Shame on the Peabody School Committee

Bravo to our good and brave School Committee members. The Peabody School Committee is trying to cover their own stupidity and arrogance by blaming the very people they have caused all the headaches for in the first place.

Salem News: Special ed pushed to cover rehiring

Let's take a look at this ever more sad chain of events and see if we, unlike School Committee member David McGeney, can see where the fault lies... and who is ultimately at fault here...

The School Committee is told by Mayor Bonfanti to slash the school budgets and prepare the school system for the obvious layoffs (remember... it was ONLY the Peabody Public Schools that needed to lay off ANYONE - every single other position in Peabody Government was considered NOT OVER BUDGET.)

Then the crack education folks on the School Committee told the school administrators to sharpen their budgets... and several meetings were held to hammer out a workable budget.

During one of these meetings a School Committee member (sorry, I forget who it was) asked if the school adjustment coordinator (SAC) positions might be cut instead of the elementary school guidance councilors... with the idea that other guidance councilors could do the work of the SACs.

To his partial credit, Superintendent Burnett told the SC that IT WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA.

And to show that they know more than the experts, they told the Superintendent to do it anyway... and to his chagrin, he fired the SACs.

Now, only a few months later... The truth about the SACs comes out. They are specialized positions requiring specialized certification... and without that certification the Peabody Schools will be OUT OF COMPLIANCE... which really means that they will be open to law suits from parents for failing to meet the educational requirements of students.

So.... guess what? Peabody now needs to REHIRE the two SACs that they sacked a few months back (sorry, couldn't resist).

Now the Superintendent looks like an ASS.
But even worse... the School Committee all look like ASSES.

How to fix this situation so that the School Committee members DON'T LOOK SO STUPID IN AN ELECTION YEAR???

I KNOW! They will put all the blame on the director of the Peabody Schools Special Education department, Patricia Bullard... BECAUSE SHE FOLLOWED THE ORDERS THEY TOLD HER TO FOLLOW IN THE FIRST PLACE.

And David McGeney even gets a little testy that she somehow simply can not wave her magic wand and restore the $140,000 that the School Committee took out of her budget when they removed these people in the first place.

I simply can not believe that after so many LOWS in the past few years that the Peabody Schools have yet again sunk to a new depth.

Shame on the Peabody School Committee.

Local Options: To Tax or Not To Tax?

= = = = = U P D A T E D = = = = =

Mayor Bonfanti says while he sees "both sides of the issue" the City could really use the added tax money.

The Lynn Item: Peabody in pickle on local tax hike

What I don't find very convincing is Mayor Bonfanti's justification for raising the taxes: that the Legislature will be mad at the cities and towns for NOT enacting the taxes while still looking for State relief. To me this sounds like grasping at straws for a reason BESIDES the fact that the City needs more funds... and it seems rather week to me.

The other assertion, that it would be easier if everyone were to enact the increase (Danvers has voted no while Saugus has voted yes) and has the Mayor wishing Salem would pass it to make it easier for Peabody to do the same... is NOT LEADERSHIP! It is being a follower. Stop it and just do the right thing because it is THE RIGHT THING... even if it hurts you in the polls.

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

The Massachusetts State Legislature has give Cities and Towns the local option to add a local tax onto hotel rooms and/or meals. This would add up to 2% to the cost of a hotel or motel room and up to 0.75% to the cost of a meal in a restaurant.

The Peabody Weekly News: Decision on local luxury tax hikes stalled until fall

Note: The PWN only has stories up for one week

The Salem News Editorial: Nelson Benton: Nothing tasty about meals tax
The Salem News: Megavoke OK'd, Meals tax denied in Danvers
The Salem News: Local Taxes may rise in tough times
The Salem News: Senate OKs hike in sales, alcohol tax
The Boston Globe: Tax options raise interest, with caution
The Boston Globe: Towns consider tax hike

The problem: State aid to Cities and Towns has plummeted in recent years.
The (one small?) solution: Give local communities the ability to gather their own local taxes with an increase in hotel and meals taxes.

This is not a perfect solution, but it is one way to allow Cities and Towns to gather additional income in very difficult financial times.

The reality of the hotel/motel situation is that adding 2% to the hotel room charges would equal around an additional $2.00 a day to the average hotel/motel room in Peabody. And since the vast majority of the people staying these hotels are from out of town... this seems a perfect way to recoup some of the losses in State funding.

The meals tax is a little more personal as it will mostly affect the locals who frequent Peabody restaurants. However, this additional tax is EXTREMELY SMALL... 0.75% in fact, so small that it simply can not be held up as a DETERRENT to folks seeking to have a meal in a local eatery.

The cost of eating out will change very little... in fact, here are some prime examples...

Breakfast at Dunkin Donuts:
Large coffee and a bagel with cream cheese:
$4.38 --------- + 3 cents tax! = $4.41

Lunch at Sonic (just opened on Rt. 1):
A Number 2 (SuperSONIC Cheeseburger Combo w/ medium fries + drink)
$5.99 --------- + 5 cents tax! = $6.04

Dinner at Sugarcane (for two):
Hot & Sour soup (2), Crab Rangoon, Orange Duck, General Gau's Chicken, and 2 (!) Scorpion Bowls
$64.00 --------- + 48 cents tax! = $64.48

Special Romantic Evening Out for 2 at Legal Seafoods
2 signature cocktails, oysters and coconut shrimp appetizers, shared large Caesar salad, surf & turf (shrimp & scallops), grilled wild salmon, bottle of wine ($45), 2 signature desserts and cappuccinos
$190.00 --------- + $1.43 tax! = $191.43

This should pretty much prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this additional amount of tax would do NO ONE any harm and indeed would NOT change anyone's plans to stop in for a quick bite... or an evening of fine dining.

