A “sign” of things to come….

Annual Town Elections are Tuesday, June 8 and there is an important race for Select Board with two seats being contested by four candidates. The outcome of this SB election will likely be very important with regard to the future of Longmeadow given that 2 out of 5 voting members will be selected. There is also a contest for a School Committee seat. In addition, there is likely to be a ballot question regarding a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion override for the new high school.

See posting on the Longmeadow Community Bulletin Board for additional election race details.

With so much at stake our town could easily become the lawn sign capital of western Massachusetts.

Below is the town bylaw covering the placement of lawn signs in advance of an election.

6-314. Billboards, Signs and Other Advertising Devices
(e) A temporary sign relating to (i) a candidate for public office, or (ii) an issue which will be voted on at a town meeting or election, or (iii) some other issue which may be of general concern, interest or controversy or (iv) a scheduled function, event or activity sponsored by a non-profit organization, may be erected by the owner of property in any zone or by permission of such owner, but subject to the limitations set forth in subsection (c).

(ii) Temporary signs permitted by subsection (e) (i), as limited by section (e) (i), or signs permitted by section (e) (ii) may be erected no sooner than sixty (60) days prior to the election or meeting at which the candidates or issue will be voted on and must be removed no later than two (2) days after such election or meeting.

This means that Friday, April 9 is first day that lawn signs can be placed without violation of our town bylaw.

There have been past town elections that seemed to suggest that the more signs the better since the election would be determined by who had the most signs on the major streets in town. Let’s hope that town voters are smarter than that and will make informed decisions based upon knowledge of the candidates and/or issues rather than relying upon sign counts.

I ask that each election committee for SB and SC candidates and the expected pro/con political action committees related to the new high school project consider limiting the number of signs placed on lawns to 100 or less so our town does not become the lawn sign capital of Western Massachusetts.

Longmeadow is such a beautiful town in the springtime.

Longmeadow Select Board Approves FY11 Budget

“At a special board meeting held on March 22, the Longmeadow Select Board approved a town budget of $51,389,100; a reduction of $385,775 from the current year’s spending level. This budget, which reflects a 4% decrease in state aid and the anticipated reduction of other local receipts, will be put before town residents at the Longmeadow Annual Town Meeting on May 11.” [press release, 3/23/10].

The FY11 budget process which has been followed on the Longmeadow Buzz since November when the Tri-Board (School Committee, Select Board and Finance Committee) met has been very difficult. Many budget cuts have been proposed and then restored by both the School Committee and Select Board after careful analysis and feedback from public forums. During this budget process a Select Board initiative toward creating a more sustainable budget was not very successful and next year’s budget will likely meet similar difficulties.

Below are a few short video clips (courtesy of LCTV) from last night’s special SB meeting which provide an overview of various SB member’s positions on the current budget.

The first video clip is Mark Gold explaining his proposal to balance the budget while maintaining as many important town services as possible. His long hours of work to “drill down” into the budget details with Finance Director Paul Pasterczyk, Town Manager Robin Crosbie and others were key to achieving the balanced budget that was approved at last night’s SB meeting.



The second clip is Rob Aseltine “thanking” Mark Gold for diligent work but stating he could not support the budget as proposed because there were insufficient cuts in town side headcount and services and that it did not meet what he felt was the desired sustainability requirement. Without additional town side cuts, the school dept would be severely impacted with their increasing technology and curriculum needs. In this video clip, Mr. Aseltine also suggested that after the June election when the “new board is constituted”, he will launch an important initiative to reduce the town side cost of doing business.



In the next clip Mark Gold provides some additional thoughts on the FY11 budget.



Robin Crosbie- Town Manager shares her thoughts on the issue of “comparable cuts” in budget items. Rob Aseltine had challenged the TM and the SB many times in the past few months suggested that there were insufficient town side headcount reductions as compared to the School Dept. proposal.



This next short clip is Paul Santaniello summarizing his thoughts on the FY11 budget.



The final video clip is that of SB Chair Bobby Barkett commenting on the FY11 budget and expressing some significant reservations that the desired “restructuring” of town government was not achieved and fearing that the state legislature may impart some mid-fiscal year cuts that could be very difficult for our town finances to absorb.



The final vote on the FY11 budget was 3-2 with Gold, Santaniello and Scibelli in favor and Aseltine and Barkett opposed.

Small Town Candidates and Big-Time Politics

The popular caricature of a glad-handing, back slapping, puddle-deep, politician is ubiquitous in American politics. The relationship between actual politicians and the voters, however, seems to belie this very popular and intentionally pejorative stereotype. In “real life” it often seems like the politicians who most resemble this picture are also the most effective policy makers. This realization tends to amplify another popular notion, namely that big-time politics and policy making are corrupt, superficial, and not attractive to folks who are willing and able to “roll up their sleeves, work hard, and do the right thing even when it’s unpopular.”

