WHITMAN – The Select Board on Tuesday, Oct. 8 took the opportunity to salute excellence in service to the town, while preparing for the next generation of public safety officers.
Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski read a proclamation of appreciation for service in recognition of Whitman Fire Department Deputy Chief Thomas Ford’s retirement, effective Sept. 30.
The proclamation made note of Ford’s 25 years of service to Whitman’s public safety, beginning as a firefighter/paramedic in 1999, assuming the role of lieutenant in 2020 and deputy chief in 2024 “all the while carrying on his duties in a manner that is a credit, not only to himself, but to the town of Whitman, as well.”
“The valued services and untiring devotion of Thomas G. Ford have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated and he will be sincerely missed by his retirement,” Kowalski read.
Fire Chief Timothy Clancy also spoke in recognition of Ford’s legacy of service.
“Tommy was one of the first paramedics that came into the department – truly started the foundation of the EMS system in Whitman Fire,” Clancy said, noting that Ford advanced through the ranks as a well-respected member and lieutenant, retiring as deputy chief.
But, he most wanted to discuss Ford’s role as SAFE officer, as he had with WATD’s Kevin Tocci on Monday night’s broadcast.
“Until he was deputy, he was the SAFE officer and generation, after generation, after generation, after generation of school children in this town were educated about fire awareness by Tom,” Clancy said. “Without a doubt, it made a difference. They know fireman Tom or Lt. Tom and they always say hi to him and they make mention of it.”
Clancy added that Ford had helped him as deputy chief, but “I also wish him a long and healthy retirement.”
Police Chief Timothy Hanlon then presented a request to the board to hire an additional officer to fill a retirement vacancy in his ranks. He is already in the process of hiring to fill one vacancy, when Det. Eric Campbell notified him last week that he plans to retire at the end of October.
“While we have the process open and the list called for, it just makes sense to make it two instead of one,” Hanlon said.
The Select Board approved the request.

In other business, the board approved a new approach toward obtaining state approval for
Berkley Botanicals’ host community agreement (HCA) with the town for its planned cannabis business.
Town Counsel Peter Somers reminded the board that the Cannabis Control Commission had rejected the HCA previously agreed to by the town and Berkley Botanicals.
“The CCC is, essentially, not approving custom-tailored agreements, but they will approve the model HCA – which is their model they proposed for folks to enter into,” he said. “I’ve spoken with Berkley, and with [ZBA Chair] John Goldrosen and, at the board’s direction, we propose that they seek additional relief from the ZBA through an amendment to their special permit and John as come up with some conditions for his board to consider.”
The ZBA must now vote on those conditions and Berkley has to apply to the ZBA for further relief.
“In the meantime, Berkley’s eager to get their application back to the CCC, because it takes some time to approve even the model HCA, so they can open their doors,” Somers said. “Every month of delay here is a month of delay for them to open their doors, essentially.”
He presented the board with a proposed model HCA between Whitman and Berkley on a separate track from the ZBA application. Somers said if they fail to obtain approval from the ZBA, then the model HCA is void.
The board approved the approach.

WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen, on Tuesday, Feb. 23 supported a “three weeks in the Green” timeline for reopening town buildings, including Town Hall.

The state has established a guideline of reopening municipal buildings after a community has completed three straight weeks in the Green level.

Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman met with the Board of Health to discuss their recommendations Tuesday morning.

“The consensus among the Board of Health members was that the town be three weeks in the Green level and that would be the appropriate time for reopening,” Heineman said.

Red indicates greater that 10 average cases per 100,000 and greater than 5 percent positivity rate; Green indicates less than 10 average cases per 100,000 with a positivity rate. There is a Yellow level between the two.

The average daily incidence per 100,00 people was 30.8 between Feb. 4 and 18, with a 5.33 percent positivity rate. Whitman’s peak for the second wave was hitting at the end of 2020 when the town saw a 62.5 incidence rate with 10.8 percent positivity.

