MOOREcol.01-21-05. . . . . .26 Hed : There is a way out Of the mess we're in If you vote on April 5 By BOB MOORE Did you ever try to unravel a messy desk top? I have and it ain't easy. Right now, Framingham affairs are that catch-all mess officials are in no hurry to dig in. Yawn. And you and I wonder where to start. This column gets to the bottom line : The 4-1 board's failure to have a policy and its willingness to let Manager George King say nothing and keep us all guessing how to pay for some big programs he hints at. But this is not about George King. Under our charter, King has the right to do what he thinks best - as long as he has a majority. Well, 4-1 spells control, and he's done pretty well by his plans. We're better organized than we ever were. But the problem here is the yes-yes attitude of the 4-1 and all that flows from it. And that can be cured on April 5 with the election of two selectmen to replace Chairman Chris Ross and former Chair Esther Hopkins of the majority who now have decided they won't try for re-election. For several months we have not moved forward. And there is dissatisfaction. Look at the number of otherwise-town-oriented persons who have been pressing Doug Freeman to tell them more about Weymouth where a mayor makes decisions revocable - at uh- town election time. And if you don't like "mayor", Doug replies, let's look at Franklin. Both towns have a town council, representing precincts. The council replaces Town Meeting, meets more often and in Franklin 18 councilmen appoint a town administrator, the chief executive. If you haven't been following the flurry of questions fielded by Freeman on Frambors, you might take a look. And think about it. Behind the questions is a concern : Can't something be done about getting beyond the 4-1 stagnation? Let's look at this for a moment. ONE PROBLEM is selectmen's irregular meetings under Ross and his predecessor, Charlie Sisitsky. On Nov. 27 a committee to survey seven town-owned buildings was ready to report what could be done. They finally got a chance on Thursday to meet with selectmen. Two-year study; late-January report. No one asks but there've been only three meetings since Nov. 27. Lengthy courtroom-like sessions with Comcast have shortened regular-business time. Further three-hour sessions loom ahead. The battle over Framingham's rejection of a contract renewal. When do you get to town business in those circumstances? Time is lost and the cost of hiring two lawyers, Town Counsel Chris Petrini and Peter Epstein, is growing during the Long Silence. The Comcast quarrel eats up time, but Ross does not set up a second meeting some weeks to get into town business. Why not? This helps build up doubt about how the town is run. MARILYN MONROE - Yes, the Marilyn Monroe of all town-owned buildings surveyed by Chairman Bill Haberman's committee popped up again. That's the Maynard Building on the Centre Common. Handsome, looking every bit a bit of Old Framingham, leased out for the most part and coveted by the School Department which has about 40 percent of the structure and gussied up as a headquarters once it got in some years back. School Committee Chair Diane Throop said the recent [since last fall] plans for administrative and educational activities led the School Department to ask for a delay on Marilyn. She's a price package. Haberman's committee reported unanimously that all of the seven buildings need expensive capital improvements. Conclusion : Seek long-term leases [50 years] on all under terms that the developer would foot the cost of revisions. Not a certainty, but it was unanimous in ruling that none of the seven is in shape to continue as is. These buildings include the Danforth Museum, the Village Hall (which seeks $100K so it can get a move on), all historic buildings on the Centre Common. All parts of the Danforth Building which could be subdivided. The present location of the Boys and Girls Clubs in the ex-Southside fire station is included. Some thought to moving the club (soon) into the Danforth Building is suggested. If and when the Senior Center moves from Danforth to its new quarters the vacancy it creates leaves the vacancy's use up in the air. All told, this survey concludes that all need extensive improvements. Of what nature? No one is sure. Plenty of "ifs" and "we don't knows" were voiced. ANOTHER ROADBLOCK - With lengthy reports due on Thursday, the chairman moved ahead Waldo B. "Archie" Lyon's effort to get selectmen to go on record that they opposed keeping nuclear warheads in our arsenal. While King waited to give an overview on the probable cost of the Fiscal Year 2006 budget, a half hour was given to Lyon and Julia C. Esty to deliver Esty's familiar attack on the use of nuclear weapons. Luckily, Hopkins objected to the board's going on record without sounding out public support. So on April 5, voters will be asked to vote on the question. Lyon and Esty have frequently raised this question. In 1999 it became a ballot question. OVERVIEW? - Perhaps because of repeated demands to know some details about our next budget, King promised an overview. It was short, fast and blank. If George were musical I'd say George could play the One Minute Waltz in 45 seconds. The nub is this : He won't have even an educated guess until Gov. Romney offers his state budget to the Legislature next Wednesday. In a blur, King spun off figures that said "revenue" and necessary expenditures and the state of free cash which he hesitates to use. Nothing definite in this explanation shortened by the detour into national military problems which are beyond the ken of local voters. Hurried, too, was a here-you-see-it-now-you-don't appointment of Town Accountant Richard G. Howarth Jr. as Acting Chief Financial Officer to help get through the budget process. No one seems to cotton to that $100,000 a year job. CFO Virginia Cahill, promoted from treasurer last year, is leaving after about seven months on the job. She was the third CFO since the post was created in the Nineties. King's fore-shortened speaking time only allowed him to say that he is looking for someone with management experience for the the full-time post. No salary was listed Thursday for Howarth's position. He is regarded as fully cognizant of the procedure being followed by King. The board quickly said yes. SELECTMEN? - Well there are eight persons in this race. Some - like Dennis Giombetti (FinCom, former town official) Ellen LaRose (leading Town Meeting member) and former State Rep. John Stasik and Planning Board key member] - are looking to put some new blood into the sagging Board of Selectmen. That makes your vote on April 5 do something for your woes. ____________________________________________________ You can reach Bob Moore at edmoore4@aol.com or at 1-508-620-1449. [Let it ring; he's slow.] To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@syslang.net with body unsubscribe frambors (the subject is ignored). Please read the Frequently Asked Questions maintained online at http://frambors.syslang.net/faq/about.html before posting or replying.