Now on to the man who cost Peabody $300,000...
Thanks to Councilor Rico Mello - who seems perpetually stuck in some other reality - the City Council will not take up the discussion on these local taxes - NOT EVEN DISCUSS IT!?! - until the Fall... thus losing out on approximately $300,000 in additional City revenues that Mayor Bonfanti proposed applying towards desperately needed road and sidewalk repairs.

Now I am NOT saying I think we should allocate these moneys to ANY ONE project... and if we DO pick only one... roads and sidewalks are NOT the number one need in this City.

But for Councilor Mello to yet again show himself as the OPPONENT OF ANY CHANGE in this City is yet another reason to elect a better representative in the coming elections.

What is wrong with the Peabody Public School System?

Is it just me or is this one of the saddest years ever for the beleaguered Peabody Public School System?

• First they have this horrendous budget cut that pretty much will undo most of the good progress made in the Peabody Schools in the past 10 years (and remember the ONLY PLACE IN THE ENTIRE CITY BUDGET THAT NEEDED CUTS was the Public Schools!)
  
  
• Then Superintendent Milton Burnett decided that a select few of his management team needed BIG RAISES... EVEN THOUGH HE HAS AXED 75+ employees and more than 25 teachers
  
  
• And now comes this gem... The cost savings plan to remove highly trained (and higher cost) school adjustment councilors and replace them with lesser trained (and cheaper) school guidance councilors - WHICH WAS APPROVED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT - is actually going to cost the City a bundle!

The Salem News: 'Cost-saving' layoff plan has backfired

Now I have admitted to not being a big fan of coach Niz and don't think he is an effective school committee member. However I can not fault him in this instance. He was simply making a suggestion for a potential cost savings move during the ridiculous sham of a budget that the school committee was working on.

The problem here was in what happened next... the highly paid educational administrative profession known as Superintendent Milton Burnett SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE IMPORTANT POSITIONS! Now... is the difference the number one thing he needs to deal with on a daily basis? Of course not. But THIS IS HIS JOB! He should have looked into this matter (if he didn't already know how it worked) and figured this out BEFORE making this STUPID MISTAKE.

How do we expect our students to learn how to think and act in intelligent and proactive ways when the very people in charge can't even do the basic tasks correctly (while getting a very nice paycheck for the honor as well)??????

Water Tower... was Dearborn responsible?

I have been looking into this matter a bit. I can't find anything available on the web, or in discussing this with a few people who might recall, that shows that the property developers promised to install a new water tower. The best explanation I heard was that during the discussions and negotiations concerning the development that many different options were brought up but that the only one set into the contract was the (around) $350k that was to be used for "area improvements" and that was earmarked for installation of the pumping station.

The Salem News: Liacos: Peabody shouldn't have to pay for water tower
Peabody Weekly News: Mayor looks to bond for water tower, library repairs
Remember Peabody Weekly web stories do not remain active very long

This development is one of the unfortunate artifacts of the State 40B "snob zoning" rules that allow a developer to circumvent local rules and regulation to build large, multi-family housing developments in Cities and Towns that do not meet State requirements for affordable housing.

The original proposals (I believe) were turned down, and then the developer came back with the ultimate threat... work with us to make our project happen (and have a little bit of say in the matter) or we will go to the State and get permission to build whatever we wish up on that site. It was blackmail pure and simple.

And blackmail that was sanctioned by the State in its zeal to force snobbish communities like Concord, Boxford and Weston to allow ANY multifamily development. However, like many "good deeds" the new rules had a different affect - one that affected more modest communities that often already had quite a bit of affordable housing... but just didn't meet the very high standards set by the State.

So ultimately it comes down to the fact that the City decided to play ball with the developers in order to get some say in (and some concessions from) the development.

I guess there is a bigger issue here, well two actually.

The first is the issue of who really should be paying for public improvements in a City like Peabody? I mean when my house was built, the original owner did not need to pay for a water tower or treatment plant in order to construct this house. He rightly so assumed his taxes would be his contribution to the systems that service all the homes in Peabody.

Likewise, if the City decides it needs to widen a portion of a road in West Peabody, I would assume that my taxes (I live in Ward 4) would be used to pay for this action... and that the City would NOT bill only the homes along the stretch of road being widened.

So why do so many people think that when someone else wishes to use their property (for a single house, or a business or a development) that they should be responsible for footing the entire bill for the City services that will be needed to accommodate these new additions?

Is this just another iteration of the NO NEW DEVELOPMENT mentality? You know... the one that says... "It was OK for me to build MY HOUSE... but now that I live here... there are too many other people! SO NO MORE HOUSING!" This is the main attitude I hear from many Peabody folks... sadly they forget that their neighbors didn't want them to build their house either!

The second issue revolves around who we elect to be the stewards of our City. I mean, and I can't say this any other way, but why do we elect stupid people? I call someone stupid when they agree to, and then sign a contract, WITHOUT READING IT TO KNOW WHAT IT SAYS???? Now, maybe Councilor Liacos wasn't personally responsible for signing the contract (or maybe even approving these conditions) but if he was so adamant about protecting the citizens of Peabody (and he is sure screaming about this quite loudly right now) WHY DIDN'T HE READ THE FINAL LANGUAGE IN THE AGREEMENTS??

And to come back now years later and say, "but that's what I thought I heard" is not an act of good governanace, it is an excuse... and a poor one at that.

School admins get raises - What is wrong with these people?

So the Peabody school department in its illustrious wisdom has decided that the appropriate way to deal with the economic troubles that have caused the elimination of 50+ positions and the lower quality of education that comes with it...

The very best way to move forward and to improve the sad state of the Peabody school system is to.... HAND OUT EXTRA LARGE RAISES TO THE PRINCIPALS AND ADMINISTRATORS.

All the while raising the fees parents and students must pay and going back to the union employees with the expectation that they should give up some of their recent contract changes.

