#1 2009-04-29 07:44:10
I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I didn't like being scolded about not being prepared for town meeting because I hadn't read the personnel plan. Those of us who go regularly to town meeting already read the online version of the warrant weeks ago to prepare for TM. So, why wasn't the personnel plan put online with the warrant? I'm one of those who gets the town announcements etc. sent to my email address. I got the warrant there, but not the personnel plan. Many people work during the day when town hall is open, so when are we supposed to go in to pick up the copies that were kept there? And I did read my copy back in October when they were available, but how was I to know I was supposed to keep it for April tm??
It certainly makes me very suspicious that they were trying to force a vote on something we were not familiar with. Whatever happened to an informed electorate? What was the big deal about postponing the vote until next week?? I would advise everyone that we carefully read the plan to see what it is they don't want us to know. (Does anyone remember when they were picking the new charter review committee and one person during the interview had never even read the charter? Her comment was "I didn't know I was supposed to read it!!" But she was put on the committee over three people who are very familiar with it. I guess it's who you know!)
Also, I think that both Brenda and the Fin Com woman were very condescending and disrespectful to the employees of town, accusing them of going to work sick so they can keep their sick days. I know town workers who went to work sick....to do their jobs because often times, they are the only ones who can do them!!! And all union members should be upset for having been accused of getting a "free ride" from the town.
Finally, I didn't see Cruz sleeping during the meeting but I'm not surprised. I heard about a letter from Makepeace's lawyer refuting what Cruz said at the last bos meeting and calling Slager foolish for printing a story without getting the facts. Does anyone have a copy and can you post it here for all to see??? Thanks.
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#2 2009-04-29 10:43:41
Molly wrote:
I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I didn't like being scolded about not being prepared for town meeting because I hadn't read the personnel plan.
That's exactly what prompted me to suggest we post video highlights here after every meeting.
And all union members should be upset for having been accused of getting a "free ride" from the town.
Perfect. Anyone want to learn about video editing? It's easy. Gimme a shout.
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#3 2009-04-29 11:23:39
I was absolutely shell shocked when the Fin Comm woman began spewing her venom and sitting just a couple rows behind Cara Winslow, who works for a union, I expected her to say something. For a minute it looked like she would get up but she didn't. While I agree with the other thread that she was articulate when she was at the microphone, I was disappointed in her for not setting the record straight on union employees in Town. I thought it was funny when the moderator would not let Winslow make the motion to postpone the article on the Personnel Plan, he said that only one motion is allowed at a time but earlier he had several on the floor - guess it depends on who is making the motion and she is on the shit list! What was even funnier was the person who ended up making the motion was Geoff Swett! How ironic.
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#4 2009-04-29 12:12:28
iliveinazoo wrote:
What was even funnier was the person who ended up making the motion was Geoff Swett! How ironic.
Not ironic. Calculated. The BOS are convinced they know how to undercut Geoff. Notice Slager has said nice things about him in recent weeks? Geoff plays by the rules. They make up their own. They've got town paid lawyers to clean up the resulting mess.
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#5 2009-04-29 12:15:27
Say, weren't we promised a detailed accounting of the town's legal expenses in two weeks? Oh, nuts. That'll fall after the next Town Meeting session, won't it? How inconvenient!
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#6 2009-04-29 15:30:10
MORE INFO: I have now been told by several people that when they checked the table before the meeting started last night, the personnel plans were not there. So, that means they were put on the table AFTER the meeting started. Quite a few of us come early and at least would have had time to glance through it. And there couldn't have been too many copies, because I've also been told that when some people went to get one after the meeting, they were gone.
And I was reminded by two different people that the copies that were available at the clerk's office had to be paid for. I am no longer suspicious. I am positive that there was some reason they wanted to push this through without anyone reading it. Be wary people.
Did anyone take a look at the thing? It looks like it was written by a sixth grader. Grammar errors (shouldn't we know the difference between "their" and "there" if we are writing public and legal documents???!!!), spelling and punctuation errors, sentences that don't make sense. And it looks like different people wrote different sections. Some headings are in bold, some not. Some are in caps, some not. Different fonts etc. What's that all about.? The thing is a mess and way too sloppy to be presented for acceptance. And that doesn't say a thing about the content.
All I can say is that we all need to go to town meeting on Tuesday the 5th. Anyone on the personnel plan should be there and they should bring their friends and family. Other town employees should be there in solidarity. Am I advocating that the meeting be stacked with the "evil personnel plan employees lobby" ??? Whatever it takes. Slager said the democracy of town meeting is a wonderful thing to behold. But you can't be a part of a democracy if you don't vote. So, go to support the people who work so hard for us to get the business of town done.
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#7 2009-04-29 16:37:14
THEY WERE SO CONDECENDING AND I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY CITIZENS PUT UP WITH THEIR SHIT
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#8 2009-04-29 16:47:14
we would all have plenty of time to read everything if we were unemployeed
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#9 2009-04-29 17:17:11
oneeardog wrote:
we would all have plenty of time to read everything if we were unemployeed
Good point! Brucie needs to understand "get a job" instead of tutoring us on the meaning of deliberation.
Everything turns into a power struggle. Voters want to adjourn 15 minutes early to have a fresh start at the next meeting, but no...the power corrupt can't have anyone change the rules. It was fuuny and astute when someone said we've been 22 years without a policy, so what is the problem with a few more days.
Oh my gaud! After the BOS eliminates as many department heads as they can, they apparently are going after individual employees. Why should they be doing evaluations on employees?
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#10 2009-04-29 22:25:59
They scold us yet their personnel board came completely unprepared to even answer any questions! If this weren't their hand selected committee which includes the town clerks husband, they would have been disolved for those actions faster than you can say swine flu!
Luckily I wasn't like those other slackers and kept my copy from last town meeting, Oh wait, they made changes to that one also, (I wonder if the changes were made in the proper time frame for submitting articles. I thought I heard the chair of the committee say they made the final changes last week) So now which is the right plan that we are looking at?
I saw another copy last night and if I am reading this correctly, almost every employee that the BOS has a bullseye on is going to be taking thousands in pay cuts, major reductions in benefits, and absolutely no sense of security. The health department manager alone looks like he could be facing a 10k+ cut in pay not to mention the ten furlough days and 6.5% pay cut he and the others have already been hit with!
Seeing how shady this article is, I cant wait to see what the nitrogen article will be like.
Last edited by Vikings (2009-06-11 19:04:09)
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#11 2009-04-30 08:18:39
Auto-edited on 2020-08-11 to update URLs
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#12 2009-05-02 13:51:40
Is that Brenda's new method for bringing the assembly into compliance?
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