Selectmen Chairman Dan Salvucci said he has had conversations with residents who have asked him when Town Hall would be reopened.

He said there are residents who cannot pay bills online or do not have checking accounts and need to pay bills, such as excise tax, in person with cash.

“I look around Town Hall, and all the offices are protected by [Plexiglas] shields, and employees are protected behind those shields,” Salvucci said. “The same goes for the DPW office — I’ve seen that.”

He said he has not been in the Senior Center or Library to see what changes have been made at those facilities.

“I do have concerns about the Senior Center and Library, where people sit around tables and communicate with each other, whether they are at a meal or at a book club meeting at the Library,” he said. “If we ever consider opening up the town buildings — which I would like to — we need to talk to the department heads and they would have to take some kind of action to make sure that their building is taken care of during the day, and [a custodian] could spray the buildings down at night.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson said he has heard a news report about the state aiming to reopen schools in early April and suggested that could be a good target date for the town.

“That might get us to that Green area we need to be in anyway,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to put a hard date on it but my suggestion would be that maybe we look to that timeframe for reopen.”

Selectman Dr. Carl Kowalski expressed concern over the town’s current incidence level.

“The fact that we’re still in the Red would make me really pause about getting too excited about opening the town buildings,” Kowalski said. “We have been pretty good about listening to the Board of Health and where they get their information from.”

He said if the three weeks of Green the Health Board is talking about coincides with the early April date Bezanson mentioned it would be fine, but that the town needs to take the side of safety.

Salvucci agreed that it should be up to the Board of Health’s knowledge before a reopening date is set.

Selectman Randy LaMattina asked whether Heineman has looked into whether all town buildings and offices have plastic shields in place and a supply of disinfectant wipes on hand to ensure safety as a plan is formulated.

“I do think there’s a few other things that need to happen in Town Hall,” Heineman said. “I would say, if the consensus of the board is three weeks in the Green, the board could take a vote on that.”

He said there are still some CARES act funds remaining, and such preparations would be an appropriate use for that money.

Selectman Justin Evans said he sees no reason to stop listening to public health experts, but noticed there was a period when the town was in the Gray area, which meant that the town — because of its small size could have been Green, but there was not enough data to determine that.

“Would you just run that by our public health experts and say, ‘Do you consider Gray to be Green?’” he asked.

Heineman agreed to ask about that, noting that Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director Timothy Grenno agrees with the three weeks in the Green rule of thumb.

COVID rate

In the meantime, Heineman said he would request that Town Hall offices post at the entrance the number of employees willing to go to the door to help people with bill paying, accepting voter registration cards or other simple transactions.

Salvucci said that, when a plan is devised, Heineman should meet with department heads to review proper sanitation procedures.

“We need to be safe,” he said. “We need to keep people safe.”

Heineman reported that all town first responders, who wished to be vaccinated, received their second dose last week.

On Monday, Feb. 22, Whitman received a small shipment of vaccine, focused on second doses for those who have already received their first, to get the new dose next week — after two weeks of requests had been denied.

The Fire Department and Board of Health have set up on a hotline to serve homebound residents (due to age or disability) eligible to receive the vaccine. These residents should call 781-618-9778. A small mobile clinic will be used to deliver the vaccine to the homebound. A reverse-911 call will be issued later this week to eligible residents to help spread word of the vaccine availability.

“The good news is that our incidence rate is going down,” Heineman said. “We are certainly still in the red in the color-coded system, but down from the previous week.”

Budget issues

Regarding the fiscal 2022 budget, resident Shawn Kain wrote a comment to the Selectmen that continuing the assessment compromise with Hanson for another year should be considered to ensure the schools have adequate funding.

“I sympathize with Shawn, but it was pretty clear last year, when we were able to get this compromise passed, that it was basically based upon using the statutory method this year in both towns,” Kowalski said. But he said he does believe the idea should be considered and thought about.

LaMattina, however, said that while he respects Kain he does not believe the town is in the position to subsidize the school budget this year.

