School Committee meeting last night

Have a peak at what was said in public comment at the School Committee meeting last night. Don't worry, Gerry Bloomberg is not speaking.

http://207.172.210.8:5002/CablecastPublicSite/show/1902?channel=1

0 to 26:40

And Bob Trembley's report to the SC, starts at 1:32:20 to 1:50:00

I get he wants more data from the buss drivers, but imo, he already knows that there's issues of children misbehaving not only on the buss ride but in the school. 

IMO, there needs to be a sub-committee that exclusively deals with bad behavior. There must be some way to real in the parents of these kids and make it clear, their kids shape up or ship out.

Not that it matters, but even in my day, we would be thrown off the bus if we swore at anyone, if we stood up, the buss would stop, if we were loud, we were told to quite down. I had to hitch-hike to school when I was in high school.

Perhaps there's not enough buss monitors or camera's on the buses or perhaps the parents of the unruly children should be made to ride the buss or sit in class to see how bad their kids are behaving. 

A task force should be assembled to address and come up with some plan to curb the violence and improve student safety. Someone from Petrini Associates should be a part of any discussion moving forward as the laws seem to favor bad behavior and not hold anyone accountable which leave everyone involved without a clear path forward trying to maintain a safe and productive school environment.

The State Police scandal is worse than we were told

Our friend Matt Rocheleau from the Globe has uncovered more disbursing facts around the OT scandal at the State Police. He reports today that former Trooper Daren DeJong  who plead guilty in 2106 for embezzling 14K are now saying he stole another 63K.
If our readers remember the lost or destroyed boxes of records that the SP said were gone have unveiled more and more time sheet and OT abuse. Although the officer has already plead guilty, the new revaluations might be used in his sentencing coming up soon.
The officer will be stripped of his pension and be made to pay back all of the money he stole from taxpayers. But you can count on reading more about more officers in the near future with the discovery of thousands of related records that were not destroyed.

On the same page... X Trooper Lt David Wilson was sentenced to 2 years of probation, 200 of community service and pay back 19K which is above the 12K that he already was made to pay back for his conviction on federal charges of OT theft.
The 32 year officer who retired in March after receiving a 80K buyout will loose his pension of 105K a year.

Ideas for Transportation funding

In the Globe today a piece of what Beacon Hill is pondering to inflict on everyone in the State who drives. One idea that some legislators have is to put tolls on the roads that boarder our State. It's time they find the courage to do so as the pike users have been the only people who pay tolls, that were supposed to be removed many years ago. It's about fairness and spreading the burden around in my mind.
One proposal would inflict a gas tax on everyone in the State. I think this idea would benefit the out of State drivers who live in States that do not have a .26 cents a gallon state tax.
I completely agree we need a huge chunk of money to be raised to help with our transportation re-structuring, but I fear it may be wasted by Beacon hill and their lobbyists.
If anyone has an idea and would like to voice their opinion to their State Reps, now is the time to do so. I sent a note to Maria this morning and suggest anyone who feels the need to be heard do so to the three who represent Framingham.

The Globes editorial on recycling

The new Globe editorial editor Bina Venkataraman wrote a piece on recycling and how Amazon should be paying their fair share of the costs to recycle their packaging. As she wrote, recycling is not free and is costing us now and in the future way more than anyone could have imagined just a few years ago. E-commerce has certainly made the problem worse and is an important contributor to the costs that municipalities and the eventually the tax payer has to spend to get rid of the materials.
There is a bill filed last year by Michael Day that would create the Sustainable Packing Advisory Board which would create a schedule for the collection of fees from producers of printed paper and packaging and would exclude small producers and beverage containers.

I can't imagine any company in the world, let alone Amazon would ever pay any attention to such a law. The lobbyists would kill it before it even got to committee.
The answer is not on the Hill, but in every City and Town by residents who will consider what they buy and how it comes packaged and how they recycle it.

It's time for our elected municipal leaders to create a Task Force of all the stakeholders, including residents and find a way to be better at recycling.

Insys founder John Kapoor gets 5.5 years in prision

Fed prosecutor Lelling has won another case involving the opioid crisis. At 76, Insys founder Kapoor may well end up dying in prison and god forbid if he got sick and needed pain meds from his old company. He might even become addicted. Some other company executives have cooperated with the feds in helping get to the bottom of how this company got half of America hooked on pain meds. Thousands have died, millions have had their lives destroyed over these drugs that were prescribed by doctors. Across the country many health care providers were convicted on federal charges related to the scheme.
So there's some justice in the world today and while it may never be enough for the victims, it's about all we can do at this point. Many states have already staked out what money they will get from the producers and distributors of these addictive drugs which I hope will go to treatment facilities.

Remeber Wells Fargo and the banking crisis?

The head of Wells Fargo was fined 17.5 million for his part in the banking scams.Five others from the company are being sued as well for around 37.5 million. The head of community banking for Wells is being sued for 25 million as well as a few other lower rank officers.
While most would say they all need to spend time in prison, hitting them in their pocket books may be the best outcome we could hope for.
The former  chief will not be able to work in banking for the rest of his life.... there's some justice.

Some good news from the City

 As many of you already know, Framingham Police Department has been sued by more than one officer. The ruling below indicates that the cops didn't have an argument worthy of substantiating their claims of the city violating their First Amendment Rights.. One officer who is still on the force is the biggest trouble maker. He is also the DEA liaison and is part of the Metro West Drug Task Force. 
All this over the managements rights to direct their forces where needed The lawyers made out as well as the taxpayers.


