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Tempers flare over Whitman budget

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WHITMAN — The unveiling of Whitman’s latest draft version of the fiscal 2020 municipal budget on Tuesday, March 19, led to more than an 90 minutes of often heated debate, in which charges of failure and political grandstanding were exchanged between Selectmen.

The board met in a joint session with the Finance Committee.

The budget document offered two financial scenarios — both of which would require an operational override to prevent layoffs.

The budget’s reduction of $3.3 million features uniform cuts to al departments and cuts $676,779 — a 10-percent cut — rom the school district and $2,623,221 from all other departments, Town Administrator Frank Lynam said.

“These reductions will cause significant impacts on all of town services,” Lynam said, noting the town will be seeking an override. “To implement this would be devastating to the town. This is worse than [Proposition] 2 ½ was, because 2 ½ caused us to redefine our structure as a town and there have been very few additions to employees since then. … What we’re talking about is a cut that would wipe out anything we have done over the last 20 years and would make many of our services part time.”

Without an override, cuts would include $36,176 in the best-case scenario to $65,728 in the worst without an override to the three employees involved in the Selectmen’s budget; $14,123 or $25,660 for the two employees in the accountant’s office; $19,813 or $35,998 to the assessors office; $45,310 or $82,325 from the collector’s office; $40,496 or $73,578 from technology; $20,306 or $36,895 from the clerk’s office; $22,930 or $41,662 from the single maintenance employee; $428,886 or $779,254 from the 26 sworn officers and three other Police Department employees; $482,354 or $876,402 from the Fire Department; $19,397 or $35,243 from inspectional services; $80,560 or $146,372 for the DPW; $21,374 or $38,836 from health; $28,879 or $52,471 from the Council on Aging; and $54,322 or $95,065 from the library. The vocational school assessments remain the same and a best-worst case scenario could not be offered for WHRSD because of financial commitments.

Other reductions being looked at involve street lighting, park maintenance, bylaw committees, veterans’ graves and Whitman Counseling.

Unemployment compensation would increase because of layoffs.

Some lines, such as the law account, are required and cannot be cut.

questions raised

“Has this board, in the last seven or eight months, done anything to bring us any further to an answer [of] what sustainability would mean in this town, and the answer is no,” Selectman Randy LaMattina said, to applause from police and firefighters’ union members in attendance. “We should be embarrassed. … We’ve heard the phrase ‘kicking the can down the road,’ well, are we going to keep kicking it or are we going to fix it?”

Lynam said he met with the Finance Committee last week to discuss reductions to bring the town’s finances within the levy limit.

“The Finance Committee continued to evaluate the most effective approach to conclude this budget cycle,” said Chairman Richard Anderson, who said they followed Lynam’s recommendation to suspend a second round of meeting with department heads in order to devote the entire March 5 meeting to drafting a budget for Article 2. But, he added, the committee continues to meet in an “often contentious process” with the town departments to review budget requests and provide them with a “real time update of where the board stands” for a recommendation to Town Meeting.

The result, Anderson said, was a “responsible draft for an extremely difficult recommendation.”

The deficit was calculated at 6 percent of the total budget, basing cuts on the percentage each department had been allocated in the previous budget cycle.

“It was generally agreed that this approach was the most fair and equitable distribution of the liability,” Anderson said. “In a narrow majority, the board most recently recommended increasing the line item to fund a larger percentage of the school’s estimate … then to further redistribute the additional liability to all the other departments.”

While Lynam said there are no villains in the process, the elephant in the room is the cost of education and is something with which the town can’t keep pace.

The recent Community Assessment Survey, conducted through the offices of Bridgewater State University showed that 62 percent indicated support for an override, Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski noted. Of those people, 69 percent said some of the money from an override should go to the schools, 56 to the police and fire departments and 40 percent wanted to fund the DPW with it.

Kowalski also acknowledged “some talk” around town questioning the need for Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green’s position.

“I’d like to remind people that over the two years that she has been serving, Lisa has been responsible for  $676,000 worth of grants, some of which will decrease our payments in the future on things like energy,” he said. That figure is more than 7 ½ times her $87,800 salary.

LaMattina pointed to a firefighter in the audience and said he risked his life at the Commercial Street fire and is one of those who will likely be laid off.

“What’s the value of that?” he said. “We are getting to be a joke. Imagine being that person whose job is on the line — and I’ve been in that situation — and it’s horrible, not knowing what’s going to happen. By this time, we should be able to provide some answers and we’re not.”

heated exchange

Near the end of the meeting, Selectman Brian Bezanson and LaMattina became involved in a shouting match over whether LaMattina’s comments reflected genuine concern or a political stump speech.