“I would not vote for that this year, knowing that,” LaMattina said. “This is being played off [in some quarters] as we gave Hanson money. I don’t believe we gave Hanson money. I believe we gave our kids money.”

Salvucci also said upcoming capital needs such as a sewer main project among others, will also require Town Meeting actions.

The board was unanimous in their opinion that it is premature and counter to what was promised to voters who supported the compromise last year to support extending it another year.

Selectmen indicated they did not favor voting to eliminate non-mandated school busing for the sum of about $64,000 that could be saved, if it meant placing children at risk.

“The goal right now is obviously to get students back to school as safely as possible, not messing around with busing right now is a way of doing that,” LaMattina said.

WHITMAN — Selectmen’s discussions centering on budget priorities and travel expense policies at their Tuesday, July 10 meeting raised a question for consideration over whether a town ambulance service is cost-effective.

“I’m not suggesting that we change … but I think what we’re going to need as we go through this year is an assessment,” said Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski, who raised the question since Fire Chief Timothy Grenno was present for an executive session and could respond to the posit.

“One of the things I would ask [Grenno] when he comes in to discuss his budget is what it costs to run the ambulance service as opposed to out-sourcing,” he said. “If we were to choose another ambulance service, what would be the financial consequences of that?”

Kowalski noted that Grenno has reported in the past that the bulk of emergency calls to the Fire Department over the last several years have been for medical emergencies. Grenno agreed that EMS calls had been about 80 percent of all calls for a time, but said fire calls have now increased to where the split is closer to between 64 to 68 percent EMS calls.

“I can tell you that fire vs. EMS responses in this town have almost matched themselves,” Grenno said. “Fire responses have been climbing over the years.”

Funding the new police station within the levy limit is another issue Kowalski said would be revisited during budget review.

Grenno argued that the town is dealing with the effects of a $2 million loss in Local Aid since the recession in 2008.

“We live with that,” he said, noting he has met department needs at the detriment of the expense line. “If I have a vehicle break down, that could wipe out my expense line.”

“I didn’t mean to set you up,” Kowalski said. “It’s just the kind of thing that we need to think about.”

Selectman Scott Lambiase, who was unable to attend the meeting because of work demands, forwarded his thoughts on a possible next step in the board’s budget review process, suggesting another joint meeting with the Finance Committee one more time to ensure the two boards are on the same page as far as a schedule for future work is concerned. Kowalski slated that for the first meeting in August.

“We don’t want to be duplicating what the Finance Committee does,” he said. “They bring the department heads in, although in the past, what has happened when they bring department heads in each year, the department heads tell them what they’d like to do and it’s eventually whittled down.”

Kowalski reiterated the Selectmen’s plan to have department heads come before them to provide “some kind of idea what they would do if they were level-funded next year” or if they had to make cuts.

Selectman Brian Bezanson asked about whether the town could or should go to a zero-based budget.

“We may have to look at ways to do business differently and there might have to be some very uncomfortable decisions,” Bezanson said. “Knowing what the community thinks is important, maybe we can tailor our services as such.”

Town Administrator Frank Lynam said that contracted salaries — the largest portion of the municipal budget — require that a zero base be whatever contracts require for that year.

“We’re not building on last year’s budget,” he said. “As far as expenses go, other than public safety, the expense lines have not grown significantly or, in many cases, have not grown at all over the last several years.”

Departments already look to how much they calculate needing to spend each year to operate effectively and, in reviewing those budgets, the Finance Committee typically looks at the previous year’s budget compared to requests for the coming year.

Lambiase also argued that the proposed travel and expense policy is “well-thought out and fairly comprehensive,” but continued to question whether such a detailed policy is needed. The issue has again been tabled for further discussion.

“I prefer the simpler approach,” he stated. “The department heads are responsible adults. If we give them the guidelines and they go outside the guidelines, the accountant would simply kick back the reimbursement request. I don’t see the need for prior approval from the board or town administrator for travel.”

Under the proposed policy, out-of-state travel would require prior approval.