Release from the City

"FRAMINGHAM, MA- Today Judge Talwani of the US District Court in Boston entered summary judgment in favor of the City of Framingham in two separate lawsuits by a former and a current member of the Framingham Police Department, dismissing both officers’ claims in their entirety. 

Stuart v. Framingham, USDC Civil Action No. 1:16cv-12559-IT, and Gutwill v. Framingham, 1:16-cv-12191-IT.  The officers in both cases alleged that they suffered disciplinary actions, one officer being terminated and the other suspended, because of their alleged exercise of First Amendment rights. 

Framingham contended that the actions in question were valid disciplinary actions taken to address improper conduct by the officers.  The Court disagreed with the officers’ contentions, finding that they did not present sufficient evidence that their protected speech was a substantial and motivating factor in the disciplinary actions against them, which had been upheld by hearing officers in both cases.

for the complete notice
https://www.framinghamma.gov/list.aspx?MID=1233

Baker proposes policy changes at State Police

It may be that so many people contacted the Governor's office that finally made him realize that doing nothing was not an option at the State police.  Lets hope the legislature is not bullied by the cops to appose any new laws that Baker has proposed.

From the Globe by Matt Rocheleau

NEW BRAINTREE – Legislation filed by Gov. Charlie Baker will allow more swift and harsh punishment for state troopers who don’t live up to their oath, the governor announced Thursday.

The move comes as the department works to improve public trust following scandals involving overtime and detail pay.

Baker, speaking at the State Police Training Facility in New Braintree, said he would file legislation which, if passed, would allow the colonel to hand out unpaid suspensions for serious offenses and allow state agencies to collect damages from troopers who lie about their hours worked in order to collect additional pay.

“The current statutes are out of date and out of step with what is required to run an effective department today,” Baker said, adding that the colonel is unable to enforce accountability under current laws.

During his visit to the training academy, Baker addressed the 252 new recruits who are in their second week of 23 weeks of training. He told the recruits, believed to be among the most diverse group of trainees to ever enter the academy, that providing for public safety is one of the most important things government does.

The recruits are the first class to go through a new type of training using methods set forth by Col. Christopher Mason, who was named to head the department in October. Mason is known for his work investigating the murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington on Cape Cod and prosecution of her garbage collector, Christopher McGowan, in the killing.

The new training Mason has implemented includes an emphasis on ethics, after a scandal in which troopers, some of whom have lost their jobs and been prosecuted, were found to be accepting pay for details they did not work.

The troopers are also learning more about modern policing skills such as empathy, de-escalation, and crisis communication.

Asked about the state police academy’s paramilitary training model, Mason said that, too, will change.

“I believe that there is a role (for paramilitary training),” Mason said. “I think that in the past the paramilitary role has, perhaps, been overemphasized.”

Transitioning into an updated police department will mean carving out some of the time spent on paramilitary skills and shifting that time to training in the more modern skills that address things troopers are likely to face in their career such as dealing with people experiencing a mental health crisis.

But the training will remain rigorous.

“I definitely want to see a shift in the academy attitude. The academy staff here has understood and adopted the vision that I have and we see that playing out here,” he said. “But make no mistake, the state police academy is a difficult academy and we want to be difficult. We want to weed out the people that are here for the wrong reasons. We want people here that are committed to public service.”

Finding those people may be easier after the department adopts a new cadet program that will allow for civilian employees to work for the state police to learn about the job and determine whether they feel a calling to the profession. The department’s Student Trooper program, which allows high school-age pupils to spend a week at the academy for a taste of the skills troopers learn, will remain in place and separate from the cadet program, Mason said.

It was also announced that cameras, both those worn on the trooper’s body and those affixed to their vehicles, will be put in place. In another recent announcement, state police said cruisers will be fitted with GPS systems.

Mason agreed that public perception is that all police have and use these tools. Having video of an incident can help in prosecuting a case, he said.

The new initiatives are the result of successful negotiations with the State Police Association of Massachusetts, he said.

While he has no plans to retire anytime soon, Mason could be the last colonel to have worked his way through the ranks to the top job under the new legislation.

Baker’s bill will allow for candidates from other agencies to apply for the colonel’s job. Those who would be considered would have 10 or more years in law enforcement and five or more years in a police or military leadership position.

Mason said that while having an institutional knowledge of the state police is a benefit, he agrees with the process and said it’s better to “cast a wider net” for qualified candidates.

The Superintendent's response, Charlie Richards, Student Survey

Last night's school committee meeting was jammed packed with interesting information.

http://207.172.210.8:5002/CablecastPublicSite/show/1893?channel=1

The MTA and a few parents railed on Trembley about what was recorded heard in executive session. His response starts at 45:51. But before you listen to that, check out the public comments. Seems to me we have serious problems of unruly children and teachers scared and being hurt.

A student survey was conducted at the HS at 1:04:30. The survey was answered by 749 students (72%) and as you will see, most students feel that the school is doing well in recycling.  As I can personally attest from being in the cafeteria at lunch time for two years registering kids to vote, recycling was not being done at all. 

Lastly, last night on channel 5, they did a story on a young blind man who is a camera guy at the school channel. It's a heart warming story about perseverance. Worth a watch

https://www.wcvb.com/article/a-plus-framingham-high-s-charlie-richards/30538096