2024 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WRSD WARRANT ARTICLE(S) UPDATE: THE CRAVEN, INVERTEBRATE, PANDERING-FOR-VOTES STERLING SELECT BOARD CAVES TO THE WRSD COMMITTEE AND OVERRIDES ITS OWN APPOINTED STERLING FINANCE COMMITTEE AS TO THE WRSD FY 2025 BUDGET REQUEST

For DECADES, up through the 2018 Sterling Annual Town Meeting, the proposed next-fiscal-year WRSD Budget requests were presented in TWO Warrant Articles, the first Article for the state-required net minimum contribution from the Town of Sterling, in accordance with Mass.Gen.Laws Ch. 70, Sections 3 and 6–

General Law – Part I, Title XII, Chapter 70, Section 3 (malegislature.gov)

General Law – Part I, Title XII, Chapter 70, Section 6 (malegislature.gov)  —

and the second Article for amounts above that state-required net minimum.

At the 2010 Sterling Annual Town Meeting voters actually REJECTED the WRSD’s FY 2011 budget request for the amount above required net minimum after then-Finance Committee Chair Larry Pape expounded upon the WRSD’s budget bloat and unaccountability. Not surprisingly, the Sterling Select Board, INVERTEBRATES THEN AS THEY ARE NOW, refused to re-appoint Larry Pape when his term on the Finance Committee expired in 2012.

Sterling voters, all those decades through the 2018 Annual Town Meeting, had no difficulty understanding the WRSD two-Article Budget request format and the reasons for it.

THIS YEAR, to its credit, the Sterling Finance Committee– appointed by the Sterling Select Board– attempted to restore that WRSD budget request two-Article Annual Town Meeting format. That two-Article format was ACTUALLY INCLUDED IN THE DRAFT 2024 Annual Town Meeting Warrant reviewed by the Select Board during its 27 March 2024 Meeting.

At that Select Board meeting Linda Woodland, dishonest shill/WRSD Committee member from Sterling, blew more smoke than a U.S. Navy destroyer smokescreen generator about the WRSD budgeting process and what it entailed. The utterly CRAVEN, INVERTEBRATE, PANDERING-FOR-VOTES Sterling Select Board, led off by Kirsten Newman, bought into Woodland’s BULLSHIT, pulled the rug out from under its own appointed Sterling Finance Committee, and TANKED the two-Article approach recommended by the Finance Committee after much hard work and study on its part. They’re all soft as rotten grapes. WATCH the disgusting and disgraceful charade beginning at 1 hour, 13 minutes, and ten seconds (1:13:10) and extending to 1:26:37–

Stream Video – Town Hall Streams

There is now only the one WRSD budget Article as requested by Woodland, Article 2—

2024_atm_final-combined.pdf (sterling-ma.gov)

NOTE TO SELECT BOARD MEMBERS CRANSON, SMITH, AND NEWMAN– Try going to Amazon and buying spines online.

SEE, HOWEVER, WARRANT ARTICLE 29, REQUESTED BY VOTERS’ PETITION, THAT WOULD LIMIT THE WRSD’S FY 2025 APPROPRIATION TO ONLY THE STATE-REQUIRED NET MINIMUM CONTRIBUTION.

Of course, the GUTLESS, CRAVEN, PANDERING-FOR-VOTES Select Board put Article 29 LAST on the Warrant, thereby attempting to render it moot.

Your correspondent will make a Motion to advance it for discussion and vote immediately after the vote on Article 1. I will need a ‘Second’ to support that Motion.

It is time to put a stop to the WRSD’s dishonesty, waste, and abuse of Sterling’s taxpayers. The WRSD’s total student enrollment dropped a full ten per cent (10%), the equivalent of FIFTY (50) empty classrooms, between FY 2015 and now, while the feckless, cowardly, out-of-control WRSD Committee and Administration ADDED employees rather implementing personnel cuts corresponding to that student enrollment drop as they were authorized to do according to Mass.Gen.Laws Ch. 71, Section 42–

General Law – Part I, Title XII, Chapter 71, Section 42 (malegislature.gov)

You can check out the WRSD’s bloated payroll roster– about 1 employee for every 6.5 to 6.7 students –HERE:

WRSD Staff Directory (google.com)  

Pay special attention to “Central Office” and “District Wide” duplications and redundancy. Yeah, right, we need them as much as we all need additional bodily orifices.

