Welcome to Falmouth Today! SPOTLIGHTING NEWS AND HAPPENINGS IN FALMOUTH MAINE
WHAT IMPACT WILL OBAMACARE HAVE ON THE HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS FOR THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT?
May 20, 2013
By: Editor
It seems all over the TV there are ads for consulting companies to advise employers on the cost impact to their respective organizations on the tidal wave of expenses and changes coming in 2014 when Obamacare is fully implemented.
At least one candidate for School Board has the presence of mind to ask if the School Dept. has taken any steps to ascertain the impact of these changes, if any. You can see the email below asking Falmouth’s Chief Information Officer (C.I.O.), Nathan Poore, that very question.
It also seems the big question all the employers are concerned with is, will it be less expensive to ditch their current health insurance plan to avoid possible “Cadillac” taxes on overly generous plans and then pay whatever taxes and penalties assessed by the government which would be less expensive net to the employer? Or, keep their current plan and pay all the additional costs that decision would entail.
The health insurance cost for the Falmouth School System is currently in the $3,000,000 per year range we’re told, with a built in automatic increase from a few percent per year, upwards to whatever is needed to maintain what one might rate as excellent coverage. One of our sources projects that the additional costs to the taxpayers under the new law could be in the $400,000 to $800,000 range per year.
We would have expected that basic management skills by someone, anyone on the school Board, would have made an effort to determine this before the actual budget is submitted for the first year under this law. This isn’t just an example of poor planning; it’s an indictment of incompetent leadership on the School Board.
You can read Nathan Poore’s reply to our reporter’s question below. How clear and simple can a request be when it asks for:
ALL DOCUMENTS…THAT DEFINES WHAT THE NEW HEALTH CARE LAW (KNOWN AS OBAMA CARE) IMPACT WILL BE ON HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS FOR THE SCHOOL SYSTEM?
Nathan, how much clearer can the word, ALL be? Either, Nathan doesn’t have a clue what the impact will be on health insurance costs because he and the School Board didn’t think to find out. Or, he has the information and he wants our reporter to file numerous guesses in a FOAA format to find the answer. You be the judge which one it is.
WE HAVE A CRISIS OF MORAL DECAY IN AMERICA THAT’S ACCELERATING
May 20, 2013
By: Editor
Not in the last 50 years can we remember horrific things ever happening that now are so commonplace we barely raise an eyebrow.
When did it become okay for children to kill their siblings before they both got out of Middle School? There seems to be a story in the news regularly of 12 year olds killing 4 year olds or 8 year olds, or 5 year olds killing 6 year olds.
When did it become okay for depressed people to go somewhere and kill a group of, co-workers, school children, or strangers, your choice? Week after week, month after month, year after year it seems to be getting worse. At what point did we think a gun free zone meant anything other than a place to kill as many people as you have a desire to kill? In the last 23 years 210 students and staff have been murdered in our schools. Another 181 were wounded. Why haven’t we made our schools as safe as banks where we keep our money? Why haven’t we made our schools as safe as where federal employees work like the Portland Social Security office? Recently we were at the Social Security office and saw an armed officer keeping a watchful eye on a roomful of geriatrics.
When did it become okay to lie about really important things such as letting four Americans be murdered because otherwise it wouldn’t fit into our narrative about the War on Terror is over? Why does the government destroy what little credibility it has with foolish cover ups, that never work or last? A lie about bugging an office brought down President Nixon in Watergate, where no one was murdered due to the bugging. What are the consequences to a President, any President, that allows four Americans to be murdered without lifting a finger to help them?
When did it become okay during a war, in combat, to let the enemy shoot at you twice before you can return fire? These are the current ROEs (Rules of Engagement) that are soldiers are ordered to fight under and to risk their lives under, so our leaders can pretend everything is just peachy. Years ago if you were holding a weapon and you were on the other team you could expect a lead hello immediately and continuously until you didn’t move again. Now the shoe is on the other foot and our soldiers can be shot at until they don’t move anymore. As in most things in combat, first is best, second is either KIA or WIA. After living under those orders to be a moving target for one, two, or three years, is there any wonder that returning Vets are killing themselves at a rate of 22 per day?
When did it become okay to go to Congress from a factory job in northern Maine and become rich? Is it possible to become rich in Congress without bending some rules or do you just have to stomp the living hell out of those rules?