Selectman Randy LaMattina agreed with Lambiase’s argument, as did Kowalski, who said some guidance is probably needed.

Lynam said many towns have designations for how much can be spent in particular areas, requiring a measure of practicality in spending those funds.

“We have never identified what is an appropriate amount of money,” he said. “I think there has to be an upper limit. Is it $5,000? Is it $10,000? How much should we expect would be a reasonable amount of money to handle these things?”

Kowalski said if prior approval was going to be required, then some guidance should be provided concerning what might be approved. Lynam agreed, stating most conference travel involves professional development, networking and sharing and developing better ways to do their jobs.

“It’s not a junket,” he said. “Many of them are out of state.”

Grenno said that many of the international fire chiefs’ conferences are usually in Texas or Chicago — and quipped that he tries to avoid Texas in hot weather.

“The speakers they have at those conferences are five-star, gold speakers,” Grenno said. “Our conference in Worcester is good, we get a lot of knowledge, but we have to maintain so many credits and points to maintain our credentials of our chief officers.”

The state association meets in Worcester and he tries to send his line officers to the three-day sessions, which cost under $1,000 each.

“There are times, when money is tight, when there are moratoria on out-of-state travel,” Kowalski said, stressing that he does see value in that kind of conference.

“If we’re talking about an override [that’s] talking out of both sides of our mouths,” Bezanson said of such travel being approved. “I’m uncomfortable with that.”

Kowalski agreed the policy needed tightening up a bit.

In other business, Selectmen voted to officially designate Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green as Chief Procurement Officer by a vote against changing the town’s current arrangement placing that duty with the assistant town administrator. Lambiase continued to advocate for changing the CPO to the town administrator.

“The chief procurement officer title goes to the position of the person holding the job, not to the person,” Kowalski said. “This board in 2013 voted unanimously to give it to the assistant town administrator.”

Greg Enos held that post at the time. Green not only continues to perform that job, she holds the required credentials, which Lynam has not completed. Lynam had taken the first three courses, but was unable to attend the fourth due to a death in his family and two subsequent sessions were over-subscribed. A CPO is required to approve requests for qualifications. Lynam lacks the credential to approve RFQs.

The board tabled a vote on the amended WHRSD Regional Agreement until a full board is present.

HANSON — Selectmen closed the investigation into Recreation Commission oversight of Camp Kiwanee on Tuesday, Dec. 13 after hearing labor counsel Leo Peloquin defend the conclusions of original his October report. The Board of Selectmen voted 4-0, with Selectman Don Howard abstaining, to conclude the probe and move forward.

Selectmen also set a Jan. 6 deadline for interested residents to apply for appointment to a reconstituted Recreation Commission, with the plan to vote on appointments at the Tuesday, Jan. 10 meeting. Selectmen hope to see a recreation director in place by the end of January.

“I don’t think [the reports] are trying to take away from the amount of hard work that anyone has done,” Selectmen Chairman James McGahan said, noting that oversight procedures are now being improved. “I think when somebody works on something so hard for so long, a sense of entitlement starts to form, and I think it’s human nature.”

McGahan agreed with Peloquin’s assertion, however, that there was no “hard evidence” refuting the labor counsel report and said he saw a great deal of confusion concerning rental rates at Kiwanee.

“We have to focus on what the problem is,” McGahan said. “There’s a problem here of making sure we follow the rules.”

Peloquin, in an 83-minute presentation, responded in detail to a Nov. 28 rebuttal by attorney George H. Boerger of Duxbury of the original report’s conclusions. Boerger representing Kiwannee caretaker James Flanagan and former Recreation Commission members Maria McClellan, Sue Lonergan, Dave Blauss and Janet Agius. Peloquin’s report can be obtained electronically by contacting the Selectmen’s office and may be viewed on W-H Community Access TV.

“The essence of my report was that, over … the past six years I identified, just based on documents, that there were more than 50 instances where individuals had rented facilities at Camp Kiwanee for a discounted rate,” he said. “In the response there’s no check to refute this, there’s not even an attempt to refute this.”

