Whitman-Hanson Express

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A heart-wrenching cautionary tale

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With prom and graduation season upon us, school and law enforcement officials — along with Whitman-Hanson WILL — presented the documentary “If They Had Known,” on the dangers of mixing prescription drugs with alcohol in a program at WHRHS on Thursday, March 27.

“Prom season, graduation season are the most stressful time for high school administrators because of the level of choices that their kids can make during those times,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said. Statistics show it is the peak time for risky behavior.

“It’s not to make people sad, it’s to make people think,” he said of the documentary screening, which the school plans to repeat for high school students.

District Attorney Timothy Cruz briefed the audience of students and parents on the points of the Social Host Law.

He said parents who host teen parties where alcohol consumption takes place, risk both criminal charges and civil liabilities when accidents occur as a result of underage drinking.

“If you know a parent that may be considering doing that, tell them this,” Cruz said. “Tell them it’s illegal. Tell them that, if you provide alcohol to a minor at your home, and, if they leave your home, your responsibility is not over. If they drive their car, after being inebriated by drugs, alcohol or whatever and there is — god forbid — a terrible accident and somebody gets hurt or killed, you will be sued.”

Szymaniak said there had already been a recent incident in which a group of seniors were caught having a party at a home during the school day.

Cruz and Szymaniak warned that local police also file charges against parents or 18-year-olds who violate the Social Host Law.

Szymaniak said he has “buried probably 25 kids” in his years a school administrator and the described regret their classmates experienced over not taking their keys before they got behind the wheel after drinking.

“We all want to be friends with our kids,” Cruz said to emphasize the point. “My answer has always been, I’ll be friends with them when they’re 25. Up until that point, I’m their father.”

He urged the teens in the audience to take care of each other and stop them from taking risks in their behaviors to save lives.

“I applaud these parents who have worked so hard to get the word out,” Cruz said of Winchester parents Geoff and Genny Soper, who are taking a lead role in the fight against the party culture of mixing prescription drugs and alcohol after their eldest son, Clay, died after taking Xanax followed by a night of heavy drinking.

“Their strength really impresses me,” Cruz said. “They are doing what they can to make sure that other parents don’t [suffer] what happened to them.”

A family’s anguish

The Whitman-Hanson WILL program featured the documentary about their son’s last night alive, “If They Had Known,” during a pre-prom and graduation season program held at the Dr. John F. McEwan Performing Arts Center.

The Sopers were scheduled to appear at the program, but Whitman-Hanson WILL organizers explained they felt unable to cope with the emotion of reliving the experience in a public setting at this time.

Founded in 2014, Whitman-Hanson WILL works to bring awareness to the importance of good decision-making about the use of alcohol and/or drugs.

“We’ve transitioned into all types of decision-making that are core for our youth, including texting and driving, drunk driving and all sorts of substances,” Szymaniak said. “The organization works with us in the community in the schools and in community outreach both in Whitman and Hanson.”

Clay Soper, then 19, was home for a winter break while attending the University of Denver, when he and some friends got together at one of their homes in 2015 when they decided to try Xanax before going to another house party where Clay had too much to drink.

His friends thought it best to get him in bed to sleep it off, but the mix of the prescription anti-anxiety medication and alcohol caused his heart and respiratory system to fatally slow down.

Friends’ efforts at CPR, when he was found to be pale and unresponsive were unsuccessful. Clay was pronounced dead at the hospital.

“You know who mixes,” Szymaniak said to the teens in the audience after the documentary was shown. “You know where the parties are, who know who brings what, you know what’s out there, and you know [what can happen] if you choose to do this or not.”

Hanson School Resource Officer William Frasier, Whitman Lt. Dan Connolly, Whitman Deputy Police Chief Timothy Hanlon and Hanson Lt. Mike Casey also attended the event in case parents had questions or concerns following the program.