“We could have met every stinking day, all year, and never would have come up with that money,” Bezanson said. “So to say that this board is not doing its due diligence I find it to be outrageous.”

“I’m sorry you think that,” LaMattina said.

“You’ve had your time,” Bezanson continued. “That was a soap box speech.”

“What have you done in the last year?” LaMattina demanded.

“Not once has anybody here tonight mentioned the elephant in the room, which is the taxpayers in this town, the ones that have to foot the bill,” Bezanson said. “Everybody here has been worrying about what they have had, what they do. What about the people that pay the darned bill? Nobody here brings up the fact that some people are losing their houses, foreclosures are up — why don’t they ever get any consideration?”

Connolly tried to interject in support of resident Shawn Kain’s position that doing due diligence on the concerns of the residents, but Bezanson held his hand up to stop her.

“It’s time we started worrying about them,” he said, advocating his previous suggestion for a pre-town meeting session to outline what cuts will mean. “It’s our job to present the facts, the good, the bad and the ugly.”

Kowalski said that has been all the meeting had been discussing.

“We’re going to end this meeting and there’s not an employee or a department head that knows what’s going on,” LaMattina said. “It’s a failure, admit it.”

“No, I won’t admit it,” Bezanson  said. “Get off your stump speech, that’s bull.”

“We knew [after last year’s Town Meeting] and we did nothing,” LaMattina said.

“And what did you do?” Bezanson retorted. “Zero.”

“Here’s my budget, Brian,” LaMattina said holding papers up. “Here’s my budget, where’s yours? Here’s a legitimate budget with the taxpayer in mind, and what I have for a budget is to protect services, because that’s what I want to do.”

“You know, these used to have power,” Kowalski said, holding is gavel.

“What I’m saying is we should have done, as a board, a better job — maybe staying on top of these two people [motioning toward Lynam and Green] so that they got more got done so information could have gotten out to the public in a more timely manner,” LaMattina said. “We shouldn’t be in this position March 19 when we knew a year ago what we had in front of us.”

“They’ve been working on it ever since,” Bezanson said.

“What have we done?” LaMattina shouted. “Give me some tangibles — do you have any tangibles?”

LaMattina also questioned the regional agreement’s financial formula, in view of what he termed Whitman’s being short-changed on $450,000 in Chapter 70 funds that go instead to the region.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes argued the main problem is the state’s unfunded mandates. School Committee member Fred Small said he could not obtain the information after two hours on the phone with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly said she had obtained that information, but not until earlier Tuesday afternoon.

“The last thing I want to see is one department against another,” Small said.

Both Small and Hayes also pointed to a an $897,000 spike in special education  transportation costs and $650,000 in unexpected tuition costs, for part of the school budget increase.

Selectman Dan Salvucci said the town side of the budget is within the $970,000 in new growth and that, if that was their only budget obligation, there would be no layoffs.

“You’ve got to look at controllable numbers,” he said.

Lynam countered that most communities devote 70 percent of their annual economic growth to the schools, which at about $680,000 for Whitman would still put the town side at $500,000 or so on the town budget would also be in excess of the town’s growth.

LaMattina then asked Salvucci, who is the representative to the South Shore Tech School Committee, why that school is thriving while the W-H budget is in such difficulty.

“It’s because you constantly get your assessments,” LaMattina said. “We’re not funding [W-H] properly, yet South Shore Tech gets their full assessment and they are a thriving school. … Why not have an override for the vo-tech?”

Hayes argued that South Shore offers a different program and that charter schools present a bigger concern.

“[SSVT] offers a way different service — it’s a fabulous school. We lose kids to charter schools that don’t even come to W-H because we don’t have all-day kindergarten … it costs us,” he said. “I don’t think anybody’s questioning the professionalism of [any department], it’s how do we fund this runaway train?”

Kowalski also raised the issue of wage freezes. Salvucci said payroll is the largest portion of all department budgets.

Anderson said the Finance Committee recognizes and has prioritized the need for a sustainable financial plan, but also has to address the town’s immediate financial need.

Fire union President Scott Figgins expressed frustration that nothing has been accomplished on the budget front.

“We’re looking at losing half our department and you’re talking about giving us wage freezes,” he said. “We bargained faithfully with this board, we’ve given up things. … That override passes, there’s no guarantee that money comes to the department.”

