Winchester voters officially abolish budget committee

You people were warned to pay attention and get out and vote .. You have now handed the keys to the vault over to the BOS to do whatever they want with no checks and balances. Of course the warrant was changed to confuse everyone from the original wording; but don't count on Barton Mayer to come clean, he works to put money in his pockets.

I  foresee another trip to District Court in the making..

By Meghan Foley Sentinel Staff

 

WINCHESTER — It’s official: The Winchester Budget Committee is no more.
Selectmen Chairwoman Roberta A. Fraser said Wednesday that officials heard back from the town’s attorney, who confirmed that residents abolished the budget committee at town meeting on Tuesday.

By a vote of 299-248, residents decided against keeping the committee, which was established at town meeting in 1935.

However, the wording of the warrant article wasn’t straightforward, and that prompted local officials to seek advice from the town’s attorney first thing Wednesday morning. Until his confirmation, town officials were not ready to announce that the budget committee was officially gone.

The budget committee’s job has been to set the proposed town operating budget that comes before voters each year.

The task now falls to the selectmen.

The budget committee warrant article was amended at the town’s deliberative session last month. It originally asked voters whether they wanted to abolish the committee, rather than whether they wanted to keep it. That wording was reversed by voters at the session.

At the February meeting, some residents argued the committee is needed as part of the checks-and-balances oversight of town government. Selectmen, on the other hand, said the committee wasn’t doing its job and some members weren’t making decisions in the best interest of the town.

Fraser said this morning that the new board of selectmen will be in place by next Wednesday’s meeting; at that point she expects members will discuss how they want to proceed.

Voters elected Jack Marsh Jr. and Ken Berthiaume to the five-member board Tuesday, ousting incumbents Sherman Tedford and Bill McGrath.

Fraser said her recommendation is for the selectmen to appoint a finance advisory committee.
Yeah right, Roberta, We're going to trust the group that wanted to do away with "elected people" who disagreed with you to appoint unbiased folks to fill their positions .. sure thing.

“We do have to have the checks and balances,” she said.
Really, so why submit a warrant to abolish the group that provided those checks and balances?

While the selectmen had recommended the original warrant article to abolish the budget committee, Fraser said she is surprised the amended version that appeared before voters Tuesday passed.

“It has been on the warrant before, and it didn’t pass.”

Based on that history, selectmen hadn’t thought much about what would happen if the warrant article was successful, she said.

Meghan Foley can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or mfoley@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @MFoleyKS.