, lower costs & spending, more transparency. What's really at-stake are the details, how we bring these goals to fruition. Whether on the local, state or national level, it seems to me that just about every issue and debate can be boiled down in its essence to three options: status quo, radical change, and incremental change.

Take the tax issue. Keeping things as they are, the status quo, is generally the position of labor unions, who understandably want to preserve the pay-levels and benefits their members have accrued over the years. But the reality is that far too often, these compensation packages are out of whack with the taxpayers' ability to pay. Most agree that change is needed, but what kind of change? Conservative anti-tax groups (like the Tea Party) advocate radical change, drastic cutbacks in taxes and spending that will cause untold harm in our communities. This is a great option to vent frustration or promote a political agenda, but not to govern real people with real needs. I believe that when the options are clearly understood, smart, incremental change is the best course. Things should at least be heading in the right direction. And despite unprecedented challenges, and some opportunists amplifying and exploiting fears for political gain, the facts demonstrate clearly that they are.

But the problem is that competence and moderation aren't exciting. It's the extremes, full of anger and the dumbing-down of the facts, that draw the attention. And this is where fringe deep-pocketed special-interest groups like the Tea Party and their local versions, anti-tax groups like TCC, come in. Knowing they can't win a majority by promoting their true agenda and views, they put on a mask of reasonableness and populism, exploiting people's fears or lack of true information. They rely on voters' apathy and short-term memories to turn dissatisfaction into an excuse to discard reason.

In the end, it all comes down to values. It's easy to cut schools when you don't have kids in them, to cut community services when you're well-to-do, and to not care about the decimation of a community when you have no history in it. Most TCC candidates, like TC candidates David Nelson & Robert Coulter, have no kids in schools, and have lived in town just a handful of years. They've clearly demonstrated that their only interest is self-interest. They have a right to pursue that agenda, but also an obligation to do so in an honest way.

It's stunning to think that there are two TCC leaders running for the Town Council while supporting lawsuits against Tiverton, looking to overturn the decision of the people of Tiverton at the Financial Town Meeting. These suits cost the town precious time and money to litigate, and if somehow successful, could leave the town millions of dollars in the hole. These same candidates lead an organization that raised and spent untold amounts of money to pay for robocalls on the eve of the FTM to scare senior citizens with the lie of a 22% tax increase. And TCC knew it was a shameful lie; not one of them dared even mention it at the FTM. Now TCC won't tell us who gave them the money for these calls. So we're left to wonder: where did the money come from? Was it from outside developers, who will now be looking for a return on their investment if TCC candidates are elected (and do THEY really have your best interests in mind?) If this isn't the case, why not just tell us the truth about those funds? Is this the "transparency" TCC talks about?

What's exciting and hopeful is that one person can truly make a difference, especially when uniting with others doing the same. I urge all Tiverton voters to get as informed as possible, and get out to vote tomorrow. It's also crucial to get the facts out to family, friends & neighbors, and encourage them to vote in support of their community as well. I have a lot of faith in people and in the outcome if a majority of voters truly understand the facts and vote accordingly. If we were to take the time and energy spent in political infighting and devote it to a unified effort to address our problems, our situation would improve overnight. It may be a cliche, but if we work together in good faith towards a solution, we can preserve our quality of life, now and for the future.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

RECOMMENDATIONS: BRIAN MEDEIROS

2010-11-01T05:06:00.005-04:00

My recommendations for the local races on tomorrow's ballot, and the reasoning behind them:

TOWN COUNCIL (seven candidates elected)
Strongly Recommended
BRETT PELLETIER
STUART HORWITZ
DON BOLLIN
ED RODERICK
Recommended
CECIL LEONARD
JAY LAMBERT
MICHAEL SMITH

Brett Pelletier and Stuart Horwitz will provide a fresh, energetic perspective on the TC, and are dedicated to balancing supporting our schools and community services with containing costs. Don Bollin has a much-respected record of being a passionate advocate for both fiscal responsibility and quality of life issues. Ed Roderick has distinguished himself during his first term as a reasonable, diligent Councilor.
Although I have concerns about some of the positions Cecil Leonard and Jay Lambert have taken over the past two years, I think those are outweighed by their positive contributions. And despite his troubling start as FTM Moderator, I believe Michael Smith showed vast improvement on day 2 and is the most promising option for the seventh Council seat. The other non-TCC candidate, Mark DeMello, has past experience, but comes off as a one-issue candidate advocating economic development to the exclusion of other concerns.
There are four candidates endorsed only by TCC who clearly would be hostile to maintaining our school and community services, and would advocate radical cuts that will cost us all more in the long run and decimate our community. Joan Chabot comes off as well-intentioned but ill-informed, buying into the TCC outlook. Jeffrey Belli has arrogantly trashed other candidates for not sitting in the audience for as many TC meetings as him (where's the attendance sheet?), yet his responses to questions shows him to be both poorly-informed about town matters and reckless enough to make a claim of "fraudulent expenditures by town employees" without a shred of fact.
The candidacies of David Nelson and Robert Coulter are especially disturbing, given their records of less-than-transparent political dealings, support for budgets that would decimate our school and town services, and support for lawsuits attempting to reverse the will of the people of Tiverton at the Financial Town Meeting.
The bottom line: don't be fooled by those trying to use TC votes on a few issues you may disagree with into exchanging solid incumbents for rookies with a personal, anti-Tiverton agenda. Councilors must make many decisions, and most will make one side happy and disappoint others. That's the nature of government. But on balance, while we may all disagree with one decision or another, we've been well-served in difficult times.

BUDGET COMMITTEE (five candidates elected)
Strongly Recommended
LAURA EPKE
LOUISE DURFEE
CHRIS COTTA
DONNA EDWARDS
JOANNE ARRUDA

These five candidates provide a vast wealth of experience, knowledge and community commitment. They have the capacity to restore the BC to the respected, non-partisan advisory committee it was before TCC domination made it an irrelevant embarassment over the past two years. The history of the other two candidates on the ballot, Joseph Sousa and James Amarantes, and their TCC ties, promises more of the same.

SCHOOL COMMITTEE (2 candidates elected)
Strongly Recommended
DEBORAH PALLASCH
Recommended
JAN BERGANDY

Deb Pallasch has long been a tireless advocate on behalf of our schools and community. She's willing to take a tough stand, standing up to TCC at the FTM to help stop radical budget cuts, but also calling on the teachers' union to accept necessary contract concessions. Jan Bergandy has served our schools well overall, but his recurring strident, often TCC-style hostility towards our teachers is unnecessary and counterproductive as we try to unite the people of Tiverton to preserve our community.

CHARTER AMENDMENT QUESTION: 20% VOTE TO FORCE BALLOT VOTE AT FTM
REJECT

The proposed Charter Amendment would allow just 20% of attendees at the Financial Town Meeting to force a ballot vote on any issue. While this may sound reasonable on first hearing, the reality is that this would make an already-bad process even worse. With it, an angry minority at the FTM could force ballot votes on every question, either as a protest or in a political move to force the meeting to continue a week later when the turnout might be different. Each ballot vote would require a half-hour at best (possibly an hour or more) to have everyone (over 1000 people this year) file out, cast a ballot, and then have them tabulated. With a four-hour time limit per FTM session, it could take multiple meetings just to get through a few issues. Of course we all hope people won't abuse such a rule, but anyone who's attended an FTM knows that's a futile hope. To avoid even more chaos, I recommend rejecting this amendment.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 70
Strongly Recommended
JOHN G. "JAY" EDWARDS

STATE SENATE DISTRICT 10
WALTER S. FELAG JR.

The burden of proof when asking voters to replace an incumbent falls on the challenger. And in my view, neither challenger offered much beyond the same empty feel-good rhetoric of "create jobs/cut taxes/open government". There were few if any details. It's easy to support lower taxes, but you then have a responsibility to tell voters exactly what you'll cut to pay for those tax cuts, and this was avoided. Moreso, Wally Felag and Jay Edwards have served the people of Tiverton well, and have been hard-working and available to their constituents. Voters also should ask whether we're better represented by someone with the weight that comes from seniority in the vast-majority party, or a newcomer whose a member of the vast-minority party. And for those who care about maintaining town and school services while working to contain costs & taxes, Felag & Edwards are the clear-cut choices.

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 71
GEORGE S. ALZAIBAK

While both candidates displayed some rough edges at the recent TV forum, on the issues it's clear that George Alzaibak will best support our town and school services while containing costs & taxes. And the value of a representative who is part of the vast-majority party shouldn't be underestimated.

These are my views. Please share yours with CURB readers.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

REVIEW OF ENDORSEMENTS

2010-10-31T23:13:00.001-04:00

note: The Alliance to Preserve Tiverton's Quality & Tiverton Democratic Town Committee were active supporters of saving school/town services at the FTM, while TCC went all out to force huge cuts in those services. Consider the source when weighing the value of these endorsements, especially with candidates endorsed only by TCC.

Newport Daily News: (5) Stuart Horwitz, Don Bollin, Ed Roderick, Jay Lambert, Cecil Leonard

Alliance: (6) Brett Pelletier, Stuart Horwitz, Don Bollin, Ed Roderick, Jay Lambert, Cecil Leonard

TDTC: (3) Brett Pelletier, Stuart Horwitz, Don Bollin

TCC: (7) Jay Lambert, Cecil Leonard, Ed Roderick, Joan Chabot, Jeffrey Belli, David Nelson, Robert Coulter

LAURA EPKE: CANDIDATE RECOMMENDATIONS

2010-10-31T21:51:00.001-04:00

The following is in response to the call for CURB readers to express their views on Tuesday's election and the candidates:

Even I am growing weary of constant political TV, but every once in a while a gem of a phrase comes from a TV pundit. “Democrats are procrastinators” for one. True to form, I haven’t made all my final decisions for Tuesday’s election yet. There are, however, some choices that I’ve made for sure. Read on if you’re interested in my thoughts on Town Council candidates.

First, Brett Pelletier and Stu Horwitz are must haves for Town Council. Both have demonstrated a deep understanding of our community, the difficulties of balancing Town services and taxes, the need to attract sustainable commercial ventures, and a sense of fairness. They both appreciate that we pay a lot in taxes, yet will not sacrifice our community on the altar of tax-cuts. Most important, they listen. And, their minds are as open as their ears. I strongly encourage you to vote YES for Brett and Stu.

Second, Don Bollin. Don has received a lot of criticism lately most of which, in my opinion, is unfair. Do I always agree with Don’s actions? No. But, he always has well-grounded reasons behind his actions and is undeniably passionate. To those people upset about Sing Out, remember that there are always two sides to every story. Sitting in the audience, as one constituent, I have my own opinion. Sitting on the Council Don hears everyone’s opinion – including lots of private phone calls from constituents that want to remain anonymous. Don is one of the smartest and most trustworthy people that I know and I’m grateful that he’s willing to sit on the Council for another two years. I strongly encourage you to vote YES for Don.

Third, keep incumbents and a couple of newcomers in mind. Actions have consequences and experience matters. Ed Roderick, Cecil Leonard and Jay Lambert have all experienced the consequences to their actions and are better people and representatives because of it. Another to consider is Michael Smith, Moderator at this year’s FTM. He certainly demonstrated an ability to learn from mistakes – what a turnaround! Joan Chabot piques my interest. She appears serious and may have the ability to step back and consider other viewpoints. My first impression of Joan is quiet and thoughtful but, I could be wrong.

Finally, I know for sure whom I will not be voting for. I am not a special-interest nor am I part of a “machine”. I was part of the majority at this year’s FTM who voted to raise taxes. The majority. Yes, the “people power” that so many speak of lately. I am not a town employee, I do not love taxes, I am not an “embedded government friend”, I do not have children in our Schools. I do have a community that I care deeply about. Scaring people with “your taxes will go up 22% if you don’t come to the FTM” was completely irresponsible and downright dangerous for some of our Senior Citizens. Filing a lawsuit against the Town because of perceived unfair treatment of the FTM minority is fine – that is everyone’s right and I am certainly no stranger to youthful arrogance. But to sit on the Budget Committee and vote to reduce the litigation budget as well as suggest that volunteer lawyers might be a good alternative while you’re suing the Town is so very wrong in so many ways. And the self-righteous statements that before arriving to save us there was no credible opposition to the “democratic machine” - I guess that past Republican-majority Councils (one very recent) were an illusion or that the majority at past FTMs didn’t pay attention to numbers and certainly never voted to cut recommended budgets. A little humility and respect for other people’s opinions, experience and knowledge would go a long way. Enough venting. I do NOT support Dave Nelson and Rob Coulter.
Most important, VOTE on Tuesday for seven Town Council candidates.

My two cents on local elections other than Town Council:
School Committee: Deborah Anna Pallasch. Vote, vote, vote for Deb! Few could do a better job and we're all very lucky that she's willing to do it.
Budget Committee: Vote for FIVE. My five are: Donna Edwards, Chris Cotta, Joanne Arruda, Louise Durfee and ME, Laura Epke. I very much appreciate your support.
Local Question to amend Charter - Voting to approve will make it easier to call for ballot votes at the Financial Town Meeting. Currently it takes a majority to call for a ballot (paper) vote. This would change it to 20%. On the surface, it sounds good. But, I can sure see that it could cause mischief and some may abuse it in order to prolong meetings. I will be voting to REJECT, but will probably be in the minority.
State Rep District 71: George Alzaibak
If you live in District 70 please vote for Jay Edwards.

Laura Epke
Tiverton, RI

CANDIDATE STATEMENT: JAY EDWARDS

2010-10-31T21:31:00.001-04:00

In response to the invitation for candidates to make their case for election to CURB readers, here is a statement from State Representative candidate Jay Edwards:

Dear CURB,
The next 2 years will be critical to our State and more important, our Town as items such as the School Funding Formula and various taxes are reviewed and voted on by the General Assembly. We need people with experience, not only legislatively but also with our community. I have that experience and have always worked for my constituents’ best interests, whether as a member of the Zoning Board, the Elementary School Building Committee, a Town Councilor or most recently as the Representative for Tiverton and Portsmouth.

I have actively worked for our small businesses, holding a number of forums in Town to get their input directly. I have also successfully cosponsored multiple initiatives to reduce the number of regulations on small businesses and to make the licensing process more streamlined and predictable. I believe that it is our small, local businesses that will drive our local economic engine and help this community both fiscally and socially.

Unlike some who are currently running for office in Town, I have a long and strong connection to this community. All three of my children have gone from Kindergarten through High School in Tiverton public schools; my youngest is currently a sophomore at THS. I have worked tirelessly for over 18 years, in various positions, for this community. When the Town Council requested legislation this past session, they came to me to get it through, which despite being late in the legislative calendar, I was able to do. In addition to working a demanding full time job, I have maintained a perfect attendance record and look forward to continuing that on your behalf.

I respectfully request your vote this coming Tuesday as I seek re-election to the RI House of Representatives.

John (Jay) Edwards
RI State Representative, District 70
69 South Ave.
401-662-6280

RECOMMENDATIONS: TOWN COUNCIL CANDIDATES

2010-10-31T08:12:00.008-04:00

Unlike most years, there seems to be general agreement on the best Town Council candidates for Tiverton among those making endorsements (except for TCC, of course). After extensive homework and soul-searching, I offer my recommendations.

Notably, my choices include all the candidates endorsed by the Alliance, Tiverton Democratic Town Cmte, & Newport Daily News (six in total). Because seven candidates are being elected on Tuesday, I'm concerned that only supporting these six could allow a candidate not in Tiverton's best interests to sneak in because of split votes. As such, I offer a measured recommendation on a seventh candidate as well. While Michael Smith's FTM moderator role began poorly this year, he showed surprising resilience & evenhandedness on day 2 of the FTM & I believe shows more potential to grow in the job than the remaining candidates.

I also break down my recommendations into "strong recommendations" (candidates I feel very confident will independently represent the people of Tiverton and support our quality of life) & "recommendations" (candidates I have some concerns about based on past words & actions, but feel are the best options of the remaining candidates).

Strong recommendation: Brett Pelletier, Stuart Horwitz, Don Bollin, Ed Roderick
Recommendation: Cecil Leonard, Jay Lambert, Michael Smith

These are my views. Please share your candidate views here, or on CURB's Facebook page, or email a post to curbtiverton@cox.net .

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

BE AN INFORMED VOTER

2010-10-31T07:08:00.004-04:00

In addition to the info available here & on the CURB blog & emails, the Newport Daily News provides election info in several ways. It published Town Council candidate profiles Thursday, & endorsements Friday. NDN also produced a TC candidates forum that replays on Cox. Ch. 18: SUN @ 10am / MON @ 7pm, and is available anytime online by visiting the Newport Daily News website.

Get all the accurate information possible, & make your decision count on Tuesday. And encourage your friends, families & neighbors to do the same. Remember, it's our town and our choice on Tuesday, and one vote can make a huge difference in your family's future.

Brian Medeiros
CURB-Tiverton Coordinator

TRICK OR TREAT: "THE TCC FOUR"

2010-10-31T04:29:00.007-04:00

As voters work through the many factors involved in making a decision on Tuesday's election, one aspect to think about are the endorsements made by various organizations. While it's best for voters to make their own choices and not simply follow the lead of others, an endorsement can provide some key information that most voters may not be able to gather on their own.