The Salem News: School chief gave administrator raises as others' jobs were cut

Frankly... this is an imbecilic move that unbelievably might even top some of Mayor Bonfanti's recent public relations gaffes! I mean WHAT WAS SUPERINTENDENT MILTON BURNETT THINKING???

I mean was he thinking.... This sure seems like the right time to give some of my top people raises that are more than 50% higher than what the rest of the people are getting? That the time sure is right with all the public support for teachers and the free flowing tax money?

Frankly... this is an amateur move. It is such a bad move I would consider this actionable... meaning it might be time for him to go.

At one time (and a different economic reality) I would be arguing that these people are probably under paid compared to some other folks and that retaining people should be a priority since we seem to play musical chairs with our school administrator in this City... but that is NOT the reality of today. To NOT recognize these real issues is to be ill fit for the position of power and authority required as Superintendent of Schools.

And then the absolute WORST part of the article was when High School Principal Edward Sapienza opened his mouth and made sure we all knew just how DAMN LUCKY we are that he is willing to LOWER HIMSELF to work in a place like Peabody... That is my interpretation of his words which are here:

Sapienza said even with his $106,424 salary he still earns less than high school principals in Danvers, Lynn, Marblehead and Swampscott and oversees more students than his counterparts.

"If somebody wants to begrudge that, go ahead," he said.

The high school principal said he has 37 years of experience and two master's degrees he paid for himself.

"I've got a wealth of experience," he said. "I think I'm a very good bargain."

Administrators don't have unions to negotiate their contracts and must individually make the case for salaries, Sapienza said. They, like the unions, seek equity in pay and benefits.

Sapienza said he sympathized with people who were losing their jobs. He chose to be an educator while others opted to go into the private sector.

"It's still America," he said. "You can still choose to be whatever you want to be."

Well said Principal Sapienza, well said indeed. I however think that if you are really so darn smart... you should have known better than to have mouthed off like this making the Peabody school administration, and yourself, look foolish.

I can only guess that the real fool here would be the Principal who accepted a job that pays too little in the first place. I do not begrudge people raises, but I DO begrudge them to BITE the hand that feeds them.

AT THE VERY MOST... these administrators should have received the same raises as the unions did... which is exactly the way it works in City Hall (and elsewhere in the City I believe.) But to be FIRING TEACHERS while GENEROUSLY REWARDING the administrators (people who will rarely have a direct impact on a student's life) is simply terrible.

Peabody should join into the new North Shore Technical High School

Peabody needs to join into (and be a leader in) the new North Shore Technical and Agricultural High School (NSTAHS).

The State (finally) seems eager to move forward with the NSTAHS (the combination and expansion of Essex Aggie and the North Shore Tech HS) with at least $77 million dollars.

While the other cities and towns involved still need to finalize their involvement, they are all on the way to getting it done.

Except for Peabody which is dragging its heels and putting up false protests in order to delay the process... which will mean that Peabody will end up NOT participating in this most worthwhile endeavor.

Peabody Lynnfield Weekly: Peabody wants more info before joining voke merger

Remember, PLW stories are only online for 1 week

Salem News: New voke school will get $77.5 million from State

Peabody should stop the endless debating and commit to joining (and being the leader in) the new NS Tech HS. Peabody has the largest number of students in technical programs and people are turned away each year. The current facilities at the Higgins are woefully inadequate AND the State has denied funding for the Higgins in the past specifically because the Peabody Voke is located there! The current program is not currently meeting the needs of its students and the equipment and programs are quite far out of date. This program needs to be expanded and modernized and Peabody can not (and will never) do it alone. This is the perfect way to join forces with other cities and town to share the costs, as well as get the State to shoulder much of the responsibities for this good idea.

Now, I am not saying that the City is wrong to want good information about this project (and especially the costs the City will need to provide.) But the fact of the matter is there ARE no guarantees in this world and estimates are just that... subject to change without notice. The idea that in this one instance the City would need such a super fine level of detail in order to make a decision is NOT the usual way things work in this City.

Thus, the delayed decision making seems much more like a stalling tactic than good financial prudence. Basically... if the City waits long enough, the project will simply GO AWAY because the State will pull the funding and we can go back to underfunding the current crappy program we offer our students today.

And if you think this is simply my opinion... read Dave McGeney and Beverly Dunns comments (from the PLW):

School Committee veteran David McGeney, acknowledging that vocational instruction likely incurs higher costs, argued that Peabody’s current course offerings are poor, at best, and should have been addressed years ago.

“Under serving our kids to save money is not what we’re about,” he said, adding that vocational education is often viewed as a “stepchild” to traditional schooling, which he feels has been the case in Peabody as well.

“We’re doing a terrible, terrible disservice to that portion of our student population,” he said.

Dunne agreed, pointing out that vocational programs have been on a “shoestring” budget for decades. She said many of the teachers have to buy simple supplies for students, such as Band-aids and gloves, out of their own pockets.

Sadly these School Committee members can see the folly in underfunding programs when they occur OUTSIDE the School Committees budget - but they were only too happy to be part of the committee that has underfunded the Peabody School System for several years in a row, including this most recent kick in the teeth to the students of Peabody.

Mayor's Budget is in and it is 100% Anti Education

I was appalled when I read about the cuts the City of Peabody is planning for the 2010 budget.. 100% of the job cuts will be coming from the school department. 100%!!!