Click HERE for the rest of the story.

An Important Election Season

The following nomination papers have been certified for the Town of Longmeadow Annual Town Election to be held on June 8, 2010.

Select Board – 2 three year seats:
Roy Johansen, 85 Western Drive
Mark Gold, 129 Avondale Road (Incumbent)
Michael Clark, 169 Cooley Drive
Christine Swanson, 96 Salem Road
David Gustafson, 173 Ardsley Road

School Committee – 2 three year seats:
Thomas Brunette, 187 Quinnehtuk Road (Incumbent)
Tracy DeMarco, 152 Meadow Road
Jennifer Jester, 129 Farmington Avenue

Planning Board – 1 five year seat
Kenneth Taylor, 149 Academy Drive (Incumbent)

****At this time the town will need to hold a preliminary election for the two Select Board seats to narrow the field of five candidates down to four on Tuesday, May 4 from 8 am – 8 pm, unless any candidate withdraws their name. The deadline to file objections or withdrawals is March 31 at 5 PM.

Annual Town elections will be held on Tuesday, June 8.

At this election will likely be a vote on a debt exclusion Proposition 2½ override of ~ $46 million for the new high school and the election of two Select Board members who will likely be very influencial regarding the future direction of our town.

It's now the time for town residents to wake up and become informed.

Longmeadow Residents Speak Out

The public forum last Tuesday night (March 9) at Longmeadow HS on the proposed FY11 budget was a chance for town residents to provide some guidance to the Select Board as they make the necessary final FY11 budget cuts. At this meeting town residents provided balanced feedback citing the importance of schools, library, parks and recreation programs, senior center, police/ fire.... not wanting cuts from any of these important town programs.

Below are a couple of video clips (courtesy of LCTV) of comments made by town residents expressing their concern for cuts in various programs. [A web rebroadcast of the entire public forum is posted on LCTV's website.]

The first video shows town resident Jamie Cass- a Springfield teacher commenting on the town’s outstanding Parks and Recreation program and the Storrs Library and asks that the Select Board not cut funds to either program.


The second video is town resident Irene Madden- a career school librarian and Storrs Library board member overviewing all of the many programs provided by the Children’s Library staff.


The third video clip shows town resident Saul Finestone appealing to the Select Board not to cut the Longmeadow Adult Center budget because of all the important programs that it provides for senior citizens in our town.

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I think that it's important to understand that there have been many more cuts proposed than will likely be needed to create a balanced FY11 budget. The ongoing budget discussions involve identifying potential budget cuts and then prioritizing them.

The latest information yesterday from the state legislature recommended that towns prepare for a 4% maximum cut in local aid. This should provide some relief for the FY11 budget and allow the Select Board to restore some of the proposed budget cuts.

The Select Board has another goal and that is to create a "sustainable budget" so the current fiscal problems do not reappear year after year. "Our expenditures are too high and the rate of increase too great to be sustainable and must be reduced." This message is repeated at virtually every SB meeting since November. It will be very interesting to see how budget process ends up... it is the not the first time that our town leaders have tried to tackle the imbalance of expenditures vs. revenue growth.

It is not too late to provide your inputs to the Select Board regarding proposed program cuts in the FY11 budget. The Select Board will meet again on March 15 to discuss the budget and there is a public comment period at the beginning of the meeting.

On March 22 the SB will approve the final FY11 budget (town + schools) to be presented at the Annual Town Meeting on May 11.

A New High School…Finally

I am a retired music teacher who lives in Longmeadow. My great grandfather, grandfather, and father taught me what they knew best, the building trade. They built homes featured in Better Homes and Gardens for Mike Wallace and Ginger Rogers. They also built churches and schools for more than 80 years.

Longmeadow High School was built nearly 60 years ago. In response to Leo Vartanian’s Reminder article, a school is not at all like a personal residence. It’s building, design, maintenance and use are all different. Most folks today don’t spend 60 years in a home. A school facility plays host to thousands of students, as well as hundreds of parents and community events. Many school buildings are seeing an expanded role for the future.

I came to Longmeadow in 1973 and entered a “newly renovated” room. My dad and I looked at the work and contacted officials to have many things changed or corrected. Unfortunately little was ever substantively changed and I worked in this facility for the next 35 years. For example, a door designed for the purpose of moving the piano on and off the stage was 2” too small. The crumbling asbestos covering a pipe in the music lab would stay in place until 8 years ago when a parent finally demanded its removal.