In the Town Council race, there have been endorsements made by three town political groups, and one local newspaper. While these are not necessarily definitive, voters can get a picture of candidates based on who supports them. Two organizations, the Alliance to Preserve Tiverton's Quality and Tiverton Democratic Town Committee, have been active supporters of preserving Tiverton's school and town services during difficult times. The Alliance has endorsed six candidates (for seven seats), while TDTC has endorsed three of these same six. In addition, the Newport Daily News utilized candidate interviews, written questions, and past history to endorse five candidates. All five candidates endorsed as a result of this independent examination are also Alliance-endorsed. Unlike most years, there is general agreement about which candidates will be best for Tiverton.

On the other hand, there are seven candidates endorsed by Tiverton Citizens for Change (TCC). Three of these are incumbents also endorsed by the Alliance and the NDN, adding to the consensus. But the other four TCC-endorsed candidates managed no endorsements outside of their own group, and with good reason. Despite attempts to sound moderate and reasonable., "the TCC Four" offer little more than the same old bitter, fact-free, anti-tax, anti-schools, anti-Tiverton agenda.

David Nelson and Robert Coulter present themselves as "newcomers", but have actually spent the past two years pursuing their personal agendas at Tiverton's expense. Just a few of their accomplishments: using funds whose origin they won't disclose to make robocalls to Tiverton homes before the FInancial Town Meeting, scaring seniors with the lie of a 22% tax increase that was so blatant that they wouldn't even mention it at the FTM. And don't forget the 2009 FTM, when they publicly supported the proposed budget beforehand, only to spring a surprise $600K cut at the FTM. Both are also actively supporting lawsuits against the people of Tiverton, seeking to overturn the decision of the people at the FTM because TCC didn't like the result. By the way, how does someone serve on the Town Council while supporting a lawsuit against the town? It's amazing to see these two TCC leaders crowing about the TCC endorsement; are they such poor candidates that there was doubt whether or not they'd endorse themselves?

The other two TCC endorsees are in fact newcomers to town politics. Unfortunately, Jeffrey Belli has proven to share TCC's capacity for hypocrisy. He has little history or involvement in town, yet he recently attacked other candidates for allegedly failing to match his attendance record for being in the audience at Town Council meetings. He'd best hope that that's the key qualification for the job, because as anyone who viewed his performance at the candidates' forum can attest, it's about all he can offer. His views of Tiverton bear little resemblance to reality, and his responses to questions showed little understanding. Joan Chabot didn't attend the candidate forum, so there's not much to base a decision on. But from her written answers to questions, she seems well-intentioned, but as ill-informed as you'd expect of someone getting their info from TCC.

With Halloween upon us, it's up to voters to decide if each candidate is a trick or a treat. But the best way to evaluate someone is to examine how he/she conducted him/herself in the past. And by that standard, the idea of any of "the TCC Four" representing us on the Town Council is really scary.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

TCC'S DAVID NELSON: RUNNING FOR COVER

2010-10-31T01:34:00.005-04:00

The following is an exchange of emails between TCC President David Nelson and myself. I normally keep personal emails confidential, unless the other person attempts to use them publicly in a misleading way. Big surprise: Mr. Nelson has made his email public in an attempt to project himself & TCC as "reasonable" and civic-minded, "professional and cooperative". Unfortunately for him, the facts and reality say otherwise.

Mr. Nelson also seeks to find "cover" for TCC actions he apparently doesn't want the public to know about. He looks to blame others and spin conspiracies to explain the mess he's created for himself by raising and spending big bucks to spread the lie of a 22% tax increase right before the Financial Town Meeting, and now desperately trying to hide who provided the funds or how much was spent on those disgraceful robo-calls that attempted to scare and deceive seniors. This is not a free speech issue; raise & spend whatever's legal, express your views. But especially if you proclaim "transparency" as a guiding principle, you have a responsibility to tell us where the money came from and how it was spent...period.

Since Mr. Nelson has made his half of this exchange public, I believe the public has a right to read my response (followed by his initial email). And as always, if anything I've stated as fact is provably wrong, I'll be glad to post a correction. You be the judge of what's "reasonable".

Dave:
While I appreciate the information, your attempt to equate TCC with CURB is completely off-base. As you may or may not be aware, CURB is a true grassroots effort, a means of communication, not a formal organization. No funds have been (or will be) raised or spent. It is simply an effort to unite people around a common goal, and provide information and discussion of town issues. As a registered PAC raising and spending money for political ends, TCC is clearly a very different entity.

I haven't researched election law enough to weigh in on whether or not a PAC is required to report funds raised & spent for an FTM the way it's required for an election. I've seen contradictory information, and I suppose BOE will need to sort it out. But as a matter of common sense, it seems absurd that a PAC would be required to report funds raised & spent on elections, but it could operate in complete secrecy in regards to an FTM. Moreso, whether or not it is required by law, I think there's an ethical requirement for a PAC (all PAC's, not just TCC) to make this info public, especially when you list "transparency" as one of your guiding principles. Refusing to disclose this information leads to people assuming the worst. This cloud can be removed by voluntarily making this information available to the public, regardless of legal requirement.

Finally, I find your final paragraph incredible. While you try to cast aspersions on others' motives, as you've done for the past two years without a shred of fact, anyone who's been paying attention the past two years knows that it's been you and TCC that have consistently used "politically-motivated actions" to "tear down others rather than work together". For you to characterize your actions as "continuing efforts to work together reasonably to find common ground" is an effort to delude either others or yourself. Your words and actions have been the polar-opposite of that statement: supporting lawsuits to overturn the FTM majority; regularly spinning conspiracy theories about "the machine", etc; deceiving voters by pretending to support the 2009 school budget, then pulling a $600K surprise cut when school supporters were conned into not attending; spending big money to spread the lie of a 22% tax increase that none of you had the guts to even mention at the FTM; making our kids collateral damage in your self-serving political games and tactics.

This isn't anger; it's the plain truth. I sat by quietly for a long period after leaving the Town Council, hoping rationality would settle within your group, but going unchallenged only seemed to encourage greater outrages and a reality-free midset. Be assured that that type of wishful-thinking will not happen again. Tiverton means too much to me and many other people to sit by quietly when it's under threat. Understand that this isn't personal; obviously I don't know you or most TCC members, and I'd like to think your intentions are good even though your methods aren't. I respect those who hold different political views and pursue them honestly. You have a right to promote your own welfare and things that benefit you at the expense of everyone else, and if a majority supports that view, so be it. We may never agree on a vision for town government, but we can disagree and advocate our views in an honest and respectful way. But there is no excuse for the tactics you and TCC have employed, and the more people are aware of the truth and your record, the more they agree.

The ironic part of all this is that I spent four years on the Council fighting for much of what you claim to be concerned with. I ran in 2004 largely to try to reduce annual increases through union contract reform and to replace the FTM (it's unfortunate that TCC only sees the FTM's unending flaws when you lose the vote; in 2009 when you won, apparently the FTM was a paragon of democracy, all votes were accurate, and there was no intimidation by your side). I took on the School Dept over their botched 2002 high school bond, and refused to transfer $100K to them without a special FTM. I also wrote and got on the ballot the Charter amendment requiring TC & SC to publicize the terms of contracts before passage. I wrote a TC resolution condemning NEA-Tiverton for their personal-attack tactics when they threatened to picket the SC President's workplace, and supporting the SC's efforts to reduce contractual costs (it passed unanimously). I even made a radical proposal (which went nowhere) to change union benefits from employees paying a percentage to employer paying a flat rate, with all increases borne by employees. You're probably unaware of all this, and it probably doesn't fit your preconceived ideas, but it's fact. It saddens me to hear how much is said by you and TCC that isn't factual, how much of even the recent past you don't know or choose to ignore.

If at some point you and/or TCC would truly like to work together and become part of the solution instead of a threat, I'd welcome that. Unfortunately, I've heard those words before, only to see the same old tactics. The animosity you've created and exploited serves no one in the end. I think it's better to work together and find a compromise that no one may love but most can live with, rather to win one year, lose the next, and have no consistency and constant bad feelings on both sides. As I've done with Jeff Caron on the FTM issue, I have no problem putting aside past (or present) differences to work together for the town's good. But as long as your methods remain as stridently political (in the worst sense) and anti-Tiverton as they've been, I and many others will continue to step up in support of the quality of life in our town.

take care, Brian Medeiros

October 8, 2010
Citizens United for Responsible Budgeting
Mr. Brian Medeiros, Administrator

Dear Brian and John:

This is a courtesy letter to share with you some confirmatory information I have received regarding the applicability of state campaign finance laws to financial town meetings. I have a genuine interest in moving forward in a professional and cooperative manner and welcome you to do the same.

Mr. Michael Burk recently filed a formal complaint against Tiverton Citizens for Change with the Rhode Island Board of Elections, and this complaint was referred to me by BOE. Furthermore, Mr. Charles Moran did the same thing back in 2009, but as his complaint was not acted on by BOE, I did not become aware of it until recently. Both of them accused TCC of violating campaign finance laws by not reporting contributions and expenditures relating to FTMs.

Neither Mr. Burk or Mr. Moran extended the courtesy of checking with TCC first. Had they done so, I would have shared with him that we have already specifically asked the Director of Campaign Finance at the Board of Elections back in 2008 whether FTMs are covered, who responded in writing that they are not. BOE confirmed that once again with me this morning.

I believe that if Mr. Burk or Mr. Moran had their way, then not only TCC but also your organizations and others such as parent-teacher organizations would also be implicated because of their political activities relating to FTMs.

Quite frankly, these complaints appear to the politically motivated actions which cause concern on both sides of debate in Tiverton, as some seek to tear down others rather than work together. I am determined that these partisan efforts do not serve as undue distractions from our continuing efforts to work together reasonably to find common ground. So, I extend this information to you as a courtesy in case your organizations are likewise concerned, and welcome you to contact me if you would like any further information regarding this topic.

Sincerely yours,
David Nelson
President, Tiverton Citizens for Change

DEB PALLASCH: CANDIDATE RECOMMENDATIONS

2010-10-31T00:20:00.001-04:00

All:

On Nov. 2nd will you vote with those who supported cuts to our Economic Development Committee and the Newport Chamber of Commerce at a time when our town so desperately needs new business? Will you vote with those who supported cuts to Newport County Mental Health, Visiting Nurses, and East Bay Community Action at a time when so many of our neighbors depend on the medical support and food these organizations provide? Will you vote with those who led a budget process that was anything but transparent and balanced, attempted to quash the voting rights of firefighters and police at the FTM and “commended” the idea of closing our high school and outsourcing our children to Newport? How about those who want to see the will of majority at the FTM’s overturned? Remember - actions speak louder than words.

Or do you want to see elected officials who will always balance making our services as affordable as possible with maintaining those vital services for all residents, and who will focus on solutions which are the most likely to be successful and strengthen our sense of community?

I am voting for:

Town Council: Don Bollin, Stuart Horwitz, Brett Pelletier, Ed Roderick
Budget Committee: Joanne Arruda, Chris Cotta, Louise Durfee, Laura Epke, Donna Edwards
House Representative, Dist. 71: George Alzaibak (I would encourage those in Jay Edward’s district to support him)

Note that while there are seven seats on the Council, I haven’t yet decided which remaining three candidates will get my vote. I will definitely be reading CURB to help me decide. But, I do know who I will NOT vote for: TCC’s Dave Nelson or Rob Coulter - I do not trust them, do not trust them, do not trust them. Read Brian’s recent LTE on CURB as he lays it out pretty clearly. Also, painting all of us who disagree with them with such a broad brush is insulting. The people who disagree and oppose their ideology at the FTM and at the voting booth are residents, taxpayers, volunteers, parents, grandparents, retirees, single professionals, young adults, life-long Tivertonians, transplanted Tivertonians, and everything in between. Simply boiling down the serious issues our town faces to “you are either with us or against us” is counter to everything I believe a community should be.

Deb Pallasch
Tiverton, RI

RE: SCHOOL COMMITTEE CANDIDATES

2010-10-31T00:16:00.002-04:00

While there are only two candidates for two seats on the School Committee, it's nonetheless important to vote in this race. And in my view, it's especially important to cast your vote for a new member, Deborah Pallasch.

Anyone who knows Deb knows that she is a passionate, well-informed, tireless supporter of our town and our schools. She was instrumental in informing & organizing people in support of a responsible budget at this year's Financial Town Meeting. She also is willing to speak out and get involved, even when it's not popular to do so. TCC recognizes her abilities and the thereat she poses to their anti-Tiverton agenda, and has attacked her regularly. Despite this, she has never backed down.

While supporting preserving community and school services, Deb also recognizes the need to provide them as affordably as possible. While an energetic supporter of our schools, she has never shied away from addressing school issues or pushing for improvements. And while respecting and supporting our teachers, she was also willing to call on the union to accept concessions to bring the budget into balance without major program cuts. In many ways, Deb has worked on behalf of us and our kids, and I hope people will return that support with a vote on election day.

These are my views. Please share yours here or on CURB's Facebook page, or submit a blog-post to curbtiverton@cox.net .

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

RE: TIVERTON LITTLE LEAGUE "ENDORSEMENTS"

2010-10-30T03:43:00.000-04:00

There has been considerable concern about a mass email sent out this week by Tiverton Little League, explaining their plan to use advertising signage at town fields to pay for new concession stands. Unfortunately, it also essentially "endorsed" Town Council candidates based on the single-issue question of whether or not they'd vote to support this plan.

While I support TLL's efforts on behalf of our kids and understand their frustration with the current Town Council's rejection of this plan, I'm extremely troubled by the implications of a community-wide organization getting involved in partisan politics. It's one thing to encourage people to vote, or to explain an issue of concern. But directly advocating for candidates (whomever they are) only serves to bring politics into what should be a non-partisan community effort, and create dissention and bad feelings. And TLL will not have helped itself should candidates it did not support be elected.

Even more troubling is the TLL "endorsement" of several candidates whose views and actions demonstrate that their concerns are the polar opposite of those of the families of Tiverton. In particular, TCC leaders David Nelson and Robert Coulter have spent the past two years doing everything possible to cut funding for the schools and town services. To support candidates on the basis of their response to a single issue is short-sighted. Even if they will support the signage plan, they also will continue to work to decimate funding for our schools and town services (including our parks).

The lawsuits Nelson, Coulter & TCC are supporting against the people of Tiverton, seeking to reverse the decisions of voters at the Financial Town Meeting, not only are a slap in the face to Tiverton voters, but could cost the town millions. How will this benefit TLL or the families of Tiverton? And the budget Nelson, Coulter & TCC supported this year cut all funding for community organizations, stating that assisting the organizations that serve the people of Tiverton shouldn't be a concern of government. How will electing people with THAT view be beneficial to TLL or Tiverton's families in the long-term?

As a parent of school-age child and TLL supporter, I urge all Tiverton residents to put this issue into context, get informed about the candidates and issues, and support candidates who will truly support our families and our community.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

CANDIDATE STATEMENT: BRETT PELLETIER

2010-10-30T02:32:00.001-04:00

In response to the invitation for candidates to make their case for election to CURB readers, here is a statement from Town Council candidate Brett Pelletier:

For the first time in a long time, the future of our success and prosperity as a community is uncertain. From the country at large to each of our home towns, budget cuts, tax increases and the elimination of essential services and programs are occurring at all levels. Without an increase in the town’s tax base, we will have little success in providing infrastructure improvements, essential services, and enhanced programs to our citizens. With dedicated leadership and focus, positive improvements can be made in Tiverton, and I’d like your help making those improvements and more.

Trust, cooperation, diligence, and passion should be the words we use to describe our community and the job we do as citizens and representatives. As a lifelong Tiverton resident, I think we owe it to ourselves and to each other to try to do a better job opening up lines of dialogue and civil discourse in order to get things accomplished. We owe it to ourselves to explore new ideas and revisit old ones. I can’t promise you that we’ll all agree on every issue, but I can promise you this:

I will bring a renewed sense of passion to town government. For far too long, town government has felt uninspired. A genuine dedication to putting community first is paramount to maintaining and improving the town we love.

I will encourage sustainable right-sized business development that will not only help rebuild and strengthen our local economy but also preserve and enhance the existing character of Tiverton.

I will seek to preserve the natural beauty of Tiverton while keeping an eye to the future. We must strike a delicate balance between preservation and progress. Tiverton should never be at risk of losing its character through over-development nor should a detrimental lack of enterprise threaten the fabric of our community.

I will work to foster and maintain an open dialogue between local business owners, town leaders, and residents. I believe in a strong sense of community and feel it’s the responsibility of every elected official to understand the needs and desires of those they represent. We all need to work together to discover the ways we will improve our community through critical discussion.