NO CUTS in the public services department. NO CUTS in the fire department. NO CUTS in the police department. NO CUTS in ANY OF THE OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES:

• Assessor's Office
  
• Auditor's Office
  
• Central Switchboard
  
• City Clerk's Office
  
• Collector's Office
  
• Community Development
  
• Custodian
  
• Emergency Management/ Civil Defense
  
• Finance and Administration
  
• Health Department
• Human Resources
• Inspectors' Office
• North Shore Home Consortium
• Office of Information Technology
• Purchasing Department
• Treasurer's Office
  
• Veterans Services Department
• Water Billing Office
• Workers Compensation Office
  
• Brooksby Farm
• Cemetery
  
• Legal Department
  
• Council on Aging
  
• George Peabody House Museum/ Civic Center
• Peabody Library
• McVann-O'keefe Skating Rink
  
• Parks, Recreation and Forestry or
  
• The Meadow of Peabody Golf Course.

That's right. The only place that had people fired because of budget reasons was THE PEABODY SCHOOL SYSTEM. NOT ONE OTHER DEPARTMENT IN THE CITY NEEDS TO MAKE A SINGLE CUT!

I think that this is the first time I will need to agree with the often repeated comment by visitors to these blogs...

MAYOR BONFANTI IS NOT THE EDUCATION MAYOR.

The Salem News: An Overview of the 2010 Budget
The Salem News: Bonfanti plans to weather another term

This is the systematic disassembling of the Peabody School System. I have no problem with the shrinking enrollments... in that case be SMART and close a school to consolidate students and continue to provide quality education. BUT NO. Instead we will hack away at the very people who provide the educational opportunities to our children that will lay the groundwork for the rest of their lives.

According to the article:

The school department has about 800 full-time employees compared to 457 for the remaining city departments. The school layoffs reflect the district's declining enrollment, Bonfanti said.

"You just can't keep hiring people," Bonfanti said. "There's got to be a point in time when you right-size."

City departments, he said, have done a better job keeping spending in check and leaving positions unfilled. "We've always run lean," Bonfanti said.

This is short sighted and will anger many in the community. However... it is politically saavy as Peabody's median population is over 40... meaning that the majority of voters in the City DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM ANY LONGER. Thus the Mayor is promising CUTS to the school system and making the seniors (and others) very happy with only a tiny tax increase.

Now to make matters worse... Bonfanti has now PROMISED to build a new ASSISTED LIVING CENTER on the property at the Torigian Life Center (senior center.) I have no problem with additional assisted living centers as I think it is good for our seniors to have choices for living arrangements. I do not think that the City needs to be the developer for such an enterprise - especially in a market with many opportunites readily available.

There are 8,398 citizens over 65 living in Peabody. And they have a realively new senior center for their use. YET... we have more than 8,800 children aged 5-19 living in the City (according to the 2000 US Census.) This administration (and others) have talked (and talked and talked) about a facility for these children - a teen center or a youth center - BUT NOTHING EVER HAPPENS. Yes, they do have a Skate Park (thank you Vera Kolias), but that is not enough.

Does this not serve as yet another indication that the children of Peabody are MUCH LESS IMPORTANT than everyone else in this City? You can NOT call yourself the EDUCATION MAYOR and do these kinds of things to the youth you pretend to serve.

Peabody Schools: All News is Bad News?

Peabody Schools in Free Fall? What is it about Peabody and its attitude towards education?

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In a series of news stories this week the school system and particularly the ADULT PROFESSIONALS who claim to be running it, have shown themselves to be concerned much more about personal agendas and THE BOTTOM LINE rather than how to provide each and every child in the City of Peabody a first class education. I am not speaking of the teachers here... but rather the School Administration, the School Committee and City Hall.

Peabody and Lynnfield Weekly News:....Note: PLWN links expire in 7 days
Greek language course dominates board’s decision on high school cuts
and
Salem News: Principal, superintendent spar over Greek

How stupid is this? We are cutting basic services left and right because "the budget demands it" and yet we have special cases where 27 (yes that is correct, 27 out of 1900 students at the High School) students have enrolled in Greek Language (and culture) classes at PVMHS - and Superintendent Burnett... and a majority of the school committee, including the tie-breaker, Mayor Bonfanti, were willing to keep that program in place and cut teachers in other core curriculum areas.

This is laughable and reeks of special consideration. Yet another black day in Peabody Education.

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Of course... no one was willing to have a three hour verbal fight over the fate of the people most responsible for your children's educational success after their teachers...

Salem News: School Committee mulls plan to cut aides' hours
Lynn Item: Peabody school board continues to search for ways to trim budget

These are just more expendable fodder for the LOWEST TAXES IN THE REGION war that seems to be Peabody's only concern.

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And then this gem of an idea!

Salem News: Peabody schools give parents free passes to games

So we are going to make the parents pay extra money so that their children can participate in all extra curricular activities. We are doing this because the schools do not have enough money. One way they currently raise some money for these activities is by charging admission to these events.

Ready for the brilliance of our elected School Committee!??!

Since the parents are going to be paying a fee for their children to play... they no longer need to pay admission fees! The problem is... they were going to pay this already! Hello!? And then the geniuses figured that since the parents will be getting in for free now... they will bring (drag?) along OTHER PAYING PEOPLE to come and fund the events.

Clue: Most people who attend the majority of these events ARE PARENTS.

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Here is bad news masquerading as good:

Salem News: Grant will help students, teachers

It seems some industrious Higgins teachers found, wrote and won a $10,000 grant from Verizon to purchase a laptop computer and projector and to get 10 teachers trained to better prepare students for MCAS success. But this grant was undertaken because the very successful after-school MCAS Camp program was eliminated.

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Maybe you are tired of seeing your Peabody schools being run in ways you would rather not see? Well why not become involved and be a part of the official screening committee for a new Higgins Principal.

TOO LATE! It seems that while Superintendent Burnett invited people to join this group on May xx, 2009... it was really already selected... Just one more public mistake in the land of Peabody Public School Administration? I would like to think so but I wonder if this means the entire screening committee will return a predetermined outcome as well?

