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Magaret Whitney What do you feel the role of a Selectman is in leading the town and serving his/her constituents? • To have the town administrator understand that he answers to the Board of Selectmen who in turn answers to the taxpayers. This is the foundation of the "Special Act of 1986" which created the position of town administrator for Ashburnham.
• To insure the Board of Selectmen and Advisory Board receive a draft balanced budget 75 days prior to the annual meeting as stated in the "Special Act." This is the only tool for maintaining fiscal accountability. • Last but not least to follow town by-laws as they are currently written. • An effective selectman must be open, approachable, trustworthy and committed. Infrastructure repairs and expansions are a major issue facing the town, how do you propose to deal with this issue without overwhelming residents? In order to complete our construction projects and realistically face new construction challenges including roads and the elementary school, the town must first and foremost implement its five-year capital plan. At no other time in the history of Ashburnham have the citizens been faced with numerous capital projects and more soon to arrive at their doorstep. Decisions on what is best for the Ashburnham taxpayer has to take priority over personal preferences because the taxpayer is not an unlimited checkbook. What do you think the major issues facing the town are and if you are elected to the Board of Selectmen what will your role be in resolving those issues? The biggest issue is matching expenses with the declining revenue. Given these extremely difficult times and possibly in a recession, everyone must be willing to accept any constructive input available to the town and definitely be proactive not reactive. To complete future construction projects, face new construction challenges and continue to meet our fiscal budget responsibilities we must keep our financial house in order. Currently, Ashburnham is in violation with certain Department of Revenue (DOR) regulations thus resulting in the delay of setting the tax rate. This illustrates the need for a DOR Management Review, which is an independent evaluation of the town at no cost. Ashburnham had a similar review done in 1988. Communication a specific message seems to be an issue between the boards in town, how other than more meetings can you start to solve this problem? • Unlock the information safe. Conduct all town business in "open session" so the public has an opportunity to participate in the discussion. Solve problems using the SWOT method: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats creating an open and honest dialogue. • Reinstate monthly department head meetings with the town administrator and department heads to share information and express concerns and then relay that information to the Board of Selectmen. • Have the chairman of the various boards and committees attend Selectmen meetings on a monthly basis to update and discuss challenges openly. • Invite the state senator and state representative to attend Board of Selectmen meetings on a quarterly basis to be informed on the state level. Biography: Age: 61 An Ashburnham resident for almost 39 years. Experience: Over 30 years of volunteer service in Ashburnham. Currently, a member of the Advisory Board. Education: Associates Degree in Business Administration. Family: Married to Ashburnham native Bruce Whitney for 41 years. Two married sons: Brian - a Concord, MA Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician, Mass Fire Academy Coordinator and Instructor; Kevin - the Vice-President of Nursing and Chief Nursing Officer at Emerson Hospital. Two grandchildren: Kerri, 15, and Zachary, 13. Mark Carlisle What do you feel the role of a Selectman is in leading the town and serving his/her constituents? For all intents and purposes, Ashburnham is a $13 million company. It has expenses and revenues. Given our current form of government with the Special Act, I see the role of the Selectmen being similar to a Board of Directors. We have various departments with department heads. The town administrator is the CEO. It is up to the Selectmen to make sure that the town administrator follows the intended direction that is set forth by the Selectmen. At times this direction has to change on the spur of the moment and this requires complete cooperation of both the TA and Select Board members. It is crucial that the Selectmen have a good working relationship with their fellow members and the TA: a divided board is a non-productive board. We have to avoid this at all costs, because we have seen what can happen when this occurs. We should not be micro managers. Selectmen cannot be so insulated by the town administrator to the point that they do not meet the needs of the people. At times it is necessary to make sure to follow through and get answers for their constituents when they feel they are not getting them. The answers they get may not be want they want to hear, but they will be answers nevertheless. Infrastructure repairs and expansions are a major issue facing the town, how do you propose to deal with this issue without overwhelming residents? Infrastructure has been a nemesis of Ashburnham for many years and we are all at fault for this. Recently however, we have made great progress. Since the '70s, we should have been making at least one major investment every 10 years. Because we have not done this, infrastructure has come home to roost. As we all know, we have witnessed major investments in buildings this past year. At some point we will have to invest in the Briggs School. Had we have been investing in a major project every 10-years, the impact of the taxpayer would have been far less severe. We also have to face the realities of the roads and water infrastructure along with the sewer issue with Gardner. We need to stick to the Charter and provide a capitol plan, something that we have not been doing. This is an important tool to give us a sense of direction, because at times we seem to be always in a reactive state as opposed to taking a proactive approach. The good news is that I believe the Select and Advisory boards have a good working relationship and we are working towards putting a capitol plan in action, whether it is the existing by-law or the one being proposed by the citizens' petition. What do you think the major issues facing the town are and if you are elected to the Board of Selectmen what will your role be in resolving those issues? The major issues that face the town will be providing the services that are required by the citizens, without having the tax base. The end result is that we may have higher taxes. One way or another we have to make Ashburnham more business friendly. With all the resources we possess Ashburnham should been known as an outdoor recreation town. We need to streamline the permitting process. GFA has been trying to come to Ashburnham for years. The building they have been trying to purchase has been almost a one-year permitting process. Another major issue is that the state keeps mandating programs for our schools, yet their contribution for these mandates continues to dwindle. This situation continues to be unacceptable. The result is that the schools and town end up clashing. At some point we will have to address the road issue. Even if the override does not pass, at least we have a good solid framework in place that we can utilize when the opportunity comes. In just a few short years our sewage agreement will terminate. I would like to see us move the DPW, and install our own sewage treatment plant on this site, while being funded by our sewage fees and therefore minimizing the impact on the homeowner. Communication a specific message seems to be an issue between the boards in town, how other than more meetings can you start to solve this problem? Communication between boards is not only a problem in our town, but in many other towns in the Commonwealth. If you take meetings out of the equation, then our options are somewhat limited. You can watch our cable station but this is generally limited to Select Board meetings and cable users. But there is a media that we have at our fingertips that can help accomplish this. Over the past three years our Web site has been recognized with two awards from the State. Ken Dolder, a former Ashburnham resident, deserves a lot of credit for this. This is a very useful tool that all departments, along with our citizens, can use. Agendas, meeting notes, and schedules are available online twentyfour/ seven. Whether you are a Selectman, Planning Board, Zoning Board, Board of Health, or any other department member, you can been informed by the actions of these individual boards at a click of a mouse. The challenge with volunteer boards is to get the notes in and posted in a timely manner. This is especially important on high profile issues. We need to continue with this great work and try to get all of our boards to get their meetings' minutes in and posted within seven days. This way, whether you are a member of a board or a concerned citizen, you can be kept up to date. Biography: Age: 52Education:A.O.S. Culinary Arts, Culinary Institute of America A.A.S. University of New Hampshire Hotel and Restaurant Management, UNH Experience: Over 15 years in town government Over 25 years as business owner, processor and import/export of seafood processing equipment, biomass-heating development. Family: Wife: Susie Kendall Carlisle Children: Heather, Meredith, Andrew Dogs: Pippin, Sam Wise |
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