None of the discounts were brought before the Board of Selectmen, and none were brought before the Recreation Commission to be considered, Peloquin said. The authorizing parties were not always apparent.

Peloquin also said, if the legal bill meter started with initial audit last December, he wouldn’t doubt Boerger’s assertion that the town has spent $62,905 on the investigation.

The key points raised by what he terms the “Camp Kiwanee group,” and to which Peloquin responded Tuesday were:

• The group’s response challenges only a handful of more that 50 discounted rental agreements documented by the investigation;

• Lonergan received “significantly discounted rentals including her use of ‘Kiwanee cash;

• McClellan authorized a discounted rental for her niece at the Needles Lodge library;

• Peter Giovannini, a former Hanson teacher, received significantly discounted rental agreements and other privileges from 2011-16;

• Former Hanson Town Administrator, Michael Finglas denies the new claim by the Camp Kiwanee group that he approved the Kiwanee Cash program;

• David Blauss does not challenge the investigation findings that his mother received a discounted rate to rent the lodge for a family Christmas party for several years;

• Blauss does not challenge the investigation findings that he allowed his cousin, who also worked for him, to stay at Camp Kiwanee without paying. His claim that it was solely to provide security is not credible and was an abuse of authority, no matter what the reason for allowing it;

• The group’s contention that former Town Administrator Ron San Angelo denied the Recreation Commission access to records, contradicts the plain language of his email, which made it clear they were to receive access on request;

• New reasons offered for Debbie Blauss’ financial deal for yoga instruction were not persuasive; and that

• The investigation was prolonged by a lack of cooperation by key commissioners and Recreation Commission employees.

“These people are very strong in character and nature,” McGahan said about the records request issue. “I don’t believe — in any way, shape or form — they would have taken no for an answer if they couldn’t see the records.”

He said he believed they would have demanded access from the town administrator, picketed and come to the Selectmen, as he would have done.

“I would have kept pressing for those records,” McGahan said, noting the latest report showed contradictions in the rebuttals. “I saw no evidence of that.”

Resident Richard Edgehille lauded Peloquin’s work as well as the board’s on the investigation.

“The audit brought this all on your shoulders,” he told Selectmen. “This guy did a great job. Most of the people in town are not connected personally with these people, you guys did a great job.”

McGahan said it has been a difficult and uncomfortable process and expressed surprise that the room was not full of Recreation Commission supporters as it has been at previous meetings.

Audrey Flanagan said in an email Wednesday morning that the commission members did not attend the meeting because, “They felt that, based on previous statements from McGahan, that they would not get the chance to defend themselves (again) and that they simply were not interested in Leo’s rebuttal of the rebuttal.”

Only one resident present at the meeting, Susan McGrath of 66 Gerald St., spoke on behalf of the Recreation Commission, but she also agreed that problems began when Kiwanee was turned into an enterprise as a wedding venue in 2012.

Policies vs rules

“This is policies and procedures — things that should have been fixed along the way a while ago,” McGrath said.

Selectmen Bruce Young, Bill Scott and Kenny Mitchell agreed with that point.

“The internal control is not there,” Young said.

“This lady hit the nail right on the head,” Scott said. “When this became an enterprise account, so-called, there were no rules put in place for the governing of that. We were still going on the old — not rules — policies and procedures.”

A retired police chief, Scott compared it to policies and procedures governing police conduct that allow officers flexibility in given circumstances, but said that departments are also governed by firm rules and regulations.

“If we move forward, we’ve got to go forward with a set of rules for the Recreation Commission that will have to be abided by,” he said. “No one is knocking what they did or didn’t do. It’s just the whole thing fell apart procedurally.”

“We’re all municipal employees,” Mitchell said. “We have to answer to our people. … I wish a lot of these [Recreation Commission] people had answered questions when the investigator had contacted them initially, and once the investigation came up that some of the people said, ‘I made a mistake, I didn’t mean anything by it,’ so this thing didn’t drag on. It just made it worse.”