Salem News: 32 apply for Higgins School principal position
Salem News: Superintendent invites staff and public to focus groups

....Those interested in serving on the screening committee must send a letter to the attention of:
Human Resources Director Louise Genualdo
Kiley Administration Building
21 Johnson St.
Peabody, MA 01960

Teachers to give up raises? I doubt it.

School Committee member Dave McGeney has proposed the elimination of the $1.2 Million dollars in raises that the City and Union agreed to for FY 2010.

The Lynn Item: Peabody school board proposes waiving $1.2M in teachers' raises
The Salem News: Peabody unions asked to help cut expenses

Now one could be an optimist and say that in these hard economic times we all need to pull together and share the burdens for the common good...
or just as likely one might say that the City has dragged their heels and treated the teachers with utter contempt for three plus long years by not agreeing to a contract... to ask these people to give it up after this long hard fight is ridiculous...

So what will the outcome be? Well I see this as a lose-lose situation for the teachers AND the citizens. The teachers are constantly hammered because the public expects teachers to simply be happy to have the honor of teaching today's youths (and tomorrow's leaders) and believes that substandard pay for high credentials is completely warranted. And at the same time, the teachers are more than happy to screw over their own people (think younger, newer teachers) for the benefit of the older teachers.

It saddens me greatly to see the way the general public looks down at teachers who each and every day do a very difficult job - perhaps the most important job for the future of our City and Country... and yet at the same time the actions of the teachers union(s) does nothing but reinforce these attitudes by behaving greedily and NOT in the best interest of the long-term viability of the public school teaching profession.

This will probably not be happening in Peabody anytime soon. My bet is the unions would rather have many fewer teachers making more money instead of more teachers making less money. But time will tell.

Should a 9-1-1 call bring ALL the rescuers all the time?

This question arose during a discussion on the Peabody Patriot concerning the purchase (or refurbishing) of a Peabody Fire engine.

Currently (I believe) when someone calls the 9-1-1 Emergency line the operator dispatches all three help and rescue groups to the location - Police, Fire and Ambulance.
Please correct me if I am wrong on this point.

So the question for discussion is...
Does it make sense to send all three responders to each call for help?

I would say that I can easily make a case for both sides in this case.

1) ASSESS THE SITUATION AND SEND ONLY WHAT IS NECESSARY:
This is called triage in the emergency rooms of every hospital (or if you remember that TV show M.A.S.H.) - where by someone listens to the person making call for help, asks questions to determine the need and then they send those services that they see as being necessary to solve the problem.

This would probably work in 99% of the cases involving a call for help to 9-1-1. A professional who is trained in emergency triage would need to be on duty 24/7... and maybe not just one. This might be yet another good reason to consider regional 9-1-1 emergency call centers (but that is yet another debate/discussion topic).

The worry is in that 1%... nobody is willing to have the dropped ball happen when it is your spouse or child's life on the line. In that case... send them all... send the Marines too!

However, as a cost saving move it might end up reducing the need for so much redundancy as well as reducing the load on all members of the 'rescue' teams (only sending 1 or 2 when needed, instead of all 3 all the time.)

2) SEND ALL THREE ALL THE TIME:
When someone calls 9-1-1 it is usually in an emotionally charged state. Something is very wrong, someone is hurt or dying, someone just crashed into their car, the house is on fire, etc. etc. etc. They may or may not be fully aware of the severity of the situation... they may be confused or simply not know how good or bad the situation is.

Also, there might be a large time delay if the wrong rescuer is sent when another is needed. What if the car accident simply looks minor, but in fact, someone is hurt badly or fuel is leaking out in an obscure location that no one sees... until it is too late? Or a smell of smoke in an apartment might bring the fire fighters, only to discover the apartment next door has an unconscious occupant due to smoke inhalation.

Lives are precious and can not be replaced. Vehicle engines, transmissions, tires... these can be repaired or replaced.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Perhaps the best solution is a middle ground... where we do some minor level of triage in order to reduce the time, effort and expense on all three groups... but we also lean towards sending MORE rather than less in any case that possibly warrants it. This would probably only reduce the number of responders in 10-20% of the cases... so the question is would this small savings be worth the additional risk of harm to the public in need?

And... what happens when a call is made and someone later sues the City for not sending all 3 in the first place and they suffer some horrible loss?

I look forward to your comments and thoughts.

School Enrollments Shrinking

There has been much discussion on the streets and the blogs about the possibility of a school closure. But now we finally get the first professional analysis (preliminary report) of the enrollment situation.

~~click image for a larger version~~

It shows a 14.39% decline in the student enrollments within the next 10 years time. If these numbers have validity, and I do not doubt that they are indeed accurate, then it seems to only make sense to discuss the possibility of closing one of the elementary schools here in Peabody.

BUT ONLY IF THE EDUCATIONAL INTEGRITY OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IS MAINTAINED!

July 4th: Fun should remain

I have been taking some time to consider the suggestion of Councilor Gamache to cancel the annual July 4th Ward Celebrations.

You can read about the controversy here:
Salem News: Peabody considers suspending July fourth celebrations
Salem News Editorial: Cost no reason to nix 4th of July events in Peabody
Peabody Patriot: July 4th parties... a thing of the past?

While I understand that we are in a fiscally difficult economic situation... and that practically everyone is also facing a similar economic crisis at home and at work... I simply must say that this is the wrong move at the wrong time.

I do not agree with the posters who have been saying that it is from Mayor Bonfanti's lips to Councilor Gamache's ear... Gamache can think and act for himself. However, I think that this was simply one of those times when we all wish he hadn't.

While I would certainly love to see a check for $12,000 show up in my mailbox, the fact is that this is a tiny amount of City funds that goes to making neighborhoods and families feel more connected to each other and the City. I know that the City spends more on paper clips than $12,000 each year.

We really need to get our priorities straight when dealing with this financial crisis.

