Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Quick Article Index . . .
April 13th ballot has two races and one ballot question.
Liz Collins speaks of
politics and public service.
Transmitter-equipped
Osprey returns to Westport.
April 13th ballot
has two races and one ballot question.
EverythingWestport.com
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 Economic well-being of Westport may ride on
2 ½ override ballot question outcome.
Elizabeth A.
Collins, a 67 year-old retired registered nurse, and same-aged Richard M.
Spirlet, a retired New Bedford police captain, stand on opposite sides of two
major issues facing Westport voters: a Proposition 2 ½ override of $1.5
million to fund public schools and other town departments, and a local option
tax on restaurant meals and hotel rooms that was previously defeated at town
meeting. Collins
supports passing a Proposition 2½ override and local option taxes on
restaurant meals and hotel rooms. “Town services, especially those for
seniors and in schools, are too valuable to not be funded,” she said. Spirlet
does not support the local meals and hotel tax as he feels it would unfairly
target a few businesses, and he is concerned that the town needs to live
within its budget and better control expenses. “In
my experience, transparency, integrity, ethical practices beyond the
requirements of the law, and continuous oversight do not get in the way of
doing the job; they are the only way to get the job done right,” Spirlet, a
fiscal conservative said. Westport, with a
traditionally-leaning democratic electorate, faces declining state monies to
the possible tune of 4%, and future budget crises are inevitable. However,
Westport voters have shown no appetite for 2 ½ overrides. The quick fix at
the recent special town meeting of $141,103 to fund the 2010 schools’ budget
deficit may help in the short term, but the stop gap measure is not
encouraging fiscal restraint, which may be needed if the Prop 2 ½ question
fails. The election of
Scott Brown has shown Massachusetts voters are concerned about excessive
spending and unfunded state mandates; both of which directly affect Westport
schools. What impact current voter mood has on the April 13 election remains
to be seen. The only other
contested position among the 15 on the ballot is Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds with Ronald C. Costa
squaring off against Charles W. Nichols III. Also running for town office are: Moderator – Steven W. Fors,
uncontested Assessor – Stephen Medeiros,
uncontested Board of Health – Sean M. Leach, uncontested School Committee, 3-years – Russell T.
Kleber, uncontested School Committee, 3-years – Eric Larrivee,
uncontested School Committee, 2-year unexpired term –
James A. Bernard, uncontested Fish Commissioner – Jason C. Powell,
uncontested Trustees Of Free Public
Library – Robert J.
Gormley, uncontested Trustees Of Free Public
Library – Majorie T.
Sandborg, uncontested Landing Commissioner – Maxwell F. Turner, uncontested Housing Authority – Elizabeth A. Collins,
uncontested Planning Board – Elaine Ostroff, uncontested
Liz Collins speaks to ROMEOs of politics and public
service. EverythingWestport.com Thursday, March
25, 2010
The ROMEOs lived
up to their reputation, and Collins up to hers as a woman of resolution and
fair-mindedness. “I’m a public
service advocate,” said the retired, long-term caregiver. “I’m not a
politician.” The 67-year-old
former registered nurse had a long career as a labor and delivery nurse, and
switched later in life to caring for the elder and eventually working with
pet therapy. She spoke briefly
about her family and grandchildren, one of which just deployed to Iraq. Collins, a former
Westport selectwoman from 2003 – 2006, is currently a
member of the Housing Authority and the Fire Station Building Committee,
Community Preservation, Housing Partnership and Estuaries committees. She’s
also a member and president of the Westport Lions Club, among other groups. Above: Elizabeth Collins with
Westport ROMEO Chuck Goldberg. “I’ve always been
interested in town politics and in serving the town,” Collins said. When asked about why she would want to be
selectman in such fiscally trying times, she said “I absolutely love the job
and the challenges, the work and learning process of dealing with complex
issues. I do my homework.” “I’m a
public service advocate,” said the retired, long-term caregiver. “I’m not a
politician.” Collins
supports passing the controversial Proposition 2½ override at the town’s
upcoming April 13 annual election. She also said she wants to see “voters
approve local option taxes on restaurant meals and hotel rooms” at town
meeting in May. Town services, especially those for seniors and schools, are
too valuable to not be funded, she said. “I have grandchildren in our
schools.”