During my tenure, the music program grew to number almost half of the high school population. We were recognized with several Grammy and other awards for excellence. Our auditorium remains one of the poorest in the region from every perspective. It has only 614 seats and a small stage that doesn’t really accommodate some of our groups. Our local fire department has asked us to limit the enthusiast attendance at our concerts because the facility is too small it and can create an unsafe situation. The inadequate ventilation can be louder than the music and therefore is best when turned off. Our seats, finally recovered by the Hampden County Jail inmates a few years back, still feature an “individual broken spring massage” which make them difficult to sit in for very long. The lighting was finally replaced when a school committee person’s daughter was nearly electrocuted. The new lighting board was replaced with the cheapest available board and only functions nominally.

As a past Department Chair and Coordinator of Music grades K-12, I also respect the fact that the other departments have similar stories to tell. The science lab situation is one good example.

Longmeadow real estate has maintained its value for many reasons, not the least of which has been the reputation of the schools. The excellent teachers, motivated students, and successful parents are responsible for this continued success, despite the conditions of the facilities, books and equipment. Successful private industry looks to improve its tools and facilities to maximize the results. Shouldn’t education do the same? Imagine the new standards that we could establish at the high school with better conditions.

Each year we are told of economic hard times and uncertainty. This has been the consistent story since 1981, although it has not always been true. This year it is the truth and the town’s operating budget reflects that fact. The music department’s string program was reduced last year and may be eliminated in this budget. Is this the price of excellence?

The new school is a capital improvement that will be paid for over a long period of time and contribute to our community for the next 60 years. It is fiscally wise to separate your yearly operating budget from long-range capital improvements. I also understand that a negative vote on this school will put us at the end of the reimbursement line for as much as ten years. Can Longmeadow afford that? Mr. Vartanian suggests that we consider spending the money as though it is our own, and I agree. We sent this money to Boston in our taxes and fees. Let’s be smart and reclaim our money though the 30 to 40 million-dollar reimbursement a new school will yield. Vote for the new school that our kids and town both need and deserve.

Peter Thomsen
Longmeadow, MA

A difficult budget process continues…

Recent Select Board meetings have been been primarily focused upon making some difficult decisions about needed town government cuts for the upcoming FY2011 budget. The uncertainty about state aid to Longmeadow (estimates vary from 0 to 15% cut) has only made the process more difficult.

Proposed budget cuts for Storrs Library, Longmeadow Adult Center and other town departments will likely impact town services and quality of life in Longmeadow. I listened to the SB meeting this past Monday (~ 3½ hours) and observed that there was great disagreement within the SB as to how to achieve the required cuts.

In addition to proposing some additional cuts, Town Manager, Robin Crosbie also identified a number of new revenue sources to help bridge the gap that included:

• Fee based curbside trash collection ( save ~$570,000)
• Implementation of the new 0.75% meal tax on local restaurants (estimated increase in revenue ~$65,000)
• Reinstitute School Choice (this source can be initiated only by the School Committee)
• Proposition 2½ Override
  Every 1% override would add $382,000 to town revenue and cost individual property owners $0.18/ $1000 or ~$64 for average $350,000 house. The SB was not recommending an override at this time but considering it as a possible option to bridge the expenditure/ revenue gap.

I applaud the SB for their open and honest discussion of the FY11 budget and their desire to reshape the entire town’s operations (including the school department) onto to a more sustainable path. One of my recent posts included an LCTV video clip of Rob Aseltine explaining the financial problem confronting Longmeadow both short term and long term.

At this point it appears that the Town Manager with the help of the various department heads has selected and prioritized a larger than required list of cuts that could be made to achieve the targeted budget. One note of interest is that the FY11 budget appears to be a “moving target” given the uncertainty of state aid. At this week’s SB meeting, it was agreed to use a 10% (vs. 15%) cut in state aid in developing the FY11 budget. It is likely that the exact amount of state aid to Longmeadow will not be known until well after the FY11 begins.

The selected video clip from this week’s SB meeting is Rob Aseltine expressing his dissatisfaction with the level of personnel cuts included in the latest budget revision (referred to as the March 1 budget).



There are some important meetings this coming week….

Monday, March 8
Joint meeting between School Committee and Select Board to discuss FY11 Budget
7 PM at Longmeadow School Committee Room

Tuesday, March 9
Budget Public Forum- draft FY11 budget- presented by Town Manager, Robin Crosbie7 PM at Longmeadow High School/ Cafeteria

I would urge town residents to attend the March 9 forum and provide input to our town leaders for prioritization of the needed budget cuts.

