USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Agawam > Town of Agawam, Massachusetts annual report 1946-1950 > Part 29
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We can only hope that our legislators will use due consideration in all their actions.
Respectfully submitted,
WALTER S. KERR Welfare Agent
179
REPORT OF THE AGENT AND DIRECTOR OF VETERANS' BENEFITS AND SERVICES
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen:
I herewith submit my annual report as Agent and Director of Veterans' Benefits and Services.
The Veterans' Service Department has had a very interesting and busy year in 1948, approximately 1258 inquiries of World War I and World War II veterans have been taken care of either through interviews, corre -- spondence or telephone calls.
The problems confronting the veteran changes as time goes on. During the past year most cases involved Housing, Pension claims, State Bonus, Mustering out pay, Tax abatement, Insurance and Education under the G. I. - Bill.
The greatest problem facing the veteran today is Housing. I am very greatful to the Townspeople for vot- ing to establish a Veterans' Housing Authority. The State has allotted Agawam 31 units, which will help some of the 75 most needy veterans and families.
Veterans' Benefits administers all forms of relief to the veteran, his family and dependents. Budgets have increased because of the mounting cost of living, this effects the veteran as it does everyone else. Case loads did not increase over 1947 but if layoffs continue as they have in November and December we can expect a sizable increase in expenditure.
The accompanying chart gives an idea of the quantity and quality of the work required of this department. The last column shows the amount paid entirely from town appropriation for relief, medical and hospitalization, how- ever, we hope that nearly a half of the expenditure for this aid will be reimbursed to the Town by the State.
Respectfully submitted,
LESLIE C. MILLER
Agent and Director, Veterans' Services
180
on Veterans' Benefits
January
6
2
1
6
6
9
0
0
0
0
3
60
93
$ 275.49
February
7
3
1
15
15
4
0
4
2
1
1 55
108
421.35
March
6
5
2
4
4
4
3
6
0
1
7
71
113
315.71
April
8
2
1
20
9
4
1
2
5
0
4
42
98
499.37
May
3
4
0
11
4
7
1
0
2
1
0
57
90
164.55
June
5
0
0
23
7
4
0
0
3
0
0
63
105
474.38
July
4
0
·2
9
4
6
2
1
0
2
2
62
94
192.65
August
5
2
0
15
7
6
1
0
3
4
3
92
270.26
September
4
4
2
21
11
4
0
1
7
1
2
148
156.13
October
4
0
3
31
7
3
3
1
3
2
0
136
261.68
November
3
6
0
14
0
2
0
2
4
0
0
60
91
96.90
December
4
0
0
17
4
2
4
0
0
1
0
58
90
195.58
Total
59
28
12
186
78 44
15
17 29
13
22
744
1258
$3,325.01
Total Expended
181
Veterans' Benefits
Bonus
Pension & Compensation
Photostate Copies made
Discharge Recorded
Hospital & Medical
G. I. Loans
Employment
Education
Insurance
Terminal Leave
Counciling the Veteran
Total Calls
46 91 79
ANNUAL REPORT Agawam Library Trustees FOR THE YEAR 1948
During the past year all three libraries have carried on their work in the usual manner.
At the Agawam Library the summer story hours were especially popular this year.
The work of the North Agawam Library is hindered by lack of space.
The advance in the price of books has made it im- possible to buy as many books as in previous years.
We have tried to assist both the townspeople and the students and will be glad to co-operate in any way we can in the future.
Respectfully submitted,
EVA S. KERR CLARA J. MCVEIGH ESTHER HAUFF
Feeding Hills
Number of books
7,250
Borrowers
469
Circulation
5,988
Agawam Center
Number of books
10,500
Borrowers
725
Circulation
13,222
North Agawam
Number of books
5,462
Borrowers
467
Circulation
7,443
182
REPORT OF THE PARKS & PLAYGROUND COMMITTEE
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen :
1948 saw the first year wherein the Town of Agawam had functioning an elected Parks and Playground Com- mission. With this board in its infancy and yet with numerous requests and suggestions coming to us from various parts of the town it was necessary to hold several meetings in the very beginning to attempt to map out a program satisfactory and suitable to the most people. We were also faced with a very limited amount of money to work with and when the cost of materials and equip- ment and salary demands is taken into consideration, we feel we have made a satisfactory start on a program that will in the years to come, mean much to the entire town and its people.
