From steveo@syslang.net Thu Sep 16 11:14:19 2004 Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 09:09:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Steven W. Orr To: Framingham Neighbors Subject: Welcome to frambors' newest columnist: Bob Moore I am proud to announce that with Bob no longer writing for the TAB we somehow managed to find a spot for him to write for us. The pay isn't as good but I suspect the readership may be higher. I find it interesting that a minor bit of misinformation from the Carlisle Foundation Director was used as an excuse to terminate Bob's tenure. Mr. Moore, you're very welcome here. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2004 02:59:52 EDT From: Edmoore4@aol.com To: steveo@syslang.net Subject: Ag 20 Moorecol-08-19-2004 HED : Housing Plan - Everybody's headache By BOB MOORE First off, this is my weekly column. But it was not written for The Tab. We have parted company since last week's column was called inaccurate when it pointed out that Selectman Chairman Chris Ross had neglected to disclose income from the Carlisle Foundation when the board voted last March on a housing advocacy group supported by Carlisle. I have just sat down to recount last night's meeting which featured 58-minute struggle with that controversial Housing Plan - at which time Ross recused himself. Using his statement filed two weeks ago "to dispel any appearance of a potential conflict of interest." No mention of the $33,000 Carlisle now says it paid him this year to be part-time executive director of Housing for All. The grant may continue for three years. Let's clear up the money question. The Carlisle representative now insists he told me, $33 K; I wrote $42K and this was the "inaccuracy" that blotted out the main point in my column. Whether the amount was $1,000 or $100,000, it was still payment for a job. It required a disclosure. Readers who called me got the point. Had Ross made that disclosure in March, the flurry of questions that kept this affair alive might have been gone with the wind. I set out to check when the $33,000 grant started. It runs from Nov. 3, 2003, to Oct. 31, 2004. I backed into my account, leaving it to Ross to "balance the books." WET BLANKET - Well, the Housing Plan is becoming an unwelcome visitor. Kathy Bartolini, director of Housing and Economic Development that proposed the plan, is under pressure. If you watched, as I did, you wondered if Kathy was going to finish a sentence as objections piled up. At times she seemed to welcome an interruption. Maybe the other person could find the words. It was that kind of night. Planning Board Chairman Tom Mahoney lent direction to the debate when he said a Housing Plan should fit into the Master Plan, now 15 years old and in need of rethinking. He worried that a consultant hired to draft the Housing Plan might lack this broader viewpoint. Charlie Sisitsky insisted that the consultant has to help be the guide but in the end must bring up before selectmen for approval. One problem has been that Kathy insists that time is of the essence if the town wants to qualify for grants from the MAPC. Another problem is that the plan it submits to win grants may have some provisions which Town Meeting would not let in the door. Town Meeting will be a big factor in the slow drag to a solution. LOW TURNOUT - Those who've worried about low turnout election time have gone to great lengths to "get" people to come out and vote. It's good for you. You owe it to yourself to go to any lengths to get to the polls. Spinach is great for kids; they get healthy if they can take it. But adults have other problems : working long hours, time for the kids, planning for the future - and finding what they need in local government. But in all plans to stimulate the voter, has anyone stopped to ask what's in it for the voter? Uh, what makes "a resident" decide to become "a voter"? Will his vote get something done? But for the worriers, courage - this is a presidential year and town clerks will tell you the numbers always swell when there's a president or a governor on the ballot. OVERHEARD - "I don't know what to do. I can't warm up to Kerry and Bush is hopeless." His friend came back : "Hey, you're bound to vote this year for someone you can't stand. I'll bet most people will decide at the last moment. The team that bats last will win." ______________________________ You can reach Bob Moore at edmoore4@aol.com or at 1-508-620-1449. -- steveo at syslang dot net TMMP1 http://frambors.syslang.net/ Do you have neighbors who are not frambors?