Longmeadow High School-A Principal’s Perspective

As a resident, parent and administrator in Longmeadow for nearly twenty five years, I would like to share my thoughts on the high school building project. This will be one of the largest projects in the town’s history, and the focus must be on our children and the importance of their education.

When considering a long term, viable building solution, we must remember that we are creating a facility that will serve not only as an educational institution but also as the environment where our children will learn the necessary life skills to become successful contributors to their communities. It is, therefore, essential that we focus on the attributes of a high quality/high-performing school.

A high-performing building should be designed logically to fully support all facets of the educational Program of Studies and to support the values and priorities of the community.. It must provide appropriate classroom, office, meeting and collaborative spaces that accommodate a variety of teaching and learning styles. These spaces need to be flexible to adapt to teaching strategies that will address 21st century learning expectations. It must be appropriately sized and equipped to support our widespread student participation in co-curricular activities such as athletics, music and fine arts. Proper design must include outside views, bright well-lit classrooms, and an efficient, comfortable heating and cooling system.

The building will also serve the greater community. When equipped with attractive public spaces, such as an auditorium, library, cafeteria, gymnasium, fitness center and thoughtfully laid out athletic fields, people will be drawn to the facility. The entryway to the building will have display areas that highlight student achievement. Artifacts honoring the community’s heritage along with student artwork and murals will adorn the walls. Academic and extra-curricular accomplishments will be celebrated and spaces will be thoughtfully constructed so that everyone feels “at home.” The exterior spaces will be equipped with ample parking for staff, students and guests, yet encourage alternate means of transportation by providing bike racks and sidewalks.

The strength of Longmeadow High School has always been the intellectual ability of our students and the determination to excel that they bring to school each day. When this desire to learn is combined with effective instruction and supported by a modern facility, we will have the formula for success.

This is an exciting time for our community! The decisions to be made in the coming months will affect young people’s lives for generations to come. The final planning process will require vision and determination. As residents of Longmeadow, we need to choose wisely with an affirmative vote. With a project of this magnitude, where the stakes are high and the window of opportunity open only briefly, there is little room for error.

By Larry Berte- Principal, Longmeadow High School

Some Additional Info on School Building Project

I wasn't able to attend last Thursday's SBC Public Information Session but was obtain and post the slides from the meeting on the SBC website. There are a couple of slides from this presentation that I hadn't seen before and are worth sharing.

A detailed site plan......

[click to enlarge]

and a ground level view of the front entrance of the new high school.

[click to enlarge]

The latest project budget information was also presented at this public forum. Below is the slide from the presentation.

[click to enlarge]

For those town residents who want to learn more about the school building project, I invite you to visit the SBC website and to continue visiting the LongmeadowBuzz blog.

Longmeadow's FY11 Budget

This week’s Select Board discussion on the FY11 budget provided some good insight into the current “state of town finances”. However, what I observed was not very encouraging. The uncertainty about the level of local state aid makes this current budget development process very difficult. The current budget proposal assumes a 15% drop in state aid. There was some discussion at this meeting as to whether or not this number should be reduced since the rhetoric from Boston in this election year suggests that the state will deliver.

Below are two short video excerpts (less than 10 min. each) from this meeting that are worth watching. The first is an overview of the town government portion of the FY11 draft budget discussed by Town Manager Robin Crosbie. It should be noted that a final budget will not be adopted by the Select Board until March 22.

Ms. Crosbie highlighted that town expenditures were being reduced through various means including a reduction of normal maintenance work (essential repairs only), a cut in library hours (50 hours to 45 hours), less maintenance of athletic fields (+ reduced fertilizer, water, etc…). In addition, there are headcount reductions at the library and DPW. Ms. Crosbie did mention that she was hoping that Carl Sturgis, Library Director would be able to restore library hours to 50 hours by shifting some other sections of the budget.



The second clip includes comments by Select Board members Rob Aseltine and Mark Gold highlighting that the town budget at the level of current services is unsustainable due to the faster growth of expenditures relative to revenue. In addition, the level of expenditures for the current budget is too high. The choices are either continuing cuts in services that will erode our quality of life in many ways or accepting the need for periodic overrides to keep pace with the escalating costs and lower revenue growth.



There is a budget forum that will be held on March 9 at 7 PM in the Longmeadow HS cafeteria. I urge all town residents to attend or watch it on LCTV. The FY11 budget is an important issue affecting all Longmeadow residents.

[The above video clips were provided courtesy of LongmeadowBiz + LCTV. A web broadcast of entire Select Board/ School Committee meetings can watched by visiting the LCTV website.]