McGrath also said she felt the issue began when someone felt the Recreation Commission had to be disbanded and set out to make sure that happened.

McGahan countered that, as Kiwanee belongs to the community and the rules have to apply to everyone adding he hopes the result is the creation of something stronger.

“We have here an issue that has generated a lot of angst in the community,” McGrath said. “One of the reasons is, I think, is because this is an issue that’s sort of in the bedrock of the town of Hanson. Some of the people involved in the report have been people that are pillars of the community.”

The 38-year resident said Hanson residents’ willingness to pitch in and help each other is what makes it the kind of community in which she wants to live.

“I don’t feel it’s [a sense of] entitlement, I feel that it’s a stewardship,” she said. “You’ve got to take a step back to look at the forest for some of these trees.”    

Howard also asked why there were no plays staged at Kiwanee’s Needles Lodge this year — a regular fundraising effort for the camp.

“Half of these people you mention are part of my family,” Howard said. “I’m very upset about it. This is the first time I’ve really heard everything here … I think it’s disgusting — I’ll be very frank and honest with you.”

McGahan said the group was asked about that and had replied that the did not wish to do it this year.

Joanne Blauss said McCue wouldn’t confirm that we could have more than one rehearsal night a week.

“Over the years we’ve settled for two nights a week (three would be better, but that’s been our compromise), but now they won’t even assure us of that,” she said in an email Tuesday night.

School panel discusses next steps

The W-H Regional School Committee Monday, May 23 began discussion on its next steps following the defeat of the override during Saturday’s town elections.

Chairman Bob Hayes noted the committee has already consulted legal counsel on the matter, explaining that the panel faces a Sept. 15 deadline to either bring the percentages down or take other action to arrive at a budget.

“I thought it would be incumbent to speak with both of the finance committees before we made that type of decision to see financially where they are, rather than to just leap into something,” Hayes said.

The school committee will meet next at 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 8, at which time they expect more information on the status of the increase in per-pupil state funding from the current level of $20 to $55 as proposed by the region’s legislators within the state budget.

“It’s incumbent upon this committee to make some strong decisions about what we are going to do,” Hayes said as the committee began a lengthy discussion on factors that may have contributed to the override’s failure and how voters’ doubts can be addressed.

“It’s obvious that this is a fairly critical point in time … and I know emotions are running high for lots of people,” he said.

He said elected officials must lead the way to finding a solution.

“Let’s find a way,” he said. “There’s a way we can make some of this work, we’ve just got to dig in and get at it.”

Committee members expressed disappointment on the override outcome and refuting the contention by some voters that the School Department does not live within its budget.

Member Dan Cullity noted that, in Whitman, no other town department took a hit during the recession, as the schools did, and cautioned the public against armchair quarterbacking.

“We’ve got mandates that we have to follow,” he said. “They’re not fully funded, that takes more out of the budget.”

Robert Trotta stepped away from the dais to address his committee as a resident, parent and retired educator.

“Yes, it was an aggressive budget request, but one that was much needed,” Trotta said. “We cannot become a second-rate school system. We must put together a budget strategy immediately.”

Member Kevin Lynam asked what the committee can realistically do now.

“We asked for 20 percent and the towns said no,” Lynam said. “Is there an opportunity for compromise on both sides?” He suggested perhaps working to determine what can be afforded from year to year — such as 3 percent one year and 6 percent the next — comparing such a process to a farmer rotating crops.

Hayes said that was one of the reasons he wanted to set up meetings with the finance committees. Member Robert O’Brien Jr., suggested another try at forming a joint financial subcommittee between the towns and school committee members.

Improved communication with voters was also cited as a need. Among the inaccuracies and misunderstandings members of the committee and Support Our Schools group said they had encountered during discourse with voters were:

• The district does not live within its means;

• Volunteers could be used to reopen school libraries;

• Non-resident children are attending district schools;

• The budget gap can be closed by cuts in administration; and

• The schools should use the excess and deficiency funds to close the budget gap.

