“Do you notice Tom Gormley yells almost exclusively at women? In this exchange he blames parents, moms, and dumb, happy Middlebury people for his own budget failures. In this clip, hero that he is, he yells at the only female board member there. She attempts to teach him his job as he screams at her.”
http://www.ourmoneypit.com/files/BOF_Clip1R_2_.wav
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Thats not what I heard. I heard a First Selectman telling it the way it is, and Mrs. Bollard not getting it. Glad Mr. DeAngelis has that recording up there, because it does more to bolster Mr. Gormley’s case than it does Mrs. Bollard’s.
Today’s Republican/American reports the new Town budget proposal cuts 3.16% from the current budget. That is a tax decrease. It is a budget that is 3.16% less than anything Mr. St. John could pass in recent years. Most of his budgets had increases not decreases.
Mr. Gormley was making the point that the real problem appears to be the runaway budget of Region 15. If they keep adding significant increases to the School Budget and the Town is forced to slash its side of the budget, there will be a negative affect on Middlebury, including lower property values, reduced bond ratings, and ISO ratings that will increase our homeowners insurance.
Another element is an apathetic and uninformed voting block only able to deliver 28% of the voters. Mr. Gormley pointed out that he has spoken to many who say they will continue to vote against the School Budget, not knowing that the School Budget was passed months ago.
The voters need to understand that the School Budget and the Town Budget are two different elements. The school side keeps going up, and the Town side is being slashed to lessen the blow on the taxpayer. At what point does it break, if allowed to continue?
Unless the Region 15 Budget is examined before the next time around, Middlebury will be in the same boat next year. The notion that throwing money at education makes education better has been disproved. The idea that there is no room in the Region 15 budget to cut, is unfounded. The Town needs to work with the Region to reduce their budget next year, and not increase it.
As far as characterizing Mr. Gormley’s exchange with Mrs. Bollard as some sort of sexist intimidation is silly. Mrs. Bollard is an alternate to the Board of Finance and has shown on many occasions that she is quite capable of handling herself. She has also in the past, dished out some of her own fiery exchanges at town meetings when she was a candidate and Mr. Gormley was Chairman of the Conservation Commission. As stated before, democracy can be loud.
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4 comments:
ummmm hello ? it may be a decrease in your mind, but our taxes will go up by 6 %. The economy is bad. The people don't have the money for ANY tax increase. please get in touch with reality.
did you listen to all the tapes or just the parts that support your narrow view of the world?
Region 15 went UP $912,000 this year. Hello! The town side of the budget went DOWN $343,000.
Do YOU get it? Do you know UP from DOWN? That is what Gormley was saying - or are you such a devoted follower of Pat Deangelis and Doctor St. John that you cannot think for yourself???
Do the math stupid. We are talking of HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars that would need to be chopped THIS YEAR! Do you get it? Chopped. THIS YEAR!
Should we sell every asset that the town owns? Did you suggest layoffs? Unh unh.. not gonna work in the short term.
What about next year? GREAT QUESTION! There's another $1.2 million of Region 15 increases coming in January (listen to Dayton - he said it). Another $1.2 million INCREASE next year. Where will we offset this in 2009?
Sell the parks? Build Straw Pond? Get the Washington Drive money back? Good luck.
What restructuring would YOU suggest? Be specific!
This will be the person who complains first when they are inconvienced because of lack of money on the town side. They will also be the first person to Bitch about their home values when they go down.........You need to get in touch with reality.
Where does Pat hide his tape recorder? Is it in his 'special' place. On the rare occasions when Pat ventures out in public, I've never seen his little device. He must show it to Dr. St. John when they are car pooling. Hey, ass or gas, Dr. St. J. don't work for free...
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