When there are no moral standards at the top of a civilization, there are none on the streets. When the leadership exhibits disdain for their own rules, which of us among the people believe they have to behave to standards of truthful and honest conduct?
When did it become okay for the IRS to go after any political group from either end of the spectrum? Destroying confidence in a powerful governmental agency that will be the major enforcement unit for Obamacare is not the best way to start the process in the takeover of over 14% of the entire economy. Integrity, trust, and fair dealing are what we all expect from the IRS. What did we receive instead? Targeted attacks against perceived enemies of the state, such as patriots, freedom of speech supporters, and of course gun right supporters. What a diverse group of anti-Americans if there ever was one.
When did it become okay for the press to turn a blind eye to governmental misconduct? Some have questioned the lack of oversight by the mainstream press on many questionable actions by this administration. On Monday the 13th it was disclosed that senior members of CBS, ABC, and CNN are related to senior members of the administration. It certainly explains why certain news personnel would be adversed to making a relative look bad, while that same relative is lying for this administration.
When did it become okay for warrantless searches of 20 phone lines by this administration’s Department of Justice? Also on the 13th it was disclosed that the Associated Press had their phone lines tapped by the DOJ. To what end?
Was the DOJ writing an enemies list for someone in power?
When did it become okay for the IRS to issue billions of dollars of Earned Income Tax Credits to illegal aliens that claim multiple relatives such as children, nieces, and nephews living with them also illegally, in two bedroom mobile homes? This came to light when a tax preparer in Indiana came to the local CBS affiliate with copies of tax returns that generated from $10,000 to $14,000 in refunds for children living in Mexico. To top this foolishness off, around 46% of those billions of dollars have to be borrowed by our government.
We are in deep, deep, trouble as a nation and the light at the end of the tunnel is the headlight of a long, fast approaching, freight train that will take years and years to stop.
HOW CAN YOU BE AN EFFECTIVE MEMBER OF THE SCHOOL BOARD WHEN YOU DON’T ATTEND BOARD MEETINGS AND THE COMMUNITY DIALOGUE THAT PLANS THE NEXT 24 MONTHS FOR THE SCHOOL SYSTEM?
May 13, 2013
By: Editor
It seems apparent that only one candidate has taken the time and effort to attend both Board Meetings and Workshop Meetings in the last three years to prepare him to be an effective member of the School Board. At the same time the other candidates have been absent from those same meetings.
Michael Doyle, School Board candidate, attended the Community Dialogue recently and you can see his name on the attendance list below. He went to the Tech section of the workshops and was assigned to table 28.
Mr. Doyle doesn’t approach his attempt to be elected to the Board as an interesting whim to be pursued, but an opportunity, after careful analysis of the School System’s problems, to be of assistance to the Town of Falmouth.
It seems his critics don’t like his questions about the unbusiness like operation of the proposed $30 million plus budget. His supporters think someone needs to be at the table to ask those very questions
WHAT’S GREAT ABOUT AMERICA IS REDEMPTION AND SECOND CHANCES IN LIFE. COUNCILOR TONY PAYNE IS AGAINST BOTH OF THOSE AND FREE SPEECH TO BOOT.
May 9, 2013
By: Editor
A little over three years ago Payne wrote new public speaking guidelines that were so over the top that the Maine Civil Liberties Union CONDEMNED those guidelines. When the MCLU uses CONDEMNED it usually means if you put these into effect we’ll see you in court. Payne and his ilk have the dishonor to be the ONLY municipal government in Maine CONDEMNED for attempting to violate the Free Speech Clause of the Constitution.
Doyle wasn’t convicted, he pled guilty due to really hideously bad legal advice from Ralph Dyer and Peter DeTroy and subsequently David Van Dyke a lawyer being defended for malpractice by DeTroy. So for Van Dyke to effectively defend Doyle he would have to cross-examine his own defense lawyer DeTroy.
But let’s not base our voting decision on the judgment of a person of questionable character himself, like Payne. You’ll see what we mean in a moment. Let’s see what an attorney, employed by the State of Maine, and with a superior legal mind, unlike the untrained mind in Payne’s head did when Doyle applied to be a teacher. The lawyer read www.lyinglawyers.com and issued a teaching certificate that Doyle renewed for a second six years ending this coming December.
