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| March 10, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
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pgauvin@barnstablepatriot.com
Town report conspicuous
for omitting wages data
The
annual town report is an infor-
mative bathroom read. Discover a
department or commission aday-or
every other dayifyou're short on fiber -and
you will get to know more about the town
without attendingaboardmeetingorhaving
to slouch on the couch staring at Channel
18 with eyes wide shut.
The foreword says the publication
coincides with the town'sfiscal year (July
1-June 30) rather than the calendar year
as previously-albeit it seems too late for
a fiscal year report and too early for a
calendar year accounting. (In 2004, they
said the 2005 report would be out in the
early fall).
In it are delectable morsels of town
life: There is the doggedness of town clerk
Linda Hutchenrider's staff, particularly
Donna Silva, to pursue license scofflaws
with the result of boosting the number of
canine licenses issued to 4,271, "a substan-
tial increase"the clerk writes.
Hutchenrider and Susan Maffei, certi-
fied by the U.S Department of State to
process passports, reported a 25 percent
surge in the number handled in 2005. Do
those folks know somethingwe don't?
There are oddities too. The Personnel
Advisory Board chaired by the concise
Robert O'Brien turned in a 7-line report
sayingthe group had met seven times.
How appropriate.
You learn also that two-fisted Hyannis
fire comp t'ssioners have more time to
spare. Paul Sullivan, also on the licensing
board, signed on with the Personnel Board
and Joseph Chilli as the state's appoin-
tee tr,the Barnstable Housing Authority
replacing the retired Carl Johnson. Let's
hear it for volunteers.
In Barnstable High School's graduat-
ing class, there were three each of White,
Silva, Smiths and 23 paired surnames.
There were more computers in the high
school (500) than students in the graduat-
ing class (397).
The Osterville Library and Marstons
Mills Historical Society jointly sponsored
"a scavenger hunt for children"-and we
can't help but wonder if they found any.
There is simple math in the report
where one can put two and two together.
For example: Hyannis made 70 percent
of all calls to police in 2005, the other six
villages only 30 percent combined. Not
surprisingthen that the Hyannis Library
is the only one, according to an outside
study, that is "considering additional
funding for the security guard needed at
our facility." Needed? Sad commentary on
the times.
There was even a classified advertise-
ment couched in the body of the Hyannis
Main Street-Waterfront Historic District
Commission report, to wit: "The commis-
sion has vacancies as alternates ... this is
an excellent opportunity ... please contact
our staff at the town office building..."
A nice touch is the liberal use of photo-
graphs, although it would have been more
enlighteningif someone had taken the
time to describe where the photos were
taken for those not familiar with all the
sights.
Interesting too is an unheralded source
of income as reported by the John F.Ken-
nedy Memorial Trust Fund, receipts that
amount to more than three coins in the
fountain. The report says "tens of thou-
sand of dollars ... tossed into the Wishing
Pool over the years" has supported schol-
arships and sailingprograms and still, as
of June 30, 2005, had a balance of $60,225.
The report is more tantalizing for what
it has stopped printing, that is, the gross
earnings of individual employees. Maybe
that's too telling -such as the spiraling
income of Police Chief John Finnegan
(Quinn Bill included) leaping from
$141,900 in 2003 to $171, 900 in 2005. He is
vying with what the new school superin-
tendent will earn at $161,000 plus $10,000
annuity -and is expected to again retain
the coveted Oscar for best performance at
the public trough.
Nor does it tell you that of 15people
on the municipal side earningmore than
$100,00 a year, eleven are policemen
(includes overtime, Quinn Bill perks and
special details) or that of 16 employees
earning between $90,000 and $100,000, 10
are policemen. Meanwhile, Barnstable's
median familyincome (2000 census) is
$54,025 and per capita income $25,554.
Males have a median income of $41,811
and females, $30,442, with 8.8 percent of
the population below the poverty line.
As Town Manager John Klimm notes at
the beginningof the report, "...all it takes
is a closer look" -and maybe taxpayers
should.
