Budget Surplus In Iraq

Soaring oil prices will leave the Iraqi government with a cumulative budget surplus of as much as $79 billion by year’s end, according to an American federal oversight agency. But Iraq has spent only a minute fraction of that on reconstruction costs, which are now largely borne by the United States.

The unspent windfall, which covers surpluses from oil sales since 2005, appears likely to reinforce growing debate about the approximately $48 billion in American taxpayer money devoted to rebuilding Iraq since the American-led invasion.

In one comparison, the United States has spent $23.2 billion in the critical areas of security, oil, electricity and water since the 2003 invasion, the report said. But from 2005 through April 2008, Iraq has spent just $3.9 billion on similar services. - New York Times

...giving even more justification for an immediate pull-out...

Town Administrator has good ideas

WAKEFIELD - He's been on the job for just over two weeks. But seated in his second-floor Town Hall office, new Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio exuded the confidence of a man who knows the ropes. He is, of course, no stranger to town government, having served nine years on the Board of Selectmen - a board that he will now answer to.
Maio has definite ideas as to how town government can help to shape Wakefield's future. Much of it involves technology, cooperation with the business community and bringing a business mentality to Town Hall.

I hope our town government can get us through the economic crisis. Shrinking budgets are ruining every department. Fortunately, Mr. Maio has a lot of ideas that could boost our income...

Maio says that if businesses like Hallmark Health can be convinced to locate in Wakefield, it can increase the commercial tax base and lessen the burden on the homeowners.

Also...

“We've got a Lake. We've got a great downtown, with a lot of different restaurants.” Maio is looking at different ways to attract lake visitors to the downtown area. He is currently looking at a proposal to introduce a bicycle taxi service linking the Lake and the downtown area. Seasonal events like Christmas walks could also draw shoppers to the downtown, Maio suggests.

Board calls special meeting

WAKEFIELD - In light of last week's referendum vote to reject the School Department budget of $27.4 million, the Board of Selectmen has called a Special Town Meeting for Monday, June 30 to balance the town's budget.

Panic.

Faculty Spotlight: Mr. McKenna

Mr. Richard McKenna wears many hats. When he's not teaching history or the AP Government class, he serves as vice chairman of the Wakefield Teachers Association, coaches varsity girls basketball, helps out down in Guidance, and spends time with the family in Danvers. Yesterday, he took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about politics in our town and across our nation, and to introduce next year's AP Government students to this challenging, but fun and fascinating course.

WÉ: What led to you teaching this course?
RM: Mr. Moscardini retired and I volunteered to teach the class because of my interest in politics. The school sent me to the AP Institute for one week in Connecticut as a refresher and an introduction to the AP Curriculum.

WÉ: How would you pitch the class to kids, encourage them to take it?
RM: It is an AP class...it is a fair amount of work. The expectation is that the students will do the work, do the readings, but at the same time will learn about the political process. That's really what the goal of the class is. To introduce kids to politics, the political system, how it works...and how to influence the process and realizing that you can have an effect on the process...
We need good people to be involved in the process - people who care - people who see the big pictures. It's not all about money, it's about helping people...
We have all those First Amendment rights - to exercise our right to free speech, utilize a blog like this one...there's a lot of venues to inform people and influence them. Other thing we do in the class - everyone's opinion is important - we need to listen to both sides even if we don't agree with them...we become empathetic, not sympathetic, in regards. By listening to each other, we acknowledge the fact that their opinion does matter, even if we don't agree with it, so the two parties leave the class respecting one another, understanding why they have that opinion.

We had a copy of the latest Spin on our table, and I showed him the article of the Étudiant's own Chris DeCarlo, whom he will have next year. As he skimmed Chris's piece, I explained his punk rock philosophy - down with the system, up with the underdog...

RM: There's nothing wrong with that, to each his own.

WÉ: Chris brings up a great point in this piece - just because a candidate is not embraced by the mainstream, that doesn't necessarily mean that you shouldn't support them. In the early days of Picking the President, I shed light on all the candidates - people like Mike Gravel, Ron Paul, Bill Richardson, what have you.
RM: They're legitimate candidates, and unfortunately, the media doesn't think they'll draw in viewers, so they don't extend their time in the spotlight. Any one of those candidates would make a good president or vice president. In this election, the vice presidential candidates might be more important than the presidential candidates.

WÉ: Yeah, just look at John Edwards endorsing Obama - now there's speculation that he'll be his running mate.
RM: A more moderate running mate may win over more moderate voters... He needs to have a moderate running mate to win...those swing states that have been in the balance.

WÉ: What's your prediction for the election?
RM: Well, I really am not sure. I hesitate to venture a guess because that's exactly what it will be... I believe that Barack Obama has a lot of unanswered questions which he will have to answer in the time from now to November... John McCain has to pick a running mate who will appeal to his more conservative base.