Many others have suggested that the Council members could simply cut the $150/month stipend that they receive and save more than $19,800 each year. Now I am sure that they have already made plans for these funds (or not, but they get the money in either case) so they don't wish to lose it. The money for the Ward celebrations, however, will not affect them personally in any way.

So I simply think that Councilor Gamache was looking for a way to look good while losing nothing. And frankly, it might have been fine if he were not screwing the little kids of Peabody (which are the ones that these celebrations are for in the first place.)

Now others have postulated that the Councilor(s) are actually hoping to get rid of this event - as it ruins their personal vacation plans and causes them to do lots of work planning, fund raisng and running these events... but I'm not so sure of that. If someone has any evidence of this... let us all know.

So, yet again, The City Peabody looks like a fool in the newspapers and in the hearts of its citizens. All because people do not THINK about the consequences of their actions (or simply proposals in this case).

:::Caveat:::
Now all that being said... IF (and only IF) the City is actually in such DIRE FINANCIAL STRAITS that it really can not fund these 6 celebrations (for $2,000 each) then I am ready to talk about a great many OTHER CUTS that would need to be made before this one.

This amount ($12,000) is 0.0000909% of the budget ($132,000,000)

IF we can't afford this amount for something that is a long-term event that brings kids and families and neighborhoods together... we should really think about what is truly important in this City.

~ps: I fixed the erroneous number of celebrations from 11 to 6!

Another Bad Moon Rising?

The recent article in the Salem news highlights a little known situation which, while not unique to Peabody at all, still will have a severe impact on our near-term, and long-term fiscal viability.

Salem News: Retirement Assets dip as market fails

Now, I will begin this post with a big admission... I don't know much about this... not much more than I read in the SNews.

The story in a nutshell - and feel free to let me know if I am getting this wrong somewhere...

Cities are required to fund the accounts that they plan to use to pay for employee retirement. However, they don't actually put in the $50 each week that employee X and Y are going to get in 10 or 15 years.

No. That would be logical. And safe.

So the Cities PROMISE that they will have the money for the retirees WHEN THEY RETIRE... but not before. In other words, the City will use these funds to do as they please (now I am sure that some is set aside for the retirees) but they don't need to come up with it until they actually retire.

This was a good scheme... until somebody noticed (or maybe someone retired somewhere and the City didn't have the dough?).

So the powers that be enacted a deadline (2028) where by the City must be fully funded for all retirees.

But the Cities didn't really want to put all their (our) money in the retirees bank accounts... they wanted to Play the Market and make a profit so we would have more funds to spend on City needs.

Unfortunately things are not so pretty in the market... in fact the S&P 500 has averaged -1.59% since 2000.... and is down -37% for 2008.

So... in order to still be able to meet the 2028 deadlines, all the Cities and Towns are going to need to be putting in even more tax money into these retirement accounts to make up for the bad investments made over the past few years. This is going to result in EVEN LESS WORKING CAPITAL FOR THE CITY.

Again, this is not problem unique to Peabody, nor was the fancy financial solution... in fact, it probably kept our level of taxes lower and services higher over the past several years... but it just adds one more straw to the camels back... and the sag is already starting to show LOTS of strain.

Budget Woes... but not 'til next year ???

I will admit it. I am as perplexed as everyone else about what to do with our City budget problems.

At first, I thought IF the cut in State aid was going to be a one time thing, then we could enact a small one-time payment from each household (<$50) and keep all the City services going as they are now. But now we find out that this is NOT very likely... and that an even larger cut in State aid is expected next year.

And I am upset because Mayor Bonfanti has decided to hunker down (my words) and not be proactive about the problems that are looming on the horizon. IF cuts are coming and there will need to be changes in the near future I say the time to prepare, plan and then even enact these changes is sooner rather than later.

The Salem News: City could see layoffs in next fiscal year

The solution is not to just leave unfilled positions vacant and to expect departments to continue doing their jobs without adequate supplies and other items or services needed to operate the City.

The solution is to take stock right now and see where cuts need to be made... see where positions need to be filled... and where they need to be lost. To give the departments back the money they need to actually serve the public well and not nickel and dime the City into inaction. The time for these action plans was YESTERDAY... but we still have time to make them right now.

Then the politically difficult (and personally distressing) task of actually making these changes needs to happen... and the sooner the better. If we are going to be losing people next year (for the sake of discussion let's say we will need to cut 40 jobs) then I say DO IT NOW and SAVE THE MONEY in salary and benefits TODAY because the news from the State next year might be even worse than we are all hoping or expecting.

I would rather not see anyone lose their jobs, but unfortunately that will not be the reality here in Peabody or many other places in this country. I have learned the hard way that delaying the inevitable only makes things worse for everyone involved... including the people who will end up being laid off.

Slow News Month?

I have been looking for more topics of interest... in the newspaper(s), on-line and even in Dunkin Donuts.

The basic opinion is that National events are holding dominance over local issues... and even though the economy is in terrible straits and the effects are playing out all around us, there is nothing concrete for me to bring up here.

So perhaps you have some ideas or concerns that you would like to air? Here's your chance. This blog is still getting a few visitors each day so maybe we can discuss how YOU are handling the current downturn in this thing we call an economy.

And, yes, I am still upset about the contract with the police union. But frankly, while others are predicting that elected officials 'heads will roll' in the next elections... I feel it will all be forgotten and we will forever have a 9/11 holiday for the cops here in Peabody.

UPDATED: City to lose almost $900K in latest State aid cut

UPDATED COMMENTARY

I must say that I have rethought my original idea presented below. I had proposed a ONE-TIME small tax payment on Peabody households and business to make up for the ONE-TIME state funding cut.

I no longer believe this is a good idea for the simple reason that these cuts are now NOT BEING SEEN as a one-time event. This became evident when the Mayor said that we need to prepare for additional cuts in State aid in the near future.