You can see the license below. Unlike Payne the State lawyer saw the unethical conduct Doyle suffered and decided that it was wrong. How many ex-felons have a license to teach in Maine? ONE, Doyle!
Two dispirit sources disclosed today that School Board member
Chris Murry, Jr. has not resided in Falmouth for six months. The Falmouth Charter REQUIRES residence in Falmouth to be a School Board member. Apparently, this has been known by both the Superintendent and Board members. The next question is when did Payne know this and why didn’t Payne inform voters with his little email newsletter that a mandated vacancy occurred on the Board and an election was required immediately.
We fully expect all the people involved to act surprised and beg ignorance of this violation of the Charter. If Payne has to be threatened by the MCLU to stop violating the First Amendment can any of us believe he wasn’t part of the Murry cover-up? You can see the email below. If Poore would answer the FOAA questions quickly without calling a lawyer we could save all those thousands of dollars Payne complains about. It’s always interesting when Payne brings up the police guarding the Council from Doyle. Doyle is the only person who has been assaulted at a meeting by Member Kinley and it was at a School Board Workshop with what else, no cop in attendance for the whole day? Payne forgets to mention that at a Council Workshop last August Doyle was there for the whole day and there were no police in the whole building. What do the two workshops have in common? No television broadcast. Payne and the others are only in ‘danger’ when they are on TV. Theater of the absurd, by the absurd.
Do any of our readers believe if Doyle was on the School Board that he would allow misconduct at a level so deceitful to the voters of Falmouth? Not likely!
GIVE DOYLE A BULLET VOTE, FOR HIM, AND NO ONE ELSE FOR SCHOOL BOARD! WE REALLY NEED HIM TO STOP THIS MISCONDUCT AND DISHONESTY BY THE CURRENT BOARD AND SUPERINTENDENT.
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From: seller99@msn.com
To: npoore@town.falmouth.me.us; fvarney@town.falmouth.me.us; alarson@falmouthschools.org; policedept@town.falmouth.me.us
Subject: CHRIS MURRY'S RESIDENCE
Date: Wed, 8 May 2013 17:46:34 -0400
Nathan,
Sources report that Chris Murry hasn't lived in Falmouth for the last six months. Under Article IV, Sec. 402 a member of the Board that moves out of Falmouth makes that seat vacant immediately (paraphrasing).
1. Provide a list of every Board Member that was aware of this violation of the Town Charter.
2. Provide legal opinion that all votes taken after Murry moved from Falmouth are binding and legal.
3. Provide legal opinion that Board Member that conspired to keep this violation of the Charter from Falmouth voters, have NOT themselves, also violated the Charter and must be removed from office forthwith.
This is a FOAA request pursuant to the FOAA law of Maine.
Michael Doyle
766.6644
CAN AN ELECTION IN FALMOUTH BE FREE OF SHENANIGANS, FROM THE SENIOR MANAGEMENT OF THE FALMOUTH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT?
May 6, 2013
By: Editor
Two years ago our Elementary School Principals picked “school friendly candidates” for both School Board and Town Council by email to several hundred couples in Falmouth. They did this using town owned email systems on town owned computers. So, the taxpayers not on the selected list of our Elementary School Principals that were candidates were actually paying for the equipment used to defeat them.
The email was recalled at a point that was too late to reverse the damage that was well planned and executed by the Principals and the Superintendent over a period of several weeks. Their excuse? Who would know that a highly paid Principal in the Falmouth School system shouldn’t be using town owned equipment, paid in part by candidates not on their list, to defeat those same people? Now it’s been made “unequivocally” spelled out. It seems the Principals were unaware of expectations NOT to try to throw an election by trying to pick the bosses that they would get the fewest possible questions from during a Board meeting. How very convenient this is for the Principals and at the same time very suspect conduct that now has to be “monitored” so it won’t be repeated.
Our reporter asked Nathan if he was going to prevent this misconduct from happening again this election. You can see the email thread below.
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From: Michael Doyle [mailto:seller99@msn.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2013 12:02 PM
To: Nathan Poore; Faith Varney; SB ANALISE LARSON
Subject: SCHOOL FRIENDLY CANDIDATES
Nathan,
As I am a candidate for the School Board in this election are you going to supervise the school staff and prohibit a repeat of the situation two years ago where the Elementary School Principals sent out an email to hundreds of addresses choosing their "school friendly candidates"?
