Comments for Dracut Forum

Comment on Lots happening at that Selectman’s meeting by Gene Dalton

Gene Dalton — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:48:39 +0000

After sitting down with two members of the DATV Board I have to set the record straight…. Mr. Paquette’s graduation from college occurred in 2006, not as I had thought in 2007. My assertion that his job disappeared and reappeared was wrong. I stand corrected on that issue.

Comment on Fireworks are Back! by Brian J Bond

Brian J Bond — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:03:46 +0000

Shawn have you checked with “those who know”. about the firework this weekend?

Comment on Schools take another hit by Victor A. Olson

Victor A. Olson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:24:22 +0000

Conference Committee Budget Revisions:

Changes in the Chapter 70 formula input for a lower inflation rate resulted in a 2 percent reduction in foundation requirements and Chapter 70 state aid. Stimulus (Stabilization Grant) funding was identified to offset reduction to school foundation budgets(Chapter 70 and Minimum contribution cuts).

In the case of the GL-Tech school the total budget was cut nearly 2%($613,975). FY-10 SFSF - Stabilization Grant totals $552,397 leaving $61,578 shortfall in foundation budget.

The state transportation reimbursment was also cut an additional $354,242 which increased the transportation assessment from all the member communities from $422,655 to $776,897. This would have increased the transportation assessment to Dracut from $72,110 to $132,548.

The School Board previously voted to not assess transportation in FY-10 to assist member communities and will apply $776,897 of additional excess and deficiency budget to offset this expense. In addition, changes in the Chapter 70 mininimum required contributions included reductions in the amount of $193,329 for all member communities with Dracut’s reduction at $55,744.

The School Board voted last night to recertify the budget which results in an assessment to Dracut at $127,854 less than the amount originally requested based on the preliminary budget. This amount exceeds the amount requested by Town manager of $100,000 reduction. A major draw down of the excess and defiency funds was required this year to offset the transportation assessment to the member communities at $776,897 which will leave less funds available to address future cuts and assessments. Revised assessment letters are forthcoming to member communities.

Comment on Lots happening at that Selectman’s meeting by Shawn

Shawn — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:33:07 +0000

I spoke to the members of the DATV board about this comment yesterday.
Mrs Paquette preferred not to respond at all, due to any response would be a conflict.
Jack Lyons reviewed the whole history of this situation, explaining that you are mixing up different employees and time frames, that you had been repeatedly contacted by both Executive Director’s to try to resolve your issues and you never replied to anyone.
I’ve worked with David over there, as well as George, Eric, and a whole host of employees and volunteers.
The qualifications of the employees are impeccable.
I do not know the actual hiring process, and prefer not to let this squabble between the BOS and DATV go further. Its not good for either side.
Again, Jack, Steve and all the others at the board would like to hear from you, and have tried to contact you.
Throwing dirty laundry and insinuations out into the ether, however, will do nothing to improve the situation.
The volunteers running that organization are some of the most respected and hard working in town.. as was demonstrated at last weeks BOS meeting.

Comment on Lots happening at that Selectman’s meeting by Gene Dalton

Gene Dalton — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:33:49 +0000

I for one welcomed the Selectman’s interest in DATV, though not for the reason of alleged political motives. A microscope should be trained on the DATV board due to their hiring practices. I have been down to the studio on two separate occasions to give my volunteer contact info after the DATV board apparently “lost” it. I had to find out about the member fee by way of the website. I was contacted by email approximately 24 hours before the last annual meeting, hardly advanced notice. I received only one email from the volunteer coordinator during an entire year. They are not, as they profess interested in an open and transparent DATV
At no time during my volunteer time at the Comcast controlled Dracut local access channels did I ever see Mr. David Paquette. Suddenly when the DATV board members controlled the corporation David was hired for a paid position at DATV. This job he was given disappeared every fall when college started, but it reappeared every spring when school let out. No one was hired to fill his position when he was at school. In January 2009 Mr. Paquette took a job at Tyngsborough access television, but in March of the same year he tendered his resignation. No one was hired to fill his position when he went to Tyngsborough, but once again he was hired back at DATV as the senior Tech.
It is one thing to hire family or a friend out of a list of people that have responded to a want ad, when that individual has the qualifications. It is another thing entirely to hand said job without due competition.

Comment on Lots happening at that Selectman’s meeting by Shawn

Shawn — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:21:12 +0000

Oh, I agree. I did see quite a few who obviously were just waiting to here the other side first.

This discussion could get spread across the summer the way things are going. We just need to bring it to a finish for the future.

Comment on Lots happening at that Selectman’s meeting by Colleen

Colleen — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:02:18 +0000

Please know that the neighborhood of Veterans park was well represented at the meeting last night. I was thrilled to see how many came out. As much as this has been talked about, there are still so many specific questions that need to be asked and definitive answers that need to be given. Once the meeting was going to be continued- it felt best to wait to speak until the next date. But we were there and will be again.

Comment on Uncovering Dracut’s hidden treasure by Russ Gouveia

Russ Gouveia — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:39:00 +0000

I don’t understand that if every pond 10 arces or
more is a great pond and there for belongs to the residents of Mass.Why is there no public acess?I don’t want to trample anybody’s land and I certainly don’t agree with Mr. Desrosiers statement about fishermen littering.That is a very easy statement to make-up.Most fishermen I know are very respeckful of of others land.

Comment on GLTech agrees to Dracut’s Request by Jeanne

Jeanne — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:48:06 +0000

UPDATE:

I received a letter yesterday from Senator Tucker in response to my e-mail regarding the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s proposed 19-bill legislative package that includes a measure giving municipal leaders local control over health insurance.

Senator Tucker agrees, as I had posted previously on this site, that joining the GIC (Group Insurance Commission) proposed by Governor Patrick which gives municipalities the right to join the state’s Group Insurance Commission, is not the answer because there would not be any significant savings to communities. However, Senator Tucker states in her letter that she has been “a consistent supporter of collective bargaining rights, and that during these extremely challenging fiscal times, we must develop solutions that strike a fair balance between providing municipalities with the ability to determine how best to lower their health insurance costs while preserving the rights of workers to have a seat at the table when decisions on health care are being made”.

Instead, Senator Tucker supports the Senate’s proposed legislation. This plan does not give city and town managers the power to make decisions about municipal health-insurance plans, or the ability to set deductibles and co-payments on doctor visits and prescriptions without seeking approval from every union.

I appreciate Senator Tucker’s response, and agree that we should be balancing competing interests and satisfying both union and management concerns, but I don’t understand why municipalities are not given the same authority state government has with its own employees. Taxpayers would be much better served if municipal leaders were given the ability to put together a health plan that was more economical and affordable for their community.

Comment on Claypit Cemetary: Saving Dracut history by Sarah Levesque

Sarah Levesque — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:26:43 +0000

Salevesque@rivier.edu is where I can be reached!