Granby – The Future is in Transparent Leadership

In order to arm the taxpayers with proper and researched information attached are the salaries of Town employees - both the Municipal and the Education Department along with other facts and comments. The Board of Education contracts are available online so we won't address this in any great detail. The Municipal contracts were made available to us by the Town Manager for review. Public Works hourly rates do not include the recent 2.5% increase (retroactive to July 1, 2012) and will be increased by 2.5% in 2014, 2.75% in 2015 and 2.75% in 2016.

To view these documents, click here:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxFWXbY13vK3QXNDOGptck5OdzA&usp=sharing
 
Some interesting facts:
 
Granby makes longevity payments for years of service (10 years = $250.00, 20 years = $500.00, 30 years = $750.00) which is over and above any negotiated increases; employees are eligible to take "comp time" in lieu of overtime and each employee has an annual Service Rating Report.
 
Granby also has a policy for the personal use of town vehicles. The Town Manager, Director of Public Works and Deputy Director of Public Works have an agreement and "Each pays a tax of $1.50 per trip (to and from home). Each employee has signed off on a statement for the withholdings and it is recorded each pay period on the employee’s time sheets." The Chief of Police and Police Captain both have use, but are exempt from the tax because they are Public Safety Officials. There appears to be no mileage accountability associated with this benefit to insure against misuse.
 
On a separate note, the Director of Public Works was asked, by email on August 13 and again on August 20 for a list of all vehicles and major equipment.  A follow up was sent to the Town Manager on August 29. Neither the Director nor Town Manager responded and a complaint was initiated with The Freedom of Information Commission - it is pending action by the Commission. DPW has a number of new/newer vehicles and equipment. The purpose of the request is to determine the when these vehicles and equipment were acquired and the next step is to determine the method - lease or purchase. The DPW budget is huge, as a percentage of the Municipal Budget, yet there seems to be no accounting of how the money is spent. The majority of the budget is salaries for employees. DPW has done projects that have violated Wetlands regulations (Dog Park and Ahrens Park) and have not been held accountable. Although a formal complaint was made to Inland Wetlands and Water Courses Commission, the town got a pass.  It is interesting that residents who know better turned their heads during the Dog Park construction and enjoy the finished project. Yet should some taxpayer attempt such a project, they would be literally called on the carpet for it, potentially fined and/or forced to return the property to its original status at the resident's expense.
 
At the Town Meeting in April, a suggestion was made to First Selectman John Adams to look at privatizing some of the Public Works basic maintenance functions such as lawn mowing, building cleaning, etc. Mr. Adams response was that it won't happen. Avon has been contracting out those services for a number of years and Simsbury contracts the operation of their Transfer Station to Paine's. It is worth looking at to save tax dollars. However, the process must be done objectively and with a look at real savings, not protecting the status quo.
 
As you may or may not know, the Town is exempt from zoning regulations. This means that any type of project may be built anywhere in town with no regard to the rules that the taxpayers must follow. There are a number of surrounding towns (Simsbury for one) that requires that any project or any type or size, must be presented to the Planning and Zoning Commissions for approval. Although the removal of this exemption is part of the Plan of Conservation and Development, there is no movement in place to do so.
 
A short comment concerning The Peppermill Deli: The town purchased the property as a hedge against the price going up if and when the rezoned area becomes a commercially viable venture. The current owners provided a proposal to operate the deli, paying rent to the town and making all improvements out of their pocket. If there is any evidence of collusion or other nefarious dealings, none could be found.
 
These facts have been researched and are served up for discussion and should be used to begin a dialogue with the candidates heading into the November elections. This is not about a party choice; this is about the best and most transparent leadership for Granby.