Authorities fail to find Murray after search

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Maura Murray, pictured on a missing persons poster. (Courtesy image)

HAVERHILL, NH — Despite a day of hope, no evidence has been found in the search for Maura Murray, a Hanson resident and UMass Amherst student missing for 15 years. After an extensive search of a long-suspected house close to where the 21-year-old Murray was involved in a single-car crash along Route 112 in February 2004, New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey A. Strelzin, Wednesday, April 3, made the announcement.

Officials from the New Hampshire State Police, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office and the FBI searched the house at times over the month of March, culminating in the tearing up of a basement floor today with a jackhammer, with the present homeowner’s consent.

No evidence was found in connection with the case, said Strelzin, and, “certainly no evidence of human remains.”

The Murray family has been critical of law enforcement over the years, blasting authorities for not doing enough to find Maura.

“We certainly did not believe there was any credible evidence,” but searched anyways, said Strelzin. “It was really done to cross something off a list.”

“There certainly wasn’t any probable cause to search the house,” he added.

But, he said, “Everybody involved remains committed to following every lead that’s out there. There’s a lot of information we continue to follow up on.”

The nursing student’s mysterious disappearance has sparked attention in the press, on the internet and on social media over the course of the last decade-and-a-half.

Her father, Fred, said that the house was “astonishingly close” to the site of the accident, in a previous interview with the Express. According to him, locals first tipped him off about suspicious activity at the house in the first year after his daughter’s disappearance, including a rumor of new concrete being poured in the basement, but the owners of the house would not cooperate with the investigation.

In November and December 2018, Fred Murray brought in two trained, accredited cadaver detecting dogs to the house, after it had changed ownership, each one on separate occasions. They alerted, he says, by lying down in the same spot in the basement of the house.

Later, he brought in ground-penetrating radar which he said indicated strong findings of an abnormality in the same spot in the concrete.

“It’s astounding that this [basement] wasn’t looked at before. I told the police about this in the first year … the State Police did an inadequate job when my daughter first went missing,” he added.

Exactly where Maura Murray was headed, and why, has remained a mystery over the years. Moments after the crash, a good Samaritan stopped to assist her, but she waved him off and told him not to call the police, according to original police reports from 2004. The passerby called local police anyway although he did drive off. A Haverhill police cruiser arrived 19 minutes later, but the Saturn was locked, and Maura Murray was gone.

“The case is still open and active.  We do receive tips and information periodically, as well as generate new information from investigative efforts,” said Streizen in a previously emailed statement.

Murray’s family members could not be reached for immediate comment.

Multiple fires keep WFD crews busy

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Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, third from left, and Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., third from right, talk with firefighters and residents of 81 School St., March 21. (Photo by Stephanie Spyropoulos)

WHITMAN — The last several weeks have been exceptionally busy for first responders in Whitman, Fire Chief Timothy Grenno said Tuesday. Amid day-to-day medical calls, the department has responded to four separate house fires since Feb. 13.

One of the fires occurred at 4:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 26, only hours after firefighters returned from an extensive brush fire on the Whitman Abington town line.

Early Tuesday morning the Whitman Fire Department responded to a report of a house fire at 142 Raynor Ave.

A passerby noticed the fire and called 911 also waking the family inside and helping them safely get out of the house. There were no reported injuries, according to a statement through Grenno’s office.

When firefighters arrived, the single-family ranch-style home had fire showing from an outside wall of an attached garage. The fire had extended up the exterior wall and the interior walls of the garage. Abington fire department responded to the scene to provide assistance.

The fire was quickly brought under control and firefighters successfully prevented the flames from spreading further into the house.

The initial investigation indicates that the fire started accidentally due to the spontaneous combustion of oily rags that were used earlier in the day to strip a floor.

“I would like to commend the passerby for their quick actions in calling 911 and having the wherewithal to wake up the family and get them out of the house,” Chief Grenno said. “Anyone dealing with oily rags or cloths should never leave them in a pile and should hang them up to dry or lay them out on the ground. As the rags dry, they give off heat and if the heat is not released it can cause a fire.”

At about 2:30 p.m., Monday March 25, Whitman Fire Department helped in extinguishing a large brush fire that started in Abington on Brockton Avenue .