IF indeed this is the case, then a simple band aid of money (even small amounts) will simply allow the current business-as-usual mentality to persist despite further cuts coming down the road. Since this is what is now expected, then there is NO SENSE in postponing the inevitable... make the hard cuts that the current situation demands NOW which will allow the City as a whole to operate under a better (read cheaper) financial picture and then re-access when future cuts come along.

My reasoning is the same as I put forth regarding Salem's School budget loss (thanks to the crook they had in office) where it was not a simple one-time infusion of money that would help the City, but it was an on-going need for too much money. Thus, a one-time tax would become permanent... I am NOT advocating that.

More links on this story. The Peabody/Lynnfield Weekly:

==============================================================

The Salem News: Less state aid means $871,000 cut in Peabody budget
Lynn Item: Peabody bracing for 'real crisis' in budget cuts

Well... you can't say we didn't see it coming. It actually turned out a bit better than the Peabody Patriot has been predicting ($1.2M cut).

So now what do we do. We have the lowest taxes around and the services and educational system to prove it. Where do we begin to cut the $900,000.00 Even if all the cars went away and we enacted all the moves discussed in previous posts it doesn't come to that figure without BIGGER items... like a school closure and sale (because you won't reap much $$$ immediately without a sale).

Or what about this? A poster at the Salem News said every resident should pay around $17.50 each.... and the budget is back to normal.

But that would be unfair to larger families in my opinion. Here is one other idea...

Have a special assessment. In 2006 there were approximately 1,160 businesses in Peabody. In 2000 there were exactly 18,581 households in the City.

If each household paid a one time charge of $35 and each business paid a one time charge of $215 ~~~P~O~O~F~~~ Budget problem reversed and solved.

I personally do not have money to throw around these days (well almost any days to be honest) but I would be willing to pony over $35 per household to keep the City in the black and prevent cuts in services.

What do you think?

Shame on us

The Salem News: Peabody councils OKs cops' 9/11 pay
The Boston Globe: Anger over paid 9/11 holiday
The Boston Herald: Peabody approves Sept 11 holiday pay
The Lynn Item: Peabody council approves 9/11 holiday pay
News Center 5: City OKs police OT pay for 9/11 holiday
News 7: Peabody approves holiday pay
Fox News: Peabody Police to get holiday pay
The AP: Mass City's police officers get Sept 11 holiday

The stories speak for themselves. We have allowed the Police Union, the Police Officers, the Mayor and the City Council to make all citizens of Peabody look like fools and every public safety worker in the country look like greedy bastards -- simply because these people could not FIX THE MISTAKE THEY MADE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Here is a police blogger who has written on this story: 9/11 Holiday Pay??? Are you for real???

And I will publish here my response to him and the world...

Peabody_Insider said:

I live in Peabody. I know some of the Peabody cops. The ones I know are pretty good guys, but as in every group, there are always a few bad apples.

Now, I wouldn’t call Peabody a podunk town (we are in fact a podunk CITY) but this is a terrible situation.

I have not met one person in the City who is NOT against this situation.

And I totally agree… it is making EVERYONE look bad.

This was a Union Tactic to get something extra because they were giving in to higher co-pays and premiums for health benefits. I think it was more than likely simply a “we need something in return” kind of thing… and some brilliant soul thought up “HEY! Let’s get 9/11 as a holiday pay day!”

And the geniuses at the table (the Union AND the City) all said “sure” because they never thought it through.

The Union was simply doing what Unions do… looking out for themselves by proving they are getting something for the workers. The City was just glad to be done with the negotiations and for getting the health insurance increase. When the cops voted on the contract, they were just happy to be getting a raise after 2 years (despite the increased health costs and the guarantee of layoffs in the coming year - why don’t these guys ever protect the younger ranks?)

Then the controversy hit the news… and media from all over the US was here to blast the situation.

Do these folks ever GET IT? Do they ever say… WHOOPS! And take it back? In a very quick move they could have ‘renegotiated’ the 9/11 holiday into another personal day, shook hands, a quick rank and file re-vote and PRESTO! EVERYBODY LOOKS GOOD AGAIN AND THE CONTROVERSY GOES AWAY!

But no… not it Peabody where everyone thinks they are right come hell or high water (and it frequently still does flood downtown mind you.)

The idiotic Union reps decided to spin this as “We are honoring the 9/11 heroes!” Yeah right… by getting overtime pay - some honor there.

The “Never Wrong” Mayor dug his heels in too first by lobing the blame at the Union, but then (surprisingly) taking it all onto himself. I think even he was seeing the tarnish it had put on the City and the badge carrying folks.

So then the vote this week before the City Council. They needed to fund the pay raises. These “heroes” mostly go up and railed against the stupidity of ‘honoring others’ by filling one’s own pockets… and then voted to fund it.

So let’s see….

The Peabody Police look like bastards for stealing money in the name of a national tragedy.

The Mayor looks like a rube who can’t understand why people might find this unseemly.

The City Council looks like a bunch of moron’s with the power to stop this… but the will to do nothing.

The Union looks like giant asses for the “we are honoring the memory…” crapola.

All Police are given a huge black eye from the public for 1) taking advantage of a tragedy and 2) being greedy public trough piglets.

The Citizens of Peabody are the laughing stock of the nation for at least one more news cycle because of the stupid, cowardly and entrenched actions of our local government.

Yeah… a complete mess that could have been solved long ago with a simple…”let’s fix this” action by the meeting of intelligent minds from both labor and management.

A sad sad day for everyone.

I sincerely apologize for the harm done to Police (and first responders/public safety workers) everywhere for the foolish actions by my political leaders and local police.

Taxes are up, but Peabody still the lowest

The Salem News: As property values drop, some see leaps in tax bills

In the above article the Salem News looks at how the current financial crisis is playing out in municipal funding = Property Taxes. The majority of people they have talked to seem to be unaware of how local property taxes are assessed and how the final figures are decided upon.