Brett Pelletier
Tiverton Town Council Candidate
310 Hooper Street
Tiverton, RI 02878
401-835-2679
BNPelletier@gmail.com

CANDIDATE STATEMENT: STUART HORWITZ

2010-10-30T02:30:00.002-04:00

In response to the invitation for candidates to make their case for election to CURB readers, here is a statement from Town Council candidate Stuart Horwitz:

Dear CURB,
I am writing to you today to ask for your vote on November 2nd, when I will be a candidate for election to Tiverton Town Council.

As the parent of two school-age children, 11 and 4, I know how important it is to preserve the quality of education in our town. At the most recent Financial Town Meeting, I expressed the following point of view:

“We’re talking about property taxes, but I don’t think we’re talking about property value. A $6 a week increase in taxes, or whatever it turns out to be, feels like a relatively decent investment in your property value… We moved here because the schools are really good. I don’t think we’re talking about that. We’re talking about the percentage of the budget, and what a superintendent is going to make – but are we talking about the fact that the Tiverton School System is bringing a lot of people to town, and that is increasing everybody’s property value? ”

I was very proud of my contribution that day, and of the vote that was taken to support Deb Pallasch’s amendment. I am also very proud of the Teacher’s Union who ratified a reasonable contract that showed their respect for our community and willingness to make concessions in difficult times.

The bottom line is it should not be necessary to either raise property taxes continually or run the risk of providing inadequate opportunities to our children. Instead of finely shaving smaller and smaller pieces, we need to increase the size of the pie. We need to say “Yes,” to more business opportunities, without sacrificing our town’s character. With foresight regarding certain zoning opportunities and discretion regarding how we spend our income, we should be able to meet the needs of all of our citizens, including the senior citizens and the presently disadvantaged.

If you have any questions regarding my positions, I can be reached at (774) 991-0808 or through my website: www.stuarthorwitz.com. Please forward this letter to anyone you feel is of like mind, and thank you for your support on November 2nd.

All best,
Stuart Horwitz

LAURA EPKE: TIVERTON TAX FACTS

2010-10-30T01:33:00.002-04:00

Writers of several recent letters to the editor have highlighted tax increases in Tiverton without presenting reasons for the increases and many erroneously blame the Town Council.

First, it is not the Town Council who determines the tax rate; it is the electors at the Financial Town Meeting. Our taxes have gone up because the majority of electors at recent FTMs voted for the increases.

Second, the primary drivers of the increase in taxes in recent years is the bonding of three new elementary schools, which the electors voted to build, and the continual reduction of State Aid (over $2 million in the past few years). Both of these are beyond the control of the Town Council.

Over the past four years, municipal expenses (without debt) have, on average, increased by less than 2% a year. Keeping increases to less than 2% seems like pretty good budget management by the Town’s administration – Town Council and Town Administrator.

Please keep this in mind when voting on Tuesday.

Laura Epke
Tiverton

RE: CURB ENDORSEMENTS

2010-10-29T04:54:00.005-04:00

In light of recently-announced Town Council candidate endorsements by several community groups, some have asked if CURB will be endorsing candidates. No, There will be no official "CURB endorsements". The primary reason for this is that with an informal, grassroots, informational effort like CURB, there is no fair, responsible way to do so. Taking a poll of active members could lead to various kinds of political intrigue that is destructive to an effort designed to unite. And allowing a few members to decide and then posting the results as "CURB Endorsements" seems misleading and undemocratic. And a spectacle like TCC President David Nelson endorsing candidate David Nelson (sure didn't see that one coming!) is something anyone seeking credibility should avoid.

However, there are many who've expressed frustration at the lack of information. While there have been some candidate forums and written statements, candidates tend to say what they think voters want to hear. This is why just about every candidate for every office this year repeats the mantra of "lower taxes / create jobs / open government"; you're not going top get too much disagreement on those. But details are scarce, and many people look for input from others and discussion of issues and candidates to figure out who will best represent their views.

As such, all Tiverton candidates are invited to submit a statement to curbtiverton@cox.net , explaining why he/she is the best candidate to represent people who believe in the CURB concept of preserving town & school services, while containing costs and taxes. And all who are on the CURB email list are encouraged to submit your views on which candidates you think will be best for Tiverton. These views can also be shared on CURB's Facebook page.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing my thoughts on the best candidates to support of CURB's basic objective, and I encourage you to do so as well. We'll also post endorsements from other organizations, and discuss what they mean to those looking to preserve Tiverton's quality of life.

Please share CURB emails with your friends & neighbors, encourage them to visit the blog or Facebook page, and to get informed and involved. Individually, problems can be difficult to overcome. But just as happened with the successful efforts at this year's FTM, when we are united around a common goal for the common good, just about anything is possible.

Brian Medeiros
CURB Administrator

BUDGET COMMITTEE CANDIDATES: A CLEAR CHOICE

2010-10-29T04:07:00.004-04:00

With TCC having failed to push through their anti-Tiverton agenda by taking over the Budget Committee, several TCC members have exited the BC and five seats are up for election. And for the first time in years, there are actually more candidates than open seats, meaning voters will have a choice.

Anyone who witnessed or read about the antics of the TCC-majority Budget Committee over the past two years knows how completely irrelevant it was made. The Town Council, School Committee and FTM voters all rejected their radical efforts to make destructive cuts to the schools and town services. It's crucial that the Budget Committee be returned to the non-partisan, advisory board the Charter designated it to be. And among the seven candidates for five seats, the choices are clear-cut.

Five candidates have distinguished themselves with their dedication to preserving the quality of life in Tiverton. Chris Cotta for many years chaired the BC, and maintained a cooperative spirit and desire to find consensus around balancing community needs and affordability that has been completely lacking in recent years. Laura Epke has been active for many years in town matters and volunteered her time and skills to improve financial processes. Donna Edwards was a key organizer of efforts to prevent the TCC efforts to decimate the town & school budgets at this year's FTM. Louise Durfee and Joanne Arruda have been strong supporters of community services and the schools during their time on the Town Council. I have full confidence that with these people on the Budget Committee, that body will be returned to its place as a respected advisory committee that has the best interests of all Tiverton residents as its goal.

The two remaining candidates, James Amarantes and Joseph Sousa, have demonstrated through past words and actions that they will continue down the destructive path of the past two years. However well-intended they may be, I believe that their efforts in support of TCC's anti-Tiverton agenda, and the cut-taxes-whatever-the-longterm-cost mentality, make them unacceptable choices for anyone who supports preserving Tiverton's quality of life.

Those are my views. Please add your comments here or on CURB's Facebook page, or submit a blog post with your views to: curbtiverton@cox.net.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

THE CHOICE IS OURS

2010-10-17T04:37:00.002-04:00

The following is a letter sent to the local papers addressing the choices in the upcoming election:

It's important that Tiverton voters know what's at-stake on election day. Having pulled together to overcome efforts by special-interest group TCC to decimate town and school services at this year's Financial Town Meeting, Tiverton's majority should know why getting out and making an informed decision is so crucial.
TCC's record is clear: two years of conspiracy theories, baseless accusations, and self-serving stunts. They spent thousands to scare seniors with robo-calls prior to the FTM, spreading the lie that supporting the requested budgets would result in a 22% tax-increase. It was so blatantly untrue that not one TCC member dared repeat it at the FTM. Now TCC says it has no obligation to tell us how much they spent, or who donated the money. Whether it's legally-required or not, where's the "transparency"?
Having failed to take away our legal rights to preserve services (by making up $1.5 million in funds promised and then withheld by the State), TCC now looks to take over the Town Council. Two TCC leaders are on the ballot. As TCC President, David Nelson is responsible for the "22% Lie". He's given enthusiastic support to two lawsuits against the people of Tiverton, attempting to overturn the decision of FTM voters. Robert Coulter has actively supported his wife's lawsuit against Tiverton, and a policy allowing any two Town Councilors to overrule the decision of FTM voters.
Prior to the 2009 FTM, Mr. Nelson put TCC on record as supporting the proposed budget, only to spearhead the effort at the FTM to cut the schools $600,000. As a Budget Committee member, Mr. Coulter voted to approve the proposed school budget, then suddenly did an about-face at the FTM and supported the cut. They had a right to propose such a cut, but why deceive voters by saying the opposite before the FTM?
Democracy only works when voters participate and make an informed decision. CURB-Tiverton is a forum for accurate information and discussion of town issues, and can be accessed at www.curbtiverton.blogspot.com or on Facebook.
People can say whatever they think people want to hear, but we should judge people based on their actions. TCC has proven to not only be anti-education and anti-government, but anti-Tiverton. Voters should look skeptically at candidates accepting the TCC endorsement, especially those who've been in the forefront of TCC's destructive ways. Imagine the absurdity of having two people serving on the Town Council while supporting lawsuits against the people of Tiverton.
We can try to work together through difficult times to preserve the town we love, or we can splinter in self-serving special-interests. The choice is ours.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

TEACHER CONTRACT RESOLUTION

2010-10-16T03:51:00.007-04:00

After months of frustration that NEA-Tiverton hadn't come to terms on a contract that would stay within the confines of the school budget approved at the FTM, that agreement finally came to fruition at summer's end. The lack of a contract, and of the union to accept necessary concessions, has been used by some to justify their anti-schools words and actions. While it came later than many would have liked, both sides deserve credit for getting it done.

NEA-Tiverton deserves credit for accepting significant concessions needed to preserve school programs within a reasonable budget. And the three-member School Committee majority deserves credit for resisting pressure from TCC and its allies to give up on negotiations and impose a contract. While that may have become a necessary last-resort option, it would also have created endless legal disputes and animosity within our school system. While it would have been easy and politically popular to go to war with the union, it would have been short-sighted unless absolutely necessary. Above all, it would have proved detrimental to all involved, especially the students.

Not surprisingly, misinformation is already being spread to denigrate this agreement. Those putting their political desire for war with the unions (whatever the cost to our kids) above all else have tried to deflect their willingness to bring about devastating school funding cuts by saying, "The school department needs to get concessions from the teachers' union." With this agreement, that cop-out is no longer valid. Taxpayers at the FTM did their part to preserve our educational system; now the School Committee and teachers have done their part.

Below are comments from Carol Herrmann, one of the three SC members (along with Sally Black and Leonard Wright) who made this agreement happen. Thanks to the cooler heads on both sides who brought about a resolution that best serves our kids, our teachers, and our taxpayers.

Brian Medeiros
Administrator

--------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMENTS ON THE TEACHER CONTRACT FROM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER CAROL HERRMANN:

This contract contains $362,000 in real concessions. This is not a case where teachers agree to take less one year because they will get more later. These concessions are not linked to any future salary increases or payments. Our teachers are taking a 0% salary increase for each of the two years in the contract at the same time that they are increasing their health insurance premium co-pay from 12% to 20%. I have been carefully following teacher contracts approved in the state since I was elected to this committee two years ago and I cannot remember another example of such a large increase in co-pay that was not offset by raises of at least 1 or 2% or by stipends.

Anyone who said that our teachers would never come to the table because there was nothing in it for them, or that teachers only voted for a property tax increase to fund raises for themselves, owes our teachers an apology. In fact, our veteran teachers who live in town will end up giving at home and at the office. By that I mean that they will be paying higher property taxes in order to maintain school programming at the same time that they are taking home smaller paychecks to maintain school programming. They and all our teachers deserve our gratitude.

I said at the beginning of our budget cycle last fall that we would have to find savings in as many areas as possible and get help from all our employees to make it through these tough financial times in one piece. With this contract we have achieved that goal. All our school employees, from Council 94 to our administrators and now our teachers, have given substantial concessions. Thanks to these concessions and to the generous support of voters at the Financial Town Meetings our school system will continue to be one that we can be proud of. I will be voting to approve.

WELCOME BACK TO CURB!

2010-10-16T03:26:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile. After the exhaustive effort around the FTM, it seemed everyone was looking for a break from politics and town matters. With a crucial election around the corner, it's time to focus again on the choices facing us, and to work to spread accurate information and hopefully foster discussion of town issues. Our system only works when voters participate and make educated decisions.
So check back here daily for updates, and if you aren't already on the CURB email-update list, you can email a request to be added to: curbtiverton@cox.net . You can also join the discussion on Facebook.

Brian Medeiros
Administrator

LETTER: DEB PALLASCH

2010-06-22T04:40:00.001-04:00

School Committee member Carol Herrmann read a statement at the June 8th meeting expressing her deep disappointment that Tiverton NEA has ceased negotiating with the School Committee and, therefore, has left them with no alternative but to proceed to arbitration. Her statements were echoed immediately after by member Sally Black. The statement said in part “They (meaning the electors at the FTM) did not approve this tax increase so that teachers could avoid doing their part to solve our budget shortfall.”

I can only offer an empathic NO we did not! I certainly did not work nights and weekends in the middle of my busiest time (tax season) to make flyers and phone calls, to crunch numbers and research laws, or miss an entire day of my child’s 8th grade trip for the continued FTM so the NEA could walk away from negotiations. I am also pretty certain that none of the others residents (including teachers) handed out flyers, stood on corners, made phone calls, wrote letters, sent emails, hung signs, held coffees or showed up twice in THS’s gym so that that NEA could walk away from negotiations. No, they approved the increase because they believed in community and understood that the State withholding $1.4 million dollars from us would mean hard choices and sacrifices by all. They did their part expecting our teachers should and would shoulder their fair share of the burden to help our community weather this storm.

I still expect this and will support the majority of the Committee as it takes steps to move the process along to a speedy resolution. I will support the majority of the Committee that negotiated in good faith in a professional, reasonable and rational manner as I continue to believe that we need to focus on solutions which are the most likely to be successful and strengthen our sense of community, not those based upon extreme strategies or beliefs (from either the right or the left).

Many of my detractors have made the claims that I am “NEA friendly” or “union friendly.” What I really am is “Tiverton School District friendly.” I will use the same energy and drive that I had before the FTM against anything that I perceive as bad for the school community, bad for the kids, bad for the taxpayers, and ultimately bad for Tiverton. NEA walking away from the table is bad for Tiverton. We have a responsibility to collectively solve our problems, budget and otherwise. I will end by repeating one more statement made by Ms. Herrmann to our teachers (whom I continue to respect and appreciate) - Please make good on the commitment to do your part by negotiating until an agreement is reached.

Deborah Pallasch
Tiverton

STATEMENT: SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER CAROL HERRMANN

2010-06-08T23:15:00.001-04:00

(the following is a statement read at the June 8 School Committee meeting)

From the beginning the majority of the school committee has been committed to negotiating a new contract with our teachers. But we cannot negotiate a new contract alone. We need our teachers to be committed to the process as well, to be willing to do the hard work of arriving at a compromise that both sides can accept. Unfortunately, we have not received a proposal from the teachers’ union since April 5. The school committee submitted a proposal on April 19 at the beginning of our last negotiating session with the mediator, and having adjourned without receiving a proposal back from the teachers, we delivered a different proposal to them on April 20. We have now been waiting 7 long weeks for a response to either one of these proposals and none has been forthcoming.

In the meantime, our Council 94 employees have reopened their contract and given back the raise that they were legally entitled to. Our administrators have agreed to a new contract that includes savings of up to $40,000 for the district next year. The school committee has also made cuts wherever we could in areas that would not impact student programming, most recently by eliminating a central office staff position. And last but not least, a majority of voters at the Financial Town Meeting approved a sizeable tax increase in order to preserve school programming. They did not approve this tax increase so that teachers could avoid doing their part to solve our budget shortfall; rather, they approved the increase because they believed as I did that our teachers were ready and willing to shoulder their fair share of the burden and actually sign a contract that includes the cost savings necessary to balance our budget.

With the vote in our favor at the FTM, I fully expected to be able to recall all our teachers tonight. That we cannot do so because we do not have a new teachers’ contract that includes concessions is deeply disappointing to me. My plea to our teachers at this point is a simple one: Please make good on the commitment you showed earlier to doing your part by negotiating with us until an agreement is reached. Our students, our parents, and our taxpayers are counting on you.

Carol Herrmann
Tiverton School Committee member

COINCIDENCE OR TCC PLAGIARISM? (AGAIN)

2010-06-05T18:52:00.009-04:00

Early Thursday morning, I wrote and posted a simple message on this blog (and Facebook) informing people of the deadline for candidate declarations, and encouraging community-minded people to run. And then amazingly, TCC President Dave Nelson "wrote" and distributed the email below, which is clearly my post with a few minor edits. Coincidence or plagiarism? Compare Mr. Nelson's press release below to my post (the post prior to this one, just below the Nelson email) and decide for yourself.

It's not the first time Mr. Nelson has tried to pass other people's words off as his own. A few months back, he copied a newspaper article and replaced the writer's name with his own. It's hardly a capital offense, and I'm losing no sleep over it, but it's yet another indication of the ethical bankruptcy of TCC. And can you imagine the outcry if I or anyone else in the "Tiverton conspiracy" TCC fantasizes about had done this? Anyone who's read TCC's propoganda knows original thought isn't exactly a specialty, and that facts are optional. But something this blatant and foolish makes you wonder if there's ANYTHING TCC won't say or do.

