by @BarryRafkind in Announcements, Economy & Poverty, Government Reform, Schools and Youth
Posted on April 26, 2009 at 10:04 pm
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The following was posted by Ward 5 School Committee member Mark Niedergang to the list of the Progressive Democrats of Somerville (PDS) on Apr 24th.
How do you think Somerville should respond to the budget cuts?
-Barry
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Dear friends at PDS,
The Board of Aldermen and School Committee together will be holding a public forum on the FY 2010 budget this Tuesday, April 28th, at 7 PM in the Aldermen’s Chambers in City Hall.
This is an opportunity to get an update from the Mayor and the Superintendent of Schools on the City and School budgets for next year and to share your concerns, ideas, and suggestions about priorities and ways to make the FY 2010 budget stretch further.
At this time it looks like the City of Somerville will face a budgetary shortfall of somewhere between $8.6 and $12 million dollars next year, unless something changes in terms of the amount of state aid that the City gets. (The City budget this year is about $165 million.) Cuts of this magnitude will be extremely painful and are likely to include layoffs and cutbacks in programs. These cuts are likely to be felt in all municipal services and programs, including the public schools.
The Board of Aldermen and School Committee are interested in hearing your thoughts about priorities and any ideas or suggestions you may have for creative ways to save money or improve services.
As far as I know, this type of forum is unprecedented in Somerville — but the challenge that the City faces with next year’s budget are extraordinary. I hope you will attend to both learn about the difficult times to come and contribute your concerns and ideas to building the best budget we can for the City.
You can find more information about Tuesday’s budget forum and the current situation in the news release below my signature.
Please contact me with questions, concerns or ideas.
Mark Niedergang
Vice Chair and Chair of the Finance and Facilities Subcommittee
Ward 5 Representative
Somerville School Committee
617-629-8033
m.niedergang(at)comcast.net
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 21, 2009
ALDERMAN HEUSTON ANNOUNCES FINANCE COMMITTEE, SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO SPONSOR APRIL 28TH PUBLIC FORUM ON FY2010 BUDGET
SOMERVILLE – Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston, Chair of the Board of Aldermen (BOA) Finance Committee, announced today that her committee, working with the School Committee, has scheduled a public forum on special municipal budget issues in Fiscal Year 2010. The forum will be held on April 28th at 7pm in the BOA Chambers at City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue. Chairman Heuston and Ward 5 School Committee Member Mark Niedergang, Chair of the School Committee’s Finance and Facilities Committee, have invited all interested residents to attend the forum in order to learn about the budget process and about the challenges faced by the city at a time of sharply decreased state aid which, after a $3 million cut this year, faces cuts of nearly $11 million FY2010 – a reduction of nearly 24 percent. The forum is designed to provide an opportunity for residents to share their priorities, ideas and concerns as difficult decisions are made.
“We want to share the latest information we have about the challenges faced by the City administration, the Board of Aldermen, and the School Committee as well as solicit new ideas, recommendations, advice, and suggestions from the public,” said Alderman Heuston. “We face unprecedented challenges in building the FY2010 budget. Because of the due diligence performed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen over the last several years, Somerville is in better shape than many other municipalities across the Commonwealth. However, we still face the reality of multimillion dollar cuts in local state aid that will have to be addressed in the FY2010 budget. We must come together as a community to address these challenges head-on.”
“I want to thank Alderman Heuston for inviting the School Committee to co-sponsor this community budget forum,” said School Committee Member Niedergang. “The entire School Committee looks forward to working collaboratively with the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor to address the challenges posed by the cuts in local state aid. Together, we will do all we can to build a FY 2010 budget that preserves core services for the residents of Somerville and that continues to improve the quality of our public schools.”
For more information please contact Alderman Heuston (mheuston(at)hotmail.com or at (617) 293-5517) or School Committee Member Niedergang (mniedergang(at)k12.somerville.ma.us or at (617) 629-8033.)
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One option the city should not resort to is issuing parking tickets to vehicles that are not in violation. My girlfriend was recently issued a handicap parking ticket for a spot that was not marked. There was a pole with no sign on it which was proven with pictures that were taken. Even with the proof shown at the appeal proceeding, they are still trying to make her pay the $200 ticket. This is a shameless attempt at taking advantage of hard working citizens. Should someone be able to help with this we would really appreciate it since we do not feel we should have to pay this. I can be reached at 978.689.2288. Thank you very much.
Dave
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Hi Dave, sorry to hear of your trouble, but you might take some comfort in knowing that you are not alone, actually many residents share your frustrations about the often capricious system of parking enforcement. You would probably be interested in connecting with the Somerville Parking Problems Google group that I discussed in Neighbors share parking ticket stories and seek reform. Have you complained to any of the aldermen or anyone at city hall? Please keep us updated on your situation. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the info Barry. I will keep you posted on how things go. I will not rest until this is dropped!
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I was distressed by the amount of time spent at last night’s budget meeting on the defense of the excellence of our schools. Clearly, the School Committee is dead tired of having to field questions from young parents who have “heard that the schools are not good.” They gave numerous examples of independant measures of our schools’ greatness (as an urban school), and were a bit strident and long-winded. From the back row, folks, we were saying “Enough already!” The School Committee members should realize that too much defensiveness makes people come back around to the negative impression they had in the first place! Still, I was sitting next to my friend whose daughter will be attending Yale from Somerville High next year, so I have to agree that young parents should take a closer look if they think the schools aren’t good enough. They are.
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I live in Somerville and will not be sending my son to the public school when he starts school in 2 years specifically because of certain members of the school committee. I will send him to a private school in Somerville and will see what happens after that.
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I am the parent of a 20 months old and currently pregnant. I live in Somerville and will not be sending my children to any public schools in Somerville specifically because of certain members of the School Committee.
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Janine, I would suggest visiting the schools and watching classes to decide whether you want your children there. School Committee members, for better or worse, are often very far removed from the place where education either does or doesn’t take place.
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