Franklin Matters:
1. - What is Franklin’s big issue? What steps should we take to resolve it?
Glenn Jones:
Franklin’s biggest issue is the budget. Every year Franklin tries to balance a budget of almost 100 Million dollars to support some 33 thousand residents. It’s a daunting task. Services are bare bone, schools are struggling to provide on less each year, and our residents are facing one of the largest un-employment rates in years. If we intend to provide exemplary services to our residents it’s going to take a viable, well thought out, long-term plan. A plan needs to be presented to Franklin residents with hard understandable facts. It should be the Town Councils goal to reach out to the people of Franklin and highlight the options that will help Franklin stay on track to a sustainable future.
Franklin Matters:
2. - What is your position on the proposed Charter Revisions?
Glenn Jones:
The Charter is Franklin’s Constitution and sets the guidelines for our form of government. For that reason alone any revisions to the Charter need to be taken very seriously.
The Charter Review Committee has noted several recommended changes. These potential changes are presented to the Town Council for review and if acceptable gets forwarded to the State Legislature for approval, it can then be presented back to the Residents of Franklin for their final approval.
One of the many recommendations presented in a minority report is to change the position of ‘Town Clerk’ from an elected position to an appointed position. I personally feel that the ‘Town Clerk’ should remain as an elected position. The ‘Town Clerk’ is the main interface between the people of Franklin and the Town’s Administration. When you interact with our ‘Town Clerk’ you are truly talking to a person whose whole heart is for and from Franklin, MA. She is not a cog in the Town’s administration; she is the face of all the residents of Franklin. It’s true our Town Clerk requires a certain level of expertise that our current Town Clerk has acquired during her tenure, but with diligent tutoring and proper procedures, any well intended intelligent Franklin resident can repeat her contributions and execute the job of ‘Town Clerk’.
One other potential change is that of ‘Town Treasurer’ from an elected position to appointed position. On this issue I feel the “Town Treasurer” is not so much a public position as it is a professional one. So, with that being said, the position of “Town Treasurer” should be an appointed position. However, I feel there should be a stipulation that all appointed positions should be offered to Franklin residents first.
“Staggered terms for our elected officials” is also a topic that has come up during the charter review. All Town Council members should be able to sit no longer than 3 years before having to be re-elected. Maintaining continuity in our government is paramount and some restructuring is probably necessary in the future in order to better meet the needs of the Town of Franklin and its residents. A workable plan will need to be efficient and effective in order to preserve the stability of our form of government.
Franklin Matters:
3 - What use do you envision for the Open Space Fund?
Glenn Jones:
With potentially millions of dollars in our Open Space Fund, we as a Town should be concerned about the preservation of any open space we can acquire. Franklin has seen enough development in the past 2 decades to make anyone’s head spin. So, if we have the means and funding to keep a reasonable amount of open space in Franklin we should. However, since the Open Space Fund is a capital fund, many people have wondered if that money could be better spent on other important, under prioritized, capital issues in town, such as the school facilities, roadways, library, and other town assets. It will be a large responsibility of the new Town Council to review all available funds and decide which items are more of a priority than others. The people of Franklin should indeed voice their opinions on these matters and require transparency and accountability of their new Town Council to act in their best interests. If elected to the Town Council I will be honored to help shoulder this responsibility and bring the topical results back to the people.
Franklin Matters:
4 - What is your position on the Financial Planning Committee report?
Glenn Jones:
First off, let me say the Long-Range Financial Planning Committee (LRFPC) has done a tremendous job of trying to bring all of the major issues that do and will affect our community to the citizens of Franklin. I think Franklin as a whole greatly benefits from superb municipal services with a comparably low tax burden. As the report indicates we are the #1 recipient of State Aid to schools, comparable to 31 peer towns, and that aid amounts to a large portion of our budget. Without this aid, we would be in a considerably difficult place. That being said, it is well known that the Massachusetts is also having some of the most difficult budget issues that it has ever had and as the trickle down effect dictates we would chance to lose a good portion of our state aid. That is a portion of our budget we can not afford to lose. We will, as the data suggest in the report, have to maintain a minimum level of school spending in order to meet state mandates. We as a town will have to find that money or the services we enjoy everyday, like plowed roads, clean town, and public safety will start to deteriorate. That is a serious shock.
This all leads back to my further point of a ‘plan’. We lack a viable, sustainable plan that holds our government accountable to the decisions that it makes. I feel that there should be no further tax increases until such a plan is in place. In these trying times it will take all of the hard working citizens of Franklin to step up to the plate and decide what ‘we’ want our standards to be and how ‘we’ intend to get ourselves thru some of the most trying times in our history.
I want to be the voice for these citizens and this is why I chose to run for Town Council. I always express a certainty to my young children: “Never give up, never give in”. Together the people of Franklin will persevere.
Biographical Info:
My Campaign Slogan: “Leadership through Teamwork”
Parents: William and Mary Jones
Youngest of 4 children
Wife: Nicole
Children: 4
Age: 39
Born: Cambridge, MA
Raised: Watertown, MA
Franklin Resident: 11 years
Education:
Watertown High School
Northeastern University – Electrical Engineering
Profession:
Electrician and Sr. Engineering technician
Specialties: computers, energy management, audio/visual and automation
Volunteering:
Franklin Youth Soccer – Coach
Franklin Youth Softball – Coach
New England Chapel – Facilities Team Leader
Davis Thayer Elementary School PCC events and activities
Website: www.glennfjones.com
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