Don't get me wrong; I'm glad Mr. Nelson follows CURB. If he'd asked, and didn't try to pass it off as his own, I'd gladly have let him reprint it. But this habit of simply taking and misrepresenting things is disturbing. It's a clear example of the futility trying to foster cooperation and honest dialogue with TCC as it currently exists. After all, TCC could spend thousands on robo-calls to spread the flat-out lie of a "22% tax increase" prior to the Financial Town Meeting, but they won't spend a few minutes writing their own press release? Maybe Mr. Nelson can give an explanation for this latest in a long line of questionable actions by TCC?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: "dave n"
To: "dave n"
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 9:08 AM
Subject: Candidates interested in running for Office in November

Anyone interested in being a candidate in the November election please read
this note.

All condidates should file a "Declaration of Candidacy" at the Town Hall
between June 28-30.
Declaring candidacy requires filling out a form.
"Declaring" does not obligate one to then continue the process and become an
official candidate.

Tiverton needs community-minded people to represent us. If you want to make
change in Tiverton, please consider becoming a candidate. No special
experience is necessary

For more info please contact Town Clerk's office @ 625-6711, or contact me at (xxxx)

Dave Nelson
TCC
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

JUNE 30 DEADLINE FOR CANDIDATES TO FILE DECLARATION FORM

2010-06-03T00:39:00.003-04:00

Anyone interested in being a candidate in the November election must file a "Declaration of Candidacy" at the Town Hall between June 28-30. This includes local races, such as Town Council, School Committee & Budget Committee. Declaring is simple, requiring just filling out a form. It's just the first step in the process, and declaring does not obligate one to then continue the process and become an official candidate.

Our democracy works best when voters have choices, and it only works well when we have the opportunity to elect good, community-minded people to represent us. Otherwise, only people running for personal interests will decide our future. If you want to make a difference in Tiverton, please consider becoming a local candidate. No special experience is necessary, and being a newcomer to government can even be a plus. For more info, contact Town Clerk's office @ 625-6711.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

LETTER TO SAKONNET TIMES: SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER CAROL HERRMANN

2010-05-25T16:52:00.003-04:00

I was disappointed in Mr. Burdett’s recent editorial, not because of the opinions he voiced, but because of the inaccurate information that serves as the basis for his opinions regarding Tiverton Schools and our budgets. The budget numbers for Tiverton Schools are public documents and as such are readily available to anyone who requests them from the school department. As a journalist, Mr. Burdett is certainly aware of this, and yet he chose not to seek the information from us. Equally as puzzling, he does not identify the source for the false budget figures he does cite.

Mr. Burdett writes: “Taxpayers need to know why teachers are getting a generous across-the-board raise (atop step raises)” and “why all employees pay but a tiny fraction of their gold-plated health care plans.” What taxpayers really need to know are the facts. The Tiverton School Department has budgeted a 0% salary increase for teachers for next year. The latest contract proposals from both the School Committee and the teachers’ union (available online, should Mr. Burdett care to check) include this 0% salary increase, along with proposals for temporarily reducing steps, and also include an increase in health-care premium co-pays from 12% to 18%. The new contract for school administrators also includes an 18% premium co-pay, along with salary concessions.

Mr. Burdett adds that townspeople “need to ask why, with budgets growing at two and three times the rate of inflation, there is any need to talk of cutting sports and closing schools.” I don’t know what other budgets Mr. Burdett has in mind, but the Tiverton School Department’s total budget grew 1.4% between FY 2009 and FY 2011 (the period I’ve been on the School Committee), according to Douglas Fiore, director of administration and finance for the district. That hardly seems excessive, especially in light of the fact that our health insurance costs alone have gone up 19.8% between FY 2010 and FY 2011. The drastic cuts under discussion would only have come into play had the Budget Committee’s recommendation that the town level fund the schools for the second year in a row been approved.

I am grateful to Tiverton taxpayers for rejecting the Budget Committee’s recommendation and instead choosing to continue to fund school programming, especially at a time when it would have been easy to say no. I also agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Burdett that sizeable salary increases for any public employees and small, flat amount contributions to health-care premium costs are not justifiable in the present economy.

What I’m left wondering, however, is what Mr. Burdett thinks of the 0% salary increase we have actually budgeted for teachers, as well as for all school employees, and of the increase in health-care premium co-pays from 12% to 18%. Perhaps Mr. Burdett will consider addressing these questions in a new editorial, and this time support his opinions with facts.

Carol Herrmann
Tiverton School Committee member
(Note: This letter represents my own views and not necessarily those of the School Committee)

LETTER TO SAKONNET TIMES

2010-05-24T17:03:00.002-04:00

I was disappointed in the Sakonnet Times' coverage of Tiverton's May 15 Financial Town Meeting. The FTM story, and especially your headlines and editorial, focused almost entirely on the tax issue, while failing to give your readers any context for why an 8% increase was approved, why it was necessary to maintain services, or what the consequences would have been if it had not been approved. In newspaper terms, you buried the lead.

Your reader would take away that an 8% tax increase was approved in a contentious FTM with record turnout. But that reader would not learn that Tiverton's need for such a large increase, just to maintain services, was a one-year situation caused primarily by the State's withholding $1.4 million in promised car-tax funds, not the result of spending (school & municipal budget increases were around 3%). Nor would that reader know that the Budget Committee's recommendations would result in a school-budget shortfall of over $1 million that the School Committee stated could only be made up by actions including closing an elementary school and eliminating all extracurricular activities. These were the main issues for the majority who decided the FTM outcome, and failing to address them left an incomplete and misleading picture. To focus so heavily on the losing perspective would be like headlining the 2008 Presidential Election: "McCain Finishes 2nd."

Your editorial took a very condescending attitude towards Tiverton taxpayers, who made a difficult choice between two bad options. You not only focused on the tax-increase without context of why it was considered necessary, but your facts are wrong. You give the erroneous impression that the large increase was an annual thing resulting from overspending. You suggest no effort is being made to reform union contracts. The School Committee has been in a lengthy struggle to get a more affordable teacher contract, and you unfortunately repeated the misinformation that raises are included in their budget, when in fact it factors in over $400,000 in concessions. The Town Council has been operating on bare-bones budgets for years. No one went to the FTM eager to raise taxes 8%, and most understand that an 8% increase is unacceptable under normal circumstances. More work needs to be done to make our financial situation sustainable, but to say this year's large tax-increase resulted from a failure to contain spending or appreciate this year’s unique circumstances is inaccurate.

While your local coverage is typically commendable, I believe in this case you failed to provide your readers with the real context of a pivotal story. This was not a “phantom victory” as you state, but a community’s reasoned effort to avoid responding to tough challenges by destroying its future. Taxpayers, forced by the State to choose the “least bad” option between gutting services or $2 - $3 per week in extra taxes to preserve them, came together is record numbers to support their schools and community.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

LETTER: MIKE BURK

2010-05-24T15:51:00.001-04:00

A few months ago I wrote a letter to the editor which was critical of the Tiverton Town Moderator, Michael Smith. My reasons for being so critical had to do with public statements he made at the time about seeking advice from one special interest group, the Tiverton Citizens for Change (TCC).

However, I am a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due. Mr. Smith got off to a rocky start during the first day of the Financial Town Meeting (FTM). He clearly spent time between that day and the second town meeting day reflecting on how to improve the process. Knowing firsthand how challenging it is to moderate an FTM, I want to congratulate Mr. Smith for the improvement he showed from the first to the second day of the FTM. As well, kudos to Town Clerk Nancy Mello for fixing the sound system problems and to the counters for a job well done.

I cannot say the same for our elected Budget Committee Chairman Jeff Caron. Starting with last year’s FTM and continuing throughout this year’s budget process and FTM, Mr. Caron has proven to be one of the most arrogant, disrespectful and childish elected officials I have ever met!

Mr. Caron’s toddler-like behavior shines through in his FTM on-stage antics making fun of voters who didn’t agree with him and his enormous ego is illustrated in his May 20, 2010 letter to the Sakonnet Times (“To the FTM no-shows, enjoy your tax hike”). He led a budget process that was anything but transparent, attempted to quash the voting rights of firefighters and police officers, and then his letter chided voters for not supporting him.

I know that some who support the financial viewpoints of the TCC do so because they truly find it difficult to make ends meet, but also understand the importance of community. Mr. Caron and his colleague David Nelson obviously are not in that boat. They don’t care if we have good schools or good community services available to all. They have no interest in working with those who have different viewpoints than their own for the betterment of our town. Simply put, they care little about our town, but only want to hold on to as much of their wealth as they can.

I urge all voters to be wary of anyone who is endorsed by the TCC, especially Mr. Caron, in the Fall elections. We don’t need elected officials who want to ram their own agenda down the throats of our citizens and who lack the civility to govern.

Mike Burk
Tiverton, RI

GREAT NEWS: FTM SUPPORTS SCHOOL & COMMUNITY SERVICES

2010-05-15T23:24:00.002-04:00

Great news from today's Financial Town Meeting continuation. The majority voted to approve the budgets requested by the School Committee and Town Council, and reject the TCC/Budget Committee's self-serving effort to gut services. The margin was closer than we'd hoped; once again, every single vote counted. Moreso, given what we were up against, from the State withholding $1.4 million in funds to TCC spending thousands to spread the "22% Lie" about a fictional tax-increase, it's a great day for all who care about Tiverton's school and community services.

Today marked a hard-won victory, one that will require people's vigilance and participation to maintain. Those who attempted to take over town government to promote their extreme agenda will almost certainly try again. And those who would attempt at the last-minute to scare seniors with a flat-out lie about a phony 22% tax-increase will clearly say or do anything. This isn't the end of the struggle to preserve our community, schools and quality of life, but only the beginning.

Today provided a clear demonstration of the stark choice the people of Tiverton face. One vision seeks to balance making town and school services as affordable as possible, while maintaining those vital services for all residents. The other emphasizes tax-savings above all, regardless of the consequences. Today the majority came down in support of preserving our community and schools, but there will doubtless be other battles ahead.

My sincere thanks to all who got involved, organized, spoke out in support, and showed up and voted at the FTM. And thanks as well to our elected and professional officials who stood up for ALL the people of Tiverton, and not a special-interest group. Each person and every effort contributed to a day that has gone a long way towards defending and preserving our schools, our community, and our quality of life.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

22% TCC LIE vs. A $2-PER-WEEK CHOICE

2010-05-14T17:01:00.002-04:00

As you can see from Laura Epke's information in the previous post, in light of the School Commitee's acceptance of "the Pallasch Amendment" for the School budget, the added tax-cost of approving the Town Council & School Committee requests (which maintain current services) over the Budget Committee's recommendation ( $1 increase for the schools and severely cut municipal services) is actually less than $2 per week for a $200,000 home. Hard to imagine anyone with any concern about Tiverton choosing $2-per-week over our school & town services.

It's worth noting when refuting the 22% lie to note that TCC and their Budget Committee allies never brought it up before this week, not even at last week's FTM. Why? Because it's a lie created this week and spread using an awful lot of money for robocalls and emails. Apparently TCC was not confident after last week's turnout. It's pathetic that the same people willing to destroy our schools and town over $2-per-week in taxes have no problem spending thousands to scare people with a lie. Is THIS the Tiverton anyone wants to live in?

Let everyone you know know the truth: it's a 22% TCC lie, and a choice between $2-per-week more in taxes versus closing an elementary school, elimination of extracurricular activities & community-organization funding, and decimation of the town's economic development, not to mention costing each taxpayer more than $2-per-week in lost school-reimbursement funds from the State, fees and lost property values. It really is a no-brainer when you look at the facts.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

JUST THE FACTS

2010-05-14T16:25:00.001-04:00

School Amendment #3 (up first for discussion on Saturday) proposes an increase in total general School expenses of 2.5% over last year; a bit less than the revised School Committee requested increase of 2.9% (Jan Bergandy's School Motion).

If this amendment is approved and the Town Council’s requested Municipal budget is also approved:
Total town general expenses (School & Municipal) would increase by 2.8%
Taxes on your home would increase by a little less than 8% (7.9%)
The annual tax bill for a $200,000 home would be about $100 more (actually $99) than the Budget Committee’s recommendation

Let’s all use some common sense and pay attention to facts not irrational, political invective.
School Amendment #3 along with the Town Council’s Municipal budget is a responsible, fact-based budget.

Give your town another four hours of your time – don’t walk away!
Be part of the reasonable majority at Saturday’s Financial Town Meeting.

Laura Epke
Tiverton, RI

TCC: EXTREME RIGHT & USUALLY WRONG

2010-05-14T04:46:00.003-04:00

I generally try to ignore TCC and their petty, dishonest attempts to force their destructive agenda on Tiverton whenever possible. I'd rather focus on ways to improve our town and schools, and unite people to that end. But ignoring wrongdoing doesn't make it go away, and only encourages it. For way too long this small fringe group was allowed to badmouth our town and schools and people and connive to destroy it, and most of us chose not to get in the mud with them. The hope was that the majority would recognize their dishonesty and reject their extreme agenda. But we came to realize that accusations unanswered, no matter how baseless, tend to be believed. As the saying goes, BS loves a vacuum. So for the past few months, many people from many differing political persuasions and backgrounds have spoken up and taken on the falsehoods and attacks of TCC and their Budget Committee allies.

Tax Assessor David Robert, widely acknowledged as a dedicated and effective town employee, is the latest target of TCC attacks. His offense? He dared correct their despicable scare-tactic of claiming the school budget would result in a 22% tax increase (it's actually about 7.5% for both School Committee & Town Council requests). In a follow-up letter, he reveals how TCC/Budget Committee member Cynthia Nebergall took some mutual, lighthearted post-meeting joking and weeks later accused him of seriously threatening to raise the assessment on her home. This is disgusting in so many ways, since I can tell you first-hand that that sort of playful teasing is common and a useful tension-reducer after heated disagreement. Make sure to have your attorney present when talking to TCC members, because they'll twist what you say to fit their agenda, or make something up if necessary. And when someone demonstrates how phony the TCC approach is, their motives are questioned and they are added to the list of some delusional conspiracy-theory concept of "the establishment" and "the machine". It's pathetic, and needs to be called just that.

Best of all, Mrs. Nebergall is the same person who took it upon herself to decide the municipal budget cuts proposed by the Budget Committee (rubber-stamped by the TCC members of the BC). Never mind that her husband is the Municipal Court judge, a line-item under her consideration. Conflict of interest? You betcha! But it doesn't stop there. One of her most striking proposed cuts is to cut the Town Planner position in half. Why do this at a time when Tiverton desperately needs smart economic development? Could it possibly be because Mrs. Nebergall has a long-standing personal dispute with the Planner Chris Spencer dating back to her time on the Planning Board? You betcha! The petty personal motives in TCC words and actions are painfully transparent. Clean and open government? I don't think so.

But the fun doesn't stop there. TCC / Budget Committee member Rob Coulter voted with his allies to recommend a big cut to the town's litigation budget. Is it merely a coincidence that his wife (and School Committee member) Danielle Coulter has a pending lawsuit against the town, attempting to overturn the will of the 2008 Financial Town Meeting majority? WIth a reduced budget, will the Town Council be forced to settle this nuisance lawsuit? Possible ethics violation and definite conflict of interest? You betcha!

Just two weeks ago, TCC founder and Budget Committee Chair Jeff Caron took it upon himself to proclaim himself and Town Treasurer Phillip DiMattaia a "committee" capable of overriding the decisions of both the Town Council and Financial Town Meeting voters regarding the tax-cap. When Town Administrator Jim Goncalo properly refused to play along with this charade and sent the pertinent information to the State as directed by the Town Council, TCC accused him of sending falsified documents and other baseless charges. Do you see the pattern? Attempting to bully and threatening to destroy the careers of hard-working people who stand up to their attempt to take over our town is the TCC's MO.

Mr. Caron's FTM mockery of parents concerned over the potential closing of an elementary school and elimination of extracurricular activities (by pretending to play a violin; bet that went over well in 3rd grade) was just the latest outrage. He and his allies have taken the simple advisory role of the Budget Committee and decided they have the authority to dictate to both elected bodies AND the people of Tiverton at the FTM. It's hard to pick the most appalling action, but I'd give it to his letter telling the Town Administrator that on-duty police and fire personnel who are Tiverton voters can't vote at the FTM, in a bizarre interpretation of a Charter amendment Mr. Caron himself wrote prohibiting town resources or personnel "influencing" an election. Mr. Caron's attempt to disenfranchise these taxpayers takes on unspeakable proportions when you consider that Mr. Caron, as a "town officer", regularly and blatantly violates his own amendment by writing and sopeaking in an attempt to "influence" the FTM outcome. It's a poorly-written amendment, and probably unconstitutional, but he wrote it, he tries to hold others to it to insane extremes, yet he violates it regularly. How do you spell hypocrisy? T-C-C.

One of TCC's top targets are teachers. They regularly rail against "greedy teachers" and their pay and benefits. While many of us support contract-reform and bringing costs in line with taxpayers ability to pay, we also respect teachers for the crucial job teachers do and don't look to make them scapegoats for all that's wrong. The comical part of this is that many of these TCC attackers are themselves either current government employees, or recipients of generous government pensions. They no doubt earned them and I begrudge them nothing. But to demonize others for something you yourself benefit from is the height of hypocrisy.