He said he supports the schools, but the school budget keeps increasing while others have been cut.

“It’s very unfair to put that on the employees of this town,” Figgins said.

“I’m trying to think of as many ways as possible for us to avoid that,” Kowalski replied. “A wage freeze shouldn’t be a magic bullet to fix everything.”

Lynam said his two conversations with unions, and his request that the schools have to do the same, have been met with some support and some skepticism, over school employees’ continuing to receive step and lane increases.

Hayes said the school employees’ unions are still in discussions on the wage freeze issue.

“Hanson has its own assessment issues,” said Lynam, who said he was told by Hanson Town Administrator Michael McCue and town Accountant Todd Hassett that the most Hanson can increase is 6.5 percent.

A Whitman override must provide enough to meet the current budget as well as capital needs, Lynam warned.

Selectmen began the meeting with a 4-0 vote — Selectman Scott Lambiase was absent — to approve the sale of the $5,235,000 general obligation refunding bonds of the town for the police station debt to Fidelity Capital Markets for $5,836,956.07 and accrued interest, if any. The bond, payable on June 1 2020 through 2030, saves the town $564,631.09 or about $50,000 in saving per year for the next 11 years.

Planning ahead for new WMS

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Emphasizing it could be years before a shovel breaks ground, the School Committee on Wednesday, March 13 approved the drafting of a statement of interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for a new Whitman Middle School.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said he has asked Facilities Director Ernest Sandland to begin work on the SOI for a grade five through eight school to address structural problems and place a new school in alignment with programs now in place at Hanson Middle School.

“This is just the process [of] what we have to do to get in the queue for MSBA,” Szymaniak said.

Sandland said all documents would have to be in by April 12, but  said he has been asked why the district is taking that route while it is facing budget problems.

“There is a process we have to go through and there’s a time frame we’ve got to go through and this is the beginning of it,” he said. “We’re trying to meet all those time frames.”

It could be two years before MSBA gives an indication that the district would be considered for funding, with eight possible categories for a district to apply under. WHRSD would be seeking funds for replacement/modernization of school facilities, one of eight possible categories. The school opened in 1972 and was last renovated in 1997. Boilers were replaced in 2007.

“We’re good stewards in trying to identify what’s going on at Whitman Middle,” he said. “It’s the story that we’re writing on the history of [the school].”

A past facilities survey on the WMS renovation outlined that the work was supposed to include replacement of the roof, a lot of the exterior façade and of lockers throughout the building — none of which was done.

“We’re going to tell that story and, once it gets to the state they’re going to read it and they’ll say, ‘OK, this is what we’re going to do, we’re going to put you off for two more years, we’re going to put you off for a year,’” Sandland said. “But at least we start the process.”

Szymaniak said the facilities subcommittee has expressed concern with mold issues at the school.

“I’d like to see where we stand,” he said. “There’s no harm, no foul at this point.”

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said his experience with similar projects has shown the approval process for an SOI could take as long as five years.

“We don’t even know where the list is — what they are accepting, what they aren’t accepting,” Hayes said. “This is a first step. The commitment comes way down the road when you have to do a feasibility study. … This is not committing any dollars and cents.”

School Committee member Fred Small stressed that an SOI should make clear WMS has only had a partial renovation done.

Sandland said the MSBA has noted that W-H has an excellent capital plan, something 40 to 60 percent of school districts do not have.

The debt exclusion for the high school comes off the books in seven years, Hayes said.

Budget committee

In other business, Small suggested a separate subcommittee charged with reviewing the strategic plan as part of an effort to align them with small goals to begin working on the budget in August or September and obtain a clear idea from the towns about where the schools stand on the goal of developing a sustainable budget.

“I know we have to get through today first,” he said, suggesting it might be a way to determine what programs might be funded a year or so in advance through a debt exclusion.

Hayes agreed that the budget is difficult for other town departments at well.

“It costs more, it demands more, and everybody’s in this budget crisis,” he said. “Nobody’s putting the blame here. I think everybody wants better education for every student.”

Business Services Director Christine Suckow said year to-date expenditures are up by just over $13,000 for recovery high school tuition, and unexpected retirements have increased the salary reserve line. Special education accounts have increased by just over $600,000 in the current budget year due to contracted services, legal costs, transportation and out-of-district tuition costs.

Szymaniak attributed the special ed increase to a few movements of students already committed to a collaborative and transportation costs from $250 to $400 per day, depending on the company used.