“Upon arrival, firefighters discovered that the fire had spread toward the high tension power lines on the Whitman/Brockton town lines. The large swath of land sits near the town lines of the three communities. ‘Whitman deployed a brush truck, engine and shift commander to help coordinate extinguishing the flames’” Grenno said.

Firefighters from Abington, Brockton and Holbrook responded and were relocated to keep ahead of the flames.

It took firefighters about two hours to fully extinguish the fire, which burned about four acres of land. Firefighters successfully prevented the fire from spreading to any nearby buildings. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation, but is not considered suspicious at this time.

School Street

On March 21, a family was displaced at 81 School St., following a kitchen fire.

Later determined to be a grease firefirefighters from Whitman Hanson, East Bridgewater and Abington assisted in controlling and extinguishing the heavy fire and were able to prevent further spreading into the remaining multi family home.

No injuries were reported and four residents of the building were temporarily displaced due to fire, smoke and water damage to the home.

Initial investigation indicated that the fire was caused by grease in a cooking pan. The resident attempted to put the fire out with flour, but was unsuccessful.

The damage done to the home was estimated at about $60,000.

Chief Grenno commended the work of firefighters for their quick response and knockdown of the fire.

“Thankfully our ambulance had just returned from a hospital transport with two of our six on-duty firefighters on board,” Chief Grenno said. “Had the fire started 10 minutes earlier we would have only been able to send four firefighters and there would have likely been significantly more damage to the house. This incident, along with two other significant fires in recent months, highlights the importance of a properly staffed fire department.”

Firefighters responded to 134 Bayberry Road Feb. 23 for a reported chimney fire just after 9:30 p.m.

While en route, firefighters were notified that flames had extended into the one and a half story building.  A fire in a wood stove had extended to the chimney, exterior wall and ceiling.

The location of the fire presented firefighters with unique challenges, requiring them to do extensive work opening up of the home’s ceiling and wall in order to fully extinguish the flames.

“Our firefighters did an excellent job extinguishing a fire under complex circumstances,” Chief Grenno said.

There were no injuries as a result of the fire, and the home’s lone occupant spent the night with a family member.

Whitman firefighters were supported on scene by crews from the Abington, East Bridgewater and Hanson fire departments.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The damage to the home was estimated at $40,000.

The largest fire, which reached six alarms for man power and EMS occurred to a three story apartment complex in the early evening on Commercial Street Feb. 13 in Whitman.

The house has since been razed.

Gauging town’s fiscal mood

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Dr. Melinda Tarsi (Courtesy WHCA9TV)

WHITMAN — Residents support their town services, but are reluctant to look toward an operational override, preferring a targeted approach to support specific departments or projects.

Bridgewater State University Political Science Professor Dr. Melinda Tarsi presented the results of the survey to a small gathering in the Town Hall Auditorium Wednesday, March 20.

“Several months ago, we met in this room to talk about doing a community survey,” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam, noting that Tarsi has offered her services as well as the university’s for the project.

Tarsi thanked those who showed up on a “pretty nice spring evening to look at survey results” and thanked those in town’s participation, questions and overall interest in the project.

“I think we saw from the level of interest … from the community and the kinds of questions they were asking [indicated they wanted to] make sure everything was done correctly and making sure we got their survey, to me and my students indicates how much people care about the community,” she said.

The bimodal survey — conducted both on paper and online — was done between November and the beginning of February. The university, which provided all paper, postage and other costs through the university, sent a single copy of a paper survey to each household, with a QR code that could access additional copies online. Additional paper copies were also provided on request.

Despite the short response window and the size of the response sample — 1,062 of which 640 were online and 422 on paper — Tarsi said it still gave adequate information for discussion about priorities and budget issues.

“This is part of an approach to plan ahead,” Lynam said. “It’s not going to answer all the questions that we need [answered] for this years’ budget, but it gives us an idea of what the community as a whole is looking at.”

Tarsi said it was equally rewarding for her students, many of whom are now interested in obtaining internships in local government.

The full report is available on the town website Whitman-ma.gov.