TCC mouthpiece Justin Katz has the audacity to call on our Tax Assessor to "apologize" for doing his job and giving accurate information. It's TCC and its allies who should be apologizing to the people of Tiverton. Like typical bullies, when their delusions are challenged and their threats are thrown back at them, they play the victim. It almost makes you want to play a giant violin when they whine about how "under attack" they are by those who challenge the garbage they push with the truth. My differences with TCC aren't personal, and I'd like to think TCC members are well-meaning but misguided and obsessed with winning at all costs. I will defend anyone's right to hold and express his/her opinion and political views, whatever I think of them, but there's no place in civil discourse for the words and actions coming from TCC. I'll gladly make a deal with my TCC friends: when you stop spreading misinformation and attacking people, we'll stop calling you out on it and correcting you. Deal?

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

LETTER: TAX ASSESSOR DAVID ROBERT

2010-05-14T04:43:00.002-04:00

To the Tiverton Residents:

It is terribly sad that by providing the residents of Tiverton with some useful information, the TCC has decided to launch a personal attack on me. I have always maintained that groups such as the TCC have value in any town, but this group of individuals are shameless in their approach. From David Nelson waving around a document at a Town Council meeting claiming that is a falsified state document generated by the Town Administrator, when in fact the first page of the package sent to the state explained emphatically that page two, the so-called false document, was a budget scenario, and what would be the ramifications should there be such a vote at the FTM. Wouldn't that be a prudent step so the residents of the Town could make an informed decision? But to them, there was some underhanded motive in being responsible. To their new tactic in claiming an unrealistic tax increase of 22%, which three of their members have acknowledged would certainly never happen. However, they maintain that my use of the word disingenuous in describing their statements is insulting. What word would they have preferred, misleading? I am not attacking anyone in the TCC personally, just their message because residents are contacting me confused and fearful.

As your tax assessor, I feel I have a responsibility to inform you of the proper numbers as I see them, and that no matter what budget is voted upon at the FTM, there will not be a 22% tax increase. Not even 10%. They claim I have an agenda by bringing this to your attention, and that I must be siding with the Schools. I am not. I take issue with some of the schools arguments as well, but they are not going around threatening residents with a 22% tax hike and my issues with them are more philosophical in nature, but that is strictly my own personal view and has no relevance in this discussion. But when it comes to tax roll levies, that directly impacts my office and I must speak out against information that I deem incorrect. The TCC will argue that if the state fails to give the schools their funding, the town will be on the hook for upwards of $5 Million Dollars. That is a matter of legal dispute and I cannot address that, but that could be the case in any given year in theory. But as it stands right now, I can't tax you for something that hasn't happened, and has never happened in Tiverton's history. Common sense has to prevail at some point. And again, three member of TCC don't believe that would ever happen. So in summary on this point, I can assure you that the tax bill issued to you in June will not reflect a 22% increase, plain and simple if you were to vote for a budget other than the Budget Committees. Also, in a new letter by Mr. Parker of the TCC, he questions the percentages I used in my first letter, stating that I didn't include any increase from the municipal side, so I was disingenuous. Mr. Parker, I was only making a point on the school budget.

Now as far as the personal attacks, Mr. Tom Parker has done a 180 on his opinion that he voiced to me and the Town Administrator just a few weeks ago. Let me explain. At the Budget Committee meeting where Mrs. Cynthia Nebergall made the motion to cut the Town Planner position to part-time, and basically eliminate the entire budget for the Economic Development Commission (EDC), I spoke up against these cuts. I started off by saying that while Mr. Spencer , the Town Planner, is a friend of mine, for me business is business and personal is personal. So if I felt that Mr. Spencer was not an asset to the Town, I would not have said a word. But I explained that during this difficult time, to reduce/eliminate some person and department that has garnered the respect of his co-workers and the likes of Keith Stokes, (along with the EDC) that works on making Tiverton a place that businesses would want to locate to seem short-sighted. Mrs. Nebergall reasoned that during this difficult economic time, there would be no need for a full time planner due to limited development going on. I argued that the real estate market is starting to make some strides in moving forward, and in fact, over the past several weeks, there have been numerous business publications that stated such, including an estimate from local developers that plan on a 20% increase in activity. Additionally, the planning director works on so much more than just subdivisions. On to the vote; it passed 6-5. After the meeting, Mrs. Nebergall was packing up her notes alongside Mr. Parker when she motioned over to me and asked playfully, "so do you hate me now"? I told her that she had to do what she felt was right, but I'm now going to have to raise her property assessment. This was said in a joking manner and we both laughed at my playful comment. Two weeks later, Mrs. Nebergall read an accounting of this event into the minutes of a subsequent meeting after I had left; now claiming that I had seriously threatened to raise her assessment. Mr. Parker questioned her saying something to the effect, "wasn't he joking around?" This was relayed to me by a few people that were present at the time. A few days later I had the occasion to see Mr. Parker at town hall where I questioned him about Mrs. Nebergall's comment. He told me he was puzzled by it and was going to ask me what transpired because he didn't really hear me say anything to Mrs. Nebergall, nor did she say anything about the matter to him until she read the statement. After I explained to him the circumstances and that she and I were both kidding around that night, he shook my hand and said he felt satisfied that my comment was in jest. But now, since I'm challenging the TCC's numbers, of which he is a member, their website now contains a letter from him stating that I have an agenda and references my so-called "threat". I take my job responsibilities seriously and residents that I've dealt with, including Mr. Parker and Mrs. Nebergall during assessment appeals, know that I do so with the highest level of integrity, and for them to call it into question because I disagree with their budget positions, is disgraceful.

So why did it take Mrs. Nebergall two weeks to raise this matter as a concern? It was only during the second week after that initial Budget Committee meeting that she found out I sent an email to the Vice Chair, Rob Coulter questioning the motive of her motion to cut the Planner position. It is well known that she has had several clashes with Mr. Spencer, even to the point where it's been alleged she tried to get him fired. It was because of her hostility towards Mr. Spencer that I questioned whether or not her budget cut motion was personal. That question was in a private email because I was not going to bring out dirty laundry in public; I don't' believe it's professional or proper, but it remains a valid question. But now that the TCC is trying to use my innocent, playful comment against me, I won't allow them to besmirch my character and professional integrity just because I dare question them. Is this what the TCC is about? As a side note, Jeff Caron, the Chairman of the Budget Committee did cast a dissenting vote on those minutes because he found her accounting improper.

As always, should any resident have any questions or concerns about their assessment, the assessment process, or the effect of budgets on their taxes, my door is always open.

David Robert
Tiverton Tax Assessor

LETTER: PAT CURRAN

2010-05-14T04:37:00.003-04:00

As a resident of Tiverton for 70 years and a voter for at least 50, I have attended many FTMs but none like Saturday's (May 8). It was a fiasco, an embarrassment and a sham. Shame on the Budget Committee for letting this happen.

For most of us who attended in good faith, and are just trying to get the town on its feet by voting for a budget that would keep out town running without losing any of the services needed by all of us at one time or another, was a good reason for attending. We know our town budget is large, but we have to take into consideration all of the services offered and needed by the by the town inclusive of our schools, which are a good part of the budget. So just take a minute and think back on how most of our children went to these schools, and got a very good education. Now because we're older and we think education and extra-curricular activities in the schools can be put on a back burner, thinking we've done our duty in the past and now because we don't have any children or grandchildren in the system anymore, we're done with it! We can't think this way, without our schools and the monies to run them many people who have children and are interested in our town will go elsewhere. Our children and these families are the future of this town and we must protect it for them and the citizens
to come!

My dad always attended the FTM. He said it was his duty as a member of the town to participate, and he did for many years, but even then the schools were a big part of the town budget and arguments did arise, but in those days the moderator would recognize the members and they would present their opinions or motions then sit down. If they had more to say they didn't stay at the microphone they went to the end of the line and waited again for their turn. There was no filibustering or they would have been called out of order, and if it continued they would have been warned to take their seats or be removed from the room. This did not happen Saturday! The moderator had no control over the meeting. The same people spoke over and over again while others waited at least half an hour or longer to get their turn. Mrs. Black patiently stood in line for at least a
half hour while Mr. Nelson continuously went on and on. Then another gentleman stood behind him and they continued to confer while holding on to the microphone or standing so close to it that it made it inaccessible to others. Other people saw what was happening, and ask them to be seated, which of course they didn't and the moderator still did nothing.

The TCC who wore yellow shirts and had their yellow cards in hand would watch Mr. Caron for his display of head nodding for yes or no, thumbs up or down, to let them know if he approved or disapproved, but the final straw that everyone saw was his pretending to play the violin in sympathy for someone whose motion was rejected. It was a shameful display, in very bad taste. Mr. Caron as head of the Budget Committee, it is your job to make recommendations to the Town Council and the School Committee, nothing else. Your theatrics were un-called for.

I know there will be comments about the people who wore the red shirts which by the way was for a show of solidarity, but of course a comment was made that these people were all teachers, but they weren't. They were a compilation of parents, students, alumnus and people who work for and in the town who just want what's good for their children and themselves. Do they know they're going to pay more taxes, yes they do, do they want to probably not, but the benefits that they will receive for themselves and their families in the long run are unquestionably more important.

What happened Saturday really scared me. I have never seen so many people so frustrated! Tempers flared beyond control, I heard yelling and screaming coming from people I've known all my life out of fear and indignation of what could happen if we don't get the monies needed to keep this town running. And then you look over at the TCC who were cheering because the meeting was continued until next week, and Mr. Caron raised his arms as if in victory. It was disgraceful!

There was no victory there Saturday, only a bad taste in every one's mouth that was reminiscent of last year. You pulled a fast one last year, but not this time!

Pat Curran
Tiverton, RI

TCC, THE BULL & THE BACKPEDAL

2010-05-14T04:32:00.001-04:00

I was amazed to see TCC scribe, Justin Katz try to backpedal and water down the outlandish lies published in Might Rules Right by TCC Chairman, Dave Nelson! Immediately after Nelson boasts “When the second 2010 FTM opens Saturday, the first topic of discussion is Deb Pallach’s amendment which will place an increase of 22% to Tiverton’s 2010 tax liability”. TCC scribe, Katz attempts to rebuff Dave Robert, Tiverton Tax Assessor’s (Newest member of the Machine) unbiased counter claim (Talk of 22% tax increase) that the TCC isn’t being fair or honest. Even in Katz’s distorted version of the facts, Agreeing with the Tax Assessor, he correctly states,” Were aid to decrease to zero, which admittedly is pretty unlikely…..”, because it is too much of a stretch, lie and deception at this stage of their charade to expect anyone to believe the legislature and governor will unexpectedly, out of the blue, now cut educational aid to zero, or at all, in addition to eliminating car tax revenues for next fiscal year. Katz goes on to muddy the waters by failing to understand or properly represent Commissioner Gist’s directive that “… a town’s appropriation must take the form of a total appropriation sufficient in and of itself to operate the public schools of the town. It does not suffice to simply appropriate a locally raised sum in the expectation or hope that state or federal aid will subsequently materialize to fill any resulting budgetary gap. …by claiming Bergandy has put forth an illegal motion as if it were fact or the truth. He further laments that Bergandy misrepresented her directive and ultimately asserts the only method to determine clarity is by filing a law suit. We should all be able to see the methodology employed by these desperate people. Lie, distort the truth, twist the facts to suit their agenda and when all else fails, threaten or file a law suit.

We really could use less of the distortions and fact twisting from the TCC. Instead of spewing lies and misinformation they would be better served to just admit they do not want to pay taxes and leave it at that. At least it would be truthful. Apparently all of these TCC followers are as lazy and inept as the budget committee majority as they are placing all of their faith, trust and pride on the lackluster, lazy, self-serving dilatory hatchet job performed on the Town and School budget by the TCC budget gurus, Caron, Coulter, Parker, Mantell, Joubert and Nebergall. You know the drill by now, we will get all the services the town provides now but we shouldn’t have to pay for them as those overpaid and bloated unions will fund everything with concessions and givebacks. After all, we don’t need to provide a fair and responsible labor negotiation process. We can just tell them all they to pay the TCC demands or be fired. That’s just the TCC way. Either live with it or leave. What a great bunch of wonderful community builders the TCC clan has turned into!

Now for the Bull. I was hoping that Nelson would heed some cordial advice offered when he stepped up to my table of guests at a local restaurant after last weeks meeting. Nelson complained, rightly so, about the demeanor and tactics of so many at last weeks meeting. When he asked what could be done to prevent the animosity and bickering from happening next week, I stated that he needed to sit Jeff Caron down, explain that he needed to eat some pride and call Jim Goncalo and Bill Rearrick to meet privately as respectful gentlemen, without note takers, media or video, without taking votes or minutes, to discuss if there were any way to come to a compromise position for the community as a whole. Obviously my suggestion went on deaf ears as the TCC scribe pried his keyboard the next day outlining more distorted information about the Teacher Union contracts and the so called new found money that really isn’t newly found at all. Shortly thereafter, the lies, distorted facts, and sheer confusion offered by Nelson himself professing the false 22.3% tax increase as another scare tactic was sent out as a press release to all local media. Too bad the TCC head puppet couldn’t find the strength or wisdom to do what was right for the community. The TCC really missed a great opportunity to give themselves some stature and standing in the community for simply doing the right thing but instead their greed of the almighty buck remained the focal point of their ultimate goals.

It has been obvious from the beginning that Jeff Caron has had an agenda of not paying taxes. He obviously doesn’t care that while he may win a battle or two, in the end his lies and agenda will destroy not only his personal reputation but those who have supported his deceptions as well.
Let’s be fair, certain TCC members simply don’t want to pay anymore in taxes. I could respect that position if it were just that. Coulter, Caron, Parker, Joubert , Lambert, Nelson, and Nebergall do not have any children in our school system and could care less about how it operates so long as they get as little funding as possible. None of these individuals have a clue about what it takes to operate a school system and quite frankly they don’t want to know. They didn’t do any due diligence as a budget committee by reviewing expenditures, class size, teacher needs, text book needs, utilities, special education costs, out of district tuitions, professional development or any of the basic staples needed to run the school system. Just ask yourself, could you operate a multimillion dollar operation without cutting services to your clients with a two dollar increase over three years. It’s obvious these incompetent elected officials only cared about their own bottom line. Better yet, how is it all this so called “new revenue” was just found when Coulter’s wife, is a school committee board member. Are we to believe Mrs. Coulter doesn’t have a grasp of how the schools are funded? Is it possible she didn’t understand the system was operating with title I funds, IDEAA funds, and Stimulus funds? Awe, come on! We didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.

Better yet, don’t you find it offensive that Caron, a public servant who earns a hefty federal paycheck and taxpayer supported benefits at the Naval Base in addition to his wife earning a taxpayer funded paycheck and benefits as a full-time Portsmouth teacher, Parker who receives a federal pension check along with federal subsidized benefits, Joubert, a retired state employee, also on the public tax dole collecting taxpayer supported pension and benefits, and Nebergall another of the TCC clan, who benefits from a direct taxpayer subsidy from Tiverton taxpayers to the tune of $12,500 annually for her husbands periodic appearance as the local municipal court judge (one budget account the TCC budget majority failed to notice during her hatchet job) have done everything in their power to destroy public taxpayer funded unions and taxpayer financed initiatives while they make a living or subsidize their own lifestyles on the backs of taxpayers! That my friends, is the information that can be deciphered from annual ethics filings unless of course, as with everything else, they didn’t do those justice either. Wow, if that ain’t the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is!

The real issue facing this community is the rapid phase in of extraordinary debt service increases for three new schools and the upgrades done to the high school over three years while losing general revenue sharing and now the loss of state motor vehicle tax revenue. While I was a very vocal opponent of the three new schools prior to the bonds passing, even I recognize that once the bonds were approved the community must fund them without compromising the limited services we had before this new construction. We projected tax increases as part of the public informational forums performed around the community prior to the bonds being passed. These increases should not be a surprise, yet with the economy in the tank and the state pulling resources, this TCC special interest group has prayed on your sensibilities. No one wants to pay more in taxes but lying and performing substandard work as elected budget official are not the appropriate methods of setting annual expenditure levels or tax levy’s.

It is time to stop the Bull…. and the Backpedaling. Please get informed and come out to vote. Hope to see you Saturday morning. Please call all your neighbors, friends and relatives who are taxpayers in Tiverton to come out as well because we need everyone to get involved.

Chris Cotta
Tiverton, RI

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

2010-05-13T15:38:00.004-04:00

So, TCC mouthpiece Justin Katz wants Tax Assessor David Robert to "apologize" for doing his job and providing taxpayers with accurate information by debunking their latest misinformation? That's priceless. He might want to talk to his TCC allies about apologizing for spreading the "22% tax increase" lie in the first place. And while we're at it, here are a few more apologies TCC should make:

* For pushing Michael Smith to run for Town Moderator and getting him elected at last year's FTM. However well-intentioned he may be, Mr. Smith proved himself incapable of serving as Town Moderator last week, and we all have TCC blame for last week's fiasco and the $10,000 we now have to pay for a second FTM.