The fiscal 2019 budget is currently frozen except for emergency expenses, which generally includes special education changes.

Superindendent goals

The committee also discussed Szymaniak’s midyear goals, part of the process of evaluating his job performance.

The goals involve ensuring a cohesive pre-k to grade 12 system of teaching and learning; keeping visible throughout the district to support teachers and staff; ensuring school safety and security; and a workable budget to deliver services to district students to prepare them for career or college.

“It’s out there right now,” he said of the budget. “I appreciate the support of what we’re looking at for level services … How do we progress through? I think, looking at a realistic budget that will maintain the level of services and add — without adding to the budget — a curriculum and curriculum leadership that we so desperately need.”

Szymaniak said the first goal involves reviewing which math pilot program the district would purchase as well as different programs to highlight for English classes next year. Changes in curriculum leadership are also being investigated. All changes being considered within the goal are budget-dependent, he noted.

Being more visible is a favorite part of the job for Szymaniak.

“We’re out and about looking at teachers that make a difference and celebrating that,” he said. “I’ve had several visits with principals formally to discuss things, and informally I pop into buildings to see [what’s going on]. … It’s important for me to be out, visible to teachers and staff and students know who I am.”

He said he and Ferro have both been seeing evidence of teachers doing a good job — in the absence, Assistant Superintendent George Ferro said, of an elementary English Language Arts curriculum and an expiring 7-year-old math program that is obsolete for today’s standards and cuts to the elementary science program.

Safety continues to be a priority, Szymaniak said, by keeping in communication via text with police and fire chiefs in both towns and the establishment of a district communication weather team to have the latest information in any emergency. He is also reviewing the “relatively antiquated radio system” for internal school communications. He is also exploring the expansion of the ALICE program to elementary schools.

School Committee member Christopher Howard said it would be very helpful for committee members to observe classes and programs for themselves without getting in the way.

“I think it would be really helpful,” he said. “We spend a lot of time talking about dollars and cents, we spend a lot of time talking about buildings, but the reason we’re here is for the education of children…. It would be very helpful to all of us and I think it allows us to think about how we can share that message back to the public.”

Szymaniak said there is an open invitation to all committee members to visit schools and classrooms.

“You get so much out of it,” said Small who recalled an art class in which fifth-grade students were discussing what message different colors convey in a PowerPoint presentation. “To me art class was where you take a piece of paper and draw a picture. … School has changed so much.”

‘I’m not thrilled’

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Train 041 arrives at Hanson Station from Boston on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. (Photo by Abram Neal)

In 1959, the Kingston Trio famously popularized the song MTA, about a man named Charlie stuck forever riding beneath the streets of Boston because he can’t pay his fare. Now, Charlie will have an even harder time coming up with his fare because the MBTA announced fare increases for the first time in three years last week.

Area riders can expect to pay more for their “T” trips beginning July 1. Local monthly commuter rail passes were hit hard by the hikes — increasing at a higher percentage rate than the overall system increase.

At a meeting of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board March 11 the board approved an overall 5.8-percent increase in fares across the transit system after modifying a previous proposal tabled in January.

Bob Gray, a commuter from Duxbury, who disembarked from train 041 at Hanson Station said of the increase, “It’s more money,” but added, “It’s a good way to get into the city.”

Another rider, Shellie, of Pembroke, who works in Boston at a law firm and disembarked from the same train said, “Yeah, I’ll have to pay more … I’m not thrilled.”

The Whitman, Hanson and Halifax commuter rail stations are in fare zones five, six and seven, respectively.

One-way fares inbound or outbound to or from Boston will increase by 50 cents in each zone, from $9.25 to $9.75 or 5.4 percent in zone five (Whitman), from $10 to $10.50 or 5 percent in zone six (Hanson) and from $10.50 to $11 or 4.8 percent in zone seven (Halifax).

A monthly commuter rail pass will cost you an extra $19.50 in zone five (Whitman), up from $291.50 to $311 a month, an extra $22 in zone six (Hanson), up from $318 to $340 a month and an extra $19.50 in zone seven (Halifax), up from $336.50 to $360 a month.

This represents a yearly cost increase for a monthly commuter rail pass of $234 or 6.7 percent in zone five (Whitman), $264 or 6.9 percent in zone six (Hanson) and $282 or 6.9 percent in zone seven (Halifax).

The total yearly cost for a zone five pass will now be $3,732, a zone six pass will be $4,080 and a zone seven pass will be $4,320.

