Dr. Alicia's Weekly Update - 6/8
Updated: Jun 11, 2020
Dear Friends,
I’m not sure what I’m more excited about this week - seeing what the Town Administrator’s budget (due on 6/8 to the Board of Selectmen) holds for us, or finishing season 3 of Ozarks. While there are still several steps until a budget is approved, this is a CRITICAL MOMENT for Natick and understanding what this next year will look like.
Here’s what's happening:
The School Committee presented their revised budget. It eliminates new hires and retirement backfills. It also assumes a $1.3M savings, which depends on whether the school union agrees to eliminate Cost of Living (COLA) increases. The budget still exceeds the Town Administrator’s allocation by about $2M. On Monday, we will learn whether further cuts have to be made.
We hosted our first virtual Question & Answer Sessions- and I don’t know about you guys, but I felt more prepared, informed, and ready to share my opinions with town leaders afterwards. Watch us on YouTube!
We’re ready to talk budgets with you! With the Town Administrator's revised FY21 budget coming out this week, we want to know what you think and hear your questions. Join us on SLACK and talk with us under the topic #finance-budget-questions.
We’re pushing the GET OUT TO VOTE - All the info you need to register and vote by mail can be found in the “How Can I Help” section below
We’re preparing a petition requesting a meeting with state leaders. See below for information on how you as an individual can also contact your local legislators.
Here’s a reminder of what you can find in each newsletter:
HOW CAN I HELP - Read this section for quick, easy ways to contribute.
TOWN MEETING LINKS - Do you hate tracking down Zoom links as much as I do? Well, they’re all right here!
LEARNING CENTER - We’ve created “Cliff Notes” of all moving parts in the current budget crisis! Check out the learning center if you want more information about town committees, budgets, and town politics.
WHAT’S NEXT - See what we are planning for the weeks and months to come.
SHOUT OUTS - Just a place for us to “cheers” some of the people making this possible!
-The Protect Natick's Future Team
How Can I Help In Just A Few Clicks?
Login to Town Meetings- URGENT!
The list of this week's meetings are below. We are now logging in as “Name (PNF).” For example, I will be logged in as “Alicia Lynch (PNF)”. Even if you’re not listening to the whole meeting, just having your name on that screen sends our town’s elected and hired officials a message! Feel free to also add our logo as your profile picture.
Write Your Legislators!
One of the big unknowns in Natick’s budget is how much local aid we will be receiving. Let your leaders, Karen Spilka and David Linksy, know that anticipated decreases in local aid has forced schools and municipal services to propose cuts that jeopardize Natick’s ability to provide critical services for our most vulnerable residents. I know you hear this a lot, and it seems like those emails go into a vacuum, but I promise you they DO NOT. Legislators understand that a small group of citizens will be writing them, so they interpret each email as reflecting the opinions of about 10-20 citizens. Think about that- with just one email you can have more than ten times the impact!
VOTE VOTE VOTE!
Need to register? Deadline is June 19! Register to vote HERE
Don’t want to go to the polls? Request an absentee ballot using this form. Fill out the form and submit it by email, fax, or snail mail:
•Scan & e-mail the form to vote@natickma.org
•Fax the form to (508) 655-6715
•Mail it to the Town Clerk’s Office:
13 West Central Street,Natick, MA 01760
Join us on Facebook
Join & share our Facebook group with your Natick friends. We’re at 1200 followers! Can we hit 1500 this week?
Join our E-Mail List
Sign up HERE to be added to our e-mail list. Bad jokes included at no cost!
This Weeks' Town Meetings
Monday, June 8th | 6:00PM
Board of Selectmen
Meeting ID: 971 2684 6549 Password: 736028
The Board of Selectmen will be reviewing the proposed deficit spending plan.
Tuesday, June 9th | 7:00PM
School Committee
Meeting ID: 203 856 6119 Password: 987179
School committee will review the FY21 budget after having submitted it to the Town Administrator for approval.
Wednesday, June 10th | 6:00PM
Board of Selectmen
Meeting ID: 971 2684 6549 Password: 736028
Want to learn more about fractions? The BOS will review the 1/12th budget.
How can I help in 1 hour or less?
Join our efforts!
We have multiple initiatives moving forward rapidly and we’d love your help. Get in touch with Alicia Lynch (aliciadlynch@gmail.com) to learn more about protecting our town’s future.
Are you a Slack Guru?
We could use some help organizing our Slack channel - sending messages to the proper channels and alerting specific people when questions pop up. Email Alicia Lynch if you can help!
What’s Next?
June 8th is the day we will see the full budget for the Municipal Departments and have the update TA endorsed Budget for NPS. Deep breaths, deep breaths!
LEARNING CENTER
•Did you miss our first Q&A Session?
Well it’s your lucky day, because you can watch it on YouTube!
•Video Explainers
Emily Grant, Natick mom, teacher, and all around fabulous person has created a series of videos to help people better understand the ins and outs of our town budget and politics.
Budget 101 Video
•Join us on our Slack channel!
This is where we're sharing articles and discussing ideas about the finance and budget, special interests like sports, theater and Johnson school- and a general thread for us to figure out what the heck is going on!
Shout Outs!
Today I have to give a huge shout out to two of our fearless leaders, Catherine Brunell and Emily Grant. These ladies have 8 (8!!) children (that’s 160 fingers and toes they’re responsible for, people!) between them and they’ve somehow managed to squeeze full time jobs as community activists into their schedules. My heart is so full of gratitude for these amazing women.
Questions? Just want to say hi?
Shoot us an email! ProtectNaticksFuture@gmail.com
