William Dowd
Total: 82
State Budget Crisis Hits Holliston
by William Dowd 11/21/2014
State Budget “Crisis” Causes Local Alarm Once again, in the midst of an alleged “revenue shortfall” at the State level, local officials here in Holliston and across the State have received a call to arms to protect local aid dollars received from the State budget. Lame Duck Governor Deval Patrick has asked the legislature to give him the authority to cut local aid in the middle of the year after all city and town budgets have already been nailed down.
Where’s the money?
by William Dowd 10/22/2014
Note: The author is a member of the Holliston Finance Committee. The opinions expressed here are his alone and should in no way be attributed to the Finance Committee.
$1,400,000 for Downtown?
by William Dowd 10/11/2014
In about two weeks – October 27 to be exact – Town Meeting will start and residents will be asked to approve a proposal from the Selectmen that calls for spending about $1,400,000 – give or take a couple hundred thousand – to install three sets of traffic lights in the downtown area and reconfigure the roads, sidewalks and parking. But before we get to how to pay for it, we should stop and ask at least two questions:
Solar Farm Tree Cutting Update
by William Dowd 8/14/2014
Wednesday night, August 13, the Board of Selectmen met in open session and the matter of the rail trail trespass/tree cutting was not even mentioned. It was not on the agenda, and none of the Selectmen took the opportunity during free form “Public Comment” to say anything about this ongoing dispute.
Beware the Government “STUDY”
by William Dowd 4/17/2014
"The FinCom voted 5 -1 to recommend the $80,000 in pay increases anyway. And I’m pretty sure the 110 people who show up at Town Meeting will vote them as well."
Shaping Our Fiscal Priorities II
by William Dowd 1/7/2014
"The FinCom’s budget model assumes a 2.5% increase in property taxes before the process even starts. You just received your first real tax bill for FY14. Is another 2.5% on top of that ok with you?"
Shaping the Town’s Fiscal Priorities
by William Dowd 12/7/2013
" For Holliston, pension costs – which were $1,681,829 in FY14 are estimated to increase 8% in FY15, which is 5 – 8 times the rate of inflation." Note: The author is a member of the Holliston Finance Committee. The opinions expressed in this column are his alone and should not in any way be attributed to the Finance Committee.
Coming Soon: A DPW for Holliston
by William Dowd 9/15/2013
Note: The author is a member of the Finance Committee. The views expressed here are his own and should not be attributed to the Finance Committee in any way. After watching the events of the past few months, it’s clear that the problems plaguing our water system cannot be handled by an independent Board of Water Commissioners any longer.
Water Rates: Bad News and REALLY Bad News
by William Dowd 7/11/2013
The bad news is that water rates are going up 15% effective July 1, 2013. Water bills issued in early October will reflect the increase approved by the Board of Water Commissioners at its meeting on June 19.
Should Holliston have a Department of Public Works
by William Dowd 7/10/2013
The Selectmen are engaged in a campaign to bring the currently separate Highway, Water and Parks departments into a single combined Department of Public Works (DPW).
Letter to BWC Concerning Water Rate Hearing
by William Dowd 6/23/2013
The following is an e-mail I sent to the Water Commissioners on June 19, the day of their recent rate increase hearing. As of this publication date, no responses have been received. Exerp from the BWC water rate hearing: With same collection as previous years, a rate increase of 9% is required to balance budget.
Unhealthy and Unneccesary Competition
by William Dowd 5/13/2013
Bill Dowd, a candidate for Finance Committee expresses his opinon
Beware -Budget Blueprint = 7.5% Property Tax Increase
by William Dowd 4/12/2013
Note: The author is a candidate for Finance Committee. We're only a few weeks away from annual town meeting on May 6, and unless you actually attend or tune into the Selectmen and FinCom meetings, you'd really have no idea what to expect for much of the business to be conducted.
In Praise of the Holliston School Committee
by William Dowd 4/3/2013
Note: The author is a candidate for Finance Committee.
The Lost Power of “Why?”
by William Dowd 3/27/2013
Over many months of viewing our elected officials in action, I’ve observed a troubling trend; nobody wants to ask “why?” questions anymore.
Selectmen Prematurely Declare Victory with West Suburban Health Group
by William Dowd 3/6/2013
At its meeting on February 27, Chairman Jay Marsden declared that after attending just a portion of the WSHG meetings on February 19, “all of the things we’ve been talking about, all of these things that have been put forward as issues or challenges were discussed, were taken care of at the meeting”. Huh?
West Suburban Health Group - Nobody’s in Charge
by William Dowd 2/15/2013
First the good news. The Selectmen are at least acknowledging that there are things worth looking into more deeply.
Selectmen and FinCom Going Nowhere With Pay Study
by William Dowd 2/8/2013
Coming up to two years since the Selectmen and FinCom proposed a $30,000 comprehensive review of the pay and benefits for Town and School employees. Absolutely nothing has happened, and the prospects for action drop every day.
Selectmen Return to Silence on West Suburban Health Group
by William Dowd 2/4/2013
After a broad and non-specific commentary from Chairman Jay Marsden at the Selectmen's meeting on January 23rd, the Board once again conducted an official meeting on January 30 - it's TENTH meeting since my inquiries of October 3, 2012 - and didn't even mention the West Suburban Health Group.
Good News on Retiree Health Insurance
by William Dowd 1/27/2013
These changes will save the state and cities and towns literally billions of dollars ...