Recount in close Walpole tax vote likely

I sure hope the same guys that recount the votes in Iran are not the same guys that do the recount in Walpole. Those Iranian guys are mean and don't count so well.

James Taylor isn't even a landowner in Walpole, so isn't affected by a property tax override. Don't worry, though - we know who's pulling your puppet strings!

Taylor continues to justify his opposition to the library with more unfounded fear-mongering. Now you don't think the state will come through with the grant money? Before it was that you didn't believe the town would honor Proposition 2 1/2 - once our taxes increased to pay for the library they would never go down again? And of course, there's the specious Storm Water Management Plan argument, the hand-wringing about "other people who probably can't afford an override in this economy" and a dozen other disingenuous reasons not to build the library for 55 cents on the dollar.

We all know that Susan Maguire wants to build a senior center on the land the library needs for a new parking lot, and she will do anything in her power (even give interviews to The Globe without disclosing her conflict of interest) to derail this public service initiative.

Well I say bring on the recount. If Taylor and Maguire want to take "another bite at the apple" to count the ballots, so be it. The truth will prevail.

And if this proposal doesn't survive a recount, I think the library board should present a revised proposal to the town for another vote this fall. This proposal was much better received than the one last November, so I really think with a bit more tweaking we will have a resounding victory for education in Walpole. Clearly James Taylor would agree that it's OK to keep counting the votes until you get the answer you're looking for.

I was unaware that Walpole still has a Colonial era land-ownership prerequisite to vote in the town's elections.

This is insanity. Now is not the time for a new library.

Most cities and towns throughout the country will be insolvent within 20 years because of pension and contract burdens. And yet they continue the spend-o-rama like there are unlimited funds... unlimited taxes... unlimited goodwill.

The good people of Walpole think that each override is the last override. But the town bureaucracy knows better.... the next override will be started shortly after this one passes.

What does the town need a new library for ? What is wrong with the old library? How many actual customers come in during a months time? Taxes are too damned high now. Why are they trying to squeeze this out of the overburdened people now? I bet someone who is on a library board someplace in walpole also has connections to some politician who can sway votes..

It looks like The Globe has allowed someone else to register on this site with my user name. I guess people who don't value education and information are also not creative enough to think of their own user name!

Now is the perfect time to build a new library. Construction costs are down, interest rates are down, and we have neglected our public library for over 40 years.

Walpole needs a new library because the existing one, last renovated in 1965, is falling apart, does not meet federal accessibility standards, and cannot be brought up to standards in its current location. All it takes is one lawsuit to force the town to fix it or close it. If the library loses accreditation, Walpole Residents will not be allowed to use the libraries of other towns, and the school system accreditation will also suffer. Your property values and your child's chances of getting into a good college will plummet like a bad 401(k) balance.

James Taylor has every right to call for a recount, but he has no right to slander Walpole election officials and the town clerk by insinuating that they did anything improper. Just another cheap ploy to whip up outrage against the result of the vote, I guess. I hope he has a good attorney, because he has made a number of baseless accusations against these good people. He could find himself on the wrong end of a defamation lawsuit.

Rose, the payments on the override will not go into effect for a couple of years, by which time the economy will surely have recovered. And if it hasn't, we are all going to need a place to go to use internet-connected computers, to get help writing resumes and searching for jobs, and to borrow books and other materials for free.

God help us all, you people are so selfish! You would rather live in a beautiful home surrounded by scorched earth toxic wastelands and dirt paths instead of paved roads. Good economy or bad, the same morons always speak out against any override for any purpose! Walpole is falling apart, and property values are plummeting at a much faster rate than in any adjacent town! I wonder why?

The Public Libray became the most powerful resourse of learning that bridged every culture in society and advanced learning for all. However, as we advance further in technology we are at a point were anyone can google up information on any thing, history, science, medicine, you name it. Further, I am an avid reader and now read my selections on kindle. I don't drive and use gas or polute the air.
It seems to me that sometimes we get too wrapped up in what we want and not what is right or makes the most sense.

I do NOT live in Walpole, so you folks can feel free to raise your own taxes as much as you want! Even if it pushes many residents OFF the edge of the financial cliff onto which they are hanging by their fingernails!
BUT:
1.) A RENTER still pays property taxes - they are added to the rent! (Did you think the landlord swallowed the cost?)
2.) How MANY PEOPLE actually use the library? What HOURS OF THE DAY is it open? (If it is like the newish library in my town (with its "banker's hours"), only infants, the non-working and the elderly can use it.
3.) If people are concerned about EDUCATION, forget the library and spend part of that money on NEW BOOKS and SUPPLIES (e.g., computers with Internet access) for the LIBRARIES WITHIN THE SCHOOLS.
4.) A student can find VASTLY MORE INFORMATION in a FRACTION OF THE TIME on innumerable web sites using the Internet than rummaging through physical books. As a researcher in medicine, I cannot conceive of doing a medical literature search looking through papers journals as I did in medical school ! !

In summary, a TOWN LIBRARY is NOT cost-effective; is seldom (if ever) used by students and residents who are employed. Better to purchase 1000 laptops (at $400 each - yes, very good ones sell for that price!) for the school libraries, elder centers, etc. and SHUT DOWN THE LIBRARY for good.
P.S. I am very fortunate in that my income allows me to easily pay any tax increases in my town. But MANY people in my town are NOT in such a financial position - so I vote AGAINST every over-ride. I do NOT want to be among the ones that hurl them off the cliff ! ! !

A "town library" is out-dated and NOT cost-effective.

1.) How MANY people actually use the current town library?
2.) What are it HOURS OF OPERATION ? (If it is like the new library in my town, only infants, unemployed and elderly folks get to use it! It keeps "banker's hours", so anyone who is employed is working when the library is open.)
3.) Concerned about EDUCATION? Buy COMPUTERS, BOOKS and SUPPLIES for the SCHOOL LIBRARIES. The town could buy 1000 computers (good ones at $400 each!! Toshiba laptops, for example): 950 spread among the school LIBRARIES; 50 in the town's Elderly Center and Town Hall (for use by RESIDENTS only). Each computer would have high-speed Internet access.
4.) How to pay for this? Easy! SELL the current LIBRARY and its property!

The use of the Internet by students is MUCH FASTER, MORE EFFICENT and MUCH MORE PRODUCTIVE than rummaging through books --- MOST out-of-date in a town library. A simple 10-minute GOOGLE search will yield more information about a subject than 100 years in a library -- and will yield information IMPOSSIBLE to find in most libraries.

Today, town libraries are "social gathering" places - NOT sources of information!

Well I don't live in Walpole so the over ride is up to those folks that do. However when I last moved we looked into all the town services, Fire, Police, School, and yes the Library. If the information here is correct the last update to the library was in 1965 - 44 years ago. Wow wouldn't want to rush into sometime new that might increase the value of your homes....
Clearly times are tough but construstion costs are down and interest rates are low along with the State's 4 million it would seem like a good time to INVEST in your town.

Town libraries are essential, most particularly during economic hard times. Those who are laid off and have had to cancel their internet subscriptions need a place to go online. They haven't got the money to buy the books that will help them prepare for a job search. They haven't got the money to buy their kids new books to read. This is just a little of what the library has to offer.

Add to that ESL instruction for adults, social activities so that the laid off have something constructive to do with their time, music for your little kids and you have a bona fide bargain in your public library. You can't get all that on "google".

We voted this down several months ago, then they brought it to us again. We don't need a new library and our property taxes are already unbelievable! I say forget the recount, I want a revote!