I expect an acknowledgement of this concern and an assurance that you personally will police this prior misconduct to make sure it is not repeated during this election.
Michael Doyle
766.6644
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From: npoore@town.falmouth.me.us
To: seller99@msn.com; fvarney@town.falmouth.me.us; alarson@falmouthschools.org
CC: bpowers@falmouthschools.org
Subject: RE: SCHOOL FRIENDLY CANDIDATES
Date: Fri, 3 May 2013 17:47:51 +0000
Mr. Doyle,
School Board policy now unequivocally spells out that school computers may not be used for this purpose; principals were unaware of that expectation at the time. I am assured the new policy is carefully and annually reviewed with all school leaders, faculty and staff and it will be appropriately monitored.
Regards,
Nathan A. Poore, Town Manager
Town of Falmouth
271 Falmouth Road
Falmouth Maine 04105
Telephone: 207-781-5253 ext 5314
Email: npoore@town.falmouth.me.us
SCHOOLS ARE RATED A TO F, TOO BAD ADMINISTRATORS, SUPERINTENDENTS, AND SCHOOL BOARDS AREN’T ALSO
May 3, 2013
By: Editor
Let’s start with the Principal of the East End “F” rated school, Marcia Gendron. Is it too much to expect that she would be able to have a command of the English language? She is quoted in the Press Herald as follows: “We like who we are and we’re never going to be apologists,” she said.
Apologist: Someone who writes or speaks in defense of a faith, cause, or institution.
Apologizer: Someone that makes an apology
We think Marcia means to use the word apologizer. Her grade for the interview is F.
Turning to grading the School Board and Superintendent in Falmouth and their collective management skillset.
Our reporter had requested the Middle School roof inspection reports for the last 5 years. You can see the email below. Either the School Board had knowledge that the roof was in imminent need of replacement in the last 60 months cumulating in a 2013 emergency replacement cost sprung on the taxpayers for $1.75 million plus interest payments.
Or the alternative, which is more likely, the Board and Superintendent thought the elderly roof would just go on forever and never considered monitoring its status yearly and make capital replacement cost plans for a new roof. Merely setting aside money each year in that year’s budget under a management control approach to capital needs would save having to bond this out for 20 years of interest payments.
Forethought, proper planning, and basic management skills that are visibly absent in the makeup of the current Board and the current Superintendent, is what Falmouth is suffering under right now. Their collective grade is “F”
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Nathan,
Provide copies of the Middle School roof inspection reports for the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 for review.
This is a FOAA request pursuant to the FOAA law of Maine.
Michael Doyle
766.6644
WHAT HAS DUMBO AND HIS BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER, THE WALRUS, BEEN UP TO LATELY?
April 29, 2013
By: Editor
When you think all the stupid things that can be done in Falmouth, have been in fact done, along comes a new variation of I’m so stupid which way is my house.
Our fearless nitwits at the Town Hall and the Police Station continue to demonstrate that the Peter Principle is alive and well in our town. That means you keep getting promoted until you reach the point where you are totally incompetent. Welcome Nathan Poore and Ed Tolan to our little trip of discovery.
The Town Critic, by virtue of his writing skills, his investigative skills, and his FOAA skills to root out town leadership mismanagement, qualified to join the ELITE, National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The two Dopes that we are writing about LIE that the Critic uses his membership card in The National Press Club to gain access to TOP SECRET locations like an accident scene on I-295 or a house fire in the Woodlands. One small problem, these two DOPES pass the LIE onto the Ethics Committee of where else, The National Press Club, who in turn contacts the Critic.
What does the Critic like better than a good duel of words with the Dopes? Absolutely nothing.
After the investigation established that Dope Poore and Dope Tolan were cry babies and that the actual “credential” that the Critic was using were the business cards of www.falmouthtoday.me It seems the Dopes think they have the authority to decide in their own tiny brains who is a reporter, who is a journalist, and who they should answer questions from in the Town of Falmouth. Don’t you think Pres. Nixon would have liked to tell the Washington Post that “Woodstein” (Woodward and Bernstein) weren’t REAL reporters during the Watergate investigation?
Check the correspondence below. If these two DOPES shouldn’t be fired for being REALLY STUPID, who can be?