Our playground season ran eight and one-half weeks and was supervised by Agawam High School students who in turn were guided by a Springfield College student and a college girl specializing in craft work. The average daily attendance was 105 youngsters with approximately 76 boys and girls taking advantage of our swimming sessions held at Congamond once a week. We held, in addition to the horseshoe and checker tournaments, hat contests, bicycle circuses, doll-buggy parades, costume parades, and bubble-blowing contests, the regulation soft-ball and volley-ball leagues, with ribbons being presented to the winners at the season's end.
As a finale we held a picnic at Riverside Park and over 200 boys and girls were there. Picnic lunches were given to the children and Eddie Carroll distributed tickets for free rides on practically everything in the park. Mr. Louis DePalma graciously furnished the transportation to and from the playgrounds.
While we firmly believe we have made a good start we have not lost sight of the fact that this is only the
183
beginning and there is much to be done. We are in hopes of eventually being able to have an ice skating rink in each section of the Town. We would like to see the organiza- tion of a basketball league for school boys during the fall season. We would also like to be able to be of assistance to older groups and young men in the formation of athletic programs such as adult soft-ball leagues. The field wherein we can be of service is unlimited and we trust it will be within our province to accomplish some of these things during the coming year.
Respectfully submitted,
LESTER M. OBERHEIM, Chairman LAURENCE N. KING SAMUEL F. PROVO
184
REPORT OF THE TOWN MANAGER COMMITTEE
Mr. George W. Porter, Moderator for the Town of Agawam, following the instructions of Article 43 as voted at the Annual Town Meeting held February 28, 1948, ap- pointed a committee of fifteen, consisting of five Repub- licans, five Democrats, and five Independents, to make a study of the Town Manager form of Government and report its recommendations and or actions not later than the Annual Town Meeting in 1949.
Town Manager System
Your committee has made a critical study of the Town Manager form of Government now in effect in the six Massachusetts towns of Mansfield, Middleboro, Nor- wood, Stoughton, Saugus, and Walpole. After a thorough study of their Charts, we have developed the accompany- ing chart which we feel is an improvement over existing Town Manager Charts in our State.
Mr. Richard Custer, Town Manager of our neighbor Windsor, Connecticut, spoke at a public meeting. Mr. Custer told us of his background and preparation before accepting a Manager position, which included experience as assistant to Managers of several large Western Cities.
The New England News letter of May, 1948, points out that the State of Maine is leading the way toward a new functional solution of the problems of small local governments according to Charles E. Dawson of the Port- land Press Herald, who has recently completed a survey of the manager operated communities.
Maine leads the Nation in the number of employed Managers. There are 89 Managers, in communities rang- ing from 200 isolated farmers up to several thousands of suburbanites. It is far ahead of Michigan with 64. This year farm and fishing folk in eight more Maine villages are voting on adoption of Town Manager Government, or
185
are giving serious study such as Agawam, to the system.
On December 31, 1947, New England had fifteen per- cent of the Nation's Manager Governments, but of the new managers in 1946, New England had 24 percent, and in 1947, 42 percent. This shows a very rapid growth in the Manager system in New England.
Mr. Edward Jones, Executive Director of the Spring- field Taxpayers Association, spoke on the Manager Plan of which he has made a considerable study, and is consid- ered an expert. In opening the discussion he pointed out that the adoption of the Manager form of Government was not a guarantee of a lower tax rate as so many people seem to think, but that through a single managing head under the direction of the sole governing body, the Select- men or Council, whichever was the case, it is possible to attain a much greater degree of departmental coordina- tion and long range planning; and in so doing, a greater value for the money spent was enjoyed by the taxpayers of a community. A manager, due to his knowledge, spe- cial training and experience, will spend money more wisely, and in times when costs are not so uncertain, a drop in taxes is not unusual.
The first Town Manager was hired in Staunton, Va., in 1908, and as of April 1948, there have been 885 Man- ager plans put into effect in the United States, of which 32 were given up, not through any fault of the plan, but because the politicians overthrew them. If the present rate of acceptance continues, by 1960 there will be more Manager Council plans in effect in the United States than Mayor Council. One out of every four of the 2042 com- munities of 10,000 population or more in the United States have a Manager form of Government today. Information indicates Agawam has passed the 10,000 population mark.
