I have to admit, my focus was split yesterday between the town election and the upcoming graduation of one of my former foster children, Dave Daigle (who also has a history of support in the town, having worked at the skate park for many years and helping to develop its management structure).

I spent the evening at the UMass Lowell South campus, attending a ceremony where he received a Leadership award that resulted from his creation of a university organization to help former foster children and other students learn their way through the maze of administration.

Good on him.

So thats why I really wasn’t paying much attention at the town.

As to the Election…

The threat of an override was a driving force in the campaign, but its interesting that on the school election the voters chose the two most in support of a large override, while in the Selectmen race (the race that most counts when it comes to actually raising revenue) they chose the two most apt to lack support for the large override.

An evaluation of the “blanks” may tell us something about whether a people just turned out for the school race or the selectmen race.  We’ll have to look at that later.

In the School Race, I was sort of surprised in that Miles came in last. Significantly. But then again, I really didn’t see him trying too hard this time, and even he agreed that all three candidates were good and he wouldn’t be hurt not to win it this time.

The schools need people who can figure out how to do more with less. The school department is tasked with spending, so support for or against an override doesn’t mean much in that race, but some voters may have thought so.  I need to review the figures some more, to compare them to the race for selectmen.

Miles’ focus on the at-risk student population did not bring him the support this time, as the election was about overall spending on education. I can understand that.

The override question will be over in a couple months, and having two members who understand the education system can’t be bad as the board has to figure out how to move forward.

In the race for the two Selectmen’s seats, I always saw it as a three way race between Malliaros, Richardson and Archinski. 

Nason didn’t bring much to the table, and had little knowledge of the issues.  You can’t win on a platform of “they’re all bad, throw them all out” unless you bring a reason for the voters to vote for you.

Dristiliaris had a history of being involved in some town functions, both public and private, but the fact is, she was unknown.  The Garry/Bond campaign behind her did get her some significant votes, but what she did become was the spoiler in the three way race.

Archinski had built up a base in his prior election runs, and continues to have strong union support. Richardson and Malliaros brought their own voting base to the table. All three thus arrived with about the same number of votes.

The “throw everyone out” crowd, that always exists..especially in a bad economy.. threw their support to Archinski and Dristiliaris, thus pushing Archinski to the top of the group of three.

As to second place, Richardson’s strong “no new taxes” stand pushed her over the line.

I’m told that someone started a rumor that the vote for an override was on the ballot, and that brought out a number of people. I think it was intended to bring out the “parent” crowd, but instead I’m told elderly were calling town hall during the day concerned that they didn’t see the question when they voted, or that they didn’t understand why it would be on the ballot yet.

This rumor may have brought out a large anti tax contingent, and be a harbinger for the future.

5347 voters turned out, out of 20271 registered: 26%

Selectmen:

• Tony Archinski: 2360
• Cathy Richardson: 2285
• George Malliaros: 2219
• Tami Dristiliaris: 2008
• Gil Nason: 471

School Committee:

• Betsy Murphy: 3100
• Mike McNamara: 3068
• Mike Miles: 2110

In other races unopposed races:

• Leo Gaudette for Moderator: 4017
• George Nangle for Housing Commissioner: 4047
• Clee Ace for Library Trustee: 4144
• Bob Corey for Water Commissioner: 3163

Gabriel Gomez won the Republican Primary, and he did win Dracut with 958 out of 1794 Republican voters.

On the Democrat side, Stephen Lynch beat out Markey: 2369 to 1098, out of 3492 Democrat voters.

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Hey Brian, Whats up with that?

Seems a bit hypocritical.

Throughout this campaign you have been complaining on your DATV shows about the stipend that Selectmen get while serving on the board.

Yet over at the Dracut Water Supply District, your Co-Host Bill Morin has proposed raising his own stipend from $2500 to $5000 a year.

What say you to that?

In his letter to the ratepayers, Morin says:

“In order to continue to keep our rates competitive in this difficult economic time, I personally will be reviewing the new hire employee benefits package and will push to establish cost sustaining or possible cost reducing by-laws.”

Raising his own benefit, yet looking at how to reduce others.

And yet, over at Article 12 on their Town Meeting warrant (to be held May 11th), he and Bill Zielinski call for the setting of the commissioners annual stipend to $5000. (as you can see in last year’s warrant, it was $2500 last year).

