Berlin Community News

Notes:

On January 13th, Berlin Elementary School did approve the budget to go to the voters with the cuts noted in the Times Argus article on January 7th which included reducing the hours of five staff positions at the school (two in preschool, art, PE, and the school nurse).  Only one guest attended the meeting on the 13th.

Have you seen the YouTube video of the student who did an experiment with sweet potatoes and had trouble finding one that would sprout?  It sure gives more reasons to buy local.  I had never heard of Bud Nip before.  Here is some more information and there is a link to the girls experiment on this page also:

http://tunnelgarden.com/potatoes-treated-with-bud-nip/

SELECTBOARD MEETING MONDAY, JANUARY 20TH

TOWN REPORT GOING TO PRINT

U-32 ANNUAL REPORT

U-32 PRINCIPAL SEARCH

BERLIN PRINCIPAL

"A LIFETIME OF HELPING CHILDREN TO LOVE BOOKS"

BROOKFIELD ICE HARVEST JANUARY 25TH

LATIN DINNER AND DANCE FEBRUARY 1ST

DANCE/DINNER AT CAPITAL CITY GRANGE HALL FEBRUARY 9TH

BALLOT OR FLOOR VOTE?

PETITIONS

AT U-32, COURSES TO BE DROPPED; 4.5 JOBS CUT

SELECTBOARD MEETING MONDAY, JANUARY 20TH

The agenda is posted on the town website

The working draft of the town budget can be found at:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhZtU7wXy0r4dE55b0VlNHlSUS1tTDRLNWgxQzY1cXc&usp=sharing#gid=0

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TOWN REPORT GOING TO PRINT

The Town Report heads to the printer this week and is expected back by February 14th

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U-32 ANNUAL REPORT

This reports includes some introductions to some past and current graduates which is fun to read.  http://www.wcsuonline.org/images/pdf/wcsu_annual_report_2013.pdf

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U-32 PRINCIPAL SEARCH

U-32 has started the search for a new Principal. There is a Community Forum on January 23rd at 6:30 in the Cafeteria. Please consider attending so that you can give the Search Committee feedback on what skills and traits we want our next Principal to have.

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BERLIN PRINCIPAL

Chris Dodge has a message to Berlin Families on the school website:

http://berlinschool.org/

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"A LIFETIME OF HELPING CHILDREN TO LOVE BOOKS"

Be sure to take the time to go cut and paste this link

http://www.ourherald.com/news/2014-01-09/Front_Page/A_Lifetime_of_Helping_Children_To_Love_Books.html

to find out what being the "Youth Services Consultant for the VT Dept. of Libraries" has meant to all the libraries and all the youth during the past 28 years... thanks to Berlin's Grace Greene.  Congratulations on your upcoming retirement Grace!

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BROOKFIELD ICE HARVEST JANUARY 25TH

Coming up the last Saturday of January, the annual ice harvest in Brookfield. I believe the start time is 10:30am although I'd get there a bit early. Happened to find a YouTube video of it when mentioning it to somebody, be sure to check it out if you haven't been or even if you have! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNgGoBqfCW4

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LATIN DINNER AND DANCE FEBRUARY 1ST

If you enjoy Mexican Food and Latin Music please join us on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at U-32 for the Latin Dinner and Dance. Dinner served at 6:30 followed by salsa dance lessons and live music!
Adults $15 Students $7 Family (immediate only) $35
Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance from music students or by contacting Sara at 229-0321 x5179 or swolf@u32.org

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DANCE/DINNER AT CAPITAL CITY GRANGE HALL FEBRUARY 9TH

Sunday, February 9. Heat up the dance hall to benefit the Friends of the Capital City Grange as they work to fund fire code improvements. Bring friends and little ones to the family dance from 3:00pm – 4:30pm with music by Mikaela Moore and Dana Hartshorn. Stay for an amazing Thai dinner from 4:30pm – 5:30pm. Follow it up with a contra dance, 5:30 pm - 8:30pm with music by Maivish (Jaige Trudel and Adam Broome) and calling by Mary Wesley.

