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Dear Friends and Supporters, As 2008 comes to a close, I find there’s much to celebrate and be thankful for, despite the economical uncertainty. North Andover United continues to advocate for honest answers to honest questions. We’ve cultivated strong relationships with elected officials and community activists, both within and outside our own community. Don Romano puts exceptional effort into delivering NAU emails and running the www.northandover.org community website. We’ve seen a steady increase in readership, registrations, and postings this year. With Michael Reed’s significant talents, we’ve increased our postings of valuable video content on the site - check out the NAU/League of Women Voter’s forum with guest speakers Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and Senator Bruce Tarr, or School Committee Member Chris Nobile’s recent speech regarding the teacher’s contract and the need to reduce municipal health insurance costs. This website offers such an incredible community resource, hosting thoughtful interchange on everything from politics to local events. Please take a moment to check out the content and recommend us to your friends. For me, 2008 marks a year of improved government management. Under Chair Barbara Whidden’s leadership and Superintendent Marini’s guidance, I’ve watched the School Committee become very organized, focused on setting clear, written policies. This year, they are well-aware that their managerial and financial decisions have a profound affect upon the town as a whole, not just the school community. I believe the importance of unified government was a contributing factor to their selection of Mr. Christopher Hottel as their final candidate for the Superintendent’s position. Likewise, I’m encouraged that the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager are starting to look well beyond the current fiscal year when they make major decisions. I have yet to see regular, open reports of up-to-date financials at Board of Selectmen meetings, but I do see us moving in that direction. I look to the Finance Committee to be the catalyst in making it happen. And I am very optimistic each time I hear about Town Manager Mark Rees’ participation in regional efforts to find efficiencies in purchasing, public safety, and energy alternatives. I encourage all boards to foster relationships with similar communities, and participate in organizations like the Suburban Coalition and Stand for Children. Most importantly, I encourage them to work very closely with State Representatives L’Italien and Torrisi, and State Senators Tarr and Baddour, to support preservation of local state funding. I see a lot of cost-cutting, reform measures that should be taken first at the State level, long before any legislator turns to cutting local aid. For the minority Republican view of state budget issues, check out http://www.scalingthehill.com/. 2008 also marks a year of changing access to public information. The Eagle-Tribune’s major job layoffs and the Citizen’s loss of Sarah Wolfe resulted in a severe deterioration in newspaper coverage of North Andover. One could argue that’s also because we’ve repaired our image and become less controversially interesting [a good thing!]. Hats off to Brian Fraser, our new cable station manager, and Sean O’Brien, for prioritizing community access to government proceedings via their cable coverage of public meetings. Brian has some great ideas to add live streaming of meetings and archived video of meetings to the cable station website in 2009. He’s also working on adding programming from Boards, such as the Finance Committee, to explain local government and town meeting warrant articles to the community. The cable staff already added live Election Day coverage this past year. You can support Brian’s efforts by purchasing cable station memberships and by volunteering to do some camera work [very fun - my kids and husband helped Sean film the NAU/LWV forum]. Email Brian at
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for more information. Looking ahead to 2009, there are three issues worth considering: local elections, fiscal understanding and restraint, and how best to support our local non-profit organizations. Elections: There will be two seats open on the School Committee: Dr. Chuck Ormsby is up for re-election and Chair Barbara Whidden is not running for re-election. There will be two seats open on the Board of Selectmen: Dan Lanen is up for re-election and Mark Caggiano will not run for re-election. We need citizens with leadership and decision-making experience, supporting a unified approach to local government, with an eye on preserving future high caliber services for North Andover, to run for public office. Any one of North Andover’s current board members would be happy to discuss their roles with you, both the rewards and the challenges. The League of Women Voters is sponsoring a workshop on how to run for office on Wed, Jan. 7th, 7:00 pm at Andover Town Hall, 3rd floor conference room. North Andover’s Town Clerk, Joyce Bradshaw, and School Committee member Chris Allen will be speaking at the workshop. For more information, contact Peggy Kruse, LWV Voter Service chair, at 978-474-0176. Fiscal Understanding and Restraint: To say that Fiscal Year 2010 (the budget we’ll be asked to approve at May’s town meeting) will be a challenge is an understatement. Preliminary predictions from the Revenue & Fixed Costs Committee show a $3 million deficit [shortage]. That will likely mean layoffs of public safety, library, senior center and youth center employees, as well as teachers. The very same jobs restored by the override and more. For the schools, it will be particularly devastating, given that most of the school budget is personnel... we may be cutting principals as well as classroom teachers. Whether such cuts become a reality is very much dependent on state aid and local efforts to reduce major budget-busters like health insurance costs. The deficit number is based on the worst-case scenario. While we wait to see numbers solidify, I’m asking us all to reflect on the decision we made two years ago at town meeting to leave our stabilization funds intact. We have approximately $1.2 million in reserves, far below the state-recommended level of $2.28 to $3.8 million [3 to 5% of our annual operating budget]. Reserves are one-time-use money - once you use it, it’s gone. If you use it to pay for staff, the same staff will be laid off the following year. In the meantime, there would be no backup funds for community emergencies... like a fire in a municipal/school building, a lawsuit or an unexpected major equipment failure. And there would be a ripple effect of increased debt service costs on higher interest rates on our bonds, because our bond rating would be downgraded. Click http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/chicopee_others_benefit_from_r.html
to read a comprehensive article on the use of municipal stabilization funds. I’m hoping that we have the wisdom during this next budget season to put our effort into reducing costs, finding efficiencies and consolidations of service, and finding the fortitude to accept required belt tightening without creating new problems by grasping at exceedingly short-term solutions. I’m asking us to listen carefully and weigh our options, respectfully, with an eye toward what’s best for the long-term future of our town. And finally, North Andover’s Non-Profit Organizations: Our Non-Profits have already seen sharp declines in donations. The PTO/PTAC organizations, the Friends of the Library, the Friends of the North Andover Senior Center, the Youth Center, the North Andover Foundation for Education, the North Andover Schools’ Enrichment Council, the Peoples’ Pantry, the North Andover Historical Society, the North Andover Music Association, the North Andover Drama Guild, the North Andover Scholarship Foundation, the Andover/North Andover League of Women Voters and the North Andover Improvement Committee all need your help. These organizations provide valuable, essential services our local government lacks the funds to support. Every one of them needs help from people generous with their time, as well as from people able to make monetary contributions. If you are unable to donate either one, then please support them by attending their events with your family and friends. For instance, the Enrichment Council is sponsoring a fun January event to create a new community tradition that supports enrichment presentations in our schools. Click here for more information on their Knight Lights event on Sunday, January 25th. The North Andover Citizen also published an article about the event. I wish you all the peace and comfort of loving families, good friends, a supportive community with fine traditions, and a sense of humor to guide you through the challenges of the New Year! And thanks for listening! Sincerely,
Sandy Gleed, Pres.
North Andover United, Inc. |