Local one-way bus fares, local monthly bus passes, reduced local bus and subway one-way fares and reduced monthly passes for seniors, TAP (those with disabilities), youth and students were spared the fare increase.

A local bus fare will remain $1.70, with a CharlieCard. A one-way subway ride will go up by 15 cents, from $2.25 to $2.40, with a CharlieCard.

The transit agency stated, “While the MBTA continues to focus on controlling costs and growing non-fare revenue, this increase, which is in line with the rate of inflation in the Boston area, is necessary for the Authority to continue making system investments to improve service.”

The MBTA website says that state law allows them to raise fares regularly but must limit those increases to every two years with no more than 7 percent for each increase. The MBTA has not raised fares since 2016. This increase is lower than the 6.3 percent increase originally proposed.

Plastic bag article delayed

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HANSON — At a special joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Health Tuesday, March 19, officials decided to move forward with polystyrene and plastic bag ban town meeting warrant articles, but not as originally proposed for the May annual Town Meeting.

The bans are now likely to be on the October special Town Meeting warrant, proposed by the Board of Health, although, “the language will need to be tightened up,” said Board of Health chairman Arlene Dias.

The warrant articles, penned by Town Administrator Michael McCue based on similar bans in other communities in Massachusetts, were written so that there was a Board of Selectmen warrant recommendation and a Board of Health warrant recommendation, he said, which Selectman Matthew Dyer was not aware of until recently.

The two boards clashed on whether or not to pursue polystyrene and plastic bag ban articles in the first place, which board the articles would be recommended from and who would enforce the bans, if approved at town meeting.

Dias said she supported the bans, but added she felt there needed to be more education, and that bans would simply increase paper that needed to be recycled at the transfer station.

“You need to look at what a ban will do,” she said. “I’m not happy with the bylaw. It’s too soon.”

Dyer has been spearheading the proposed bans. It became clear early on in the meeting which board would recommend the article was a central component of the debate, as was the issue of who would enforce the ban, which was brought up by Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett.

McCue said that most towns instituting such bans do so as through the Board of Health, with the Health Agent as the enforcement officer. Hanson does not have a permanent Health Agent currently. Selectmen briefly entertained the notion of the Building Inspector enforcing the ban on behalf of the Board of Selectmen.

Alternatively, Dyer said, “I’ll enforce [the ban] until I kick the bucket or get elected out of office,” but noted that he will ultimately not be around to be the enforcement officer.

Later, the selectmen reached a consensus among themselves and the Board of Health members and decided that any future polystyrene and bag bans would be recommended at a town meeting as a warrant article by the Board of Health.

Dyer fought for the earlier May ATM, but was not disappointed, he said, to move the proposed warrant article back to October’s STM, as long as the start date for the ban was July 1, 2020.

The Selectmen and Board of Health agreed, and the Board of Health will work with Dyer on the article along with Selectman Wes Blauss.

After the meeting, Dyer said with sincerity that he wasn’t disappointed and, “Look at it this way: we’re moving toward a goal.”

High number of stomach condition cases closes Conley School

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Conley Elementary School. (File photo courtesy Whitman-Hanson Regional School District)

WHITMAN —School officials closed Conley Elementary Schoolon Friday, March 15 due to a high number of students with a stomach condition.

“Over the course of the last two days, there have been multiple cases of students suffering from a stomach condition,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak stated in a message posted on the WHRSD web site. “After consultation with the lead nurse, school nurse and school department officials the school will be deep-cleaned this weekend and be prepared to open as usual on Monday.”

Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno had also announced in a tweet Friday morning that Whitman Middle School has been cleaned overnight and the remainder of the town’s schools would be cleaned over the weekend as a precaution.

“The bus company [First Student] has also been notified to disinfect the buses,” Grenno Tweeted.

Kulikowski status hearing held

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A courtroom in the John Joseph Moakley United States Federal Courthouse in Boston. (Photo courtesy United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts)

BOSTON — Matthew Kulikowski, 37, of 52 Priscilla Road, Whitman, was not present at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse for a status hearing held in his federal case on one charge each of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography March 7, 2019.

The hearing was held in Courtroom 25, where Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler presided. Attorneys Jane Peachy, an assistant public defender representing Kulikowski, and Anne Paruti, the prosecutor, told Bowler that they are discussing a “potential resolution short of trial,” indicating a possible plea deal.