The people are more and more attempting to apply good business principles to their local Governments, and the Manager plan seems to be the answer. The Select- men, or Council, are the supreme governing body elected by the people, and responsible to the people for providing good Government. This supreme governing body in a business sense represents a Board of Directors who are elected by the stockholders, or people. The Selectmen or Council of a Town, hire a Manager as would the Board of Directors in a Corporation hire or appoint a President.
186
The Manager or President is hired because he is an expert administrator, and is responsible for the efficient operation of the business through the policy laid down by the su- preme governing body, whether it is a Town or Corpora- tion. A Town Manager, like a President, is directly re- sponsible to the supreme governing body, the Selectmen or Council, or the Board of Directors. This body may, at their discretion at any time, fire the Manager or Presi- dent, if, for sufficient reason, he is not doing his job.
The Manager form of Government is pointed out to be a dictatorial setup by opponents and that he is the chief fiscal officer ; meaning that his appointment by the Select- men or Council is taking away the power of the people. On the other hand, the power of the people is greater in that through the Selectmen or Council, a man will be chosen for his capabilities and not because he happens to put his name on the ballot. The Selectmen or Council, being directly responsible to the people, are going to pick the best man possible. However, an inspection of the Manager chart will show that the people still elect their chief fiscal officer, the Treasurer. This is a good feature, because even though the Manager is responsible for the efficient administration of 55% of the budget, he does not handle one cent of the money. The Manager presents the bills to the Treasurer for payment after their acceptance by the Selectmen or Council.
The Manager would have an Auditor whose duty would be to audit the Treasurer's books for the purpose of allowing the Manager a check on the Treasurer. This function would not require a full time Auditor, as he would be required to make only a stated number of audits at specified times during the year. It would not be necessary for the Selectmen or Council, to appoint a finance com- mittee, because one of the duties of a Manager is to make up the budgets of the departments under his supervision, and rightly so, because through his supervision, he is familiar with the details. This relieves department heads of all bookkeeping, thus allowing them to concentrate their full time and effort on their department work. The Manager submits these budgets to the Selectmen or Coun- cil for their approval, whose duty it is to act as finance committee and make any changes or recommendations they think necessary, as does our present finance com-
187
mittee. In other words, the Selectmen or Council, are the finance committee.
Every City or Town has within its own setup, a splendid example of a Manager form of Government, its School Department. The school committee, nonpaid, is the sole governing body elected by the people, such as the Selectmen or Council. The Superintendent is hired by the school committee, and his duty is to coordinate all departments in the Town. The principals of the various schools can be likened to departmental bosses, and are responsible for the direction of the various phases of work within each department or school. It would seem the very fact that a community such as ours, is willing to pay its School Superintendent a salary of $5,000.00 a year for the administration of our school system which represents about 45% of our total budget, should be in- terested in seeking a comparable system to administer the other 55%. A glance at the manager chart will verify the budget percentages.
Mr. Robert M. Goodrich, Secretary of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, Providence, Rhode Island, highly recommended as being opposed to the Man- ager system, was invited to speak to your committee. A prompt reply was forthwith, in which he stated, quote, "I thoroughly believe in the Manager Plan for small Com- munities, and would suggest you try Mr. Carter Atkins of the Connecticut Public Expenditure Council. Mr. At- kins can present as good a picture of the flaws as anyone I know."
Mr. Atkins of Hartford was invited to present the weaknesses of the Manager Plan. A prompt reply was received in which he stated, quote, "I would be a very poor person to accept the assignment which you have given me for the reason that I believe quite strongly in w the advantages of the manager form of government when it is properly formed and established, and would not be able to make a very strong presentation of its flaws and pitfalls".
We received information from the Massachusetts Federation of Taxpayers Associations that a standard form for Town Manager Government was presented to the 1948 Legislature, entitled Chapter 43B, and that the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association was instrumental
188
in defeating the Act; through the principal efforts of their President, Mr. Arthur J. Shinners, Town Clerk of Brookline.