The most important issues facing the town, according to the survey, were: schools and education — 36 percent; property tax rates — 36 percent; opioid and other substance abuse — 23 percent; business/economic development — 24 percent; roads/transportation and upkeep — 31 percent. There were several other issues drawing lower percentages and some write-in responses that are viewable online.

People were allowed to select more than one issue on the survey.

Where raising revenue is concerned, almost half preferred increases to licenses and fees; 8 percent suggested raising excise taxes; 17 percent would increase property tax rates; and 28 percent had other views.

“Increasing licenses and fees tends to be a more popular option generally, in whatever case we’re talking about, so this follows what we might tend to see in any municipality when they’re being presented with options on how to increase revenues,” Tarsi said of research on the issue.

To control costs; 42 percent said all departments should be asked to cut their budgets by a certain proportion; 15 percent wanted to see town employees’ salaries level with no raises; 14 percent said to reduce Town Hall hours; and 13 percent said reduce town services. Only 1 percent of residents suggested layoffs.

Overrides were defined in the survey and residents were asked if they favored that option. Forty-two percent said they would back an override, but only for a particular reason; 38 percent said no to an override for any reason and close to 20 percent support an operational override for any part of the budget.

“What this indicates for us as survey researchers, is that there is some acceptance of the idea of an override, but, understandably, voters, residents, taxpayers want to know why,” Tarsi said.

Departments preferred to benefit from any override were: schools, police, fire and public works. Veterans services were also quite high.

Of school services, smaller class sizes, instructional materials for teachers and full-day kindergarten were the top priorities. For the DPW, road repair, snow removal and maintaining town buildings were top concerns.

People responding to the survey reported that 72 percent did not attend the 2018 Town Meeting, while 28 percent said they did attend.

Of those respondents, 47 percent owned a home in Whitman; 19 percent have had children in the schools in the past; 11 percent currently have children in the schools; 10 percent volunteer in town; 5 percent are renters; 2 percent own a business in town; another 2 percent works for a Whitman business; and 1 percent works for the town.

The residents responded that 27 percent have lived in Whitman between 31 and 50 years; 21 percent between 11 and 20 years; 15 percent from 21 to 30 years with another 15 percent fewer than five years; 11 percent have lived in Whitman more than 50 years and 10 percent from five to 10 years.

As Selectmen had previously reported about the results most people scored Whitman well on quality of life and as a good place to live and raise a family, but poor as a destination for entertainment.

Residents also indicated they liked the level of town services they receive, but recognize that cuts may have to be made in a budget crisis, according to Tarsi.

School funding review

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WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday, March 26 to advise the Finance Committee, it could not support a 10-percent increase in the town’s assessment for the W-H School District.

Last week, Selectmen, meeting with the Finance Committee discussed two budget scenarios, one of which provided for a 6-percent school assessment increase and the other, 10 percent.

“Of those two scenarios, one of them would be devastating to every other department in the town — the one with the 10-percent increase,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said. “The other column still presents cuts in the amount of money that goes to departments, some of which would have to be personnel, and all of that rests on an override to overcome it.”

Kowalski said with the schools asking for 15 percent, the Finance Committee’s seeming willingness to give them 10 percent and the potential effect on the town’s services, he would entertain a motion to inform the FinCom that “the 10-percent option is really not on the board.”

“The idea right now is 10 percent isn’t going to work for anybody and you know how hard it is for me to say that with my history with the schools,” said Kowalski, who has served on the School Committee in the past and is an educator himself.

Selectmen Daniel Salvucci, making the motion for discussion said any budget option should leave the town “as harmless as possible.”

“It seems like we’re controlling our [costs] and holding down the raises .. and I’d like to see that maintained,” he said. “[The schools] need to look at their budget and come up with something that helps both communities.”

Kowalski said Hanson is willing to give the schools somewhere between 5 and 6 percent — amounting to a 6.5-percent increase for Whitman, or $862,562, and $579,367 to Hanson.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam said his talks with Hanson Town Administrator Michael McCue indicated Hanson could afford 6.5 percent.