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April 15, 2013
Michael Doyle
3 Shady Lane
Falmouth, Maine 04105
Dear Mr. Doyle;
I am writing to you in my capacity as Chairman of the National Press Club's Ethics Committee.
The Club's Membership Secretary and membership staff have received complaints from officials in your community that you have been using your National Press Club membership card as the equivalent of official press credentials… asserting that this authorizes you to have access to places restricted to credentialed news media.
If you are doing that, please stop the practice. The National Press Club has never considered or represented that our membership card constitutes a press credential. Failure to comply will result in your suspension from the Club.
I understand that our membership staff has sent you letters about this in the past, but we have never gotten any response from you. This matter has now been referred to our Ethics Committee, and as Chairman, I would like to discuss this matter with you.
Please call or email me. My phone numbers are 410-867-6577 or cell phone 443-223-9777. My email address is patrickmcgrath@comcast.net.
The leadership of The National Press Club has made clear to me that hearing from you is not optional. If you fail to contact me and answer some questions before the end of this month, your membership will likely be suspended.
I await your call or email.
Sincerely,
Patrick McGrath
Ethics Committee Chairman
The National Press Club
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Subject: Last night
From: patrickmcgrath@comcast.net
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:26:03 -0400
CC: jhughes5@bloomberg.net; ebarks@barkscomm.com; patrickmcgrath@comcast.net
To: seller99@msn.com
Mike…. because our phone conversation came late in the day, I did not have an opportunity to discuss our conversation with the two other members of our Ethics Committee before our monthly Board of Governors meeting last night. So no action was taken.
Our Ethics Committee plans to meet late Monday afternoon, and I will get back to you after that. Please make sure than any future correspondence comes to me, as Ethics Committee Chair… not to the staff, who have no responsibility in this area.
Your status as a non resident member of the National Press Club remains unchanged. We'll be back to you. Thanks for your patience.
Patrick McGrath, Chairman, National Press Club Ethics Committee
On Apr 23, 2013, at 9:39 AM, Michael Doyle wrote:
Patrick,
Your comments yesterday regarding main stream news and bloggers made me do some research. On careercast.com for 2012 Newspaper Reporter was listed as the worst job in the country followed shortly behind that by TV Broadcaster.
YouTube, owned by GOOGLE, has more content online than all the content from ABC, CBS, and NBC since the invention of the TV. Recent reports state it gets 60 hours of new content every minute.
I am NOT a blogger, by any definition that I am familiar with. I have developed over the last few years more and better sources than the Forecaster, our local weekly paper. I have uncovered more incompetent and wasteful spending locally and at the State level than the Portland Press Herald has in the last two years (see story on Maine Power Options, a state owned electricity buying service).
For the NPC to maintain a relevant status it should embrace as members online sites such as the Drudge Report and similar types of news gathering and reporting online services such as mine.
I am quite incensed that the Falmouth town leadership would stoop to lying about my use of my membership or any other government entity that wants to attempt to deter my questions about their mismanagement of tax dollars under their control.
I look forward to hearing from you regarding the results of last night's meeting.
Michael Doyle
Editor/Reporter
www.falmouthtoday.me
Member, The National Press Club
207.766.6644
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Subject: Last night
From: patrickmcgrath@comcast.net
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:26:03 -0400
CC: jhughes5@bloomberg.net; ebarks@barkscomm.com; patrickmcgrath@comcast.net
To: seller99@msn.com
Mike…. because our phone conversation came late in the day, I did not have an opportunity to discuss our conversation with the two other members of our Ethics Committee before our monthly Board of Governors meeting last night. So no action was taken.
Our Ethics Committee plans to meet late Monday afternoon, and I will get back to you after that. Please make sure than any future correspondence comes to me, as Ethics Committee Chair… not to the staff, who have no responsibility in this area.
Your status as a non resident member of the National Press Club remains unchanged. We'll be back to you. Thanks for your patience.
Patrick McGrath, Chairman, National Press Club Ethics Committee
------------------------------
Subject: Re: ETHICS REVIEW
From: patrickmcgrath@comcast.net
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:00:12 -0400
CC: patrickmcgrath@comcast.net
To: seller99@msn.com
Mike... our meeting isn't until late Monday, so it may be next Tuesday, before I get back to you... Pat
--------------------------------
On Apr 23, 2013, at 2:42 PM, Michael Doyle wrote:
Patrick,
I'll wait until close of business Monday the 29th before I take action locally.