Left: Candidate Collins makes a case for her candidacy
to the ROMEOs. Right: Tim Harrenstein, school committee representative for
the Strategic Planning Initiative briefly
speaks to the group and hands out a School Community Core Value Survey. Collins
wasn’t spared the hardball questions asked by a group known for its
directness and fiscal conservatism. Westport is headed for perilous times,
said the ROMEOs. “If the Prop 2 ½ override fails,” they asked, “and if
elected Selectman how would you handle the fiscal crisis?” “I
certainly hope the question passes,” Collins said. “However, if not, the
selectmen would have to meet with the town board heads to rework budgets, and
make some hard choices. Negotiations with employee unions would be critical,
as in the past our selectmen have had a history of giving – we need to give
and take. We shouldn’t wait for the departments to come to us to present
their requirements. We need to be proactive in meeting with them and making
the hard choices together.” “We have to challenge department heads if raises are requested. We
will have to practice budget austerity.” “In
my first term as selectwoman, I was involved with cutting budgets. There are
never any easy fixes. I was assigned the duty of negotiating with the town
hall and the town hall annex, and with the police. I viewed then and I view
now that negotiation is give and take. It’s not a one-way street. We have to
challenge department heads if raises are requested. We will have to practice
budget austerity.” “I
would advocate setting department goals and objectives, and insist on
performance reviews. These reviews should be and are required to be performed
by the selectmen.” The
ROMEOs pointed out many areas they felt bore scrutiny – heavy
administration/supervisory overhead in the school and police departments, for
example. “We can’t evaluate elected officials,” Collins said in response to a
question. “The taxpayers and voters must make that evaluation at the polls.
But we certainly need to ramp up objective evaluation of our appointed board
heads. I feel strongly that department heads’ salary and benefit increases
should not be linked to employee contracts, which has been the practice as of
late.” “Management
of town resources is key to preparing board budgets,” Collins said. The
developmental direction of the Route 6 corridor was raised and, in light of
the fractious Water and Sewer Committee which threatens the committee’s very
existence, there is a dysfunctional attitude about what should be done. “We can’t afford water and sewer,” Collins
said. “Without it our options are limited. I would like to see the growth of
companies in ‘green’ technologies.” “I
do like the new CVS store very much,” Collins added. In
her first term Collins stumbled on a few issues. “I learned a lot from that
experience,” Collins said. “As a caregiver I made some decisions from the
heart. Those decisions should have come from the head.” Transmitter-equipped Osprey returns
to Westport. EverythingWestport.com March 26, 2010
Hudson’s transmitter and antenna are
clearly visible on his back. Cole said that It was raining and supposed to
turn cold that night, and was windy and rainy over the next few days, so
Hudson may wish he was still back in Venezuela or Florida. But the Herring
are in the river so the Osprey may be happy with that. Also, the pair has arrived at the nest in
the upper East Branch near Hix Bridge as reported by Russ Craig the same
morning. These were the parents of the ill-fated Hix, who ran afoul of a
Great-horned Owl in Maine last fall. Many other nests in the West Branch have
pairs or single birds present. So the season has officially gotten into high
gear, reports Cole. Above: Hudson with his mate on April 1, 2010. Photo submitted
by David Cole. Below left: Hudson
and his mate work on their nest. Below
right: the Osprey pair takes a break from nest repair for a little
courtship. Photos/EverythingWestport.com
Charles
H. Gerrior, Outreach Coordinator for the Westport River Watershed Alliance,
believes Hudson took a relatively straight route and has flown around 3,100
miles over about 18 days. Hudson left Venezuela/Colombia on March 7
around noon, and Gerrior assumes Migration Updates from Westport Osprey
Hudson
completed the final leg of his journey sometime during the night of March
25th. He traveled around 3100 miles in about 18 days. He averaged
a speed of about 25 miles per hour, although when he caught a good headwind
he occasionally reached up to 55mph. Above left: this is an
image of his final leg from New Jersey to the Westport River. Since he
has arrived in Westport harbor there hasn't been much time for a rest, as can
be seen in the second image, above right, of his path over the
past two days, illustrating that he has been very busy. The
transmitter and tracking program for Hudson while he summers in Westport will
provide vital habitat and feeding patterns/locations that will help
researchers better understand this marvelous fish hawk. Update on Wednesday,
April 07, 2010 David
Cole reports that “Our famous pair of
Hudson and Judson has been very busy since both returned last month. He
(Hudson) spent the winter on the Venezuela/Colombia border and returned in March.
As of this evening Mrs. Hudson, otherwise known as Judson, was well hunkered
down in the nest indicating that she has probably laid her first egg of the
season. There are more to come as they were mating just this afternoon. We
got our first maps back showing where Hudson has been fishing, and he
apparently been successful close to home in the West Branch. He did travel up
the East Branch almost to Hix Bridge, but not farther up that way. He also
made a few excursions over into Rhode Island, visiting some of the ponds that
he relied upon last summer. So we will keep an eye on him. We plan to remove
his transmitter in May, if we can re-trap him, and then install 2-3
transmitters on other adult males.” For
further info check out www.Westportosprey.org. - - - - - End - - -
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