Before I document the sequence of what transpired with the school bus study issue, I first want to restate the mission and duties of Town Meeting’s Capital Planning Committee. This Committee advises the town administrator on the town’s capital needs with a (constantly updated) five-year plan. Items for each of the 5 years are prioritized. In addition, the Committee is charged with finding funding sources to acquire the capital Items.

The task requires unfettered and constant interaction among the Committee, the town administrator, the department heads, the town accountant, and the town treasurer. The end of this process should result in a unified presentation of capital items at Town Meeting.

Now let us get back to the bus/study issue!

In late October, I made a suggestion at a Finance Committee meeting that perhaps a group of “5” individuals -- made up of the chairs of the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee and the Finance Committee, the School Superintendant and the town administrator -- could be formed to work out a solution to the ongoing bus issue.

Nothing happened until Thursday, November 10, when the above individuals -- at the request of the town administrator -- actually met. They came to a consensus that they would reach out to the Capital Planning Committee and see if they could organize a group of graduate students from any nearby university to develop and complete an independent comprehensive financial study of the busing and transportation needs of the Wareham Public School District. This would be due by March 1, 2012.

A presentation of the completed comprehensive study would be made at a public hearing, which would include: the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Capital Planning Committee.

The town administrator wrote up this motion for the chairs of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee to present to their respective board/committee to vote on.

The Capital Planning Committee had a scheduled meeting for Monday morning, November 14. This meeting could not open due to the lack of a quorum. Present for the meeting was Walter Cruz, chair of the Board of Selectmen. Walter approached me and David Trudell (Capital Planning member via the FinCom), to explain the concept and ask if we thought the Committee could try and put the intern component together.

It was explained that all 3 groups (Selectmen, School Committee, and FinCom) would have to agree (vote) on the concept/motion before Capital Planning reached out to area colleges/universities.

Both David and I reaffirmed Walter’s statement that it was incumbent on having the Board of Selectmen and School Committee agree to the concept/motion. I then scheduled a Capital Planning meeting for November 18 (Friday), only to vote to move ahead if everything was in place.

On Tuesday, November 15, Walter brought forth the motion, as written by Town Administrator Mark Andrews, to the Board of Selectmen meeting. The Selectmen redrafted the motion with several significant modifications which they then approved.

I met Mark Andrews in the hallway while the Board of Selectmen meeting continued. I expressed my concern that the changes could very likely result in the School Committee turning down the modified motion. It was left that Mark and I would hope the School Committee would still vote in the positive, in order for the Capital Planning Committee to engage a university.

On the following day (Wednesday, the 16th) a meeting took place with the town administrator, School Superintendent, and the Finance Committee chair. Two issues were considered. First, the town administrator told the Superintendent and the Finance Committee chair that the motion had been significantly modified and in “his” college teaching experience the timing needed for a new, compromise motion would make the formation of a graduate intern group for the coming semester impractical. Second, the town administrator said he intended to call a special Town Meeting to bring back all the capital items that were tabled at the October Town Meeting, adding in the leasing of buses.

The School Committee met that night and voted not to consider the motion because they did not have a copy of the redrafted motion done by the Board of Selectmen and it appeared the study would not be available by the needed completion date.

On Friday, the 18th, the Capital Planning Committee met. I was recovering from knee surgery and David Trudell was absent so neither of us were present. When the agenda item on the study came up, Mark Andrews made the motion to move forward with the study! No explanation was provided to the three attending Capital Planning members regarding what had happened at the meetings of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee on the 15th and 16th. The vote was 4-0-0! (The town administrator is a voting member of the Capital Planning Committee.)

The Capital Planning Committee met next on December 6th. At that meeting, I told the members I had not continued the inquiry process for the study due to the breakdown between the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee as far as the motions were concerned.

At the Board of Selectmen meeting on the December 6, the school bus/study issue was raised. I was in the audience and was called up to provide information on the subject. I tried to explain why the study did not move forward to Selectman Ellen Begley.

The discussion deteriorated to the point that I apologized to Chairman Cruz and added that I needed him to explain the who, what, and why of the whole study request. The School Committee, the chair of the Board of Selectmen, and the Capital Planning Committee had all received unwarranted blame up to that point.

The real culprit was the redrafted motion passed at the November 15 Board of Selectmen meeting.

In the beginning of all this I felt the group of “5” had made a significant breakthrough to work together, but by the end it was all for naught!

Alan Slavin

Editor's note: Alan Slavin is a member of the Capital Planning Committee as well as several other town committees. He submits this letter as a Wareham resident.

Click the links below to view the two motions. Courtesy: Alan Slavin