I would bet people would be watching your next show, awaiting your questioning of Morin on this issue.

I have already asked Bob Corey to appear on Saturday Morning Live this weekend on 980 WCAP. He will be appearing at 8:00 a.m.

Again, this was non scientific.. but was fun.

We held an on-air poll of callers, open to everyone, with over a day’s notice, of Dracut voters on who they will vote for in Tuesday’s election.

The Results:

In the School Committee Race (2 seats available):

Mike Miles: 14

Dr McNamara: 8

Betsy Murphy: 5

And in the Race for Selectmen (also 2 seats up for election):

George Malliaros: 18

Cathy Richardson: 11

Tony Archinski: 11

Tami D (not gonna catch me on that again): 2

Gil Nason: 0

Again, this was unscientific, but gave us a chance to talk with voters about the election for a couple hours.

We had one commenter coming in using different names..

Thus, they lost the right to comment at all.

George Malliaros was making a point after the last board of Selectmen’s meeting.

He was pointing out that an elected politician should not be providing input into a discussion via a letter. By doing so, he puts himself above the other members by denying the ability to discuss and challenge the statement.

That was a fair statement. You don’t see Selectmen when away or other school committee members when they’re out “mailing it in.”

The spinning of Malliaros’ point into something ugly, when he was trying to make the point light-heartedly, is just wrong and another example of one side working hard to split the community.

It is rare for me, but I now offer Mr Malliaros the location in front of my house for a political sign, and offer my support.  I think he earned it for the attacks that have been put on him while he tries to help resolve the budget issues.

Override options

On the point of the override, this morning’s paper informs us that the Selectmen will be offering an option of an override of a much more reasonable size, matched against the ending of our participation in the CPC program.

In the long run, taxes would stay about the same, and the schools would stay stable as we work ourselves out of the recession.

As to other options, on “their side,” the schools are sitting on three major assets: the Parker School, the admin building, and an unused wing at the Junior High School.

By turning over admin building to the town (and moving the administration to one of the two other properties), that asset could be converted to the cash needed for the school district tech upgrade and the Campbell School repairs, with some left over for municipal needs and a permanent new tax revenue source.

There isn’t a huge rush for the tech upgrade, in that the high school tech install doesn’t occur until the end of the project, and it would probably reduce costs to do the whole town at once… and this option would also allow the town to use some of the generated cash to upgrade its technology needs as well.

As Lincoln says – A house divided against itself cannot stand. Dracut is at that point, with the “us vs. them” mentality at full throttle.

I watched the joint Selectmen and School Committee meeting and wondered when someone was going to come up with any ideas about how to best utilize the town’s money. Only one “idea” was mentioned – eliminating the CPA tax to make a new tax. All that does is redistribute money we’re already spending, and not necessarily in such a way that will save the town money in the long run. There were no cost-saving measures mentioned that will do anything close to the good that the CPA program has done. The money that has been spent during the CPA program will help the town because preserving land means fewer houses and children needing services.

Where are the ideas such as lowering the thermostat in all town buildings; reallocating schedules and shifts to eliminate or reduce overtime expenses; asking the DPW and school maintenance department to work together when necessary; combining purchasing of supplies in all departments so that we get a better rate; turning off lights when a building is closed; mailing student packages using bulk mailing rates as opposed to regular mail and, while you’re at it, combining all students from one family into one package; putting forms online and asking people to download them and send them in or drop them off; setting up compost bins in the town buildings to lessen trash tonnage; redistricting the schools in such a way that fewer buses are needed; rearranging the schedule so that lunch is after recess so students are hungry enough to eat their food instead of wasting it; reviewing what books/magazines are purchased for the schools’ libraries when we have these same ones available at the town library; utilizing vacant buildings in such a way that they make money; and petitioning our state legislators to review the funding for the Greater Lowell Tech or get additional funding for the town.

Kudos if any of these suggestions have already been implemented! If one person can come up with these, imagine what 10 people with a better knowledge of the inner workings of the town, and who collaborate with each other, can come up with. Dracut has proven time and time again that when we work together we succeed in a big way. The DSF Telethon, Old Home Day, and the renovations to the high school are perfect examples of that. The divisiveness needs to stop before these battles tear the town apart.