The WRSD was founded in 1955 and it took SIXTY (60) years– to FY 2015– for it to reach a total budget of $85 million. In just ten (10) years WRSD budgets have BALLOONED from $85 million to the $121.9 million requested for FY 2025. That is absolutely disgusting abuse and exploitation of ALL district taxpayers and it is time for a taxpayer rebellion.

J.G.

BASED ON STERLING’S STUDENT ENROLLMENT FIGURES THE WRSD HAS BEEN HOSING STERLING TAXPAYERS FOR ASSESSMENTS ABOVE REQUIRED NET MINIMUMS, DISPROPORTIONATELY, FOR YEARS, WHEN HOLDEN AND RUTLAND TAXPAYERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOOTING THOSE SUMS

Thanks to a very smart and diligent Sterling Finance Committee member the truth about the WRSD Committee’s Budget Assessment practices, unfairly, unethically, and unlawfully favoring Holden and Rutland property taxpayers to the extreme disfavor and prejudice of Sterling’s property taxpayers, apparently implemented for years, have been revealed. The Amended Wachusett Regional School District Agreement, Section 4, METHOD OF APPORTIONING COSTS OF THE DISTRICT, provides:

“Payment of all costs shall be apportioned and assessed to each Member Town based upon the prior October 1st student enrollment percentage of each Member Town and the requirements of Massachusetts General Laws” (emphasis added).

Mass.Gen.Laws Ch. 70, Section 6, LAST SENTENCE, provides:

“The district may choose to spend additional amounts; provided, however, that such decisions shall be made and such amounts charged to members according to the district’s regional agreement”(emphasis added).

In law “costs” and “charges” have the same meaning. It is time for Sterling Town Counsel to address the WRSD Committee’s unfair, unethical, and unlawful budget assessment practices in order to protect Sterling property taxpayers from now forward.

The following graphs and quoted commentary are courtesy of that astute Sterling Finance Committee member himself:

“As noted, the graphs below…convey the idea more clearly.  Hovering over any bar segment will display the assessment value breakdown per student in $K.  The width of each town section in the graph is representative of each towns’ population… Again, none of this is challenging the State imposed MRC [minimum required contribution], this is only about the disparity in the ‘above minimum contribution’ assessments by the district (the only differences [disparities] in these charts are the gray bars at the top).

The first graph shows the cost per student as it is currently proposed by WRSD, and clearly displays the unfair treatment that Sterling receives on a cost per student basis.  Each child in the district receives the same education[.] Sterling (the highest per child charge) [students] do[] not receive a better education than Rutland (the lowest per child charge) [students].

The second graph shows what the cost per student should be according to the district agreement.  Being a district where each child gets the same, equal education, the charge per student should be equal.”

THIS YEAR THE WRSD IS ATTEMPTING TO HOSE STERLING TAXPAYERS, UNFAIRLY AND DISPROPORTIONATELY, CLOSE TO $2 MILLION, A SUM THAT SHOULD BE FOOTED BY HOLDEN AND RUTLAND TAXPAYERS. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE. REMEMBER THAT AT THE MAY 2024 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING WHEN THE WRSD BUDGET REQUEST COMES UP FOR A VOTE.

J.G.

“TAKE BACK STERLING” LAWN SIGNS ARE AVAILABLE. GET ONE, DISPLAY IT, AND SEND A MESSAGE.

Town of Sterling Regime Punks have been stealing “TakeBackSterling” — TakeBackSterling  — lawn signs. Don’t let pro-Regime criminals stifle free speech and open debate in OUR Town. You can help. Send a message by displaying in YOUR front yard a “TakeBackSterling” lawn sign. To request such a lawn sign please contact former Board of Health member Gary Menin at gcmeninsr@gmail.com 

I’m requesting one.

Stay Tuned!

J.G.

