I personally agree with the charge leveled by Chris Ashley last month. The Board of Selectmen has collectively failed the town by our mismanagement of the Municipal Building initiative. Our errors of omission two years ago may be somewhat forgivable; our errors of commission this past year are not.
When the Board of Selectmen first commissioned the Municipal Building Committee two years ago, few of us anticipated the extent and cost of the renovations and expansions that would be proposed. We did not have then the insight we have today into our future capital needs–a whopping $15 million over the next five years. If we had, we would have defined the task differently, with a spending cap we could afford.
Instead we gave the MBC a blank check.
When presented with the grand vision embodied in MBC’s warrant article at last year’s Annual Town Meeting, the Selectmen did attempt to limit the taxpayer’s liability through a statement of intent that bounded Town Hall expansion, defined a public/private funding model for Hildreth House, and committed the Board of Selectmen to find a self-sustaining use for the Old Library. All five Selectmen approved this statement of intent. This was the contract we, as a board, made with each other and made with the town, as read aloud by our chair at Town Meeting.
And we gave MBC a blank check again.
You have followed the conflict as some of us tried to use the statement of intent to control the ballooning Town Hall costs, while other Selectmen disputed the legitimacy of the contract they themselves made. And now, the town is faced with a proposal that costs almost twice as much as we were told last year. The Board of Selectmen has also collectively reneged on our agreement with each other, and more importantly our agreement with the town, upon which we moved ahead with this project .
I urge you to reject the current Town Hall proposal, and insist that the Board of Selectmen do it right this time by giving you a comprehensive proposal with spending caps. And that we stick by our agreements with each other and with you.
Bill Johnson
Warren Avenue
Editor’s note: Bill Johnson is a member of the Board of Selectmen.