* For being willing to say or do anything to "win", whatever the consequences on the people of Tiverton, creating an ugly rift that manifested itself Saturday.

* For calling senior citizens and scaring them with lies about the budget and taxes, and for swiping an email list of school supporters and sending them unwanted TCC propoganda.

* For cheapening the political discourse in town over the past two years, spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories instead of engaging in honest debate.

* For supporting two of its members in a costly nuisance lawsuit against the town, attempting to overturn the will of the majority at the 2008 FTM.

There are of course many more TCC offenses. Their one positive contribution has been to unite many people from different parties and political views against them and their plan to destroy our town and schools. If you like the path TCC has taken our town this past year, be prepared for even worse unless the reasonable majority turns out to Saturday's FTM and votes to maintain our town and school services, which are under threat in order to save $3-per-week in taxes.

If you're sick and tired of people with no stake in our community tearing-down our schools, our town, and our people for their own self-serving purposes, there is one simple thing you can do to defend our community: attend the FTM continuation on Saturday and support the budgets requested by the School Committee and Town Council. Those who care about the schools and community are taxpayers too.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

LETTER: TAX ASSESSOR DAVID ROBERT

2010-05-12T13:37:00.001-04:00

After several calls to my office following Saturday’s Financial Town Meeting, I was taken aback by the assertion that their taxes were going to increase 22% if the schools received the money they’re requesting. I informed them that during the meeting, I keep track in real time any motions made that deviate from the recommended Budget Committee’s budget, and at no time did any motion on the floor exceed 7.31%. I asked where they came up with the 22% number and they stated that TCC was telling them this. I followed up by visiting the TCC website where there is a letter from David Nelson, President of the TCC in which he twice states that support for the School Committee’s budget would cause a 22% increase in taxes. This is simply not true.

Before I go any further, please let me explain to the residents that as Tax Assessor, I take no stand on any budget, nor do I endorse anyone’s plan or motion. I am not a resident of this town and my only reason for sending this letter is to let the residents know that a 22% tax increase is impossible. The School Committee’s requested budget and Mrs. Deb Pallasch’s motion both contain State Aid monies which cannot be factored into the tax levy. Let me repeat, it cannot be factored into the tax levy. It would be illegal for me to do so. I cannot tax the residents of the Town for state funds, never mind state funds that are in the Governor’s budget! One could argue that the state has short changed the Town recently, and they have, but to assume going from almost $5 Million Dollars in promised State Aid to Zero is ridiculous and extremely reckless in scaring residents on fixed incomes.

What Mr. Nelson fails to explain for whatever reason, is that the 22% increase comes from using last year’s local appropriation ONLY, then taking the School Committees and Mrs. Pallasch’s motion of local tax money, PLUS State Aid money, which would make the increase in the two budgets extreme. This is apples to oranges and totally disingenuous. The proper percentage calculation would be to use last year’s local appropriation, PLUS State Aid, then compare the two years. Doing so you’ll find the increase between the two years is 2.89%, not 22%!

I know that taxation is a very emotional and volatile issue. Believe me I know. I see firsthand the impact on seniors with fixed incomes fighting to save their homes. I hear from the struggling young families. These are tough times for all. However, again, as Tax Assessor I am not taking a stand on any motion or budget, that is for the residents to decide. But I don’t think it’s fair to scare residents to the point of them literally crying on the phone to me because they are being told of a 22% tax increase and they will lose their home. That simply is not the case. My door is always open for anyone who wishes to discuss the impact of any budget on their property tax.

David Robert, RICA
Tiverton Tax Assessor

COME TOGETHER AT SATURDAY'S FTM TO DEFEND OUR TOWN & SCHOOLS

2010-05-10T22:21:00.003-04:00

Saturday’s Financial Town Meeting was a case-study in how not to conduct town government. The four-hour trainwreck demonstrated clearly what happens when a small fringe group tries to force an extreme agenda on the majority. TCC and its Budget Committee allies were exposed as the destructive forces they are, as the incompetence and bias of their hand-picked moderator led to this outrageous waste of time.

But as appalling as Saturday was, it’s crucial that those who support our community and school services keep focused. The FTM resumes this Saturday @ 9:00am. The school and municipal budgets and the tax-levy will be voted on. Every vote is needed to insure that the TCC plan to decimate school and town services fails, and Tiverton’s vital services are maintained. Those frustrated last week need to return for the budget votes to keep those four hours from being wasted. Those who didn’t attend have another opportunity to stand up for our kids and our town.

The facts are clear. Tiverton faces a $1.4 million shortfall resulting from the State withholding promised car-tax funds. Unless those funds are recouped, devastating school & town cuts are unavoidable. The Budget Committee plan would result in closing a new elementary school (and the loss of State reimbursement for the building), elimination of all school extracurricular activities and community-organization funding, and decimation of town economic development. Even if your primary concern is the bottom line, the BC plan will end up costing every taxpayer more in lost reimbursements, added fees, and lost property value. The tax-savings for all this devastation is about $3 per week over the Town Council & School Committee budget proposals, which preserve these services. Maintaining town and school services is not only the right thing to do, but the smart financial choice.

Don’t be conned by TCC misinformation. The School Committee is requesting a 4.5% increase (about $900,000), not the 22% TCC absurdly claims. Their request is $5 million higher than the Budget Committee figure because they followed State law, including both local-tax funding and other funding sources in their budget; the Budget Committee violated this law by failing to include other sources. This is yet another TCC-perpetrated fraud. And the deceptive TCC-backed resolution which would shift the tax-burden from property-taxes to car-taxes while accomplishing nothing should be voted-down. Detailed information is available at www.curbtiverton.blogspot.com or on Facebook.

The responsibility for Tiverton’s future rests with each of us. It’s crucial that everyone who cares about our town and schools show up Saturday and support them. No one wants to have to explain to a child why you weren’t present when the decision was made that forced his/her school to close, his/her extracurricular activities to be cut, his/her community to be decimated. Don’t let those who do nothing but badmouth our town and schools force their destructive agenda on our families because the majority who want to improve our schools and town didn’t show up and vote.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

FTM TO CONTINUE NEXT SATURDAY, MAY 15 @ 9am

2010-05-09T01:43:00.002-04:00

Much will be written in the coming days about today's Financial Town Meeting, but the most important fact is this: the FTM will continue next Saturday, May 15 @ 9:00am. After much delay and argument over rules and procedure today, the Town and School Budgets will be debated and voted on this Saturday, as well as the tax-levy.

It is vital that all who are interested in preserving town and school services attend this continuation of the FTM and vote to support the common-sense budget requests of the Town Council and School Committee. If you attended today, don't let those four hours go to waste by failing to be present for the actual budget and tax votes this Saturday. If you were unable to attend, you can still attend this continued meeting and make a positive difference in your town.

Those who are looking to force $1.2 million in school cuts and another $250,000 in municipal cuts will have another opportunity to do so on Saturday. It's crucial that every Tiverton voter who wants to prevent the closing of a brand-new elementary school, the elimination of all extracurricular activities, the crippling of town economic development, and elimination of funding for community organizations attend and vote, and encourage others to do so as well. For less than $3 per week in taxes, these services can be maintained, and Tiverton's economic and educational future preserved. The majority view will prevail at the FTM; those who care about preserving town and school services should do everything possible to make sure we have a strong majority at the meeting.

Please spread the word about the FTM continuation on Saturday, and the wisdom of supporting the Town Council & SChool Committee's requested budgets. It's not only the right thing to do, but the smart financial choice for all taxpayers. Those who would recklessly and short-sightedly decimate our schools and community services to make a political point and save $3 per week in taxes will likely be present. Don't let a tiny minority forever change our schools and community, and destroy our property values in the process. The choice of what kind of town we live in is up to each of us. You need to attend and vote at Saturday's FTM to have a say in that decision.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

THE BOTTOM LINE

2010-05-05T02:02:00.007-04:00

Tiverton voters will decide the future of our town and schools at Saturday's Financial Town Meeting. While there are many reasons why supporting the Town Council & School Committee's proposed budgets to preserve community & school services is the right thing to do, it's important to understand that it's also the smart financial choice for taxpayers. The Budget Committee's plan to cut over $1 million from the schools and $250,000 from town operations is bad for all taxpayers. In exchange for $3/week in tax savings, it would force the closing of an elementary school, eliminate all extracurricular activities, cripple economic development and infrastructure maintenance, and ALSO cost each taxpayer more.

If the BC plan is approved by FTM voters, each taxpayer will make out worse financially. How?Taxpayers will lose state reimbursement for the closed year-old school. Residents will pay more in fees for services once paid for by taxes. Inability to pay for maintenance will cost us more in infrastructure expenses down the road. Cuts in the legal budget will make us vulnerable to huge lawsuit liability. Worst of all, the value of our primary asset, our home, will drop as a result of decimated schools & community services. Whatever a taxpayer's concern might be, the Budget Committee's plan will only make it worse, cost the taxpayer more, & harm our quality of life in the process.

The Town Council & School Committee budget proposals feature just a 3% increase in spending, yet will preserve community & school services. They also continue to improve contract terms, including over $400,000 in anticipated union concessions in the teacher contract. These responsible budgets will allow both town & schools to continue to improve cost-effectiveness without decimating services or creating a financial crisis that will be irreversible. The main reason these responsible budget requests require a 7.5% increase in the tax-levy to preserve services this year in not because of spending or labor costs as some falsely claim, but because of the loss of $1.4 million in car-tax funds withheld by the State due to its financial problems. The State tax-cap law allows taxpayers to decide whether or not to recoup lost revenue to maintain services by increasing the tax-cap for just that year. That choice, to spend $3 more per week in taxes or face huge community & school cuts, rests solely in the hands of voters at Saturday's FTM.

Please make sure everyone you know understands what's at-stake at Saturday's FTM, and why voting for the Town Council & School Committee's budget proposals is not only the right thing to do, but the smartest thing he/she can do for his/her own financial well-being. And THAT is the bottom line.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

LETTER: SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER CAROL HERRMANN

2010-05-01T04:21:00.002-04:00

The future of the Tiverton School system will be decided at the Tiverton Financial Town Meeting (FTM) this year. The local appropriation for the schools that will be presented by the Budget Committee chairman is $1 more than last year’s appropriation, which was only $1 more than the prior year’s. A second year of $1 more, should it be approved by the voters attending the FTM, and the lack of federal stimulus dollars that maintained our school programming this year, will force the School Committee to make $1.2 million in cuts. How could this be accomplished?

If we want to preserve academic programming, we will have to begin by closing one of the new elementary schools, for a savings of approximately $507,000, and eliminating ALL extracurricular activities – meaning every sports team and every afterschool activity – for a savings of approximately $231,000. Unfortunately, even these drastic cuts would “only” total $738,000 in savings, and we would still need to cut $462,000 more from our budget. That means we would be looking at eliminating middle school band, high school chorus, and the strings program to save another $110,000. If we then cut five or six teaching positions at the high school, we could finally achieve $1.2 million in savings, but we would also be open to legal action for violating the Basic Education Program mandated by the state. I encourage you to visit the Tiverton Schools Web site and see the full list of options available for yourself at HYPERLINK "http://tivertonschools.org/Budget%20Reductions%202010-2011.htm" http://tivertonschools.org/Budget%20Reductions%202010-2011.htm.

For those who think that the answer lies in getting concessions from our teachers, let me emphasize that the School Committee’s budget request assumes $440,000 worth of concessions from the teachers, including an 18% co-share for health insurance. Both sides continue to work collectively towards achieving those savings. That’s well over $2,000 of concessions from each teacher. We are also counting on similar concessions from all our other employees.

Each voter must decide what’s reasonable. Is it reasonable that the schools receive just $2 over a two year period for cost increases? Is it reasonable to have to close one of our new elementary schools and have it sit empty while our youngest students are crowded into the remaining two schools? Is it reasonable to have to close down all our schools when classes end for the day, turn out the lights, and lock the doors because we have had to cut all our afterschool activities? Or is it reasonable to pay a few dollars more a week in taxes and maintain a school system we can all be proud of by supporting the School Committee’s budget request? For the sake of our community and its future, I’ll be voting to support the School Committee’s recommended budget.

Carol Herrmann
Tiverton School Committee Member

The views expressed above are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of other School Committee members.

A PUSH IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

2010-04-30T21:48:00.002-04:00

Regardless of personal opinions on the debate about town finances and taxes, everyone would likely agree that Tiverton should be doing everything it can to encourage appropriate (that is, consistent with the Comprehensive Plan) business and economic development in town. Unfortunately, a budget that necessitates closing of town schools and elimination of school programs and town services is likely to severely hamper Tiverton's efforts to broaden the town's tax base by encouraging businesses to locate in Tiverton.

What kind of message does it send to a business that might be considering locating in Tiverton if we, as a community, choose not to authorize a budget that will provide enough funds to keep all our schools open or maintain school activities that have been available to our children for years? Or that we are not willing to make up for a shortfall in state funds in order to keep providing town services that many members of the community view as essential? Not many businesses would want to make a financial commitment to that kind of town.

In a letter to the Sakonnet Times last week, Leonard Schmidt, President of the Tiverton Economic Development Commission, described the efforts being undertaken to reinvigorate the commission, “whose primary goal is to increase the Tiverton tax base by improving the ratio and balance of commercial and residential properties in the town.” This is an important goal, and Mr. Schmidt and the EDC deserve our support and encouragement. But instead of supporting the EDC, the majority of the Budget Committee has approved a budget that cuts most of the funding for the EDC, apparently leaving the commission with money for little more than basic supplies. This is simply bad policy.

Also, at a time when we should be sending out a message that Tiverton is forward-thinking and integrated in and attuned to the needs of the business community, the majority of the Budget Committee has proposed cutting Tiverton's membership in the League of Cities and Towns and in the Chamber of Commerce, and cutting the town planner position to a half-time job. This kind of penny-wise but pound-foolish cost-cutting sends a clear message to the business community that we really aren't interested in or committed to being a business-friendly community. After all, what kind of commitment to the business community could the town possibly have if it is not even willing to come up with the small amount necessary for membership in the Chamber of Commerce?

The Budget Committee’s stated reason for eliminating the expense of these memberships (a grand total of $9,375, according to Sakonnet Times) was that the expenditure “undermines taxpayer goals.” Here, of course, the members of the Budget Committee who voted for this cut show that the only “taxpayer goals” they have in mind are their own and those of the TCC. If your only goal is to keep taxes low at all costs and you don't care about the long-term ramifications of such a strategy, then I suppose that paying for membership in these two organizations would undermine your goal. But if you think it’s important to position Tiverton as business-friendly and committed to the greater good of the community, then it’s obvious that we should be funding the EDC, continuing our membership in the Chamber of Commerce, and funding school activities and town services that have been in place for years.

The issue is broader than just taxes. It speaks to the very essence of what a community is. Our primary budget problem is that we are likely to face a significant loss of state funding, and how we respond to that loss in our budget will define who we are as individuals and what kind of community we comprise. We can either duck our heads and run for cover, or stand up to our responsibility and see to the needs of the community. No one wants to pay higher taxes for no good reason, but to me, making up for a shortfall in state funding to maintain town services and school opportunities that have been understood for years as important and worthy of funding is a good and necessary reason for a higher tax rate.

The TCC and its supporters do not agree with this view, and they are entitled to their opinion. But I believe their philosophy and the budget recommendation that it has brought about pushes Tiverton in the wrong direction, both now and for our future, and I hope the Financial Town Meeting rejects the Budget Committee’s recommendation. After all, the Budget Committee's recommended budget is only that, a recommendation. It does not prevent the taxpayers who disagree with the TCC's “vision” for Tiverton from approving a different budget at the Financial Town Meeting. But if you do disagree with how the narrow majority of the Budget Committee sees this issue, your opinions as a taxpayer don't count unless you come to the meeting and vote. And when you do, consider first what kind of town you want Tiverton to be. Then please vote for a budget that meets the needs of the town.

John S. Foley
President, The Alliance to Preserve Tiverton

DEB PALLASCH: VOTERS MUST DECIDE

2010-04-30T05:48:00.002-04:00

Calculating taxes is not rocket science: Total expenses minus revenues equals net expenses, and that “net” is what you and I pay in taxes for our services. State funding is included in revenues and the Town expects to lose more than $1.4M in state funding next year. That is a very big number. So guess what that means – yep simple, we either decrease expenses or we pay more in taxes to cover that lost revenue (the “net”).

The Budget Committee’s recommended 4.4% tax increase covers that lost revenue and some equipment and debt. But that’s it – no increased funding for operations. Think about it, gas costs go up but we didn’t put money in our budget for that increase so something else must be cut to pay it. For the schools, they decided $1 more for next year will have to do and on the municipal side (after debt and equipment) $4,000 more is enough.

Now, if you’re the School Department, how do you pay for increases in oil, gas (think bus contract), an increase of $500,000 for mandated out-of district tuitions with $1 more? Especially when this is the 2nd year in a row that you will be given just $1 more. How does the municipal side of the Town pay next year’s bills with $4,000 more when health insurance alone is increasing by more than $100,000? Contrary to popular conspiracy theories, there is no secret stash of money so any increase beyond $1 or $4,000 will need to be paid for with far-reaching cuts to something else.