TOWN OF MILTON FILES BLISTERING ANSWER AND COUNTERCLAIM TO GASBAG AG CAMPBELL’S BOGUS SO-CALLED ‘MBTA COMMUNITIES ZONING DISTRICTS’ LAWSUIT IN THE SJC

MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT. THE TOWN OF MILTON AND ITS BRILLIANT LAWYERS ARE PROTECTING EVERY SO-CALLED ‘MBTA COMMUNITY’ IN MASSACHUSETTS FROM THE TYRANNY ATTEMPTED BY GASBAG AG ANDREA CAMPBELL AND GASBAG GOVERNOR MAURA HEALEY.

SEE the Town of Milton’s Answer and COUNTERCLAIM—

AG v. Milton – Motion for Leave.pdf (townofmilton.org)

Your correspondent feels vindicated. I’ve maintained these positions and written about them for more than a year. During that time I felt like a voice in the wilderness.

J.G.

THE SJC STALLS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION HIRE AG ANDREA CAMPBELL’S TYRANNICAL ‘MBTA ZONING DISTRICTS’ CASE AGAINST THE TOWN OF MILTON

Massachusetts Affirmative Action Hire AG Andrea Campbell got the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to retain her tyrannical ‘MBTA Zoning Districts’ case against the Town of Milton, but failed in her bid to have that Court hear the case before MANY eastern Massachusetts towns conduct their Springtime Annual Town Meetings. She wanted the SJC to expedite the case in an attempt to bludgeon eastern Massachusetts towns into creating so-called ‘high density MBTA Communities affordable housing zoning districts’ under Mass.Gen.Laws Ch. 40A, Section 3A. She’s so intellectually dishonest that she refuses to acknowledge the CLEAR language of that statute providing that the only penalty for a so-called ‘MBTA Community’ falling under Ch. 40A, Section 3A, deciding not to adopt such bogus zoning districts, is the cut-off of funding enumerated in Section 3A(b). THERE IS NO PROVISION IN THAT STATUTE FOR INJUNCTIVE PEFORMANCE RELIEF.

SEE:

Mass. General Laws c.40A § 3A

Updates

(a)

(1) An MBTA community shall have a zoning ordinance or by-law that provides for at least 1 district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right; provided, however, that such multi-family housing shall be without age restrictions and shall be suitable for families with children. For the purposes of this section, a district of reasonable size shall: (i) have a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre, subject to any further limitations imposed by section 40 of chapter 131 and title 5 of the state environmental code established pursuant to section 13 of chapter 21A; and (ii) be located not more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station, if applicable.

(b)

An MBTA community that fails to comply with this section shall not be eligible for funds from: (i) the Housing Choice Initiative as described by the governor in a message to the general court dated December 11, 2017; (ii) the Local Capital Projects Fund established in section 2EEEE of chapter 29; (iii) the MassWorks infrastructure program established in section 63 of chapter 23A, or (iv) the HousingWorks infrastructure program established in section 27 of chapter 23B.

(c)

The executive office of housing and livable communities, in consultation with the executive office of economic development, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, shall promulgate guidelines to determine if an MBTA community is in compliance with this section.

It now appears that the full SJC will hear the Town of Milton case in October 2024.

SEE: Full SJC to hear Milton rezoning case – CommonWealth Beacon

Town Counsel for the Town of Milton, in his legal Brief filed with the SJC, pointed out, correctly, that the ONLY penalty set forth in Ch. 40A, Section 3A for ignoring that statute is the cut-off of funding categories enumerated in Section 3A(b).

SEE: Towns-Opposition-to-AGs-Motion-to-Reserve-and-Report-3-12-24 (townofmilton.org)

NOTE:  Commonwealth of Massachusetts officials would have us believe that the so-called ‘MBTA Communities Guidelines’ spewed out by outright dishonest hacks constituting the so-called ‘Guidelines Team’ collected by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, now the Department of Housing and Livable Communities (with all the China Joe Biden-Maura Healey illegal immigrants overrunning our cities and towns, what a F#*@ING JOKE), have some binding, legal effect. THEY DO NOT. THEY ARE SO-CALLED ‘GUIDELINES,’ NOT REGULATIONS, AND, THEREFORE, DO NOT HAVE THE FORCE OF LAW. The late Alex Whiteside, Esq., former Chief Counsel to the Department of Housing and Community Development, made that clear here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12pkmV4XzBMxSM-cjInZdHOuDG7JrlNYo35E9eaz8oNU/edit#heading=h.3903zthiikfl

The Town of Sterling, like the Town of Holden that refused to go along with Ch. 40A, Section 3A, is exempt from that statute because it has NO LAND WITHIN 1/2 MILE OF ANY TYPE OF TRANSIT STATION OR TERMINAL DESCRIBED IN THAT STATUTE.

