What's the rush at Town Meeting?
Oct 06, 2011
Share To the Editor:

On October 24, the citizens at Town Meeting will be asked to vote on several articles that involve large amounts of money. However, in light of the fact that there have been no monthly variance reports in more than two years (in lay terms that means the checkbook hasn’t been balanced) and the audit for the missing $919,000 has been pushed to the end of December, why rush through these money articles at town meeting?

We are being asked to “borrow” or “transfer” money for several expensive purchases. Article One alone asks us for expenditures totaling $460,420. If we borrow money, how can we tell if we can pay it back? If we transfer it without knowing account balances, how can we tell if we have the money to transfer?

Article One asks voters to authorize the Town Administrator to purchase 40 defibrillators for $84,000 because the ones in the patrol cars are getting obsolete and in a couple of years, no parts will be available. Since most of them have never been used, there is little likelihood of them needing to be replaced before next April’s Town Meeting. What’s the rush?

Article One also asks voters to authorize the Town Administrator to purchase a prisoner transport vehicle for $10,700 because Wareham District Court might be closed in the future and we will need a vehicle to transport prisoners. Since the court has not closed yet, and we are not sure of our balance sheet, why not wait until next April’s Town Meeting to decide this item. What’s the rush?

In fact, none of the expenditures in Article One need to be voted on immediately. They can wait until April. Voters should not vote for articles involving money when we have no idea what shape our finances are in. The Finance Committee, upon whom many of us rely for advice on how to vote for money articles at Town Meeting, have not been given any figures to work with in more than fourteen months. That’s not acceptable.

The important questions are why don’t we know what our monthly variances are? And why is the audit by Powers and Sullivan that we were told by the Town Administrator was close to being done in the summer now being postponed until December? Finally, why can’t the FinCom get answers from the Town Administrator?

I urge you to consider not voting on any articles that involve money unless we get the information we need. How can anyone vote blindly?

Would you keep writing checks on your account if you had no idea what your bank balance was? Why would you do that with your tax dollars?

Attend Town Meeting and demand to know why we are being kept in the dark.

John Decas
Wareham