The hearing was brief. The attorneys also discussed with the magistrate judge progress with discovery, which was on track, and Paruti added that state charges against Kulikowski will require some “coordination,” although she didn’t elaborate.

Kulikowski, a former MCI-Norfolk prison guard, was arrested and charged in federal court Sept. 10, 2018. Investigators say they found images depicting child pornography, including the sexual assaults of girls who appeared to be between 4- and 8-years-old, on a tablet computer found in his bedroom.

According to federal court documents and officials, while on pretrial release from Plymouth Superior Court, investigators from Homeland Security Investigations, Massachusetts State Police and Whitman Police discovered during a five-month-long investigation that Kulikowski’s home internet service was being used to distribute child pornography via a mobile app known as Kik Messenger.

The investigation into the federal charges originated in Canada, when the Ontario-based company that owns the Kik Messenger app reported an account suspected of transmitting child pornography to Canadian federal authorities.

That suspect account was then reported by Canadian authorities to American authorities in Ottawa because the pornography was transmitted to a U.S. internet service provider “geolocated to the United States.” That internet service was later determined to be the service at Kulikowski’s Priscilla Road address.

Authorities executed a search warrant at his family home Sept. 10, 2018. Court documents say Kulikowski and his father, Edward Kulikowski, were not originally cooperative with investigators, first lying about the existence of any tablets in the home.

Later, “[i]n a second conversation with Edward Kulikowski, agents asked him again where the [tablet] was. Edward Kulikowski led agents to a bookshelf in a hallway on the second floor of the home and removed a … tablet from within what appeared to be a photo album. Edward Kulikowski told agents that the evening before, while the family was gathered at the home, another adult family member observed Matthew Kulikowski in his bedroom using the tablet and notified Edward Kulikowski because Matthew Kulikowski was prohibited as a term of his pretrial release from using electronic devices. Edward Kulikowski said that he then hid the tablet in the bookshelf so that Matthew Kulikowski would not be able to use it.”

That tablet had been factory reset, but authorities hope to recover data from it, reports say. Investigators found a second tablet in Kulikowski’s bedroom, with its screen smashed, but they were able to recovery child pornography off that device.

Kulikowski first made headlines in 2014 when he was arrested and charged in Plymouth District Court and later indicted in Plymouth Superior Court in 2015 on three charges of posing a child in a sexual act; two charges of possession of child pornography; one charge of disseminating obscene material to a minor; one charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14; two charges of enticement of a child under age 16; and one charge of breaking and entering a building in the daytime for a felony.

He is being held on both the state and federal charges.

Kulikowski is scheduled for a change of plea hearing on those state charges May 23, 2019, at 2 p.m. in Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth before Judge Cornelius J. Moriarty, III.

As for the federal charges, another status conference is scheduled for April 26, 2019, at 2:15 p.m. in Courtroom 25 of the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse before Bowler.

Former Hanson Recreation employee faces charges

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Former Hanson Recreation Administrative Assistant Nicole Campbell was arraigned on four criminal charges in Plymouth District Court Tuesday, March 12. (Photo by Abram Neal)

PLYMOUTH — Nicole Campbell, 39, of Hanson, was arraigned after being summonsed to court Tuesday, March 12, 2019. The former Town of Hanson employee who worked as the administrative assistant to the Recreation Department from April 2013 until February 2017 was charged with one count each of larceny over $250, false report by a public employee, forgery of a document (public records) and uttering a false document.

A 17-page Hanson police report details allegations that Campbell stole $750 from a cash deposit for a Camp Kiwanee lodge rental in September 2016. She is also accused of falsifying turnover sheets to the Treasurer/Collector’s office as well as falsifying receipts in that case.

The police report details two other theft-related allegations against Campbell that prosecutors declined to pursue.

A 2016 town labor counsel report into Camp Kiwanee, where Campbell’s office was usually located, concluded that there was widespread mismanagement of the town-owned property. The report blamed both town employees and recreation board members, although not Campbell, for issues at the camp.

That investigation revealed at least $27,000 in lost revenue to the town in some 50 documented cases of undercharging or not charging for facility rentals. Campbell, town counsel’s report said, fully cooperated with the investigation, although it says she once used the lodge for free.

Campbell said to police, of her current situation, “I find this entire thing insane, because I turned these people in … [a]ll of a sudden, I’m the bad guy.”

Campbell could not be reached for comment as of press time.