Michael Doyle
207.766.6644
-------------------------
From: seller99@msn.com
To: patrickmcgrath@comcast.net
Subject: RE: ETHICS REVIEW
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:57:19 -0400
Fine, Tuesday then.
--------------------------
From: seller99@msn.com
To: npoore@town.falmouth.me.us; etolan@town.falmouth.me.us; fvarney@town.falmouth.me.us; policedept@town.falmouth.me.us
Subject: FOAA REQUEST FOR DOCUMENTS SENT NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:22:55 -0400
Nathan,
Provide copies for inspection of all documents in whatever format they may exist in, of all communications from any employee of any department of the Town of Falmouth to The National Press Club. This FOAA requests includes all elected and/or appointed members that function as part of the town's government in any form or position.
This is a FOAA request pursuant to the FOAA law of Maine.
Michael Doyle
Editor/Reporter
www.falmouthtoday.me
Member, The National Press Club
766.6644
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THE NATIONAL
PRESS CLUB
April 30, 2013
Michael Doyle
3 Shady Lane
Falmouth, Maine 04105
Dear Mr. Doyle;
The National Press Club Ethics Committee met yesterday, Monday April 29th, to consider allegations that you had misused your National Press Club membership Card. The Committee reached no conclusion about whether the allegations are true or not, but is persuaded that you clearly understand going forward that the card should never be used as a press credential.
The Committee is taking no further action on this matter.
Sincerely,
Patrick McGrath
Ethics Committee Chairman
The National Press Club
The National Press Club 529 14th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20045 202-662-7500 fax 202-662-7537 www.press.org
THE CLOSING OF THE SEA GRASS BISTRO IS THE END
OF ONE JOURNEY AND THE BEGINNING OF ANOTHER,
THE WOODLANDS GAIN IS OUR LOSS FOR ALL NON-
MEMBERS
April 29, 2013
By: Editor
On the Wednesday before the final serving on Friday at the Sea Grass Bistro, Stephanie Brown’s Dad gave a heartfelt toast to his daughter that caused Stephanie’s eyes to water from basking in the love of her family and all the loyal patrons that came to be part of this portion of Stephanie’s brilliant arc across the evening sky of fine dining in southern Maine.
Friday’s buffet was like a fantastic cocktail party at your best friend’s house with all your really good friends that you haven’t had a chance to catch up with for months. There were just under a dozen folks from Falmouth and the place was packed with people from all over the area. The words for food that were contained in the menu don’t do justice to the presentation but here they are: Spinach salad, Slices of roast beef, Fiddlehead salad, Sausage with peppers, Cucumbers and lamb, Black bean salad, Purple potato salad, and Asparagus salad. Desserts were: Lemon pound cake covered with fresh cut strawberry and whipped cream, Chocolate pudding covered with whipped cream, Blueberry crème Brule, and Miniature round chocolate brownies filled with white chocolate, which we ate like peanuts.
Below you can see Stephanie and her wall-mounted accolades. Soon she will be building another wall of trophies at the Woodlands and the members will share in those moments as we did in Yarmouth. Stephanie, good luck and best wishes from the staff at FTM.
DOYLE ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR SCHOOL BOARD
April 26, 2013
By: Editor
At a recent seminar Gov. LePage was kind enough to sign Doyle’s nomination papers as a symbolic gesture of support for a fellow fiscal conservative and you can see their photo below.
Also is the acknowledgement from the Town Clerk by email that the Governor’s signature wasn’t counted as a signer for the nomination papers for Doyle.
Doyle stated, “We need to stop allowing the Business Manager at the School Dept., Dan O’Shea to continue disobeying the Falmouth Town Government Rule to get bids for the purchase of goods and services.”
Doyle went on to explain how this happens, “O’Shea in emails, uses the words ‘he likes a company’ or ‘he’s satisfied with a company’ to justify giving hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars to his favorites, this is simply ridiculous.”
Doyle said he would support greater use of technology, “I support allowing students to use RosettaStone and incorporating the online service of Khan Academy in the students’ learning process.”
Doyle went onto say, “From my son’s experience at Falmouth the most important class he took in high school was public speaking. My son said he used that more than anything else in his four years at Bryant College and continues to find it invaluable in his employment. I will move to have it more widely provided to all students in Falmouth starting in Middle School.”