No partner needed, bring clean, soft-soled shoes. Capital City Grange Hall, 6612 VT Route 12, Berlin. Adults: $10 to dance, $10 to eat. Children under 16: $5/$5. A fantastic event for beginner and advanced dancers alike!

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BALLOT OR FLOOR VOTE?

Ballot or Floor Vote? (Town and School Budgets)

By: Carl Parton- School Board Member

The issue of whether to have Berlin Town and School Budget votes on the ballot or on the floor during Town Meeting Day is bursting with strategic importance for budget supporters and budget adversaries.

I am of the opinion that budget supporters want the budgets to be voted on the floor because it is more difficult for most people to speak out against or even openly vote against the budget with all of their neighbors scrutinizing and judging them on their vote.  The tendency for most people is to go with the majority vote, which historically has been to approve most budgets with few or no changes.  The budget supporters can typically rally supporters to attend the votes on Town Meeting Day and they have time during debate to justify the budget with presentations given by budget supporters and administrative officials that have facts and figures and abundant preparation time to make a convincing defense.

The primary advantage for a floor vote that both supporters and opponents might agree on is that changes or amendments to the budget can be proposed and made during the discussion of the budget within the floor vote process.  Because of this, the voters that are able to attend Town Meeting can have a lot of direct influence on budgets.

Budget opponents, taxpayers that want more fiscal restraint shown, prefer an Australian ballot vote where they can vote with anonymity and without any pressure of social repercussions for their vote.     Budget opponents feel that a more free and honest representation of public sentiment is displayed in a ballot vote.  They also present the fact that more voters get to participate in the voting process in a ballot vote that lasts from 10 AM to 7PM and could be voted on with an absentee ballot rather than a floor vote within a day time meeting that one must attend in order to enjoy enfranchisement.  Many voters are unable to attend Town Meeting due to vacations, work, daycare limitations, health issues or a number of other impediments.

I think allowing the maximum number of voters possible to make the decision regarding the method of the Town and School budget votes is the most fair and just approach.   If the majority of voters want a floor vote or a ballot vote than their wishes should be honored each year.

I propose that each year the School budget ballot and the Town budget ballot have ballot articles offering the option of which type of votes (floor or ballot) they want for the following Town Meeting election cycle.  Every year voters would be empowered to decide how they will celebrate the democratic process for the following year, thus maximizing the influence of public sentiment on how we as a Town govern and decide important issues that affect our lives.

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PETITIONS

In addition to the petitions mentioned previously that are out with signatures being gathered:

Jeremy Hansen who is running for re-election to the selectboard. 

Ture Nelson who is running for re-election to the selectboard. 

Rosemary Morse who is running for re-election to the Town Clerk position. 

the following folks also have petitions:

Pete Kelley who is running for re-election to the selectboard

Carl Parton who is running for election to the school board (he was appointed to the seat he is now in when a board member resigned)

George Gross who is running for election to the school board

Note there are four school board seats up for election in March. There is still time to pick up a petition and get the required signatures to become a candidate for any of the positions up for election.  Personally, I always appreciate it when there are multiple candidates for a position in order to give people a choice and to have some discussion as to what the people running would bring to the position.  Nineteen valid signatures are needed and the petition must be turned in to the Town Clerk by January 27th.  Feel free to stop by the Town Clerk's office if you'd like to pick up a petition to gather signatures on, or to sign any of the petitions.

If you're a candidate for one of the positions and would like to share any information about yourself and why you're running / what you can bring to the position.  Please feel free to send it along to me.

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AT U-32, COURSES TO BE DROPPED; 4.5 JOBS CUT