Both the Town and the Schools are in talks with our employees for important concessions that will help, but the recommendation will require $1.2 million in cuts for the schools and $250,000 in cuts for the town. Those are very big numbers. Hey, that totals about $1.4M doesn’t it? That’s right. The situation we face this year is not because of exorbitant increases in spending (expenses are actually increasing only about 3% next year), it is because the State decided to balance their budget on our backs by cutting our revenue.

Remember we are LOSING $1.4M in revenue. The Budget Committee’s “compromise” 4.4% covers that but provides nothing for next year’s increased operating costs. The Town Council and School Committee are recommending a prudent budget that covers the revenue loss but ALSO meets the needs of our community and maintains vital services, requiring a 9% increase instead. That sounds scary but, for a $200,000 home, their budget would cost about $3 more a week than the Budget Committee’s proposal.

This is the discussion we must all have: raise taxes that cover lost revenue but require sweeping cuts elsewhere OR raise taxes enough to maintain all services. For me, if you are proposing to raise my taxes anyway, then I will vote to pay $3 more a week to keep all our Elementary schools, our Town Planning Dept, our Visiting Nurses, our economic development support and other services that are slated for cuts. At the same time, the Tiverton Town Council has to look to further expanding property tax abatements beyond those in current law for individuals and families that truly are economically stressed. We also have that responsibility.

We have the legal right to levy a tax - they propose, WE decide. Show up at the Financial Town Meeting on May 8th at 9 am and preserve Tiverton by supporting the budget recommended by the Town Council & School Committee.

Deb Pallasch
Tiverton, RI

THANKS TO TOWN DEPARTMENTS & STAFFS

2010-04-30T05:34:00.000-04:00

The day after the recent flood-causing rainstorms, after the worst of the storm seemed to have passed, we went shopping. The rains began again. We passed the Essex which was being pumped out after the basement--Children's and Teen area--had flooded. [The Library closed; there was no electricity-- but the director was there and putting the disaster plan into action.] Bob Martin was standing in the downpour pumping. That was typical. We've seen town workers out in all kinds of weather.

This isn't the kind of thing that sells papers--even the four covering Tiverton. Maybe I'm just lucky enough to see that, since I volunteer at the Tiverton Senior Center to deliver for RI Meals on Wheels. Once a week over the past few years, like the other volunteers, my 80-something year old partner and I do a 30 mile loop and get to see the Town at work--the school bus drivers, Public Works patching well-worn roads, sanding, plowing, clearing drains; we see police, fire, and emergency workers handling crises. The Building Inspector was following police making sure homes were habitable after heavy rains compromised cesspools and wells and flooded homes.

And the Senior Center, with its roof leaking, was open. The Tuesday volunteers were delivering meals to frail elderly--and helping out with activities.

We are retired after spending our lives in public service. We can give something back to the Town. We are among hundreds of volunteers giving thousands of hours to benefit the community, as our parents did before us. We see the efforts of Town officials, Town staff, Town committees and commissions to make the past few years of level funding fall as lightly as possible on us all. We know it has not been easy.

It is good again to say: Thank you, Tiverton.

Kathryn E. Ryan
Tiverton, RI

LETTER: ALEX COTE

2010-04-28T02:13:00.002-04:00

As a Budget Committee member, I thought the taxpayers should know how the budget was put together. The Budget Committee was a budget committee in name only. In the past, the Budget Committee went over each line of the budget presented by the Town and by the Schools and understood what the expenses were. Not this year. We had no discussion with the Administrator, Superintendent, Department Heads or any Committee Chairs.

The final cuts were presented by Ms. Nebergall with no prior notification to the full committee as far as I could tell. It was voted on quickly with no discussion. The vote was 6 to 5 with the TCC members on the prevailing side.

Those six members of the TCC had a predetermined agenda from day one. In many ways, the process was a joke. And for me who had served on the Budget Committee for years under very careful Chairmen, this budget was in sharp contrast to what had been done in prior years when the budget as presented to the taxpayers was a product you could be proud of – whether you agreed with it or not. The budget being presented to you by the Chairman of the Budget Committee is not one that you should back.

Alex Cote
Tiverton, RI

TRUE "FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY"

2010-04-27T03:37:00.005-04:00

Much of the time and energy in the debate over the town/school budgets is spent discussing the importance of town & school services. This is understandable. A community's "quality of life" is tied directly to the quality of schools, public safety, infrastructure, recreation, library services, and town services.

Maintaining these things obviously costs money. And the tax burden on a town's residents is also an important consideration. We hear a lot about "fiscal responsibility", usually used to mean "lower taxes and spending", which is hard to argue with. No one likes tax increases, and everyone favors lower taxes and spending ... until the consequences affect him/her, or a family member. The goal of government should be to find a balance between the services the majority wants and the amount of taxes they're willing to pay to maintain those services.

That's the decision each of us in Tiverton face at the May 8 Financial Town Meeting (FTM). The bottom line is this: the Budget Committee proposed plan will cause a 4.4% tax increase and still result in a closed elementary school, elimination of sports & activities, elimination of funding for all community service organizations, increased fees, and huge cuts in services. The Town Council and School Committee budget requests will require a 9% tax increase, resulting in a $3 per week increase above the Budget Committee plan, in exchange for maintaining current town and school services.

What does "fiscal responsibility" really mean? Is it simply lower taxes and spending, no matter the consequences? Those who criticize the possible 9% tax increase conveniently omit the fact that this increase is due primarily to a one-year loss of revenue caused by the State's withholding of $1.4 million in car-tax funds promised to Tiverton. The State's tax-cap law allows towns facing such a loss to apply to the State to adjust the tax-levy increase in order to recoup those funds and maintain services. Is it "fiscally responsible" to try to deny the FTM voters, who are the only body legally empowered to set the budget and tax-levy, their right to decide? Is it responsible to allow the state's financial crisis to destroy our community, when for an extra $3 per week in taxes we can maintain our quality of life?

If the Budget Committee's recommendations are adopted by FTM voters, the school department will find itself in a $1.2 million hole. Having looked at how such a deficit would be eliminated, the School Committee has made clear that eliminating extracurricular activities and closing an elementary school will almost certainly be required. Closing a school will not only create ballooning class sizes and hurt education, but will cost us the state reimbursement funds for construction of the new school. Is it "fiscally responsible" to close a 2-year-old school, and end up saving almost nothing in the long run? Is it "fiscally responsible" to deprive our students of sports and other activities, and force parents and grandparents to pay out of pocket to make up those activities? Aren't they taxpayers as well?

Decimating the town's education system and town services will clearly have a negative impact on the primary financial asset of most residents: their home. Is it "fiscally responsible" to save $3 per week on taxes but set in motion actions that will result in lower property values? Without sufficient tax revenue, the town will be forced to institute fees for things currently included in tax payments (rescue services, trash pickup, etc), and raise fees already in place. Is it "fiscally responsible" to save $3 per week in taxes and spend more than that amount in new costs and fees?

Among the Budget Committee's proposed cuts are the loss of our full-time Town Planner and cuts to our Economic Development efforts. Is it "fiscally responsible" to save $3 per week at the expense of beneficial economic development that could build the tax-base and help ease the tax-burden? Another major cut is to our legal accounts. In the past few years, our town attorneys have successfully defended us from several multi-million-dollar lawsuits, including one concerning the Bay Street toxic waste situation. Is it "fiscally responsible" to save thousands in legal costs and end up paying thousands or even millions in liability?

Our roads and infrastructure are in dire need of maintenance and replacement. is it "fiscally responsible" to put the town in such a hole that this will never happen? Our library needs replacement to continue to receive state funds. Is it "fiscally responsible" to create a financial environment in town that will make passage of a bond for a new library impossible, costing us both a new library and all state funding?

We are obviously in a difficult economic time. An old adage says that when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. Does it really make sense to cut services to seniors and children and those most in need during tough times? As the town and schools are teetering on the edge of financial ruin as the result of lost state funding, is it "fiscally responsible" to both decimate services and push our town and schools towards bankruptcy? Is it smart to send the town on a path to insolvency from which it will never recover, rather than spend an extra $3/week in taxes now to preserve the town and schools and keep us on the path to recovery and reform? It's worth noting that those most affected by even a $3/week tax increase can contact Town Hall to see if they qualify for a hardship abatement, and the Town Council has the capacity to extend those considerations if they feel it's needed.

It's up to the people of Tiverton to decide the proper balance between taxes and services. No one likes tax increases. But the majority gets to decide if it's worth an extra $3 per week in taxes to preserve town and school services, stabilize the town's fiscal stability, and safeguard the value of our homes. Almost everyone with experience with Tiverton's government and financial situation is united in rejecting the Budget Committee's plan and supporting the "fiscally responsible" budget requests of the Town Council and School Committee. Please join us in preserving the community we love.

Brian Medeiros
Tiverton, RI

LETTER: MIKE BURK

2010-04-26T18:11:00.002-04:00

I encourage Tiverton voters to attend the May 8th Tiverton Financial Town Meeting (FTM) and vote to support the needs of the Town and the School District. To show that support, I ask you to reject the Budget Committee’s budget which gives the town only $4,000 more than this year and the School District only $1 more for the second year in a row!

I know times are hard – I’ve taken the equivalent of about a 10% pay cut this year and my share of health care costs have increased. I know others have it harder.

However, I believe that the Town Council and the School Committee put together budgets that are reasonable, responsible and meet the Town’s and the Districts obligations to all of us. Like last year, prior to the FTM each proposed budgets which were well below the cap and were supported by the Budget Committee – I believe the School Committee’s proposal last year was only about 1.8% higher than the prior year. However, at last year’s FTM, the Budget Committee chairman, Jeff Caron, led an unfortunately successful effort which stripped $600,000 from the School budget and gave the District only $1 more. This year Mr. Caron and a bare majority (6-5) of the Budget Committee are being more honest with their disregard for Tiverton’s school’s by again recommending only a $1 increase for the schools, as well as limiting the Town to about a $4,000 increase.

Each of us needs to decide what we can afford to support our Town and our schools. I am certain that supporting the Budget Committee will force the School Committee to close one of our new, voter-approved elementary schools and probably cut out all afterschool activities. The Town will need to cut back on such key services as snowplowing side streets, fixing potholes, paving streets, and supporting local human service agencies, such as the Visiting Nurses Association, that serve our most vulnerable.

As you decide, let me just ask you to consider how much you trust Mr. Caron and the TCC with your money. Last year they did a bait and switch on the School Budget and tried to do the same on the Town side! TCC leader and School Committee member Danielle Coulter urged her School Committee colleagues to get out of a Group Healthcare collaborative that has saved the District and the Town hundreds of thousands of dollars! They’ve fought the Town Council’s efforts have the state clarify the FTM’s role in deciding if the cap should be overridden! They’ve proposed a budget which decimates our economic planning activities at a time when these activities are most critical! By a slim majority, they passed a budget developed by one member and refused to let the minority members raise questions before the vote!

I know who I trust. While it means going above the 4.5% cap, I’m voting for the numbers given by the Town Council and the School Committee. I urge you to do the same.

Mike Burk
Tiverton, RI

TIVERTON TAXPAYER RESOLUTION QUESTIONABLE

2010-04-25T01:28:00.006-04:00

On the docket for Tiverton’s Financial Town Meeting is a Taxpayer Resolution that, if approved, will require any proceeds from the sale of any town buildings to be used to pay down our school bond debt. It sounds like a good idea – reducing debt makes sense. But upon further thought, many questions come to mind.

Can we really pay down the debt? Bonds are a contract. The terms of the school bonds set our contract – a contract that obligates the Town to pay specific monies to investors over a specific time period. Can we change those terms when we want? Can we pay down principal regardless of the contract we made with investors? I don’t think so. That said, the terms of the school bonds give us a chance to restructure in the future (2016 to 2019). I suppose we could set aside sale proceeds until then and restructure the bonds. But, will interest rates be lower in six years? If interest rates are higher it may be a better deal to continue with the bonds in place. If this resolution is approved, will we be required to “pay down the debt” even if it’s a bad deal and we end up paying more in interest than the reduced principal? If not, what do we do with the money set aside?
It may be even more complicated because the bonds were issued through the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation. Wouldn’t they be “the deciders” not Tiverton? I don’t know.

Maybe this Taxpayer Resolution meant to say “servicing the debt” as opposed to “paying down the debt”; i.e., use the sale proceeds, not tax dollars, to make debt payments as opposed to reducing principal. Fine. But, first, the resolution doesn’t say that. And second, using the proceeds to pay the debt service presents a whole different set of questions. We have three school bonds each of which require an annual debt service payment of more than $800,000. Nonquit School was appraised, back in November, at $850,000. If it’s sold for the full appraised value (not particularly realistic) the proceeds would cover one payment on one bond. Presumably, the budget for that year would not include the payment for one bond. What happens the following year? The payment goes back in the budget, expenses increase more than $800,000, taxes jump up and we’re in the same “can’t go over the cap” chaos that we’re facing this year? Good grief. So, maybe we set the proceeds aside, set up a timetable, and apply them to the debt service over time. How much? Over what time period? I’d want to see a plan before I voted to approve.

What are the alternative uses for sale proceeds? Many. How about setting up a reserve capital fund to pay for building maintenance? Maybe we should bulk up our rainy day fund – it is well below the 3% required by Charter. What about a ladder truck? I could go on and on.

Tiverton has a rare opportunity with the two old school buildings. An opportunity that I think should be used to help put the Town on a better footing for the future. At first glance, paying down the school debt sounds like a good idea, but examining the details makes me think differently. If this resolution is approved, we will have no second chance. Personally, I want to hear alternatives and see a well thought out plan that has been fully vetted.

I urge voters at the May 8th Financial Town Meeting to reject the Taxpayer Resolution that would lock the Town into using any proceeds from the sale of any town building to paying down the school bond debt.

Laura Epke
Tiverton

STRANGE DAYS IN TIVERTON

2010-04-23T04:34:00.012-04:00

Just when you think you've seen it all, something so bizarre occurs that it's hard to believe it's not a joke. That's exactly what happened last Friday at Town Hall (as recounted in this week's Sakonnet Times, and last weekend in the Newport Daily News). A meeting between the Town Administrator, Budget Committee Chair and Town Treasurer was scheduled to review revenue numbers. The Town Council had voted 5-2 on Monday to send a letter to the State seeking information on how much of an increase in the tax-cap the town qualified for in light of its loss of $1.4 million in state car-tax funds. This information is vital for voters at the May 8 Financial Town Meeting (FTM), who alone get to decide the budget and tax-levy.

Instead of doing this, Budget Committee chair Jeff Caron and Treasurer Phillip DiMattia somehow came up with a scheme where they declared themselves a formal "committee" that could "vote" to override the vote of the Town Council and order the Town Administrator not to send the letter requesting information. Of course, this absurd assertion has no basis in state law, the Town Charter, or logic. But TCC and their allies are so desperate to deny the people of Tiverton their legal right to decide the budget and tax-levy that they essentially staged a coup to try to force their political agenda on all of us. They argue that because the Budget Committee majority chose to recommend a budget that would stay under 4.5% by forcing huge service cuts, they somehow had the authority to overrule both the town's governing body and the people of Tiverton, and to stop us from even getting information from the State. They make the baseless assertion that the Budget Committee recommendation is the "official" budget, when in fact it's simply a recommendation. Under our system, there is only one "official" budget: the one voters approve at the FTM.

To his great credit, Town Administrator Jim Goncalo refused to go along with this kangaroo court. He rejected their attempted and illegal power-grab, and called it what it was: an attempt to overturn a Town Council decision and take away the legal right of the people of Tiverton to decide the budget & tax-levy at the FTM. And he refused to give in to bullying and defy the Council's decision. The law, and common sense, prevailed.

Of course, given TCC's record, nothing they say or do should surprise any more. Don't forget that these are the same people who sued the town in 2008 to overturn the decision of voters at the FTM. They continue to push the absurd idea that just two members of the Council can overrule the budget and tax decisions of FTM voters, despite state regulations that clearly state the opposite. Mr. Caron repeatedly says that if the 4.5% cap is exceeded that there "is no cap in Tiverton", when the simple fact is that the tax-cap law specifically allows the State to increase the cap-number in accordance with the amount of lost revenue, simply adjusting the cap number higher. And the Budget Committee puts out "information" showing the school department receiving a nearly 9% increase in state aid next year, when in fact it decreases. They do this by taking funds that were already being received and listed elsewhere and moving them to the state aid column to give the false appearance of a big increase. Is this the "fiscal responsibility" and "open government" that Tiverton Citizens for Change preach?