NOTE THAT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION HIRE AG ANDREA CAMPBELL HAS NOT SUED THE TOWN OF HOLDEN. SHE KNOWS THAT SHE WILL LOSE IF SHE DOES.

DESPITE the clear language of that statute there are OUTRIGHT LIARS AND BUFFOONS in Sterling Town Government saying that the Town of Sterling is subject to Ch. 40A, Section 3A MBTA zoning districts requirements. IGNORE THEM ALL– THE MAKE-WORK SO-CALLED ‘TOWN PLANNER’ IN PARTICULAR.

Do I trust the SJC to apply the clear language of Mass.Gen.Laws Ch. 40A, Section 3A(b) in the Town of Milton case. ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY NOT. MOST SJC APPOINTEES ARE INTELLECTUALLY DISHONEST RESULT-ORIENTED POLITICAL HACKS WHO ADOPT THE POSITIONS ADVOCATED BY THE COMMIE BOSTON GLOBE A/K/A BOSTON GLOB. In this matter the Boston Glob has gone all in for tyranny.

Want a notion as to how ‘highly qualified’ SJC appointees are??? Well then, check THIS out:

Howie Carr: MA Gov. Healey’s brazen hack full-court powerplay (bostonherald.com)

Yeah, revenge of the carpet munchers…

Stay tuned.

J.G.

PROPERTY-DEVELOPING SELF-SERVING WEASEL CHAIR OF THE STERLING PLANNING BOARD, ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST CARL’ CORRINNE, AND ZBA CHAIR PATRICK FOX, HAVE A PISSING CONTEST OVER DECREASING THE DENSITY OF SO-CALLED ‘MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENTS’

Bent Self-Serving Weasel, ‘Conflict of Interest Carl’ Corrinne, the developer-Chair of the Sterling Planning Board, unsurprisingly, is fighting ZBA Chair Patrick Fox’s attempts to increase the required lot sizes and setbacks for Sterling’s so-called ‘Multi-Family Developments.’

SEE:

Click to access 11-16-2023_minutes_-_planning_board.pdf

Click to access 1-25-2024_minutes_-_planning_board.pdf

NO surprise here. It just so happens that ‘Conflict of Interest Carl’ is the self-serving weasel PoS attempting to claim that the land under the New England Power Company high-voltage lines northerly of Clinton Road, on the property known as 100 Clinton Road owned by him, counts as required ‘open space’ for his proposed multi-family development there–even though ONLY underground utilities are permitted within such required ‘open space.’ Here is the relevant language within Sterling Protective (Zoning) By-Law Section 301-4.2 as to ‘Multifamily Developments’–

Open space.

a. 

At least 60% of the parcel shall be maintained as open space, and at least 40% of the parcel shall be contiguous open space, excluding required yards and buffer areas.

b. 

The required open space shall be used for conservation, recreation, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, or for a combination of these uses, and shall be served by suitable access for such purpose.

c. 

Underground utilities to serve the development may be located within the required open space (emphasis added).

Yeah, in my dictionary a photo of Corrinne appears next to the definition of ‘Dishonest Self-Serving Weasel PoS.’

Stay tuned.

J.G.

GASBAG AFFIRMATIVE ACTION HIRE AG ANDREA CAMPBELL FILES BOGUS LAWSUIT AGAINST TOWN OF MILTON OVER TOWN’S INTELLIGENT REJECTION OF SO-CALLED ‘MBTA ZONING DISTRICTS’

Gasbag Cretin Affirmative Action Hire AG Andrea Campbell has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Milton– Campbell asks high court to force Milton into compliance with housing law (bostonherald.com) — after voters there, in a Town-wide election, rejected, intelligently, so-called ‘MBTA High-Density Affordable Housing Zoning Districts.’ Campbell is attempting to force the Town of Milton into designating at least one such so-called ‘MBTA Zoning District’ under Mass.Gen.Laws Ch. 40A, Section 3A, set forth as follows:

(a)

(1) An MBTA community shall have a zoning ordinance or by-law that provides for at least 1 district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right; provided, however, that such multi-family housing shall be without age restrictions and shall be suitable for families with children. For the purposes of this section, a district of reasonable size shall: (i) have a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre, subject to any further limitations imposed by section 40 of chapter 131 and title 5 of the state environmental code established pursuant to section 13 of chapter 21A; and (ii) be located not more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station, if applicable.