V
{CORNER
i_i_ »¦¦—
— By Paul Oauvin
BY ELLEN C. CHAHEY
D
aylighthadn'tbrokenyetwhen
I woke knowing I had to visit
a home where someone was
dying. I brewed a cup of tea, pulled
on a comfortable dress, and headed
into the dark Lenten morning.
When I arrived, light poured from
the house and lit up the snow that
was still on the ground. I was wel-
comed in by family, friends, a black
cat and a black pug, all of whom
had spent varying hours of the
night awake to keep the vigil.
The hospice nurse was just leav-
ing and offered a few suggestions
about ways to make her patient
more comfortable. As usual in a
home where a much-loved person is
dying there was a mixture of jokes
and tears, of people new to the way
of dying and of those who have seen
it many,many times, and it didn't
matter if someone was new to the
scene or not; we all joked and we all
cried.-
I guessthat there was once a
time when a pastor at a bedside
might have known everyone, but •
it's not like that now. Family mem-
bers live all over the country, even
the world, and their spiritual paths
often take them in radically differ-
ent directions, so introductions are
made quickly and conversations
happen at random times and at
unpredictable depths.
We made some funeral plans;
shared some coffee; discussed
music, art, the importance of touch,
and the intuition of animals. At
one time, we gathered for a prayer
at the bedside in the cozy, plant-
filled room that had been set aside
as a place that would be holy for
someone'slast days and hours, as
the cat went in and out.
The prayer-time seemed right
to offer as dawn was breaking and
the prayer focused on the new light
that was dawning for the person
whose earthly life was coming to
a close. The sorrow of loved ones
left behind, the joy of reunion with
loved ones gone ahead, and the
specific belief of our faith commu-
nity in resurrection and eternal life
all found their voice as the dark of
night faded into a pale silver March
morning.
After a while some of us migrated
back to the living room and then at
last to what always, everywhere, is
the heart of the home - the kitchen.
There I heard many stories about a
fife lived richly and well and gener-
ously and creatively.
One family member told how they
had shared a cruise where they met
a wounded veteran of World War
II's Pacific Theater who had given
her, the storyteller, a little bracelet
when she was 5 years old. "I don't
know how we knew each other, but
we did, and we both cried," said the
relative, takingme to another place
and time while around us life and
death went on in the present home
and the present moment.
Just a few days before this pas-
toral visit, I'd gone to my church
in the dark evening of Ash Wednes-
day to offer to trace on people 's
hands or foreheads a little cross of
ashes from last year's Palm Sunday
leaves. To each person who came
forward, I murmured an ancient re-
minder: "Dust you are, and to dust
you shall return."
The ashes, mixed as they are with
olive oil, look like the mud of this
"mud season," or like the clay of the
second creation story in Genesis
(did you that there are two differ-
ent ones?)
For the privilege of ministering
to the spirit within all that seems
dusty and muddy and whose morn-
ing sometimes breaks only pale and
gray, I am thankful for the touch
by which we share the mud, and
the pale gray fight that reveals the
beauty of silver.
The Rev. EllenC. Chahey is Minister of Spiritual
Care at Federated Church of Hyannis. ;..
INOTHER
4
THERESTORATION-TheWest ParishMeetingHousewe all know and love didn't always look as it
I nowdoes.Althouthitstartedlifeinitspresentform, itwas changedto atraditionalsteepledchurch
1 for aboutacentury.Thatversionwas deemedworthyto representallof Barnstableonthe heads side
of thetown's commemorativetercentenarycelebrationcoin (inset).A 1953-'54 restoration, shown
here,undidthatwork,returningthesquaredbedtower to itsproperglory.Forthose interestedinthe
| restoration,theWestBarnstable HistoricalSocietymeetingonMarch23willincludea viewingof the
I
filmshotduringthe restoration,whichhas beentransferredto videoand dvd.The meeting begins at j
|7p.m. atthefirestationonRoute149.The electionof officers isalso onthe agenda.
