Well said Joel. Just a point of clarification on ConCom appointments - under our town manager form of government, only the town manager can make the ConCom appointments (with the approval of the BoS). But it is the town manager's appointment, not the BoS. This is very clear in the Conservation Commission Act. Some communities have filed special legislation to change that for their town and put the appointments back into the hands of the BoS. Maybe Framingham should consider doing the same.
Leslee ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joel A Feingold" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "collierprice" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Town Meeting Members" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 10:59 AM Subject: Re: Appointments to the ConCom > Dear Friends and Neighbors, > > I think that there is some dancing around the real point going on here, so I > will speak plainly. > > My observations are that Framingham is still driven by old alliances and old > priorities. This is reflected in the makeup of much, but not all, of our > Town Government, elected and appointed. Patterns of behavior that are not > helpful, indeed, are destructive, to our Town are repeated. One that bothers > me especially is the "ignore it now and litigate later" which costs time, > gets mediocre results and wastes money. The other is I want it and I'm > entitled but I won't pay for it, and the failed CPA (on which I worked hard > to try and pass) is a good example of that. > > This is reflected in three major areas: > > 1. Failure to purchase important land for long term preservation > 2. Failure to maintain an environment conducive to new business development > 3. Failure to right sized direct housing development to the right locations > with an appropriate mix of affordable and moderate priced housing stock. > > Now, this is only my hypothesis, for which I have no hard evidence, but the > lack of appointments to the Conservation Commission may be caused by three > inter-connected reasons: > > 1. The pool of old allies is used up > 2. The opposition to those allies won't be appointed or approved > 3. The opposition knows that, so even if they are interested and have the > time they don't apply for the position. > > With the economy just starting to percolate again we dare not be late on the > draw. We desperately need a perspective that is friendly and helpful to > businesses, to keep them here and foster additional business development, to > keep our tax rates relativlely low. We desperately need to purchase hundreds > of acres of land for permanent preservation. And we need to work with the > best organizations and developers to increase our housing stock in locations > and in a manner that make sense. > > These priorities are not mutually exclusive. They support each other. I > encourage everyone to consider where their own priorities are and to think > about change for the future needs of our Town. > > Meanwhile, let's get the people appointed! If Mr. King doesn't make them, > perhaps the Board of Selectmen can direct him to do so or, alternatively, > make them anyway. > > Joel A Feingold > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Behalf Of collierprice > Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 12:04 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: Town Meeting Members > Subject: Re: Appointments to the ConCom > > > I don't see a good reason to postpone appointments. > The town needs 7 good people > on the commission now as well as a quick replacement for Ms. Dionne > Surely Mr. King can make his recommendations faster than he has; > he has certainly handled much more difficult problems > sucessfully during his tenure. > > Ned Price > Precinct 17 > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 3:30 PM > Subject: [frambors] Appointments to the ConCom > > > > As I understand it, there are four current openings on the > Conservation > > Commission that are overdue to be filled. > > I feel that George King is playing political games in the > appointments > > to these positions. The current resignation of the present administrator > > should have nothing to do with the selection of appointments to this > board. He > > (King) has shown in the past with the previous chairperson (Leslie > Willetts) > > that he uses his appointing authority to hang over the heads of the > commission. > > I also understand that he is considering appointing the former > administrator > > to the commission, who in my opinion was grossly neglegent (she herself > > admitted at a public meeting) in her duties which resulted in the > destruction of > > wetlands and a vernal pool in my backyard. > > The current administrator (Cindy Dion) is doing a great job and is > > resigning only because of family matters. This will be a great loss to > the town. > > - so tell me - what's the game in holding off the appointments? > This > > is a disservice to the two incumbents , the several qualified candidates > ,and > > the residents of the town of Framingham. > > = to everyone - please be vocal and make a change > > > > Nina Garvey > > Precinct 1 > > To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body > > "unsubscribe frambors" (the subject is ignored). > > > > > To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body > "unsubscribe frambors" (the subject is ignored). > > > To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body > "unsubscribe frambors" (the subject is ignored). To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body "unsubscribe frambors" (the subject is ignored).