Not easy

State cutbacks in Chapter 70 reimbursement as a way of motivating the towns to reach target share of local contributions was cited as a major problem.

“It’s not quite as easy as running your own house,” Hayes said. “There’s no runaway train here.”

School officials stressed that, while “volunteers are great helpers,” schools require licensed librarians with a master’s degree work as librarians — as is required in town libraries.

Even pupils in lower grades, including kindergarten, are assigned research projects on which school librarians are needed to reinforce critical thinking skills and help teach students what research materials are credible and which are not.

“Our kids begin research when they begin school,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner said.

She also stressed that, when non-resident students — not participating in school choice — are discovered, they are removed.

“We just had experiences in the past two weeks where we did determine that we had students living here under what I would call false pretences,” Gilbert-Whitner said. “Those students are no longer enrolled in the W-H Regional School District.”

She stressed that any information about such cases is addressed through local law enforcement, registrars and building principals.

Gilbert-Whitner said the district is also below state average in the number of administrative staff members. The district’s cost-saving measures won the district an award from a business manager’s group that enabled the awarding of a scholarship to a graduating senior two years ago.

Residents and educators in the audience also spoke — often with emotion — about how the budget impasse can be bridged.

Painful cuts

Whitman resident Christopher George advocated sharing the pain with the larger community by assessing user fees for all extracurricular activities or exacting cuts on other town departments such as those the School Department dealt with during the recession. He also advocated earmarking revenue from new growth for the schools.

“People don’t understand the real story,” George said. “We spend less than any other town around us. We have cut program, after program, after program. … It’s time for the other departments to either make cuts or go for the override themselves.”

Hanson Finance Committee Chairman Michael Wojdag and several members of the School Committee said that was not a scenario they are advocating. Wojdag also said the idea of taking more from excess and deficiency is not sound fiscal planning.

“FinCom at a $20 million budget does not have $1.2 million to cut out of the Hanson budget,” Wojdag said. “The Hanson FinCom last year supported the new elementary school … and we were the first ones to support the $3 million [student success] budget.”

He argued the problem is a revenue, not a finance committee problem.

Hayes also suggested figuring out how to use social media better to respond to confusion and criticism posted online. Teachers in the audience also pledged to continue working on their own time and spending out of their own pocket to help their pupils succeed, urging residents now talking on social media about moving out of the school district to stay.

“We really are going to continue to provide the best education for your kids,” said Stephanie Powers, a first-grade teacher at Duval School.

WHEA representative Beth Stafford also reminded residents that teachers have given up, or limited, raises, furlough days, course reimbursements and other benefits to help the region weather the recession.

School vote key issue in election

Voters in Whitman and Hanson on Saturday, May 21 rejected a ballot question seeking an override of Proposition 2 ½ to fund the WHRSD Student Success operating budget for fiscal year 2017.

The vote was close in Whitman, where 77 votes made the difference — 1,000 voted no to 923 votes in support of an override. Hanson, however, crushed the proposal with 1,444 voting no and 770 voting yes.

“We were very disappointed with the results of the override election,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner. “It really is a loss for the children of Whitman and Hanson.”

She also expressed thanks to all those who worked trying to get the student success component of the budget passed and pledged to continue to serve the district’s school children.

“Tremendously disappointed” was the phrase Whitman School Committee member Fred Small used to sum up the override result, “especially to be so close in one town and so far in the other.”

“We have to respect the wishes of the taxpayer, and I somehow take it personally that, perhaps somehow some way, I didn’t communicate clear enough with people. I don’t know what else we could have done.”

Voting had been heavy ahead of Election Day, as Hanson Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan reported that 264 absentee ballots had been cast in the election by the time the polls opened at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21. In Whitman, more than 125 absentee votes had been cast. There were short lines at polls in both towns when doors opened.

Sloan was expecting a 40-percent turnout. They got 31 percent.

School Committee candidates in both towns had expressed optimism as they held signs for their campaigns or in support of the override.