Finally, Doyle said, “The current classroom system of teaching to the middle or in some cases to the lowest level of the group has to be modified. I support letting students move through classes as fast as they can and challenge the course. Let’s keep the bright students engaged.”
Doyle, a licensed teacher, is usually the only non-teacher at most School Board and Workshop Meetings over the last three years and has the most knowledge of what is going on in the School System of all the candidates.
Two years ago the other candidates refused to do the Q & A session on TV as the Council candidates did because they knew Doyle would make them look as unqualified as they were.
Dear Mr. Doyle,
I am in receipt of your nomination papers. Please be aware I am not able to count Gov. Paul LePage’s signature as he is not a registered voter in the Town of Falmouth.
Kind Regards,
Ellen Planer, Town Clerk
Town of Falmouth
271 Falmouth Road
Falmouth Maine 04105
MAJOR KUDOS TO ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE HUNT FOR THE BOMBER
April 22, 2013
By: Editor
We all saw at one time or another the police racing from one location to another all over Watertown running down hot leads in the manhunt for the citywide danger of these extremely violent murderers.
The TV gave us scene after scene of officers standing posts all over the area. Not a few hundred, but four thousand spread over not just Watertown, but many of the neighboring towns and cities.
Here follows what likely took place behind the scenes that made this massive police presence even possible. Planning, Planning, and more Planning. “The inexperienced among us talk strategy the experts talk logistics”, from General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., prior to driving Iraq out Kuwait in 100 hours.
We use our experience as part of a division level active Army unit mobilized to be ready to intervene in a possible riot in Columbia, SC, to provide what it takes to put this many officers in one area, for a period ranging up to almost 24 hours. This mobilization of police departments was similar to our standing an armed post guarding a weapons depot at Fort Jackson. Something that is done 24/7 but our being deployed to the riot control would be at even a greatly more complicated level, very similar to the Watertown manhunt.
Guarding the depot took armed teams of two in constant patrol around the exterior of the building every three minutes for one hour on, followed by four hours off. There seemed to be 20 soldiers coming on duty, going off duty, sleeping, and getting geared up to go out constantly. This was for one fixed site inside a U.S. Army Fort, surrounded by thousands of either armed soldiers or quick access to firepower not available in Watertown. The rules of engagement were very strict under what conditions that we could lock and load or open fire on any intruder. We were reminded by the unit O.I.C. every time we left the building that there were residential units nearly 360 degrees around the depot, be sure you hit what you aim at, be mindful of your down range background.
In the hunt for the bomber and the mobilization of the four thousand officers would by necessity require the following: food and water supplies, rotation on and off post, rally points located around Boston for incoming officers and military, MTA buses for transport to the staging areas, staging area management, constant supervisor knowledge of the location of every officer on post, how long on post, movement of some posts as the search area moves, increased force concentration as the search produced the boat site, and finally selection of custody team, which turned out to be the F.B.I.’s Hostage Rescue Team.
All of the above could not have been accomplished on the fly or making it up as the situation developed. The management of the entire manhunt speaks to the superb planning that all the police agencies had in place months if not years before it was needed Friday night. This was a massive coordination of resources, manpower, and supervisory management.
Our sincere congratulations to all the officers and supervisors involved in this hunt at every level. In the weeks to come this manhunt will be, THE CASE STUDY for law enforcement agencies all over America, and likely the world.
WHY DOESN’T FALMOUTH EMPLOY “AUTOMATIC VEHICLE LOCATION”? BEST PRACTICES FOR TOWN MANAGEMENT, START WITH THE BEST TOOLS.
April 19, 2013
By: Editor
This is a system used all over private industry to monitor vehicle fleets. It tells the system manager, or in our case all the taxpayers in Falmouth, by email whenever any unit exceeds a set speed limit. It also emails when the any unit leaves a set area of use.
What we really liked was the web connection that lets the taxpayers see where every unit owned by the Town is, how fast it’s going, whether the engine is on or off, and where it’s been since the system was first installed. The exception for obvious reasons won’t include police units. We already have their “twenty”.
The only question is why Nathan doesn’t install these GPS tracking devices now? Could it be that Nathan and the town employees don’t want taxpayers to know how much time employees spend sitting in a truck at the end of Casco Terr. drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, or driving back and forth in a parking lot during a snow storm two towns away, or hauling furniture on weekends? Otherwise there is no possible reason not to install these devices.
