Update on Dean of Students, and review of snow removal
I've been somewhat disconnected from the Westwood Blog ever since Dave Atkins moved from Westwood, but I've continued to believe that this Blog was, and continues to be, a valuable tool and source of information for the residents of Westwood and for the surrounding regions. It is my firm belief that this blog, along with my personal website (http://www.gregagnew.com), and newer online media outlets such as: http://westwood.patch.com, will be what people look towards for informative, real, and honest news about their hometown.
Most recently, the Westwood School System put out notices of hire for two positions: High School Principal, and for a new (and unnecessary) postion referred to as: "Dean of Students." A few weeks ago, I had written an article praising School Committee Member Jack O'Brien's critical comments concerning the high cost of paying this newly created postion (about $78,000), and echoed his concern over the School's Budget, and Westwood's inability to recognize that this newly imposed expense was not an intelligent choice to implement, especially during a poor economy.
The full article is available here: http://gregagnew.com/2011/04/07/obrien-is-right-parks-is-wrong-dean-of-s...
Secondly, as you may have noticed, the Westwood DPW did a pretty decent job handling the plowing this year, considering the amount of snow we received, and the numerous budgetary constraints that Westwood faced. However, during the aftermath of one of Westwood's final snow removal operations, I witnessed a FedCorp contracted plowing employee plow a private driveway during his time on the clock for the Town of Westwood. Reports of this singular incident made its way to Dedham, MA, where FedCorp employees were thought to be doing the same thing, on the taxpayer's dime. Video was taken of the incident, and I entered into a discussion with Westwood Town Officials to remedy the issue in time for next year's Winter Season.
The full article is available here: http://gregagnew.com/2011/02/21/a-final-examination-plowing-and-contract...
My hope is that with contributed stories similar to this, the Westwood Blog will begin to have the high level of activity that it once enjoyed back in 2008!
Submitted by GregAgnew on April 15, 2011 - 1:58pm
Comments
On the subject of things that
On the subject of things that are not needed why does a town of ~14,000 people need two libraries?
Great Point! A few things to consider...
Your comment brings up a good point. Two libraries for a community of about 17,000 (so, it's more than 14,000, the last U.S. Census mis-represented Westwood's own town-wide figures) sounds a bit luxurious and unnecessary, considering other smaller communities don't even have one library in good working order. Proponents of the library seem to be correct that the current main library facility is out-dated and over capacity. The Islington Branch seems out-dated as well (but utilized), so, it's quite a tricky situation. Being someone who purchases his books and has more than two personal computers for research, I'm not qualified as a frequent library user, and can't speak on the issue as well as your average library-goer.
I'm on the fence though, since the community of Dedham, MA (with roughly 24,000 people) also has two library branches, and plans to use both, even if the town can't pay workers for their service on the weekends. Most employees of the library have stepped up to the plate and continued to work for free in order to maintain the hours of operation at both branches.
The scary thing, is that even though Westwood, to my knowledge, does not have a problem with paying employees of both libraries, Dedham is light years ahead of Westwood in terms of overall innovation, LEED certified buildings, and numerous community groups that are beginning to strengthen governmental relationships. Dedham has a community willing to get involved and form solutions - Westwood seems to be coasting with a terribly embarrassing lack of involvement from its citizenry.
In addition, many surrounding communities will, or have already built new library facilities in the past year, and residents seem pleased with the outcome. However, with taxes rising on our properties, Westwood Station's failure, a bloated School budget, and new projects a the forefront, we're going to need Dedham's style of leadership and innovation if we're going to protect ourselves from future financial shortfalls.
a lot more than books
One of the things I re-discovered when we had kids was the Library. We spent a lot of time in the Children's room at the Main Library and walked down to the Islington branch a few times with the kids. It's not just about getting books, it's sitting there in the Library reading the books and participating in activities that are hosted at the Library.
When we moved to Roslindale, we started going down to the BPL branch and found it very busy. Kids waiting in line to get on computers, adults using every available computer, and many people reading books to their kids, helping with homework, etc.
FedCorp and Plowing Private Driveways
Never mind FedCorp, last winter (09-10) and again this winter (10-11), I witnessed one of own DPW workers plowing, what I assumed to be, their own driveway. Now that's something to be concerned with. And I don't think that was something that only happened once because I was watching!
Last years (09-10) plowing of the driveway by this employee was less than three weeks after one of our Selectman nearly died attempting to shovel his own driveway!