BOH move to Callahan a done deal? or not
For those who couldn't get there yesterday, it was a packed house... mostly seniors I'd say at the Callahan Senior Center. The folks from the Council on Aging all seemed to be against the move and the process (or lack of) the administration did to choose Callahan for the BOH move.
I was surprised at the amount of alternative sites suggested from the audience, a few I would have never thought of, but the Mayor's team ruled out each.
The Mayor has painted herself into a corner and have a deadline of June 15th as a move out day. Everyone knew since last year, the Fuller school would be torn down and a new school built on that same property.
If she has any regard for the seniors in Town, she will make other arrangements. She could, bit the bullet and ask the council for some money to lease space somewhere else, like the Perini building where the school department is now.
It was refreshing to see seniors show up for this meeting.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 9:30 AM
26 Comments
26 Comments:
I agree that she has backed herself into a corner. But when backed into a corner people usually make rash decisions so I am expecting she is going to do the same. I was happy to see so many people be vocal about their non-support of the mayor and this decision. She lives in a bubble where she seems to think she is doing a good job. She needs a reality check and I am hoping that the loud, strong and united opposition to her plan on this was that wake up call for her, but who knows. Some people just never get it as they are too caught up in their own opinion of themselves
THIS IS STILL NOT A FINAL DECISION. KEEP THE PRESSURE ON THE MAYOR. CALL HER OFFICE. SEND HER AN EMAIL. STOP BY HER OFFICE. MAKE HER NEXT COFFEE WITH THE MAYOR EVENT. SHE NEEDS TO SEE THAT NO ONE SUPPORTS THIS DECISION.
There are always options. Some require more work. Others require hurting the vulnerable. Our mayor seems to want to take the easy path and hurt the vulnerable instead of doing the work to find another option. Shame on her
Has anyone seen the contract with the builder on this job? Are we required under the contract to give them space, and if so, what was the plan when signing that contract for where they would go and where the BOH would go? I would like to see that contract. Why would we agree to take on the added expense of $65000 to make structural changes to the Callahan Center at our expense when this contractor is making millions on the job? Makes no sense to me
interesting question on the contract. I'll ask Adam Freudburg if he would know that detail.
She has known about this issue really since she took office. We have been talking about building a new school for years. Even if you say she did not know until the vote on Fuller was taken in December, that was still 4 months ago. If it really took her 4 months to rule out the limited other options, she still had more than sufficient time to find a better solution than the one she is proposing. Slack and lazy work if you ask me.
We are spinning our wheels. She has decided and she is not going to change her mind. Remind you of someone else in government?
Time for a recall vote? I think it is something worth discussing. Anyone willing to lead that discussion?
Not one person in the audience yesterdat supported the Mayor on this move. Not one. Her employees all walked the walk and talked the talk, but it was clear they were not really supportive of this either. To be honest, I was more concerned about the fact that her employees seem scared to voice an opinion that is not in agreement with the Mayor. You surround yourself with good people so that you can hear opposing views. So either she does not think her hires are smart enough to be worth listening too, or she sees herself as a dictator, not a consensus builder. Neither of these is a good option.
Great question about the contract from a previous poster. Jim I think you need to go to the school building committee or the city solicitor to get a copy of that contract, although one would hope the Mayor’s office has also seen it.
Does the city council or the board of health have any ability to overrule this decision if the Mayor chooses unwisely to go forward with this? And anyone know how long before we get an answer from the Attorney General’s office?
From Adam regarding my question on the BOH move out of Fuller:
What the Building Committee has been told over the last year or so is that the BOH moving out is not about the construction company needing their space. It's about safety as no government office can function at the Northeastern corner of the current Fuller, as the new construction site is soon to be right outside there. Having BOH customers enter the existing space will soon be a major safety and access issue. FPS had proposed multiple ideas to the administration for the BOH over the last year plus. You saw the results of the citywide search at the Senior Center yesterday.
