Author Archives: dunster

Pension Problem

One Wednesday, the Globe wrote a top-of-front-page story about Romney’s appointment of his communications director Eric Fehrnstrom to the Brookline housing authority. The story detailed how this appointment would entitle Fehrnstrom to a state pension: “While the Brookline position is part-time and pays only $5,000, the pension Fehrnstrom receives will be calculated based on his top three earning years in government.” Fehrnstrom earns $160,000 in his current position.

Break it down: by working part-time for $5000 a year for two years, Fehrnstrom vests a pension that is based on his $160,000 salary, not his appointment.

There was a burst of outrage in the news and on the web, and from certain members of the left, a distressing display of glee.

What is totally absent in this discussion is whether Fehrnstrom is a good choice for the position. Review the 800 words in the article – not a single one of them refers to his qualifications. They only talk about the benefits that he would reap. Shouldn’t qualification be the first test? Why is the reward so important and the qualification so irrelevant?

This dust-up points out the real problem. The Massachusetts pension system needs to be reformed. The rules should be changed so that career paths like moderator-to-legislator, aide-to-committee, and clerk-to-teacher career transitions are rewarded fairly. The system shouldn’t be so open to abuse. The system should’t turn a $5000 appointment into a $500,000 political football.

This is one of the areas where we’ll see just how effective Deval Patrick is. The unions love this system and will be loathe to change it. Many in the legistlature benefit from the current system, and certainly know people who benefit from it. Can Patrick bring about reform? Or will be be absorbed by the system?

Hillary Breaks the Piggy Bank

There is an interesting story in today’s New York Times about Clinton’s Senate campaign spending.

She spent $30 million on a re-election campaign. That number is meaningless without comparison, so here it is: “The only other Senate candidate to come close to her spending level was Senator Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania, who spent about $24 million unsuccessfully defending his seat.”

She spent 25% more than the #2 spender in an election against a nobody who never came within 30 points? It might make sense if she’s building her 2008 machine, but I’m not convinced. Everything political is cheaper the day after election day. If you’re building a 2008 machine, you do ads and mailings in 2007, not in 2006 – 2006 is too expensive.

I can’t figure out what she spent it on.

Arlington Committee Summit

Summit Meeting of FinCom, BOS and Sch Com on Thursday, January 11th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM in the Town Hall hearing room.  The first step is for the Summit participants to hear presentations on the five year revenue and expenditure projection, the School Infrastructure Working Group, Fire Stations Committee and Retired Employee Health Insurance Committee and finally a projection on how this might fit into the capital budget over the next 10 to 20 years. 
The second step is for the participants to ask questions and provide feedback on direction that the Town should be moving in to deal with these issues.  This will be followed in February with a meeting open to public participation.
There will be an agenda and materials provided closer to the meeting date.

ITAC Resignation

A few years ago I was agitating for change in how the town made technology decisions, but I didn’t have a plan. I knew things were wrong, but didn’t know how to fix them. Annie LaCourt shared many of my views, and she had the plan that I didn’t. With her leadership we got the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting to create the Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC).

Progress with ITAC hasn’t been as fast as I would like, but it there is progress. ITAC is the place where I feel like I make the most difference for Arlington. It’s an environment where my personality and experience are most effective. Its a lever. The things I do there have the broadest (and most beneficial) effects. It’s not an instantaneous change but it is good progress.

It turns out that state law (the Town Manager Act) says that I can’t sit on ITAC and FinComm at the same time. I value my work with FinComm too, though progress there is slower. I can stay effective with ITAC without having a vote. It would be harder to remain effective at FinComm without a vote. I resigned from ITAC.

It won’t change what I do. I continue to believe that ITAC can and will change Arlington’s process and budget, and I’ll work towards that goal. I’ll just do my thing without voting.

Dear Board Members:

It was recently brought to my attention that as an appointee to the Finance Committee, the Town Manager Act forbids me to accept any other committee appointments. I was unaware of this requirement and I apologize for any difficulty that may arise from this belated resignation.

Effective immediately, I resign from the Information Technology Advisory Committee and the Power Company Feasibility Committee.

I intend to remain active with ITAC. I’ve discussed the question with Deputy Manager Nancy Galkowski, and she agrees that I can continue to help the committee’s work without actually being a member. My role will change, but my activity will not.

The power committee is less active, but I am happy to volunteer if it becomes more active in the future.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve on these committees. I look forward to helping them in their future efforts.

Sincerely,

Dan Dunn