We have had this information for some time but have waited for it to show up in the town’s minutes
Everything in
Red is the legal published minutes that can be looked up for yourself on the town’s web site.
The “new Trustees” of the Thayer library have requested to double the budget for Thayer Library. On
august 15th 2012 Select board Minutes. Trustee Harriet Charland asked the select board to take over the care (lawn mowing etc.) of Thayer Library. The Selectman stated that the Town halls Maintenance man did not have time to do this and they should include this in next year’s budget.
9/12 2012 Select board Minutes, Selectmen approve doubling Thayer’s budget from $2,000 to $4,000, The Budget Committee discussed this on
10/18 2012 and eventually approved it also. This is your Tax money.
The Trustees reasoning for increased budget are that they now are responsible for all the utilities of the library and upkeep on building and ground’s due to their bad decision making.
The past trustees for many years held a library lawn & book sale on Columbus day weekend. This event always brought many community members together for a fun time and help their local library make some decent money for that library’s running cost.
The New board can’t be bothered to do this and have cancelled it, but they have no problems or guilt holding their hands out asking you for your tax dollars
It must be noted that the new trustees falsely accused the past board and library director of being in-active and as the many of you who visited the library and attended the events know this to be untrue.
The New Trustees last community event was a birthday party for Jen Bellans dog at the library, sounds unreal but we are not making this up, the Library has literally gone to the dogs.
A little history on the Library,
For over a hundred years it has functioned without being a Burden on tax-payers because the library Director, who ran the library, took care of the building and grounds, paid for all the electric, phone, ½ of the heating cost (fuel oil) and in recent times offered to supply Internet to the library for no cost to the tax payer. Many library Directors have come and gone over the century of this being in affect and all it cost the Town of Winchester….Nothing! The library’s Directors pay was to be able for their Family’s to live upstairs.
In recent years the hostile takeover by the “new board of trustees” this is what they call themselves Goal seemed to be to drive away previous board members some serving for over 30 years and take over the running of the library. They have succeeded as the many resignations prove, but now are not willing to stand up and do the work they created themselves. When discussing the option of no longer compensating (free rent) the Library Director and Maintenance person Kim Gordon (are you sick of this name yet?) told the board that if they voted to do so she would be willing to run the library and mow the lawn and take care of everything, reflected in the
Library minutes on or around August 2011. Soon after voting to no longer compensate the library Director, Kim Gordon became too busy to live up to her agreement and here you are folks you are being asked to use your tax dollars for this board’s lack of judgment and bad decision making.
We have been informed of a letter being submitted to both the Budget Committee and Select board on this matter, it is referred to in
B.C. Minutes 10/16 2012. But it looks like the select board has ignored it and not discussed or included it in their minutes.
We are trying to get a copy of this for you to read.
$4,000 doesn’t seem like a lot but in recent years tax payers are losing their homes and struggling to pay their taxes. People are begging the town to curb cost or at the minimum keep it leveled. Now this board has been allowed to double their budget, could this be opening the door for all the other boards and departments to raise theirs also?
