Salaries: Comparing Cohasset and Scituate

All information obtained from the Patriot Ledger

• Superintendent
• Scituate: $133,334.90
• Cohasset: $$124,999.94

• Town Administrator/Manager
  
• Scituate: $104,024.82
• Cohasset: $109,012.64

• Police Chief
• Scituate: $>$97,636.41
• Cohasset: $$113,517.80

• Fire Chief
• Scituate: $$99,291.01
• Cohasset: $$99,566.79

Interesting comparison, isn't it? Check out the ten highest paid town employees in Scituate.

1. Mark R. Mason, superintendent of schools: $133,334.90

2. James A. Gilmartin, police sergeant: $124,106.30

3. Kenneth H. Bates, police sergeant: $115,311.03

4. Jeffrey A. Harrison, police officer: $111,432.76

5. Richard H. Agnew, town administrator: $104,024.82

6. Donna M. Nuzzo-Mueller, high school principal: $99,446.10

7. Edward J. Hurley, fire chief: $99,291.01

8. Frederick G. Malouf, police officer: $99,226.09

9. Jeffrey B. Szymaniak, high school assistant principal: $98,202.13

10. W. Michael Stewart, police lieutenant: $97,636.41

Spend Happy Citizens - Town Meeting Results

Check out the official results from town meeting here.

Seems we have quite a spend-happy town. The 3A fire station was rejected, and a vote was postponed in regards to rewording marina bylaws. But thats it. Everything else was voted for and approved. I strongly hope that those present at the meeting were there to fight for the overrides. I agree that they should be on the ballot, as those at town meeting voted to do. It is my hope that not all of the overrides pass. I am against the building of an additional fire station. I am against giving the school department more money. I am against the senior center. I am for funding the fire department for additional staff. We can't afford a new fire station right now, and we also can't afford to have one of our existing stations unmanned. The selectman's budget meeting including a quick note from Agnew about the fire departments overtime ($100,000 I believe) and how one of the stations might end up unmanned this year due to staffing issues.

Did anyone notice the $1.6 million appropriated to the improvement of the Scituate Marine Park, forever known as Young's, on First Cliff? The purchase and development of that lot by the town of Scituate is a disaster, and will continue to be. Nothing has really been done since the town took over, other than the re-arranging of the docks. There's a Scituate citizen running the boat yard, and doing a great job. However, the town is looking for someone to take up a ten year lease to run the boat yard aspect of Young's, but I imagine the current operator may not be able to afford the the $1,000,000+ investment required by the town for improvements to the yard.

Couldn't the money spent on the initial purchase and future development of this landfill on the harbor (interesting that much of the land used by the yard is landfill, cement poured onto marsh) be better spent? Couldn't the schools use that $1,600,000!!!??? I'm not against the school budget, I'm against tax increases to increase the school budget.

I'm curious about the $125,000 computer system for the police department. Hopefully they can afford to train officers to use it, they seem to have failed to train Felix the drug dog so far. What a poor excuse to bring your puppy to work.

That's all I have.

You hear music, I hear a cash register...

Reprinted from my anonymous comment on the CSI: Scituate blog

I just read the Marshfield Mariner article about charging for the music program. (I'll include a link at the end of my post.) I think this is a fabulous idea and should be investigated by the school department. I would be interested to know how many students participate in instrument lessons at the elementary and middle school levels in Scituate. If the number is less than half of all students, I feel it would make sense to charge a small fee (Marshfield is looking at $70 to $80) for instrumental lessons. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than private lessons, and like every other dollar collected from students, if the family can't afford to pay on paper, the student can still participate. Why should the entire town be paying for lessons that less than half (a guesstimate) of all students are taking advantage of?

We have a great music program in Scituate, but should we focus on instrument lessons that are used by few, or updated materials for the core subjects that will be utilized by all students?

Marshfield Mariner Article on Music Fees

Where's Jamie?

Is it just me, or does it seem like Mr. Jamie Strobino, the newest member of the School Committee, has been absent from more than a few meetings recently? Strobino was elected last year, and attended his first meeting on April 10, 2006.

When has Mr. Strobino been noted as "Absent", according to School Committee Minutes?

1. June 7, 2006
2. August 28, 2006
3. October 30, 2006
4. January 8, 2007 - Strobino arrived 15 minutes late.
5. January 22, 2007
6. February 12, 2007

Between April 10, 2006 and February 12, 2007, there were 17 school committee meetings. Strobino was there, on time, for 11 of those meetings. He's there 65% of the time. If I came to school 65% of the time, I would miss 63 days of school over the course of the year. I would lose credit. Colleges wouldn't want me. I'd be flipping burgers at one of Mr. Strobino's restaurants in no time flat. Is this the man you voted for? The rest of the school committee and the administrators seem to be at every meeting. They might miss one or two over the course of the year, but not 5 in less than a year. That's unacceptable. I understand that Strobino has a demanding job in the business world (a quick Google search gives you plenty of information) I also understand that he has an interest in the Scituate Schools. But a seat on the school committee isn't the best job to have when you appear to be stretched a bit too thin.

Mr. Strobino, I ask you to make an effort to attend every meeting, to uphold yourself to the standards that the students of the school system you preside over are held to each and every day. No unexcused absence, no unexcused tardies. Because just like at Scituate High, you too can lose credit. But your situation is a bit harder to fix - class credit can come back with a doctors note, but your reputation can stay tarnished forever.

Make the right choice, or give your seat to Maura Curran. She deserves to sit a bit closer to the action.

My First Post

Town Crier — a person who is employed by a town council to make public announcements in the streets.

I'm not employed by the town, but I'm following in the footsteps of organizations like SHORE that fill in the gaps that the town can't afford.

This is my first message... at this point I would simply like to introduce myself as a resident of Scituate, Massachusetts who has a very significant interest in the schools. Why? I am a student at Scituate High School. Please remember that as you read my posts. Some of my postings will include observations that I have made at the High School as well as from my elementary and middle school experiences. I won't be using names. Not even my own. That comes off as cowardly, but rumors in this town spread between adults and students alike faster than the speed of light, and I don't want to deal with being judged as I prepare for college and beyond.

I look forward to posting more soon, and I would simply like to close with a thank you. A thank you to all of my teachers in the Scituate schools that have given me the education I need to score high on MCAS, SATs, and beyond. With such limited resources, who would have thought it was possible!?

S.T.C.