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Warwick taxpayers have given over A BILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS to the School Committee (SC) since 2009. According to their mission statement, part of that money was supposed to go to maintain Warwicks' school buildings.
It didn't.
Part of that money was supposed to be earmarked for teachers future salary needs.
It wasn't.
Now the SC wants $40 MILLION MORE of taxpayers hard-earned money in addition to the $160 million they get annually with no accountability whatsoever. I say "NO!" Not another dime until they submit to an unbiased, independent audit from an outside source. The SC is suffering from a distrustful image that no PR firm can overcome.
Also, I discussed with Finance Director, Anthony Ferrucci, the idea of a "clerk-of-the-works" to oversee the checkbook of the $40 million dollar bond request that the SC is currently asking for.
I told him that I would openly and publically support the bond request IF THERE WAS A CLERK-OF-THE-WORKS and I will.
I told him that I would openly and publically campaign against it if there was no one overseeing the money and I will. That's the commitment I have made to the 80,000 taxpayers that are paying the tab.
Dear taxpayers,
Massachusetts has this provision on ALL projects over $3 million dollars. If the SC is being honest about their intentions, they should have no problem with this level of "accountability". So far, I haven't heard from Mr. Ferrucci. He was gracious enough to meet with me at Christmas time and I greatly appreciated that. We don't agree on a lot, but I left that meeting with a greater respect for him.
Anthony, you should consider the "Clerk-of-the-Works" idea with or without a meeting with me. It's a win-win-win for everyone. If the SC is sincere about how they are planning on spending the taxpayers $40,000,000, they should have no problem with this. They can pay for it with the money they saved from cancelling their unsuccessful Public Relations firm.
Sincerely,
Richard Corrente
The Taxpayers Mayor
Happy Spring everyone.
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