Community Update

If you have been following recent BOS meetings you are aware
that a majority of our selectmen have defined a new evaluation procedure for
our Town Manager.  Evaluation grades and
comments are solicited from all 5 Selectmen but the lowest set of grades, and
associated comments, is eliminated from the final, formal evaluation.  Does this really seem like a healthy
procedure?  How does this procedure
benefit the Residents of Sudbury? 

 If you have been following the recent FINCOM meetings you
are aware that our Town Manager recently lost a vote on a portion of the FY15
budget submitted to FINCOM for approval. 
During budget discussions the Selectmen, Town Manager and other high
tenure elected and appointed officials debated aggressively that FINCOM did not
truly understand the financial impact of the proposed budget changes.  Following the FINCOM meeting, the Town
Manager, Selectmen and Town Counsel argued FINCOM may have had a legal quorum
but did not have a “proper majority” to constitute a legal vote on the Town
Manager’s budget.  This discussion seems
a little late and a lot self-serving. Why wasn’t the concept of a “proper
majority” discussed prior to the vote.  After
375 years of Town Manager/Administrator form of government why are we just now
discussing what constitutes a “proper majority” for budget votes? 

 40B (the state law requiring 10% of a community’s housing
inventory to be “affordable”) has been law for over 40 years.  Sudbury’s lack of compliance with the law has
created tremendous discord among residents and tremendous risk for our
infrastructure and our school systems.  Although
we have had opportunity to comply, we simply have not positively and measurably
addressed the legal requirements.  The
travesty at Johnson Farm evolved through our own inattention and inaction.  Sudbury may have a highly acclaimed Housing
Production Plan but it is incapable of producing anything.

 We should not be ignoring any minority input (the Town Manager
evaluation).  We should not be
retroactively negating “checks and balances” (FINCOM proposed budget changes) offered
by of our Town Committees.  And we should
not allow “laizze faire” strategies to impact the long term sustainability of
Sudbury.

 This is why I am voting for change in our Town
Management.  Please join me in voting
Monday March 31, 2014   Vote for Pat
Brown for Selectman.