Politics & Government

Stein: GroundHog Day and a $2.5M MouseTrap

Editor's Note: The following article is the content of an address prepared for the Board of Selectmen by resident and former Sudbury Finance Committee member Bob Stein.

I don’t want to spend too much of your time on my first commentary, but at the last BOS meeting, I watched from home with dismay as the Town Manager Maureen Valente conveyed what she described as FULL support of DPW Director of the significant increase in annual town meeting 2014 DPW equipment purchases through town meeting with free cash or budget excess. 

As I have said before, I strongly believe I was removed from my role of FINCOM for speaking against the purchases presented to the 2014 Annual Town Meeting as the warrant article presented requested nearly double what the DPW director asked for of the CIAC on January 29th, and also what was presented to Fincom as a strategy from the STRATEGIC CAPITAL PLANNING COMMITTEE just 5 days later. 

When the DPW requests 6+2 pieces of equipment and the town manager then submitted for nearly twice that, it is clear the gesture was more so a spending spree of the taxpayers money rather than a need of the taxpayer resources. What the town manager doesn’t appreciate,that I do, is that free cash is not FREE. This money sourced from the taxpayer’s bank account and there should be a little more consideration to stop overstating budgets when are generating excessive free cash, or roll the free cash back to next year’s budget and stop the new strategy. This is like a really bad version of Groundhog day. 

Ms. Valente’s effort of issuing communications after public meetings are held to provide some sort of cover to the town manager is amusing. The public meetings were held, the minutes demonstrate the DPW’s request, despite her advising FINCOM the minutes do not reflect what was stated or requested. And THEN in the dark of night, the Town Manager decides to double the request. If the DPW Director didn’t know what he needed, why do we need him to come to a meeting and make a request? Mrs. Valente, your intention is just wrong, no matter what kind of revisionist history you want to attempt.

Then again, this week, they surprise me again. The latest Town Crier coverage of town center confirmed Bill Place, Sudbury DPW Director, informing the town center project has a cost overrun of more approximately $250,000.  And then, the disclosure that what we were once told the project needed to replace the stop lights due to the unavailability of parts, and now we know this project is Sudbury’s most expensive mouse trap, as the problems with the lights was a MOUSE was eating a wire!  Ever heard that saying, “you just can’t make this stuff up?” 

So, as I Monday morning quarter-back, Taxpayers were told we needed to make a massive investment in town center which included replacing the lights. Conveniently, just before the vote, the lights went out, a month before the debt exclusion vote. Police had to direct the traffic. Drivers were significantly impacted, dare I say endangered, and thousands were significantly inconvenienced. Then, after the vote was passed, the lights were miraculously back on.  It’s just Amazing, people.

Now we have the DPW telling the town crier, not the board of selectmen, or FINCOM, that the project is over budget.  All projects have contingencies typically 5-10% of the project, so let’s say 200,000.  And you need 250,000 beyond that?!  They’ve spent more than $450,000 over budget and they haven’t even bid it yet?  Exactly how does that work? 

How does this happen? How does the DPW release a project overrun to the newspaper before he reports it to the structure for which he reports? Shouldn’t someone have him go back and review the project contingencies before the voters are asked to fund the overage?

The fiscal management of this town has become outrageous. The only thing more staggering to me is the arrogance in the way these people conduct our business without any consideration how it looks.

Sudbury taxpayers really need to pay attention and start to hold you accountable. This nickel and dime of tax increases are OVERRIDES via frequent debt exclusion votes. It’s like if a teenager asked for $10 bucks every other day, one might not notice. But if they asked you for a $100, you’d probably tell them no. The town has now found success with multiple projects on more frequent basis goes unnoticed by the taxpayers!

So just to be clear, they over budget our annual operating budget, which results in free cash that they then go in front of town meeting and get to spend how they want.  These people could ask to go to Disneyworld at Town Meeting and probably get it passed! Then they come to us with special elections for debt exclusion overrides that anyone hardly votes at to ask for random tax increases. 

The only thing worse is that this new strategy is to ask us to vote for an override at the ballot box, yet to exclude what the dollar value is. DOES ANYONE BESIDES ME THINK THIS IS FUNDAMENTALLY CROOKED? 

You have to either call them brilliant for getting away with their new strategy, or call us stupid for not standing up for transparency.

Sudbury could use a little Sunshine in the way they do their business.  

Robert Stein
Thompson Drive, Sudbury


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