Editorial

Well, while I don't agree with changing things at the last minute and blindsiding your counterparts, Ashburnham Advisory Board Chairman Bill Johnson did something good at Monday's Board of Selectmen's meeting - he got people to talk about something other than how many pencils a department head is going to buy.

Monday's meeting was heated. It was not polite at times. And it was 4 and a half hours long.

Many of the typical budget meetings have everyone sitting reviewing the line items of how much money a department needs to heat their respective buildings, how much it costs to keep the lights on and issues of fuel usage, salaries and more of the details of the budget. This is not to say that these discussions are not needed - they are.

But so are more fundamental discussions that move beyond: "we need to lobby the state for more money," since that only gets everyone so far.

One of the thoughts was proposed by Ashburnham-Westminster Regional Superintendent of Schools Michael Zapantis and reiterated by Selectman Christopher Gagnon. Fire Chief Paul Zbikowski made good points, too.

Zapantis said he thought maybe the town and the schools should go to the town together and asked for a joint override. This way an override would be a combination figure to add public safety officials and school services.

This would help prevent pitting the town versus the schools in a way that a separate override would definitely force. In many of these discussions it seems like it is the town versus the schools

­- a way of talking that isn't positive for

anyone.

Zbikowski said he wasn't allowed to just ask for an override like the schools are able to do when the town won't fund the entire requested budget within the levy limit.

It makes sense that town officials don't support overrides every year for every department or for little things. But maybe it is time to discuss what type of budget increase would be needed to fund the town in a way the department heads would be satisfied with, because who knows better what their jobs entitle than them?

If every year is a bad budget year, then steps must be taken.