The Town Council stood up for the people of Tiverton by seeking information we need to make an informed decision on May 8. The voters at the FTM are the only body in Tiverton legally empowered to set budgets or tax-levies, so FTM voters need to know the legal tax-increase limit under to State law. Under ordinary circumstances, the maximum levy (or "tax cap") would be a 4.5% increase over the previous year. But the tax cap law allows a higher levy if there are extreme circumstances, such as a large loss of revenue from the previous year. Tiverton is facing the loss of $1.4 million in state car-tax funds, which qualifies the town to levy a tax up to an increased "cap number" for just this one year. The $1.4 million revenue loss makes it impossible to maintain town/school services with a 4.5% increase. This is exactly why the state law grants towns a higher cap in dire circumstances, so town voters have a choice whether to preserve services or make huge cuts to stay under the original 4.5% increase.

No doubt, TCC and their allies will continue to say and do anything to try to force it's extreme political agenda on the people of Tiverton. Whether or not they are allowed to continue to act in this way is up to the people of Tiverton they are supposed to be serving. But try as they might, the law is clear: the decision whether or not to accept huge cuts in services, school-closings, and a loss of Tiverton's quality of life will be in our hands at the May 8 FTM. The Town Council and School Committee budget requests will maintain services despite the huge loss in revenues. No one likes tax increases, but the people of Tiverton will get to decide which is more important to them: preserving town/school services, or $3 per week in tax savings.

Brian Medeiros

LETTER: CHRIS COTTA

2010-04-22T02:08:00.001-04:00

As taxpayers in the community of Tiverton, we have a responsibility to not only pay our fair share of real estate / property and vehicle taxes but we must also understand what we are paying for and why. Taxes create the funding source to operate and provide the necessary governmental functions we rely upon as members of a community. Yes, most if not all of us, do not like to pay taxes, but realistically unless we are independently wealthy, self sufficient and never in need of government sponsored services, we not only expect services, we require such items as educating our children, maintaining safe passable roads for us to use in order to earn a living, provide a safe community atmosphere which includes police, fire and rescue for our benefit and some of the other basic services such as trash removal, landfill operations, land use regulations, building and zoning functions, probate and municipal courts, community recreation services, senior services, libraries, conservation commissions and to a limited extent social services that assist the poor, elder and disabled. The functions outlined above require an infrastructure of tax assessment, tax collection, clerical recordings, administration and treasury functions that are necessary in order to facilitate the services we rely on as a community.

That said, it is incumbent upon each of us to know what we are capable of paying for as a community and why. Simply saying we can’t afford what we have as a community is not an option as the debt services must be paid, the contractual items must be paid and for the most part, the services outlined above are still wanted by the majority of the community. So the question begs, how does the community determine what it can afford to do? Tiverton’s local charter is the governing document that outlines the process of developing a tax rate structure. By the charter, the town holds an annual town financial meeting where all of the town’s needs for expenditures for the upcoming year will be voted upon by the taxpayers that attend the town financial meeting. First and foremost, should you want a say in your taxes, then you should participate in the process. If you don’t participate then don’t complain. Yes, it is time away from your schedule on a Saturday morning in May. It requires your attention to listen and your vote (hopefully you’ll be an informed conscience) on the various proposed recommendations put forth at the Town Financial Meeting. Who will make the recommendations you ask? Our charter (Article VII section 701-703) provides that we elect an independent eleven member Budget Commission, whose responsibility is to

review budgets submitted by the Town Administrator and the School Department, in which review the committee SHALL consider both the supporting evidence for each requested budget expenditure and the ability of the Town to support the level of service recommended.
They are further charged with providing to the electorate RECOMMENDATIONS which balance the value of the proposed goods and services with their cost in taxes.

That is the extent to which the Budget Committee has any role with respect to the Town Financial Meeting or town government. No where does the budget committee get power that permits them to reverse decisions of the past or to recommend that the town forego legal contractual obligations. As a young chairman of the budget committee many years ago, I too thought the committee had broad powers and recommended that various director contracts not be funded in accordance with the terms and conditions entered into by the Town Council. Even when the Town Financial Meeting agreed with our recommendation years ago to not fund the legally binding contractual items, we found the payments were made in accordance with contract despite the vote taken at the Town Financial Meeting. In retrospect, the Town Council was correct to fund the legally binding contractual items contrary to the vote at the Town Financial Meeting. I learned an extremely valuable lesson as we ultimately had to correct my misguided personal views the following year and explain my mistake to all the taxpayers. That lesson carried through my entire tenure on the committee. Another trait employed by the committee was to ensure we could justify with reason and facts the rationale behind our recommendations. Over the years, our practices of substantiating recommendations with factual data and reason behind the recommendation gave us great credibility. Our mantra was to ensure the taxpayers were informed and regardless of the vote taken. We could hold our heads high even when votes did not go the way we recommended. The role of the Town Financial Meeting is the people’s forum to decide how to spend their money, not a process to validate an elected committee’s recommendation. Experiencing votes that went both above and below what our committee recommended was never taken personally. The only time I ever took something personal was when I couldn’t justify the committee’s position because we failed to do the required due diligence while forming our recommendation. I can say that was an extremely rare event during my fifteen years. We took the committee’s role as being the eyes and ears for the taxpayer and as the educational vehicle to be used for them to ask questions.

Historically, the committee garnered great credibility because the members did actual reviews of supporting documentation for each expenditure request and balanced those requests against the community’s ability to pay for them. Never did personal desires or personal needs ever enter the equation and once the committee formulated its recommendation, the entire committee always spoke with one voice regardless of each individual member’s personal viewpoint. As chairperson for nearly fifteen years, I can state with certainty that there were many instances when my own views were overridden by the majority of the committee, yet out of respect for the committee members and the Town Financial Meeting process, I would never speak out against the committee majority...

Let me address the procedural issue of exceeding the tax cap established by the RI General Laws. Our current Chairperson of the Budget Committee would have you believe the council has no right or legal cause to seek a waiver of the cap because “HIS” committee has provided a docket that provides a tax levy below the cap. Simply because the Budget Chairperson states this as fact doesn’t make it so. The town is required to file a legal notice of an anticipated tax levy with the State Office of Municipal Affairs. The notice is required by law to be submitted by the Town Council President, not the Budget Committee Chairperson. The law further provides that any request to exceed the tax levy cap shall be submitted in writing to the Office of Municipal Affairs by the Town Council, not the Budget Committee. Nowhere in any law, regulation or policy does the responsibility for requesting permission to exceed the tax levy cap fall under the jurisdiction of the Budget Committee chairperson. When I served as Budget Chairperson, the Council President, Town Administrator and Town Solicitor asked for my personal participation at various meetings with State Officials in order to lend a credible voice of reason and as a testament to the factual basis for any such request. Even when municipal officials disagreed with each other about the need to exceed a tax cap, we respectfully performed our roles, with mine validating the financial information with supporting documentation. It is absolutely imperative that accurate information be made available at the Financial Town Meeting, especially with respect to the maximum limit allowed for a levy to be raised as any amount that gets approved beyond that will be required to be generated with out raising taxes. Assume for sake of argument that the current Budget Committee presented false, inaccurate and unsubstantiated data with respect to their recommendation of the school budget for next year. According to school sources, the Budget Committee included in the state aid figures for education revenue the amount of Title I funding that we never previously included in the revenue stream. Title I funds can only be used for restricted purposes out side the basic educational plan that relate to specific issues of poverty and special needs. Compounding the issue, the Budget Committee opted not to disclose the current year expenditures associated with the Title I funding, leaving the impression the school department was receiving a windfall of funding. Once the taxpayers are informed that the Title I funding stream was improperly included by the Budget Committee as part of the general educational expenses instead of restricted expenditures, they may want to increase the school budget beyond the cap in order to preserve the current status of educational programs. One suggestion recommended by the budget committee chairperson was to consider closing a school as a method to save money. After spending literally years of discussions regarding small community schools and spending millions of dollars upgrading our school infrastructure, most will find it ridiculous to have to close a school in order to meet the Budget Committee’s thoughtless recommendation of adding but one dollar to a budget figure they grossly inflated for a second year in a row. It is not the role of the Budget Committee to decide that the community must close a newly renovated school simply because they personally don’t want to pay taxes. People voted in mass, far more than ever attend the annual Financial Town Meeting to bond these facilities because they wanted small local schools. The community already made the decision that this is what they wanted and they voted on the amount of the bond authorization. No one was clairvoyant back when the bonds were approved that could have forecasted the economy would tank and revenue would become scarce, but that doesn’t mean we as a community abandon what we started.

Another miscalculated item that will be disclosed at the Financial Town Meeting is the Budget Committee recommended an amount for sand and salt under DPW based upon an inaccurate expenditure run leaving the account woefully short next snow season. The committee failed to perform a basic review of relevant information, never questioning an inappropriate transfer made by the treasurer that was subsequently reversed. Again, taxpayers will be confronted by shoddy work performed one budget committee member extolled as brilliant work which saved the day only to be left with a lack of appropriations to secure sand and salt for a safe commuting experience for the community.

Maybe the voters will decide enough is enough and appropriate more money to pave some roads, build a transfer station or fund replacement books for the library that were lost due to severe flooding. All of which could cause the expenditures to exceed the cap. I’m not advocating one way or another; I’m just explaining that the Financial Town Meeting is your forum to ensure the community receives the services that you want. It is best to be prepared with as much information as possible and not be swayed by a belligerent and misguided budget committee chairperson. As has been in the past and which should continue through all future Financial Town Meetings, the taxpayers vote by majority to appropriate funds for each requested item. The taxpayer has and will seek guidance from those who are charged with reviewing the data to appropriately answer any questions. What should never be tolerated is baseless Budget Committee recommendations formulated without the benefit of reviewing supporting documentation or personal viewpoints that are not substantiated with factual information.

Please come out to the meeting and vote for what you believe is a fair and accurate budget that will provide the level of services you believe are necessary. Please ask direct questions of the Administrator and the School Committee as well as any Department Director. Having worked with all of them for many years, I respect their opinions and trust their judgments. They are all very cognizant of the dire financial times, have presented fair and reasonable budgets but have not been treated with dignity or respect by the current slash at all cost TCC budget committee.

My apologies to the minority budget committee members, Joseph Bento, Dan Raposa, Art Moller, David Perry and Alex Cote as the five of you have tried to employ the detailed review analysis and approach used in past years only to be thwarted by the TCC majority presenting week after week predetermined and unsubstantiated budget cuts based solely on their desire not to pay taxes.

Chris Cotta
Tiverton, RI

MAY 8: FINANCIAL TOWN MEETING DAY

2010-04-21T03:59:00.004-04:00

One of the more unfortunate side-effects of the budget dispute between the RI House and Senate last week is that it appears to have killed any hope of passage of legislation allowing Tiverton to postpone the Financial Town Meeting from May 8 until a date when the town would have more accurate information on state funding, revenues, etc.

As such, Tiverton's Financial Town Meeting will take place as scheduled on Saturday, May 8 @ 9:00am at the High School. This will be the day when Tiverton's future will be decided. Every resident has a huge stake in the outcome. The town is facing the loss of $1.4 million in state car-tax funds. Without it, it will be impossible to maintain town and school services while staying within the normal 4.5% tax-levy cap. Fortunately, the state law allows towns facing extreme hardship due to a loss of revenue to request that the state increase the tax-levy cap to compensate, in order to give the town the choice of maintaining services despite the revenue loss.

And so, Tiverton voters face a pivotal decision on May 8. They can support the Budget Committee's budget recommendation, which will result in huge cuts in town and school services. Even with sizable union concessions in a new contract all but certain, this budget would leave the school department with $1.2 million to cut. That will not only bring about layoffs and huge program cuts, but will almost certainly make closing one of the new elementary schools a necessity. Town services would be gutted, and town fees certain to increase dramatically. This will start a financial downward spiral that neither the schools nor the town will be able to recover from. Our community and schools will be devastated, and our property values will plummet. These aren't scare tactics, but financial reality.Is all this destruction really worth saving an extra $3 per week on our taxes?

The smart option is to support the budget requests of the Town Council and School Committee. This would preserve most town and school services, while costing just $3 more per week in taxes on a $200,000 home. No one wants to see taxes rise any more than necessary. This is a one-time increase, made necessary not by overspending in Tiverton but the state's inability to provide promised funds. But given a choice between a short-term tax increase or long-term destruction of Tiverton's quality of life, the only "fiscally responsible" choice is to preserve our town, our schools, and our future.

Our kids can't vote to protect their education and their futures. They rely on us, their parents and grandparents and family, to do it for them. Giving in to anger, cynicism and negativity is a dead-end road that will leave the town and every taxpayer in even worse shape. Please take the time to attend the FTM on May 8 and preserve Tiverton's quality of life.

Brian Medeiros

TOWN COUNCIL & SCHOOL COMMITTEE GIVE VOTERS A CHOICE

2010-04-10T03:01:00.008-04:00

At their meetings this week, both the Town Council (TC) and School Committee (SC) voted to reject the destructive budget recommendations of the Budget Committee (BC). Both will put forth to voters at the May 8 Financial Town Meeting (FTM) their own budget proposals, which both contain costs while maintaining essential services. FTM voters will now have a crucial choice to make: vote for the BC's irresponsible and politically-motivated budget and the decimation of schools and services it will result in, or vote for the TC & SC's service-maintaining budgets. Don't be deceived by talk of excessive spending or employee raises; the reason a tax-levy increase above the standard 4.5% may be needed to maintain services is that, due to its budget problems, the state may withhold $1.4 million in car-tax funds Tiverton has received in past years, and was due to receive next year. Because of this, we start this budget process in a huge hole.

At Monday's Town Council Meeting, the Council will consider whether to ask the state for information on how much of a tax-levy increase Tiverton is eligible for, and the FTM voters can legally consider. The state set a 4.5% increase as the maximum under normal circumstances, and this would be sufficient in a normal year. But if the state withholds the $1.4 million in car-tax funds, it will be impossible to maintain essential services without exceeding the 4.5% increase in order to recoup that huge loss of revenue. And the state tax-cap law anticipated this by allowing towns to seek state approval to raise the tax-cap if there are extreme circumstances. So the only responsible course is for the Town Council to get information from the state on how much of an increase the town is eligible for given the extreme revenue loss. FTM voters can then make an informed decision on the budget and tax-levy.

Of course, TCC and their members on the Budget Committee are desperately doing all they can to stop FTM voters from having that choice. They continue to insist that you, the taxpayers of Tiverton, have no right to decide the budget and tax-levy, despite the Charter and state-law giving that power solely to FTM voters. They argue that two Town Councilors should have the ability to overrule the FTM majority if it chooses to exercise its right to approve a state-approved tax-levy amount to preserve town/school services. They clearly know the majority in town doesn't support their efforts to dismantle our schools and services, so they're trying to take that choice away from you. The Town Council has rejected these efforts, and should be encouraged to continue to do so.

Let's be clear: if the people of Tiverton choose to increase taxes by a state-approved amount sufficient to preserve town/school services, this isn't "busting the cap" as some claim. The state tax-cap isn't eliminated, simply increased for that one year to reflect a need created by such a huge loss of revenue. The choice of whether to utilize that higher cap or accept huge cuts in services belongs solely to Tiverton voters at the FTM.

If you agree that the Town Council should ask the state for information on the maximum tax-levy Tiverton is eligible for FTM voters to consider, you can attend Monday's TC meeting to speak in support, or take a minute to email your views to your Town Councilors (via Town Clerk to: NMELLO@TOWNOFTIVERTONRI.COM ).

Brian Medeiros

LETTER: SUSAN KRUMHOLZ

2010-04-07T23:11:00.001-04:00

Tiverton’s hard financial times have prompted recent attacks on individual residents and groups of employees who are being blamed for our financial woes. It is often tempting to look for scapegoats during difficult times, but like most such attempts, these attacks miss the mark. While frustration is understandable, it’s also unfair to try to blame it on just one thing or just one group. The rise in the tax rate was prompted primarily by debt service on voter-approved bonds, by loss of state revenue, and by Corporate greed which caused the worst recession in 30 years, and not by extravagant spending by the town.

Making government more efficient and accountable and destroying the government so you don't have to complain about taxes are two different things. It's a heartless, callous, soulless type of economic conservatism that says "look, we want to cut taxes and eliminate government. If it means that elderly people don't get their bus services so be it. If it means kids go without education, so be it." That might be a conservative message, it might even be an appealing message in these difficult times, but it forgets the heart and soul and compassion that define us as Americans.

Times are tough, but to fund the town and school budgets as requested will cost the owner of a $250K home about $160 per year or $3 per week above what the budget committee is requesting. I’ve always believed that tax relief should be given to those whose income prohibits even this modest amount. The Tiverton Town Council has to look to further expanding property tax abatements beyond those in current law for individuals and families that truly are economically stressed. We have that responsibility to our neighbors on limited incomes. But we mustn’t forget the responsibility we have to provide a quality education or to offer adequate community services.

There is one simple thing each of us as Tiverton residents needs to do to prevent a grim future: attend the FTM and vote for a common-sense budget that balances containing costs with maintaining vital services. Every single vote at the FTM is crucial; last year's level-funding proposal passed by just five votes. Don’t let others impose their political agenda on our town’s future. Please attend the FTM on May 8th and make clear that you won't allow your town to become "collateral damage" in a political war.

Susan T. Krumholz
Tiverton, RI.