Cutler book traces attack on early American press

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State Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, has published a book, “Mobtown Massacre,” that tells an interesting story of when the press really was under attack, and the story of a fiery young editor for whom the town of Hanson was named. Cutler’s 6thPlymouth District includes Hanson.The central event of the book took place in 1812 —a time when the nation was bitterly divided, plunged into foreign conflict, and polarized by growing partisanship and rising tensions with the press. Then, into the fray, stepped Hanson, the editor, who penned a sharply worded attack on the President and his policies.In “Mobtown Massacre,” Cutler shares the story of Alexander Hanson, a 19thcentury Federalist newspaper editor whose anti-war writings provoked a bloodthirsty mob, a midnight jailbreak and a brutal massacre in the city of Baltimore that stunned the nation. Hanson was later elected to the U.S. Congress, but never fully recovered from the brutal attack on his newspaper.This fateful but little-known episode in American history helped shape the course of a war and the nation’s promise of a free press. And it all started with a headline. Josh Cutler, a Duxbury resident, is an attorney, and former newspaper editor who currently serves as a State Representative. He represents a district which includes the Town of Hanson, MA, which is named after Alexander Hanson. “Mobtown Massacre: Alexander Hanson and the Baltimore Newspaper War of 1812:is published by The History Press and includes a foreword by Dr. Edward Papenfuse, a notedhistorian and retired Maryland State Archivist.All proceeds from the sale of the book are being donated to local historical societies. For more information on the book, visit mobtownmassacre.com.

Crafting a hands-on sewing class

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HOW-TO: Karen Senechal shows a finished pattern, ready for transfer to paper, crafted by a draping technique. (Photo by Tracy Seelye)

HANSON — If you ever tried, and possibly failed, to learn sewing from a mass-produced pattern — or if you just always wanted to learn to sew — Hanson native Karen Senechal wants to teach you a better way.

Her free three-month course uses the techniques of draping muslin on a dress form to create a customized pattern, sewing and some design at the First Congregational Church of Hanson, 639 High St., beginning in mid-April. Classes will take the summer off before concluding in the fall.

Fans of TV’s “Project Runway” will recall that it, and other fashion design-themed reality contest television shows, have shown contestants draping fabric on a dress form as a first step in creating their final vision.

“I have [students] use a dress form because that’s the way I did it designing,” said Senechal. “It’s the easiest way to see how you want things done.”

Materials provided

All machines, dress forms, muslin and other equipment will be provided. The church is providing workspace in the fellowship hall’s lower level for the class and storage for Senechal’s equipment.

Classes will meet for two hours once a week, with the day to be determined based on the best timing for those who sign up. But Senechal said it will be important for those taking the class not to miss one, or it will be hard to catch them up on what the rest of the class has achieved.

There is room in the class for about 10 students. For more information or to register, call 978-360-2986, and leave a message about the day and time — morning or afternoons —that works best for you, or email knsenechal@me.com.

“It’s the church that I go to, and I want to open it up to the community,” she said.

Once her students learn the technique, and are sticking pins in a dress form, they can do it on each other and literally make a personal pattern on paper, she explained.

“You really have to know in your own mind how to approach it,” she said of making patterns and clothing. “I use the female form because you have to put in the most darts because of the bust and everything. If you can do that, you can do kids, men’s, anybody’s.”

Hanson roots

As a little girl in Hanson Senechal, the daughter of veterinarian Dr. Robert Nutter, became fascinated with sewing while creating outfits for her dolls and later learned to sew with 4-H leader Esther “Tessie” Smith.

“She taught everything, from starting to tailoring,” Senechal said. “I learned everything from her.”

Senechal graduated from Endicott College with a degree in fashion design and merchandising, going to work for bridal house Priscilla’s of Boston before joining The Limited, the company that also owns Victoria’s Secret — in stores as well as the catalog —and Lane Bryant as well as Appleseed’s catalog.

“I never sewed for a living, but my sewing knowledge helped me unbelievably in designing,” Senechal said.

She has taught draping, pattern design and seweing at the California Design College and the Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School in Easton. Senechal had also taught sewing in a both a home-school co-op and a women’s center for homeless or abused women in Albuquerque, N.M., when she and her husband lived there for four years.

In the shelter classes in New Mexico, she stressed the importance never throwing out useable clothing, which can be transformed into something else. At Southeastern Vo-Tech, she drove home the need to learn how to do hems well.

“You can make money just hemming skirts and pants for people,” she said, noting that a sewing machine, too, is a machine that can pay for itself.