WÉ: Obama is currently considered the front-runner - do you think he's our next president?
RM: I'm not convinced right now that that's the case... If things keep going the way they are going now until November, I think that might happen. But there's a long time between now and November.

WÉ: Let's talk about the many changes coming to the school next year. You are obviously very concerned with fighting for the teachers, making sure they don't get screwed over by these budget cuts...
RM: More so concerned about the changes affecting the school climate, the classroom, the atmosphere...because every change will either directly or indirectly affect the students... The students come first and making sure that learning goes on in the classroom is the top priority.

WÉ: So, what exactly will change next year?
RM: There was a list of cuts in the paper - 12 elementary school positions, four middle school positions, 9 high school positions, as well as some custodial and clerical positions, meaning there's going to be larger class sizes across the board... The supply budget was cut by 50%. Activity fees are going up... As far as the changes go, for the school, the town doesn't have enough money, so the town has to make some changes in order to fit into the budget they've set for the town.

WÉ: Some have criticized the teachers' platform, going as far to say that teaching is a part time job that pays like a full time one. What is your response to this criticism?
RM: I think that, just like the AP class, all people have the right to voice their opinions. It's not my job to judge - we should not judge people based on their opinions. Teaching is not a part time job, I will say that. Most of the criticism that we hear...is based on incorrect information. Teachers bring work home, they do things with the students outside of school... That extra time that's put in adds up. The majority of teachers here arrive early and stay late. They don't see that, they only see our work during school hours. We have two months in the summer off and three week-long vacations, leading some to consider teaching a part-time job.

WÉ: The role that opinion plays in each AP Government class depends on the kind of people in it. Our class didn't have an Eric Engels or a Chris Morrill, a real passionate, outspoken type. But then again, opinion doesn't play a big role in the test.
RM: Basically, the class is geared to the test, even though it is not straight content all the time. I have become more familiar with the book while bringing in internet content, videos, hand-outs from other sources. A lot of exposure to a lot of different things... Even though there was not a lot of diversity of opinion in the class, there was a lot of discussion. This is an ever-changing, totally ebb-and-flow like type of science.

Again, big thanks to Mr. McKenna!

Nobody votes in this town

WAKEFIELD - Early voting was light in today’s referendum on whether or not to reaffirm the April Town Meeting vote of a $27.4 million School Department budget.

Maybe I should go vote...or not.

Polls are open until 8 p.m.

Tom Butler soon to retire

WAKEFIELD - A blue windbreaker with a Red Sox logo on the back sits tossed across a chair. Fenway Park is the screen-saver on the computer next to his desk. Other sports memorabilia dot the office. Town Administrator Thomas Butler is a certified sports junkie.
As he contemplates his final days of service to the town of Wakefield, after a career that has spanned 36 years, you know that closely following his Sox and BC Eagles will continue to be a passion for Butler in his retirement.
But you also know that the man who has put in so many hours, both nights and weekends behind his desk at the William J. Lee Town Hall, will also miss the job.
Butler, a lifelong resident, first became Acting Town Administrator in November of 1998 and was named to the post permanently the following August. Before that, he was the selectmen’s executive secretary, a position he had held since 1991. Butler’s first job in local government, from 1972 to 1991, was a senior town accountant.
Butler, 62, was always a numbers guy. He admits that. But he is also a man who cares deeply about the town he grew up in - just don’t ask him about smashing face-first into a goalpost at Moulton Field while fielding fungoes off the bat of his high school baseball coach, Lou Racca.
He feels torn about leaving at a time with so many fiscal problems but confident in the knowledge he turned in a balanced budget to Town Meeting in April. He candidly revealed that he believes a representative form of Town Meeting would serve the town better than the current open meeting format. He wishes that more of his time was taken up with economic development rather than balancing all of those budgets. And feels that the town must now wean itself away from its reliance on state aid.

I hope you enjoy retirement, Mr. Butler, and I hope whoever takes over can aid this town in this time of financial crisis. I agree, we need to wean ourselves off of reliance on the state. But representative town meetings? The open town meeting is the only remnant of true democracy in this nation. If Wakefield loses that...oh boy...

School committee holds Creative Revenue Forum

WAKEFIELD - With budgets being level funded and reduced yet another year, Anthony Guardia, Kevin Piskadlo and William Chetwynd are looking toward the citizens of Wakefield to get involved and help come up with ideas to help save Wakefield from this fiscal crisis.
Guardia, Piskadlo and Chetwynd would like to extend their invitation to the public for a “Creative Revenue Forum.”
The forums will be open to the public and are for the sole purpose of generating ideas on how the community could raise revenue. Any and all ideas are welcome.
The date and times of these forums are as follows: Thursday, May 1 at 7 p.m. in the Wakefield High School Cafeteria and Saturday, May 3 at 10 a.m. at the Beebe Library in the downstairs conference room.