The council can't stop the move. The money is already in this years budget. The Mayor could ask the council to shift some money (more than the 65K already allotted)to a larger appropriation for a commercial space to lease for 2 years. This could bail the Mayor out... and give them time for a better temporary plan. I'm sure we could find 100,000 grand laying around to find a better location. The Mayor came up with money for the branch removal and the money for the recycling increase costs... why not the BOH?
Very interesting response from Adam. So they made lots of suggestions but the Mayor never mentioned that to anyone yesterday. Very interesting. Lying by omission seems to be her stock and trade.
She is blind to the reality of how big a deal this is to residents. She is elected to do the will of the voter. She seems to have forgotten that, although I suspect she never gave a dam about that from the beginning.
Has anyone here actually spoken to the Mayor about this one on one? Jim, have you? I am curious about whether she is putting on a show for the public or if she really is planning to do something that it seems no one in the city of Framingham other than her thinks is a good idea.
What a mess this is. And it is a mess of the Mayor’s making. Too bad she is not smart enough to recognize this.
You know this is a done deal unless someone finds a legal way to stop her. And once they are moved in it will become mute to complain. So any ideas on a legal way to stop this from happening? Has anyone ever asked the Buildings guy if her statements about not other options are in fact true? Someone I find it difficult to believe that in all the schools, libraries, and and municipal buildings here in Framingham there is no viable space for the Board of Health. Seems to be lots of empty space in downtown, why not move this downtown where it would be easily accessible to everyone and would help to drive people downtown.
Where is Steffanini when you need him? This is a cluster. We should be paying attention to the fact that not one of our elected officials seems to have an answer for this. All of them knew this had to be done, but none of them seem to have come up with a solution that would be logical and supported by the community. So yeah, the mayor messed up, but so did all the district councilors who have been very busy pointing out the mayors mistake without ever offering a better solution. Vote them all out!
Out of almost all the managers/directors, I trust Paolini the most. I've talked with him eye to eye and I truly believe he knows what he is talking about. That's not to say he may be directed to produce the least expensive alternatives to rehab of one of our buildings or lease some commercial space... like Perini.
I don't doubt his vast experience and know how. Keep in mind, he was the one that halted the Loring Arena project because of structural errors and convinced us at Town Meeting to invest in the Callahn Center a few years ago. I think he has the best interests of the Town in mind. And he may have been instructed to make other possible locations look worse than they are. Like the asbestos in the old library. If that's the case.. then the employees who work there now are being hurt by being there. That just dosn't make sense to me.
Great point Jim about the asbestos. Why is it ok for some employees of the city to be exposed, but not others? Sounds a bit discriminatory to me. Just saying.
Cannon and Stoll have publicly lambasted her... but your right, no solutions offered by any of them. At this point, the relationship is so adversarial nothing they say may move the needle. I was wondering why Cheryl didn't rattle off 10 properties that she knows of that are available right now.
John has to stay out of this IMO. He can't be seen as the fixer here.
The Ag's office will weigh in shortly i believe which is the only wide card in this game for now I'm afraid. I haven't spoken with the mayor about much of anything as I get the impression she could care less what I think about anything.
this is my letter to the Mayor:
Mayor Spicer
Good Day
As you heard yesterday at the Callahan, no one there seemed to like what is proposed. After hearing and reading the press release about why the other locations are not considered, it's my belief that asking the council for more money to make the move may be in order. I think I understand you wanting to spend as little as possible for this temporary BOH move, but at what price do you pay for upsetting so many of us who are seniors in Town. The public and the city council I believe would back you if you asked for a transfer of funds to keep the BOH out of the Callahan. And deal with the budget increase in the upcoming budget forecast.
I'm sure there are dozens of factors that we (the marginalized taxpayers) don't know anything about, but we always have an opinion. Please find another location for the BOH.
Great letter Jim. Did you get any response?
I did
Her point person thanked me for the note. I would hope by now. Every senior who has access to a computer has sent the Mayor a note. I'm trying to understand how making an ordinance giving the building over to the Council on Aging will stop the BOH move.
As of this date 4.15.19 the decision to move BOH to Callahan is not final. So maybe the Administration heard the cries from the seniors.
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