No Free Ride in Atkinson- Part 2

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No Free Ride Part II - Facts & The Van

Recently, I received a letter from the Chief asking taxpayers to vote to fund a new wheelchair van for Elderly Services. And I quote his letter:

"We are still receiving donations towards this van and all funds received during the year will be applied to the total cost of the van."

Since the Selectman approve all disbursements from the Police Dept. Donation Account, I did some checking in the 2006 Selectman meeting minutes. Following are strict facts taken from the 2006 minutes. You can confirm them all yourself by going to the Town of Atkinson website at:

http://www.town-atkinsonnh.com/

Select “Selectman” link
Select “Update Selectman Meetings Minutes”

Following is a list of withdrawls from the PD Donations fund. These were approved by the Selectman. The date of the minutes is mentioned so you can look it up yourself:

12/18/2006 $950
9/18/2006 $870
8/28/2006 $225
7/17/2006 $428
6/26/2006 $850
4/6/2006 $900
3/27/1902 $828
2/13/2006 $950
1/23/2006 $2,300

Grand Total for 2006: $8,301

The reason for each withdrawl is stipulated. They include such things a paying for:

- "Helping a senior in need of assistance" ($400)
- Help a Senior w/electric bill ($240)
- Miscellaneous (4 entries: two of them total $338, the other two have no cost specific associated with them - a guess is they are probably similar in the $300-$400 range based on total withdrawl)

Commentary/Opinion Section

Please don't get me wrong. I am not against helping seniors. The question is this - if the donation funds were managed properly, isn't there enough annual funding donated to cover the costs requested for the wheel chair van? We know that donations are coming in every year. And the chief is promising that "....all funds received during the year will be applied to the total cost of the wheelchair van." Again, his written words, not mine.

Since $8,301 was spent in 2006 out of the donation funds, and the chief promises to use all incoming funds to cover the total cost of the wheelchair van, why are taxpayers being asked to foot the bill for the new van? He could have easily covered the cost of the first year with some of the money spent in 2006.

It should also be noted the Salem Caregivers offers a redundant service which raises even more questions. Questions such as - why do we need to buy this if Salem Caregivers offers it? How many wheelchair rides do we give? Is the demand overwhelming Salem?

My other question to the Budget committee is this: Is there a documented paper trail showing where every penny is going from these donation accounts? How do we know the direct donations get to people?

For those who received direct financial assistance (but no obligation for a vote here!), were they denied state aid for energy assistance - and if so, doesn't that usually means they don't qualify? I would think the purpose of Elderly Affairs is to help people become aware of and apply for state services like energy assistance, food stamps or whatever benefits may be available to seniors in need. We pay the State of NH taxes for those programs, already. So wouldn't it make more sense to ensure they use state services and then apply donation funds toward the wheelchair van?

And how does our chief determine who gets aid and who does not? Why would your grandmother get direct financial assistance as opposed to mine?

And what are all these "Miscellaneous" withdrawls? The only thing that can answer this question is receipts, cancelled checks and audits. Do we have these things in place? Has any official outside of the PD seen them?

The more closely we look at the management of Elderly Affairs, the more questions that come up.

What really confused me was in the November 20, 2006 minutes where the Chief made the following request to Selectman and I quote:

"Chief Consentino is requesting of the Board for a new line item in the Police Department budget for elderly affairs. The reasons Chief Consentino is requesting that the elderly affairs operation be placed in the Police Department budget is because it schedules senior transports, the community service officers are police officers, the transport vehicles are police cars, the payroll records are paid through the Police Department payroll, the expenses are through the Police Department budget, the gasoline is paid through the Police Department and the Police Department is in charge of the senior program."

So now he wants everything under the PD budget. Why?

I can envision a retirement plan that goes like this:

1) Move Elderly Affairs under PD
2) Retire and get job as Community Officer (assuming Fred gets re-elected and article 23 passes)
3) Continue to maintain the status quo

With two of his family members already working for the Atkinson PD and the positioning of LT Baldwin as his successor, in my opinion, it seems like a logical retirement plan to me. But that is just one person's opinion.

Giving our elderly citizens rides, sending them cards and running concerts is not a police function. Our officers should be policing the streets and fighting crime and not being a taxi service.

I also have to take note of the recent expansion of the services offered by Elderly Affairs where you can get a ride to a visit a friend (this is new to me - just check the ads in the Tribune). What a nice gesture. But having POLICE DEPT resources giving rides to a friend? Has every elderly person in town been abandoned by every relative and neighbor they have?

Who said there is no free ride in Atkinson??

Moving the Dept of Elderly Services under the Recreation Dept is a logical scenario. It should also be staffed by volunteers (See Salem Caregivers Website). In our town, I bet many would step up and volunteer to give one senior one ride a week. It would be a great way to get to know our neighbors better. In a town of 6800, we only need a handful of volunteers (count me in as one). But I would only volunteer if there was new management. Then, AND ONLY THEN, will a ride for the Elderly in Atkinson be truly Free.