A bit too little and a bit too late

I am well overdue for a place holder piece I guess. I am perhaps a bit overdue for an assessment of whether it is time to totally pull the plug on this or up the output again. A decision that is going to be made and affected by other decisions that will be made all soon enough.

Anyway ...

With the election in town on Monday, one hopes that at least the normal 20% turn out for a low turnout election.

By the number of ads and letters in this week's edition of our local weekly The Fairhaven Neighborhood News you might think this will be a big turnout.  Hoping to be completely wrong on the turnout matter I just don't see that happening.

Whether there is that silent majority out there, being extremely silent to this point, which will turn out is surprising numbers is always an option. It would be a great surprise if it did.

We are told nature abhors a vacuum, and there is no closer example to a vacuum in the political world than a near nothing turnout. The fact is there is no marquee race out there which on its face would have a SRO sign at the polls.

No, the long term prognostication is that will be next year's selectmen's race for that. One or two of the potential contestants who were being talked about as potentially running earlier in the year for tomorrow's election made the calculated decision not to run this year.

I was even asked whether I thought the present selectman was beatable. My answer was anyone is "beatable" however I didn't think the particular potential challenger being discussed could do it.  Of course that didn't necessarily go over well.

In the end several individuals made an assessment of their chances and for whatever reasons they may state, real or camouflaged, decided not to run. In truth, it boils down to one thing when you are deciding to run.

Can you win? Obviously for some the decision was made not this year.

Again, for whatever the personal reasons, probably a very smart decision based on the chance of winning.

The net effect is the lack of that marquee decision.

Whether the BPW ballot question is enough of an issue to generate turnout is a matter of debate to some.  

It certainly is the type of issue that should generate a turnout however it isn't causing any big buzz on the chatter circuit.  The soft humming on the street though is pretty interesting.

Based on that soft but less than soothing sound, what will be the result? Truthfully, this is one of those "races" where I would not put out a line.  

One of the reasons for that being there is a whole lot of misinformation out there one this one folks. Not unusual in any election really. It is the type of stuff however where you really don't know how likely it will be that the voter can separate the wheat from the chaff.

If we could get "FactCheck.Org" to come into town and review the claims being made on both sides of this issue it would be an entertaining exercise, and an enlightening one to boot I think.

One of the points where the arguments on both side of the spectrum is shall we say being stretched a bit is the amount of additional work the selectmen will have as a result of the act.

On the "yes" vote side, the extreme claim has been stretched as far as to say none, and more often than not to say very little.  Well if you read the act the "none" is simply not correct.  Whether the "very little" is applicable depends on what you would consider that to mean and what level of work you would expect from the board to perform the functions required of it under this proposal being advertised as a new and improved .

On the "no" vote side, the extreme claim has been stretched as far as to say the selectmen won't be able to handle the additional workload. That pretty much is the universal theme on the "no" vote side as to the "workload". Well again if you read the act that too would depend greatly on what you would consider an extreme additional workload.

So what exactly does the act say will be the new duties for our selectboard?

Under section 2:

Notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, those duties previously vested in the board of public works for the setting of rates and fees, for the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and for the issuance of licenses, permits, variances and similar forms of regulatory approval, shall be vested in the board of selectmen for the town of Fairhaven.

Under section 3:

The town administrator, subject to review and approval by the board of selectmen, shall appoint and fix the compensation of a superintendent of public works, referred to in this act as the superintendent ...

Now the review and approval of the appointment of the super thingy shouldn't require much heavy lifting initially, and after that should only occur sporadically. Nothing extreme here unless some go out of their way to create the extra workload on that particular aspect

The argument of becoming responsible for x number of employees you have heard, not really valid. On a day to day basis the issue of employees falls to the TA and his or her underlings.

However setting the rates and fees, contract negotiations, issuance of licenses, permits, variances and similar forms of regulatory approval, well if you follow what goes on presently, this is certainly more than just a little bit of work.  

Sure the contract negotiations will be assigned to the TA.  Still will require some work from the selectboard though.  

The issuance of licenses, permits, variances and similar forms of regulatory approval is going to require more than rubber stamp time if done correctly.  An impossible burden no, but a burden that will require more than perfunctory time.

On those functions the key for the voter should be to assess what is being done now versus what you think should be done under the new structure, i.e. what level of work you would expect from the selectboard in performing the functions required of it under this proposal being advertised as new and improved.

As to the elected "advisory and citizen's advocacy board" to be created, it is a joke.  That much is plain and simple to me.  Yes that is a personal opinion, but it is one that hasn't changed and isn't going to.

As to a recent comparison that the advisory function of a reformed BPW is similar to that of the advisory function of the finance committee, I would point out one very significant difference.  The finance committee's "advice" cannot simply be ignored if the department head or others disagree with it.  The finance committee's advice goes to town meeting for approval or disapproval.  The advice and recommendations from a reformed BPW are going into one ear and may very well, and probably very often will, flow right out the other.

Whatever the outcome for this one, let's hope this one vote settles it.  The potential exists that if defeated, this ballot question can be voted on again two more times.  If it passes, the issue becomes moot. Done. Over. Time to move on.

If it fails, in addition to facing the do over, we have the sticky wicket of a few conflicts with the existing TA provision, but no real need to rush to resolve them because we still don't have the TA, nor should anything presumed to have an A- grade be presented with any real worrisome issues.

If it passes than all is good. The nonexistent TA will take immediate control of the BPW.

Let's face it, anything written hear today is too little, too late to have any real effect. This has been a bit intentional, which I am regretting but ...

No matter the outcome of the vote, there are going to be repercussions.

The vote will make or break a political career or two.  The vote will have a ripple effect going into town meeting. The vote will create a wave effect going forward with certain changes. These things will happen whether it is a yes or no vote.

Indeed some are all ready banking on success at the polls, some on both sides.  There may be more on that I think down the road.

Anyway ...

Some early predictions for tomorrow:

Low turn out as noted.

Selectman Espindola in a landslide victory.

More write-ins being cast in this election than probably the last five combined.

All safe predictions I know.  The contested races, well I might pass on all of them, even the BPW ballot mess.  Who knows though.  Might be able to get a vibe tomorrow.

Whatever you do, wherever you stand, just make sure to go and vote; and, as always

Be Safe.