The answer is quite simple, despite the spin that anti-tax messiah Barbara Anderson puts on it. But before I explain it... here is a peek at what we here in Peabody face... especially compared to our fellow North Shore communities. Note: We have both the lowest taxes and the lowest increase of anyone!

Taxes on the North Shore
[taken from the article]

Community...Average....Increase

Beverly....$4,852.43....$101.21

Boxford....$7,611.60....$188.32

Danvers....$4,390.96....$160.24

Hamilton...$7,856.24....$640.37

Ipswich....$5,178.17....$523.48

Manchester.$8,754.02....$849.14

Marblehead.$6,275.02....$170.14

Middleton..$5,633.18....$275.84

Peabody....$3,123.87....$ 73.76

Salem......$4,193.68....$139.22

Swampscott.$7,534.49....$241.94

Topsfield..$7,206.40....$198.40

Wenham.....$8,892.44....$632.25

Basically... the City looks at how much money it needs to operate and decides on a number = the total budget. Some of this money comes from fixed sources (the State, excise taxes, etc.) The remainder is what needs to be paid for out of local property taxes. Let's call this amount the Property Tax Budget (or PTB.)

Then the City looks at the total value of ALL property in the City (based on the most current valuations.)

(I will look at the situation where there is a single tax rate for both business and residential because it is easier to explain, but the method is similar - you just have two variables to deal with instead of one.)

Then you take the PTB and divide it by the total valuations and come up with a percentage...

Say the City needs $8 million in property tax revenue, and all the property in the City is appraised at $500 million...

Property Tax Total............................ $8,000,000 = 0.016 %
Total Valuations (all property).........$500,000,000

This is the TAX RATE. This is the rate you will multiply your property's appraised value by to get your total tax bill.

So if your house (in this example) is worth $375,000 your bill would be...

$375,000 x 0.016 = $6,000

Now it is a bit more complicated when you have two different sets of properties (residential and business) and you will need to do a few IF-THEN calculations until you find a formula that meets your needs.

=============== A D D E N D A ===============

This was also in the Salem News today: Property values drop $1.3 billion on North Shore

Here is the listing of total property valuations (and the drop in value) for the last year.

Housing values

............Value..........Changes

Beverly.....$5.02B.....-$107M (-2.1%)

Boxford.....$1.764B....-$ 76M (-4.1%)

Danvers.....$3.205B....-$ 96M (-2.9%)

Hamilton....$1.364B....-$ 45M (-3.2%)

Ipswich.....$2.358B....-$ 62M (-2.5%)

Manchester..$2.06B.....+$ 29M (+1.4%)

Marblehead..$5.088B....-$262M (-4.9%)

Middleton...$1.372B....-$ 94M (-6.4%)

Peabody.....$5.352B....-$231M (-4.1%)

Salem.......$3.754B....-$255M (-6.4%)

Swampscott..$2.362B....-$ 45M (-1.9%)

Topsfield...$1.151B....-$ 46M (-3.8%)

Wenham......$0.819B....+$ 18M (+2.3%)

Area......$35.669B...-$1.271B (-3.4%)

How will State Aid cuts affect Peabody?

The Lynn Item: State aid cuts affect some local communities more than others

The article above outlines a few City and Town leaders discussing how they plan on addressing the expected cuts in local aid. Here is the portion that pertains to Peabody:

...Peabody which picks up 20 percent of its budget from state aid.

Peabody Mayor Michael Bonfanti and his staff has been preparing for these cuts since they were first announced months ago. He asked all departments to trim 5 percent from their current budget and ordered that all potential hires come across his desk first. But, it's all in preparation - Bonfanti said there's no telling just how much Peabody will be affected.

"It'll have a devastating impact on us all," he said. "Until (Patrick) gets the 9C authority and makes those cuts official, we're just not sure."

Bonfanti said it's not only how much, but when the cuts would have to be made.

"When you have 9C cuts in the middle of a budget cycle, it really causes some disruption," he said. "If (Patrick) says to hold off until the next fiscal cycle, that'd be helpful."

A proposed 10 percent cut in local aid would equal at least $3.2 million for the city of Peabody, said Bonfanti. And with those cuts, could come the loss of several programs, including those for after-school children and adults with mental health disabilities.

"Some things don't impact you directly," he said. "They do so indirectly."

I don't have much to say about this right now. This is a huge amount of money to need to be cut from already tight budgets... and in the middle of the year, so many departments would have been spending based on previous figures, not these further reduced ones.

Someone recently commented that I am all doom and gloom (and worse!) The sad thing, in my opinion, is those folks who can't ever see what the reality of a situation is, and instead keep acting like it is just what they WISH or WANT it to be like.

These are the realities. Our already limited amount of public services and government access (thanks to our super low tax rate) is going to be cut even further. The incredibly prudent (even stingy) City financial accounting of the past two Mayors have left us with a dual legacy...

• Some money in reserve and a tax levy surplus (meaning they can choose to tax more without permission - an override)

• Very limited public services including uncared for property, lowest salaries in the area and second rate services (think snow plowing, sidewalk repair, etc.)

It would seem to me that the Cities and Towns which traditionally have higher budgets and more services will be better able to weather this current financial storm because they have somewhere to CUT that isn't already to the bone. But that is the political reality of the City of Peabody.

I fully expect to hear more people calling for tax CUTS because of the hard times not even recognizing that the City is in the same boat as well.

Full text of Mayor Bonfanti's 2009 mid-term Address

The Peabody & Lynnfield Weekly News: Transcript of Mayor Michael Bonfanti's 2009 mid-term address

(note: These links to the PLWN are only available for around 1 week!)

I will post the entire address in the first comment to save space on the main page of the Peabody Roundtable. Please feel free to comment.