By the book

Senechal has translated her years of sewing technique into the textbook she created for the class, which uses simple step-by-step instructions and illustrations to explain the lessons.

“I’ve done this for years, so I just wrote it,” she said. “It just kept coming and coming and I tried everything on the form as I went.”

The book also discusses tools needed for sewing and how dress forms are used. While she is not out to sell her book, she is willing to provide it to students to keep in exchange for a donation to the church.

Once a pattern is created by draping muslin and transferring the pattern to paper, students will sew the dress in muslin and see how well it fits back on the dress form.

“There’s no mistake you can make that I haven’t already made in my career,” Senechal said. “That’s how you learn. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying new things.”

Compassion on the beat

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A rainy window reflects a police officer on the job. Mental health clinician ride-alongs on Fridays now provide assistance to officers responding to health-related crises. (Photo by Stephanie Spyropoulos)

WHITMAN — The Whitman Police Department is taking advantage of a local grant, which has afforded several South Shore communities the services of a mental health clinician to ride along with a dispatched officer.

The program was launched in January 2019.

Katrina Lee, jail diversion coordinator for High Point Middleborough outpatient clinic, rides with a Whitman supervising officer on Friday nights, allowing for immediate assistance in cases of domestic violence, substance abuse and other mental health-related crises.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Mental Health funded the mission titled: a Regional Co Response Jail/Arrest Diversion Project (RJDP) with $45,000 in conjunction with High Point contracted services approved in 2018.

Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton said the proactive approach is similar to one departments have implemented in the past years to assist with opioid addiction, treating respective mental illnesses rather than waiting until the problem escalates. He said the shifting mindset is being applied and supported through the new program.

Benton referred to the awareness as a step in the right direction as officers are better equipped with the knowledge of an underlying mental illness.

“It is getting everyone in the room:  police, fire and hospitals to help these people.  If the people get help, then get out of a facility and they don’t have other services it becomes a merry-go round for them,” said Benton.    

There are times when a resident refuses intervention.

“They can decline but Lee can point them in the right direction for services,” said Benton. “We are getting into the game. We are way behind in treating mental health.”

Feedback has been positive from the officers, he said.

“It’s in the delivery,” Benton said. “We want to make sure we are implementing something and give it a chance to succeed. Invariably things come up … we have issues to address – we do it together in partnership. Department heads and supervisors of police and fire met to address concerns at the beginning of the program.

“Paperwork and other expectations needed to be communicated to properly get the program a jump start in the community as with any new program,” he said.

According to the studies and content in the grant request, some common disorders that are seen most frequently when a law enforcement officer is requested are: depression, anxiety, mood disorders; substance abuse is often an underlying issue or compounding component, self-harm and domestic violence.

A statistic used to support the grant request through the National Alliance on Mental Health NAMI”

“In a mental health crisis, people are more likely to encounter police that get medical help. As a result, two million people with mental illness are booked into jail each year,” according to a statistic used to support the grant request through the National Alliance on Mental Health- NAMI.

Lee, as the clinician who is seeing firsthand how the program is evolving has expressed her commitment.

“I am excited to be a part of this program,” said Lee.

She has worked with victims of crime alongside the DA’s Office for the majority of her career. She is able to utilize her knowledge along with her clinical skills responding first hand to help people in the six communities.

“It is the perfect blend of my experiences. I’m hopeful that my background has proven helpful to the people I‘ve spoken with to date,” Lee said. “I really feel fortunate to be working with these departments because everyone from the chiefs to the officers I work with, are incredibly compassionate and genuinely want to help the members of their communities.”

“As a group we want to see people with mental illnesses referred to appropriate agencies to receive support rather than having them brought through the criminal justice system if that can be avoided,” Lee said. “In cases where it can’t I am able to make referrals to the Mental Health Court, which can better address the mental health needs of the individual.”

The grant guidelines stated that, “The co-response diversion model provides an opportunity to apply immediate, community based clinical services when and where they are needed in partnership with police officers responding to behavioral health calls. A consistent clinical presence in a police station has shown to have an overall beneficial effect on law enforcement personnel’s attitudes towards individuals with behavioral health conditions and on vicarious skill building and knowledge. … The overall goal of our RJDP is to steer people with mental health difficulties away from the criminal justice system and into services that lead to mental health recovery as stated in the grant outline and project approval.”

The approved grant was awarded to Bridgewater Police Chief Christopher Delmonte and includes, East and West Bridgewater — including Bridgewater State University police  —and  Middleboro police.