Re-Election Announcement

Framingham City Councilor at-Large George King has announced that he will seek re-election. He serves in the critical role of Chairman of the Council’s Finance Committee, while also serving on the Council’s Rules Committee and Planning and Zoning Committee.

“I am proud of the work done on the Finance Committee.  The Committee has overseen the development of two annual budgets.  We have reduced the City’s spending by almost $7,000,000, saving the average taxpayer over $200 a year” said King, who was previously both Framingham’s Town Manager (1999-2005) and Town Clerk (1993-1999).  “Our residents rightfully demand quality public services, and we have the responsibility to deliver those services as efficiently as possible to assure Framingham remains affordable for all.”

King is particularly concerned with the growth of water and sewer rates.  “We have done an admirable job rebuilding our system, but at an economic cost.  I have requested the administration propose a plan adopting clear and predictable capital expenditures that not only address necessary work, but limits rates to a predictable and affordable level.”

King cites his first term accomplishments to include:

·      The approval of two annual budgets minimizing the tax increase for residents.

·      Working collaboratively with residents to achieve a compromise solution for the Nobscot redevelopment.

·      Advocating for additional visitor parking and the adoption of reasonable parking regulations in downtown Framingham.

·      Providing Support for the Fuller Middle School reconstruction, while working to assure it was accomplished as economically as possible.

·      Bringing the issue of the opioid crisis to the Council, resulting in a resolution of support, that eventually turned into a fast-growing local non-profit, Framingham Force, dedicated to bringing the community together to deal with the issue. He currently serves as Force’s treasurer.

·      Successfully lobbying to extend customer service hours on Friday afternoons at City Hall.

If re-elected King intends to focus on these issues among others:

·      Advocating for a thorough review of the funded, yet unfilled vacancies at the police department, challenging our public safety service delivery.

·      Eliminating paying for salaries through our capital budget appropriations in the water and sewer departments.

·      Restructuring city government to consolidate areas of administrative duplication.

·      As an educator to continually advocate for quality public education, simultaneously holding the school administration accountable for efficient administration of the department.

George King has demonstrated an ability to offer insightful and respectful inquiries into the operations of city government.  He will continue to use his experience as a municipal and school administrator to make independent decisions and offer innovative solutions to fight to keep Framingham affordable.

King has lived in Framingham much of his life, graduating from Framingham South High School.  His two adult children also graduated from Framingham Schools. He was an active member of the PTO and school council at Dunning  and Walsh as well as a former chairperson of the Townwide PTO.  King has a J.D. from the Massachusetts School of Law, and graduate degrees from Boston College and Framingham State University.  He lives on Auburn Street with his wife Allison.

Expanding the Summer Hours

I was surprised when the City announced just before Labor Day weekend that the “summer hours” for Town services would be continued to January 1^st.  Essentially those hours include an addition of two hours (5pm to 7pm) on Tuesday night and a reduction of four and a half hours (12:30 pm to 5 pm) on Friday afternoons.  Overall, City Hall will be open for 2.5 hours less per week.

There is no question it is more commonplace to see Town Halls close on Friday afternoon.  The issue of course becomes why?  First and foremost if we are being honest, many have done it for employee benefit reasons, not public service reasons  Others, have done it for budget reasons.  My concern is that it reinforces a common and convenient stereotype of public employees that is not true, namely that they have easy jobs with good hours and good pay.  Having worked as a public employee for the last 25 years I think nothing is further from the truth, but public policy decisions such as this lend unwanted credibility to the notion.

I try not to regularly use my past experience as a best practice example, because I realize things have changed a lot.  However, in this instance I think not so much.  When I was Framingham’s Town Clerk (1993-1999) and Town Manager (1999-2005) we kept the key customer service locations open one night a week with a limited crew, and the building open full time the rest of the week.  It worked great. We kept numbers at the time and found there were only three or four offices that generated any significant foot traffic in the evening.  Therefore we can serve the public one night per week without denying the public service every Friday afternoon. 

Having the City Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor and maybe Board of Health open for evening service makes sense.  Having the Accountant or Purchasing for example closed on Friday and open on Tuesday nights, makes no sense.  We are much better served having them open on Friday as they are business to business offices.  Same goes for offices with other more business orientated operations, such as Planning and Building.  Having our building and health inspectors unavailable on Friday afternoons seems inefficient at best, and possibly dangerous.  

The current hours are set by a bylaw that states the building is to be open from 8:30 to 5:00 Monday to Friday.  It does have an exception that say unless otherwise authorized by the Board of Selectmen.  However, I see the legislative intent of that bylaw to mean that exception authorization is for specific situations like snow or maybe the Friday after Thanksgiving, not a permanent change.  If it were meant to allow a permanent change, then it would not say 8:30-5:00, it would say "as determined by the BOS."   

There is not public policy reason to close on Friday afternoon.  If there is another justification that I am missing, then I would like to explore it through a public process that will help enhance public understanding.

Water and Sewer Rates

I sent the following written testimony to Mayor Spicer regarding the water and sewer rate setting process that is currently underway.

Dear Mayor Spicer,

I am writing to offer written testimony, as invited, on the FY 2019 sewer rates and by inference the water rates.  At this time you are in the same situation the City Council will be  later this month regarding the tax rate.  There  are few rate options, as the revenue must support the budget.  The only time we can truly impact rates is when we develop and approve the spending plans, both operations and capital.

Often it is pointed out that Framingham has spent a great deal of money on capital infrastructure..  Sometimes when this has been discussed it has been made to sound like it just started, but it is really a decade and a half old.  That distinction is important because though perhaps in the past the system maintenance has been neglected, that is the somewhat distant past at this point.

I have great respect for the goals that Director Peter Sellers and his staff have accomplished. They have brought us a long way and done some very impressive projects, but we cannot continue to build at this pace or our rates will not be affordable.  Instead, we must maintain the system and continue to gradually replace it.  We must recognize that we can’t address 100 years of issues in 20 years, otherwise, we will put a large cost on one generation of rate payers.

If we are to have any real rate relief we are going to have to slow our capital program as that is what is primarily driving the rate increase.  Further, like all departments we must look to achieve efficiency in operations. Although the current rate proposal is a relatively modest rate increase of 2%, it is not reflective of the real increase in cost.  The rate increase is being mitigated by retained earnings, but once that source of funds is used, the rates will grow even faster. We will have to make up for the one time revenue being utilized now, and account for future cost increases.  

I appreciate the context you have tried to put the rates in. The idea water is a bargain compared to cable TV and other utilities may be true.  I have also seen the examples of how our rates compare favorably to other MWRA communities.  Nevertheless, I do not believe it tells the whole story.  People can’t decide to do without water.  I cannot immediately name any other life necessity, even health insurance in most instances, that has doubled in a decade.  We have to recognize the impact this has on many many residents and commit to slow this rapid rise.

Controlling the growth of expenditure is what controls the rates, and honestly that starts with the Mayor’s office. As the executive we need your  leadership to control expenditures as you author the budget, otherwise it can’t happen.  If you take the initiative I pledge as a councilor to support your efforts.  I am truly hopeful when we see your capital budget in a couple of weeks, and your operating budget in six months, we will see the beginning of water and sewer rate control.  It is a critical need for our community.

Thank you for your consideration of my input.