Nathan, when are you going to use the technology that private industry uses to monitor productivity, so we, the taxpayers, can monitor everything else?
FALMOUTH’S SCHOOL BUDGET IS HIGHER THAN CUMBERLAND’S COST PER PUPIL…SURPRISE!
April 16, 2013
By: Editor
Based upon data from the Fab Four Towns, as described by various members of the Falmouth School Board, Cape, Falmouth, Cumberland, and Yarmouth, we have their cost per student for the projected 2014 budget.
Here are the numbers supplied by each town:
Cumberland’s budget $31,258,083 Student count 2021 Cost per $15,467
Falmouth’s budget $36,579,587 Student count 2121 Cost per $17,246
Yarmouth’s budget $20,795,334 Student count 1458 Cost per $14,263
Cape’s budget $22,528,078 Student count 1648 Cost per $13,670
Stockton, CA is now officially bankrupt from payroll and pension commitments to municipal employees. Falmouth had a 19.2 % increase in the mil rate in three years, which exceeds the percent increase in students (20 students or 1%), which exceeds the C.P.I. (Consumer Price Index slightly over 1%), which exceeds almost everyone’s net income increases for the same time period.
More raises, more benefits, more expenses, more waste of tax dollars by O’Shea, coupled with flat or slightly higher incomes for the taxpayers makes for a sound reason to vote against the School Budget this year.
FALMOUTH PROPOSED 2014 BUDGET FACTS
April 12, 2013
By: Editor
First we have a rule that requires the Town to maintain an “emergency fund” or as they list it, the UNASSIGNED FUND BALANCE, of a Minimum Reserve of $7,901,267. This is something we need to pay for school improvements off the books, like the recent transfer of $1,200,000 to pay for the Middle School wood boiler. What we see in the report from the Town below, that we have another $3,613,275, that for some reason stated in the paragraph at the bottom of the page is NOT AVAILABLE for anything except natural disasters and uncontrollable economic influences.
What we have is uncontrollable Town financial influences that waste our tax dollars. If we had $6,613,275 over the mandated $7,901,267 would that be enough OVER TAXED REVENUE to stop the next TAX INCREASE.
Second we have the Property Tax Burden chart with the 2010 figures below. It shows the mil rates for Cape at 14.19, Falmouth at 12.60, Cumberland at 15.78, and Yarmouth at 17.00 per thousand of assessed valued. We checked with the four towns and obtained the following facts from the named person for each town for the same 2010 year:
Cape/Matt Average house value of $238,000 @ 17.86 for a tax of $4,250.68
Falmouth/Pam $474,000 @ $12.35 for a tax of $5,853.90
Cumberland/Pam $350,000 @ $14.55 for a tax of $5,092.50
Yarmouth/Bill $320,000 @ $19.54 for a tax of $6,252.80
This establishes once and for all that the laudatory praise we hear about Falmouth’s oh so low mil rate, is achieved by nothing more than Falmouth’s extremely high average single-family home’s assessed value. We note as the LOWEST MIL RATE, Falmouth is still the second highest average tax burden of the four towns. To equal Cumberland’s average tax, our mil rate would have to drop to $10.74 in the 2010 year (5,092.50/474=$10.74).
To equal Cape’s average tax, our mil rate would have to drop to $8.97 in the 2010 year ($4,250/474=$8.97).
Recently we predicted that the budget would be between 32 and 34 million dollars. The budget on the school site was $30,379,587. Now we find some items off the budget such as $1.2 million for the wood pellet boiler paid out of the town reserve account, the new heating system for $3.25 million, and finally $1.75 million for a roof, all for the Middle School.
This is a total of $6.2 million dollars off the books for the schools or a real budget of $36,579,587 or $2,000,000 over even our high side projection for this coming school year.
What is the total increased load on the mil rate for the financing and interest for the true school budget after the proposed referendum for paying for these items with bonds?
RUNNING OVERPAYMENT SCORE:
- Heating Oil $274,000
- Electricity 107,000
- Field Lights-Loss on sale
44,000 - Replacement 137,700
- Bank Fees 26,529
- Furniture Conslt 16,500
- ERA Conslt 16,400
- 13 Crosswalks 38,000
- School Conslt 1,500
Subtotal $661,629.00
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