Incumbents Daniel Cullity and Robert Trotta had been cautiously optimistic about the override’s chances and, after the results were in, related their disappointment.

“We got elected, but the override didn’t go through,” Cullity said of the result. “That’s part of the game. The people spoke and, obviously, it was too much of a tax burden at this point.”

He said the School Committee now has to go back to work with the selectmen and finance committees to get the towns closer to target share on school funding.

Trotta, Cullity win

Trotta was the top vote-getter with 1,151 votes, followed by Cullity with 965. Newcomer Marshall Ottina fell short with 781 votes.

“I focused on the ‘we’ not ‘me,’” Ottina said, noting that the override had been his main concern. “We learned some lessons and we’ll regroup for next year and see what we need to do to get our schools where they need to be.”

The day had started on an optimistic note in Hanson as well, with candidates and override partisans holding signs at the polls.

“I’m feeling positive,” Hanson candidate Michael Jones said about the override’s chances. He and Christopher Howard were basically running unopposed as the only two candidates running for two open seats representing Hanson on the School Committee.

Jones received 1,284 votes and Howard received 1,229.

Howard, meanwhile, said he would leave the prognostication regarding the override to others.

“I think it’s going to go great,” SOS member Lisa Ryan said Saturday morning. “I think we’re going to get this. There’s been a lot of positive response, especially in the last couple of weeks.”

Hanson override opponent Mark Vess credited both sides of the override question for running positive, informative campaigns.

“I have great admiration for the work that the school side folks did,” he said.

He was hesitant, however, to offer an early prediction on the outcome.

“I think it’s going to be close,” he said on arriving to hold a “vote no” sign. “I think both sides have worked extremely hard in getting out the message that they want to make. … This is what democracy is all about, you never know until people come out at the polls.”

There was a bit of controversy outside the polling place about a half hour into voting.

Vess said he felt compelled to call the police to the Hanson polling place because members of SOS were blocking him from holding his anti-override sign in a visible location and “had assigned a person” to shadow him. SOS sign-holders disputed the claim and, after both sides spoke with an officer, they were told to “play nice in the sandbox,” Vess said.

Police Chief Michael Miksch said Monday there were no other calls to the polling place recorded in the log, but that duty officers are routinely assigned to the polls to handle any issues that might arise.

In Hanson, the only contested race on the ballot was for tree warden, but resident Joseph Campbell of Woodbine Avenue was also outside the polling place waging a write-in campaign for Planning Board. There had been no announced candidates for Planning Board or Board of Health vacancies. Hanlon won the tree warden position 959 to 909 for Means. Running unopposed, Selectman Kenny Mitchell received 1,554 votes.

“I want to express my heart-felt thanks to the voters of Hanson for re-electing me to my first full term,” Mitchell stated. “I am honored and humbled.”

Campbell received 166 write-in votes for Planning Board.

“I wondered what’s going on in the town,” Campbell said. “The seats should never go vacant.”

After a long discussion with his wife, and consideration of the requirements and meeting schedules of the two offices, he opted to run for Planning Board.

“Everything fits where I’m able to devote some time to it,” he said. “I had to be honest about the position and decided I’d be able to give more on the Planning Board as opposed to the Board of Health.”

Business growth in town is an important issue for him.

“I think the people of Hanson don’t pat themselves on the back enough to say we are run by business,” Campbell said. “I’m not against business at all, but I think that Hanson should stay a rural community. It’s probably its best asset.”

Both tree warden candidates Michael Means and David Hanlon also held signs outside the polls Saturday morning.

“I’m confident,” Means said. “It’s not [a position that’s] really well-known.”

Hanlon agreed the job is not familiar to a lot of voters.

“I tried to get the information out there,” he said. Hanlon had appeared on Kevin Tocci’s “Crosstalk” program on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV and said there’s has been a lot of discussion on social media about what the tree warden does.

“I think they’re pretty good,” Hanlon said of his chances. “There’s going to be a big turnout with the school question and tree warden is the only contested race.”