Mr. Shinners was invited to speak in the negative as we felt he must have some excellent reasons for opposing the Act so strongly in the Legislature. He replied that due to meetings and work at home, he could not speak at the date suggested, but might at a later date. Our first request to speak was sent May 14th, setting June 3rd, 1948. Upon receiving Mr. Shinners' reply that it was impossible to speak on June 3rd, a second invitation was sent, requesting him to set his own date, but his reply to this stated he would be too busy to do so before election, November 2nd, so it was decided he rather not appear before us even though to quote a phrase in Mr. Shinners' letter, "I am one of those who still believes that the Towns should be governed by its people, and not by a one man government such as you would have under the Town Manager system". A glance at the chart detailing Town Manager will prove this system is anything but a one man government. Mr. Shinners also stated in an article in the Forum of the Springfield Daily News dated July 19th, 1948, that this system is a dictatorial setup. Again a look at the Manager chart will disprove this statement. But, on the other hand, Mr. Shinners spearheaded a move- ment by the Town Clerks Association to bring about ten- vre of office for Town Clerks, by preparing and presenting Act 62 to the 1948 Legislature for their approval, which reads "Section 1A. Every Town Clerk duly elected, except a temporary clerk, who has served not less than five years, shall hold office during good behavior, but subject, how- ever, to retirement under the provisions of any applicable general or special law relative to retirement systems". In other words, after serving a Town five years, a Town Clerk would be in for life and could not be voted out of office except for misbehavior. Mr. Shinners cannot, to the best of our knowledge, produce any articles that are proposed by the Managers Association for passage by the Legislature, that are of the dictatorial tendencies of his Article 62 "Tenure of Office for Town Clerks after five years".
We thought it would be well along with our study of the Manager system, to study possible improvements in
189
our present Government, and their possibilities. Consid- erable thought and discussion was given to the appoint- ment of one Selectman to serve full time under our present setup. The greatest objection there seemed to lie in the. fact that he is in office for an elected term, and the un- certainty of the position would not induce men to give up their good jobs to serve as a full time Selectman which would in all probability not pay as well.
We discussed a central purchasing head under our present government, but it is not difficult to see that the Town of Agawam's purchases are not large enough to effect a saving that would warrant the expenditure nec- essary to create this new position. Central purchasing stems from the mistaken idea that a Town Manager's sole duty is to effect a savings through his purchases. This is entirely the wrong impression of a Town Manager. The major part of the Manager's work is to coordinate the departments and plan their work well in advance, and in this manner the Town is guaranteed each year, a planned amount of street surfacing, sewers, water mains, and many other necessary items that make an attractive well run Community. Through this long range planning, the people of the Town realize a greater value for the dol- lars spent, in that the work is done once and not as it is at present, a street surfaced, a few months or years later, torn up to install a sewer, a couple of months later torn up again for a water main.
Summary
Your committee has, after a comprehensive study of the facts, arrived at the following conclusions :
We would like to point out that the term "Town Man- ager" is a misnomer. He is simply a form of General Man- ager such as any sizeable well run business maintains, whose sole responsibility is to coordinate all departments and produce the best results possible for the dollar spent. The Town of Agawam represents a three quarter of a million dollar business, and it is only natural that any Community would think twice before it submitted to being managed by a single individual. The people still do their own managing through the Selectmen elected by them. Your committee, through their study, believes that seven is a proper number to make up the Board of Selectmen
190
under a manager system, to be elected by the voters and serve their term of office without pay. Our study has brought out the fact that the Selectmen, relieved of the administorial duties delegated to the Manager, can con- centrate their time on handling the governing problems, thus eliminating the necessity of spending the tremendous amount of time required of our present three Selectmen to carry out their duties. This is portrayed in the chart of our present Town Government that accompanies this report.
Your committee would like to have the reader note our study has proved that the expression, "Change to the Town Manager form of Government", is indeed very misleading, for the very reason that the foundation of our most democratic of all forms of Government, the Town Meeting, is in no way discarded, and we still elect our Selectmen, Clerk, Treasurer, and School Committee, the four most important bodies of our Town Government. We do not change our Government, we simply hire an individual, and delegate to him the job of coordinating our departments in an efficient manner, and concentrate or focus our electoral power on seven men rather than spreading it over a large group of electors. Concentrated effort will always produce better results than efforts spread over a large territory. This seems to be born out by the fact that New England had 24 percent of the new Manager systems in 1946, and 42 percent in 1947, over the entire United States. Let us again call attention to the fact that the State of Maine has the largest number of Town Managers in the United States, 89, and in com- munities ranging from 200 population on up to the size of Portland, with eight more being readied for installa- tion. The people of Maine are noted for their sound busi- ness methods, and there is a saying that "As Maine goes, so goes the Nation".