I Wonder What we have hithe archives? Drop us a note with a request for some past Barnstable scene
|
aed we'll see what we can find. RO. Box 1208, Hyannis, MA 02601 or by fax: 508-790-3997or viaemail:
edHor@barntfabfepatr1ot.com
ACROSS TIME 6PLACE |
I RETROSPECTIVES FROM THE ARCHIVES I
"LETTERS
The extras are
essential
When taxpayers evaluate
whether or not there is "value"
in public school co-curricular
and extracurricular activities,
they need only look to the out-
standing multi-band and color
guard competition held this
past Saturday at Barnstable
High School. Putting aside the
well-documented argument
that music in the schools ad-
vances learning at all levels,
from apurely tax-dollar stand-
point, the funds invested by
the taxpayers in supporting
hundreds of young performers
from school districts acrossthe
Cape and wellbeyond is "cheap
money" on a number of levels.
First, public funds are lever-
aged by many thousands of
private dollarsraised byparent
and volunteer organizations.
Frankly,the taxpayers are get-
ting aseriousbargain,because
to fullyfund allprogramswould
raise tax rates significantly.
Two,allactivitiesthat engage
thousands of pre-teens and
teens in this region at a very
volatile time in their develop-
ment are highly successful and
inexpensive alternatives to a
myriad of pathways into the
criminaljustice systemwithits
enormoushumancost and ever-
increasingfinancial burdens on
the taxpayer.
Three, these programs are
keeping both young drivers
and their potential victims out
of our already overburdened
health care system. Students
who are spending hours and
hours a week rehearsing, prac-
ticing, and performing are not
fillingourhighwayswithinexpe-
riencedyoung drivers who have
no place to gobut seem to want
to get there atbreakneckspeed,
at great risk to everyone.
Pour, it's great for business!
These programs are economic
engines in a variety of ways.
Just ask an adult, especially
an older adult , what really
frustrates their shopping ex-
perience, and the answer very
often is, "kids." That may not
be atrulylegitimatecomplaint;
however, there's no question
that young people who are
actively engaged in school and
after school programs are not
aimlessly "hanging" in all of
those places that irritate po-
tentialcustomers of local shops
and major malls. Businesses
should not onlyfeel proud when
they can buy an advertisement
in a program book , offer a
discount to school groups and
similar non-profits , or donate
anitem to araffle or post-prom
party;they shouldmark it down
as a sound investment in their
own future.
But, there's more going on
here for business than that.
School and after school activi-
ties pump literally hundreds of
thousands of dollars into this
region's economy every year.
Personally,I'm associated with
both Falmouth and Barnstable
public schools where, in just
two programs,Iknow in excess
of $50,000 and probably much
more is spent at local music
stores, hardware stores, cloth-
ing stores,gasstations,grocery
stores, fabric shops,etc. I think
a couple of local pizza shops
must owe a large portion of
their financial survival to co-
curricular and extracurricular
activities - at least based on
the empty box counts I see
backstage and around the band
rooms afternoons and evenings
each week.
As I sat in the audience Sat-
urday afternoon,watchinghun-
dreds of players and performers
from all over Southeastern
Massachusetts, 1truly wished
that sitting beside me could've
been any taxpayer with doubts
about the value of what some
continue to call "extras"in our
public schools. Clearly they
are not extras to these young
people and certainly are not
to any student participatingin
an activity or program that is
enhancing their personal and
in some cases lifelong profes-
sional development. Society as
a whole, on many levels, is the
beneficiary here.
Taxpayerswithdoubts should
consider the societal costs of
the alternative.
Michael Gross
Mashpee
Bobby Lynch made a
difference
The last of the good old-
school Irish cops has passed.
Bobby Lynch retired from the
Barnstable Police Dept.
He served thistownwell from
the brawl to the mall years.
He saw Hyannis grow up and
down. He knew everybody by
their first name. John Wayne
had nothing on him. He did it
all. Whatever came along from
skin diving, motorcycles, to a
beat cop. No wimp here.
He gave many of the old Cape
and Vineyard line crews a ride
home when we needed one for
one reason or another. The
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