“They’re not going to be happy with 10, so obviously, they’re not going to be happy with 6 … however, it’s more realistic to say that at this point in the game, we need to think not just about the schools, but the other departments, too,” Kowalski said. “I think I’d like to send a signal that 10 percent is not something that we can consider at this time.”

He said he wanted to avoid  splitting the town up between the schools and the other departments.

Lynam is also working to reduce the override needed to close the budget gap and, if the debt exclusion to remove the police station from within the levy is approved, that could also add to the funds available.

“What we’re trying to do is keep everybody as harmless as possible,” Kowalski said. “I don’t want a situation where everyone is thinking an override is just for the schools — it’s an override for the town.”

“As I understand it, you are working on a version of the budget yourself, somewhat different from the Finance Committee,” Kowalski asked Lynam. “What should happen between now and next week [when Selectmen next meet] is you’ll give us a report in writing and we’ll be able to discuss it as a board … so that we can give direction to the Finance Committee.”

Kowalski said it made sense to give the Finance Committee a bit of direction that night as school officials were meeting with the FinCom at the same time, and Lynam was scheduled to join the Finance Committee’s meeting after Selectmen concluded their meeting.

In other business, Salvucci said the MBTA advisory board has indicated Whitman’s assessment will be reduced from $74,166 to $49,908 — a 30-percent saving of $24,258.

“I’m really afraid to ask why,” Lynam said, suggesting that Whitman is also part of Brockton Area Transit an suggested perhaps the reason was that the BAT assessment increased.

Salvucci said the MBTA pointed to the “make-up of the town” and fare increases for the reasoning.

Selectmen also approved a Class II Auto Dealer’s license for Ally Motors, 934 Temple St., limiting the amount of cars permitted to 60, as currently allowed by the license, and giving the owners 14 days to remove an additional 25 cars now on the property.

Building Inspector Bob Curran, after he and Lynam visited the site last week, said there had been complaints about vehicles blocking sidewalk access in the area and that there were too many cars on the property.

Abutter Craig Donahue, who lives behind the business on Sportsmans Trail, said he and an elderly neighbor said Donahue had purchased a buffer lot between the two homes and the business.

“They’ve been fairly good neighbors,” he said of the car lot. “But over a period of time, they have been parking more and more vehicles in that field behind their business.”

He expressed concern that a dump truck, used to spread substrate for a parking lot hit utility wires, causing a power failure to the area last summer. They are also concerned about how a building on the site is being used.

Business owners apologized for the dump truck incident and pointed out they called the fire department and NStar as soon as it happened and that the building in question is used only for detailing, no mechanic work.

Police: Social media ploy lured youth

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Matthew Murphy. (Photo courtesy United States Marshals Service)

WHITMAN — A Whitman man has been arrested and is facing allegations that he sexually exploited children after he created a fake social media account.

Matthew Murphy, 22, of Temple Street in Whitman, was charged in federal court on Tuesday on two counts of sexual exploitation of children.

Murphy posed as a teen girl using a Snapchat account to extort nude photographs from a Massachusetts middle school boy. The investigation of the alleged incidents was detailed in the charging documents, according to a press release from the United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in charge.

Federal agents obtained portions of the Snapchat account Murphy had created in the fake identity and uncovered evidence of similar extortion of other minors in the area, according to the press release.

Murphy was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.,

Agents and Whitman police executed a search warrant of Murphy’s home where he was placed under arrest.

 “It is a reminder that these predators are out there,” said Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton. “They want to prey on and take advantage of the innocence of children.”

Law enforcement is actively working to identify additional victims. Members of the public with questions or information about this matter should call 617-748-3274 or Whitman police at 781-447-1212.

“During the execution of the search warrant at his home, Murphy admitted that the fake account was his, and investigators found forensic evidence of the account on some of his electronic devices. Murphy was subsequently arrested,” according to the press release.

The charges of sexual exploitation of children each provide for a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and no greater than 30 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement Wednesday. The Whitman Police Department provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Lelling’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of his Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit projectsafechildhood.gov/.

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.”