(b)

An MBTA community that fails to comply with this section shall not be eligible for funds from: (i) the Housing Choice Initiative as described by the governor in a message to the general court dated December 11, 2017; (ii) the Local Capital Projects Fund established in section 2EEEE of chapter 29; (iii) the MassWorks infrastructure program established in section 63 of chapter 23A, or (iv) the HousingWorks infrastructure program established in section 27 of chapter 23B.

(c)

The executive office of housing and livable communities, in consultation with the executive office of economic development, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, shall promulgate guidelines to determine if an MBTA community is in compliance with this section.

BUT CAMPBELL-THE-DEMAGOGUE, WHO, APPARENTLY, WAS NEVER TRAINED TO READ STATUTES OR ANYTHING ELSE PROPERLY, HAS ONE BIG PROBLEM: UNDER SECTION (b) THE ONLY REMEDY FOR THE STATE IS THE CUT-OFF OF FUNDING SOURCES ENUMERATED THEREIN. THE STATUTE IS CRYSTAL CLEAR ABOUT THAT.

To their credit Town of Milton officials intend to fight vigorously against Campbell’s tyranny.

Stay tuned.

JG

GET READY TO SIGN THE PETITION TO RECALL STERLING BOH CHAIRMAN ALLEN HOFFMAN. 1500 SIGNATURES NEEDED

The following is re-printed from “News Link Live” with the permission of a Petition-drive leader:

Sign the Petition to Remove Sterling’s Board of Health Chairman Allen Hoffman

Posted on February 11, 2024 by Paul Salber

Read Time:58 Second

To Voters, Taxpayers and Concerned Citizens of Sterling:

A petition to recall Board of Health Chairman, Allen Hoffman, will begin soon. This will provide the voters of Sterling with an opportunity this May to elect three new members to the Board of Health (BOH). These will be members who care about Sterling residents and will be responsive to their needs.

The effort to remove Mr. Hoffman is driven by:

  • The BOH’s actions of callous indifference to the will of the voters.
  • Their enactment of unnecessary, burdensome, and costly septic regulations.
  • Exposing the town of Sterling to potential legal (and financial) liability by contradicting state regulations.
  • Creating regulations which negatively impact property values.
  • Their arrogance by ignoring the overwhelming town vote to reverse these flawed regulations.


Please sign the petition to remove Mr. Hoffman and allow us to take back our town.
Our goal is to gather 1,500 signatures of registered voters (within a 20-day window) and we will need volunteers to help gather them.

If you have any questions or would like to help, please email us at TakeBackSterling@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Paul Salber

A Concerned Resident of Sterling

TOWN OF MILTON VOTERS TO GOV. HEALEY AND AG CAMPBELL– SHOVE ‘MBTA HIGH-DENSITY ZONING DISTRICTS,’ SIDEWAYS!

In a resounding victory for those seeking to preserve the Town of Milton’s neighborhood character, Milton voters, on 14 February 2024, soundly rejected the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ attempted cram-down of so-called ‘MBTA High-Density Affordable Housing Districts’ despite de-funding and lawsuit threats from Gov. Maura ‘Hold It’ Healey and affirmative action hire AG Andrea Campbell– Milton thumbs its nose at MBTA zoning law – CommonWealth Beacon

Milton voters to Gov. Healey and AG Campbell—take your so-called ‘MBTA Zoning Districts’ and SHOVE them, SIDEWAYS!

So, add Milton to the Towns of Berkley, Holden, Littleton, and Middleborough that have rejected the onerous and tyrannical provisions set forth in Mass.Gen.Laws Ch. 40A, Section 3A– Mass. General Laws c.40A § 3A | Mass.gov

It is good to know that the historical, but apparently long moribund, spirit of resistance to tyranny still lives on in Massachusetts!

J.G.