.
RECOMMENDATION
Your Committee has, based on the forgoing study of The Town Manager form of Government, decided to rec- ommend this system for Agawam, and also that the Committee be continued another year for the purpose of acquainting the people of Agawam with the facts of the Town Manager system. We feel it should be given
191
1
C.
sid- nt- en
ın-
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serious consideration before a decision is made to accept or reject it.
HAROLD E. WALKER, Chairman WENDELL M. GOSSE ARTHUR PHELPS EARL C. BRADWAY JOSEPH SLIVA PAUL J. PARENT, JR.
MRS. JESSIE M. BOYER
GERALD B. CLEARY
WILLIAM S. CRITTENDON
MRS. AUDREY M. BLAKE, Secretary IRVING R. LAFLEUR KENNETH I. MORLEY
Three members of the committee resigned.
192
Annual Report
of the
School Committee
and the
Superintendent of Schools
of the Town of AGAWAM, MASS.
INCOR
5.1855
PORAT
For the Year Ending December 31 1948
Agawam Public Schools
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Term Expires
Warren C. Bodurtha, Chairman, Agawam
1949
Paul J. Adams, Secretary, North Agawam
1950
Sidney F. Atwood, Feeding Hills
1950
Edson A. Ferrell, Agawam
1951
Edward A. Johnson, North Agawam
1949
Katherine G. Danahy, North Agawam
1951
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Stanley W. Wright Telephone 2-3592 Address: 571 Main Street
SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE
High School Building - 8:30 A. M. to 5 P. M., School days Appointments should be arranged in advance
SUPERINTENDENT'S SECRETARY
Emma Mellor Telephone: 4-1630
194
SCHOOL CALENDAR - 1949
Schools open - January 3
Schools close - February 25
Schools open - March 7
Schools close - April 29
Schools open - May 9
Elementary and Junior High Schools close - June 17
Senior High School closes - June 24
Schools open - September 7.
Schools close - December 23
NO SCHOOL DAYS - 1949
February 22 - Washington's Birthday
April 15 - Good Friday
April 18 - Monday
April 19 - Patriot's Day
May 30 - Memorial Day
October 12 - Columbus Day
October 21 - Hampden County Teachers' Association Convention November 11 - Armistice Day
November 24-25 - Thanksgiving Recess
HOURS OF SESSIONS
Senior High School 9:00 A. M. - 12:45 P. M. 1:15 P. M. - 3:00 P. M. Junior High School 9:00 A. M. - 12.00 Noon 12.40 P. M. - 3.00 P. M.
Elementary Schools 9:00 A. M. - 12.00 Noon* 1:00 P. M. - 3:30 P. M .*
*A few variations are made in the elementary hours in the individual schools in order to accommodate the children in the cafeterias and to fit bus schedules.
195
Report of the School Committee
To the Citizens of Agawam:
At the last annual town meeting a survey committee was appointed to make a survey of the need of school buildings in the town. Dr. W. K. Wilson of the New York Department of Education made this survey and has re- ported an anticipated increase in school enrollment through 1953 and probably thereafter. Our enrollment this past year has increased substantially and we are look- ing forward to a still larger enrollment in 1949. This probably will necessitate two or three additional teachers to our staff.
We are happy to know that the contract for the new Feeding Hills School has been signed and work on this building will start soon as conditions permit. The build- ing is to be ready for occupancy by January 1, 1950, and will relieve, to some extent, the crowded conditions in our other schools. However, the enrollment at Agawam Cen- ter School is increasing rapidly, making an addition to the present building necessary.
We would like to mention a few of the larger repair items which have been completed during the past year. The boilers in the Springfield Street School and the Kath- erine Danahy School are over 30 years old. During the year, one boiler at the Springfield Street School has need- ed extensive repairs requiring a large sum of money, also one at the Katherine Danahy School has required some repairs. The three boilers at the High School have un- dergone major repairs.
We have done considerable painting in all of our schools this year. Our janitors have done a large part of this painting, thereby saving the town some of the ex- pense.
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