Any ideas? Anyone? Yes, you. Any legal ideas?

DPW gets some dinero, other departments get jealous

WAKEFIELD - Annual Town Meeting wrapped up business last night, but not before
continuing with its pattern of reconsidering large budgets. This time, the body
voted to reconsider the DPW budget, ultimately restoring $86,734 - the amount
that the budget had been reduced below FY’08 levels in an effort to balance the
overall town budget.

So, how are we going to balance the budget now? Watch out, other departments.

School board recommends cutting almost $1.8 M from budget

WAKEFIELD - A motion was passed at last night’s School Committee meeting to follow Superintendent of Schools Joan Landers’ recommendation to cut $1,791,152 from the FY’09 budget.

Ouch.

FinCom reviews budgets, "FinCom" Newspeak for "Finance Committee"

WAKEFIELD - The Finance Committee reviewed seven budgets last night.

Don't get your hopes up.

Not including the school budget, the total day-to-day operating budgets for
Wakefield total $13,627,375, a reduction of $303,599 from the amount
appropriated for 2008.

:P

WAKEFIELD - It was standing room only last night in the auditorium of the Public
Safety building where members of the town's Finance Committee presented a bleak
financial picture to concerned residents.

Didn't see this one coming.

If additional revenue is not received, FY’09 personal services will need to be
cut by approximately 1 percent to increase the capital budget to meet
requirements, cover fixed costs, health care, provide for new contracts and
balance the budget.

$3 Trillion Nightmare

On Thursday, the Joint Economic Committee, chaired by Senator Chuck Schumer, conducted a public examination of the costs of the war. The witnesses included the Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz (who believes the overall costs of the war — not just the cost to taxpayers — will reach $3 trillion), and Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International.

Both men talked about large opportunities lost because of the money poured into the war. “For a fraction of the cost of this war,” said Mr. Stiglitz, “we could have put Social Security on a sound footing for the next half-century or more.”

Mr. Hormats mentioned Social Security and Medicare, saying that both could have been put “on a more sustainable basis.” And he cited the committee’s own calculations from last fall that showed that the money spent on the war each day is enough to enroll an additional 58,000 children in Head Start for a year, or make a year of college affordable for 160,000 low-income students through Pell Grants, or pay the annual salaries of nearly 11,000 additional border patrol agents or 14,000 more police officers.

What we’re getting instead is the stuff of nightmares. - NY Times

So, anyway...

DPW hurt by cuts

And now, the latest on Wakefield's budget crisis.

WAKEFIELD - Citing rising fuel and material costs, Department of Public Works Director Richard Stinson explained to the Finance Committee Thursday night that his budget for the FY’09 has been reduced by a gross total of $98,902, to $3,393,285, resulting in a loss of two positions.

Insurance budget drops

WAKEFIELD - The town can expect to pay $315,269 for General Insurance in FY’09, $84,731 less than it paid in FY’08.
John Spinello of Chas. F. Hartshorne & Son Insurance presented the town's General Insurance budget to the selectmen last Saturday morning during a special budget session at Town Hall.

Um...hooray?

Town Meeting Happenings

From the Wakefield Observer:

With no debate on the $64 million budget, the Wakefield Town Meeting instead focused on what officials planned to do about the ongoing goose problem and the prospects of adding a crematorium near Lake Quannapowitt.

Yes, one of tonight's top stories is our town's, and I quote, "ongoing goose problem". I love this town. Anyway, the $64 million budget approved at the meeting will support, according to the Observer, "...the fire and police departments, education costs, and all municipal costs for the 2007-2008 fiscal year."

However, many residents raised concerns about Article 3, a $15,000 proposal by the town’s Goose Committee to hire a professional border collie service to address the town’s ongoing goose problem.

“The hard reality is that short of drastically altering the landscape, a permanent solution to the goose control problem does not yet exist,” said Goose Committee Chairman Bronwyn Della-Volpe.

Wakefield has a Goose Committee? You learn something new everyday. As for that crematorium...

Residents also debated Article 4, an amendment to the town’s bylaws to prevent a crematorium from being built in Wakefield. This article was sponsored by Meg Michaels, an environmental advocate who filed a lawsuit against Lakeside Cemeteries in hopes of preventing them from building a crematorium inside the Lakeside Church basement near Lake Quannapowitt. Michaels said burning dead bodies would release mercury and other pollutants into the air.

Aw, shucks. Guess this means I won't be cremated...at least not in this town. I guess I'll just have to have my body cryogenically frozen instead.