Pub. 1/10/14 Times Argus by David Delcore

   EAST MONTPELIER — The ax fell in the dimly lit auditorium at U-32 Junior-Senior High School on Wednesday night, and while the cuts weren’t as deep as originally proposed, four people will lose their jobs, two courses will be dropped, and a librarian’s salary will be cut in half.
   It took three hours, split the school board down the middle and ultimately required Chairwoman Adrienne Magida to cast a tie-breaking vote before stating the obvious.
   “We have a budget,” a visibly drained Magida declared immediately after the board voted 4-3 to approve nearly $280,000 in staff-related cuts to a budget that voters in Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex and Worcester will be asked to approve in March.
   When the meeting began the budget stood at $15.1 million, an administrative proposal to cut more than $450,000 in personnel was on the table, and a decent-sized crowd — some teachers, some taxpayers, some both — was gathered in the auditorium.
   What followed was a spirited debate, a good bit of second-guessing, some compromise, and the narrow adoption of a budget with a $14,833,463 bottom line that required a brief recess to confirm.
   Business Manager Lori Bibeau, who spent much of the evening tapping the keys of her calculator with one hand while holding a flashlight with the other, didn’t want to take any chances when it appeared the board was lurching toward a divided but decisive vote. Sensing Bibeau’s concern, Superintendent Bill Kimball requested a brief break and left the auditorium with her and Principal Keith Gerritt before returning to announce the impact of an amendment that was proposed by board member Emily Goyette and approved 6-1.
   That vote, on Goyette’s request to restore $12,430 for two chronically under-enrolled advanced foreign language courses, represented a rare moment of consensus. The board, like the audience, clearly was of two minds when it came to cutting a budget that at the outset of the meeting reflected an increase of just over $1 million, or nearly 7.2 percent.
   While most agreed that those numbers, and an accompanying 4 percent spike in taxes, were excessive and none liked the prospect of cutting staff, they were split over how to respond to a proposal that would do just that.
   Crafted by Gerritt at the board’s request, the proposal contemplated the elimination of four full-time teachers, the equivalent of a fifth, a special educator, a paraprofessional and 50 percent of one of the school’s two librarian positions.
   Gerritt, who announced midmeeting that he will be retiring at the end of the year, said he didn’t like the proposal any more than the board and many in the audience did, but didn’t see the point in kicking the can down the road.
   “There’s no more blood in the stone, folks. Whatever you decide, it’s going to hurt,” he said, predicting if he was tasked with coming up with an alternative it would attract a different room full of equally disgruntled people.
   “I don’t really have any other good recommendations,” he said.
   Gerritt’s observation came on a night that saw some question whether it was really worth cutting staff to save the average taxpayer $30 per $100 of assessed property value, notwithstanding the fact that all five towns are facing sharp increases that are beyond the U-32 board’s control. Others openly worried that failing to make a meaningful cut would accelerate what they perceived as eroding support for the high school budget and potentially lead to its failure.
   Though Gerritt proposed cutting four middle school teachers, he began nudging the board toward compromise when he suggested they consider keeping two of them and restoring some of the under-enrolled high school courses he’d targeted for reduction.
   Board member Conrad Smith embraced that proposal, offering a motion that the board cut two of the four middle school teachers in question, a special educator, a paraprofessional, half of the librarian position and four high school courses — marine biology, metalsmithing, French 5 and Spanish 5.
   Though board members Kari Bradley, Jonathon Goddard and Katie Winkeljohn said they could not support what they viewed as a premature plan to cut staff, fellow member Mike Law said the cuts were regrettable but necessary.
   “I’m not comfortable cutting any positions, but I don’t see us sustaining this year after year,” he said.
   Goyette joined Law and Smith after her amendment to spare the two foreign language courses passed.
   Bradley urged the board to defer the recommended staffing cuts until after it had been presented with a plan to restructure the middle school program. He suggested the board cut $89,000 in newly proposed expenses, as well as $100,000 from the capital budget for the school as a stopgap measure.
   Bradley further suggested the board could buy time by adopting a reduced budget and deciding what to actually cut at a later date.

Magida said that would be a mistake.
   “I think we owe it to the public to make the final decision on our budget tonight,” she said, citing the looming deadline to get the details of the budget published in the annual reports in all five towns.
   Those reports, Magida said, were a valuable way to communicate the content of the budget with voters, and missing the publishing deadline would be a mistake.
   “It is in our best interest to make a decision tonight and get it out there,” she said.
   That’s what the board did, approving a $14.8 million budget that reflects $732,389 in new spending — an increase of 5.2 percent. Based on the board’s subsequent decision to use $200,000 of $300,000 in available surplus funds as a source of revenue in the budget, the net tax impact of the spending plan is an increase of $455,491, or 3.94 percent.
   david.delcore @timesargus.com

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