>>Valley Patriot>> |
North Adnover Hold
on to Your Wallets
WOMEN: Remove the pocketbook from your shoulder and place it in front of you. Open carefully and locate your wallet. Grasp firmly with both the right and the left hand. Don’t let go. CHILDREN: Stay close to your parents. As they reach for their wallets, look for any change that may fall to the ground. Scoop it up quickly and hold tight. Watch carefully for any “lurking spenders” near you who want to take it away These are the actions North Andover citizens will have to take if several of the current crop of candidates for selectman are elected to office this March 28th. The majority of these candidates do not support a limited moratorium on Prop. 2 ½ Overrides. For those of you new in town, this is the annual exercise of North Andover’s Board of Selectmen to raise your taxes for some worthy cause in the community. Generally, it’s for the schools - correction, “for the children” – but it might also be for a new police or fire station, or perhaps for some prime piece of land the “community preservation” advocates covet. The North Andover Taxpayers Association, for the second year in a row, has sent out letters to all selectman candidates with Taxpayer Protection Pledge forms asking them to pledge to the citizens of the town that, if elected, they would not support an override during their 3-year term of office. The Taxpayers
Association feels that it is critical to elect more
taxpayer-friendly candidates to office The Taxpayers Association sent out three Taxpayer Protection Pledge forms with a cover letter to every candidate and asked each to sign the form that most reflected his position on tax overrides. There was one Pledge form that covered all types of tax overrides, a second that covered only operational or general, “permanent” overrides, and a third which covered tax overrides just for capital projects. This was done to accommodate the varying views of some officials on how tax overrides may be justified. Obviously, the Taxpayers Association would like to see all candidates sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge that they would not support any type of override for the next three years. Last year, four out of five selectman candidates signed one of the Taxpayer Protection Pledges, promising to the people that they would not raise taxes in most cases. Selectman Jim Xenakis, currently in office, signed a Taxpayer Protection Pledge not to support nor vote for any kind of override for three years. The Taxpayers Association expects him to honor this Pledge during the current calls for yet another tax override. This year we have six selectman candidates running for office. Disappointingly, only two had the fortitude and foresight to sign a Taxpayer Protection Pledge. The North Andover Taxpayers Association congratulates candidates Dan Lanen and Joe Smith for their realization that the town’s problems cannot be solved by simply throwing more money at them. They realize that structural chan-ges must be made in how the town is managed if it ever going to get its spending under control. The Taxpayers Association wishes them well in their quests to become a selectman. The other candidates, Mark Caggiano (incumbent), Don Stewart (incumbent), Steve Dawe and John Savastano all refused to sign any of the Taxpayer Protection Pledges. Several said they did not “do pledges.” But isn’t a pledge simply a promise? Does this mean they don’t believe in promises … or that they can’t keep a promise? Either way, if they can’t make a promise to the people, why should the people believe anything they say while running for office? If they tell you they will do something – improve the schools, increase public safety, etc. – who can believe it? Beware of those who don’t “do” promises. The Taxpayers Association would like to urge all voters who are planning to vote on March 28th to seriously con-sider those candidates who have promised you that they will not raise your taxes and instead make the tough spend-ing decisions necessary to get town finances under control. Ted Tripp is an International Consultant in high-tech manufacturing methods. He has BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from MIT. You can reach him at tripp@gis.net. *Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
MEN: Take your right hand and
gently move it around to your left rear pocket. Insert
hand, fingers extended. Carefully remove the wallet and
bring it around to the front. Grasp tightly with both
hands and don’t let go.
if the town is to break the
vicious cycle of override after override every year.
Since 1986, North Andover has presented 38 tax overrides
to the voters for “worthy” causes. Proposition
2 ½ was not passed in 1980 to be abused this way by
out-of-control spending addicts. That’s a harsh term
to use, but it is appropriate in this situation.