Margot Parrot: Questions about Athol override

I am considering what might happen if no override passes on April 6 and the Athol town manager presents a scaled back budget to the boards on April 7. People have asked for more detail before the election, concerning cuts both in staff and hours of operation. That has led me to ask the following questions:

1) How will staff cuts be determined? Will it be “last-in-first-out?” Early retirement inducements? Unfilled vacancies regardless of functional importance? Cuts in hours across the board (resulting in some people leaving who cannot afford the reduction)?

2) How will programmatic cut-backs be determined? Will they take into consideration the most vulnerable populations like seniors and children? Or will it be a matter of across-the-board cuts that affect everyone equally? What hours of service will be reduced specifically and on what days? This may be very important to voters, especially concerning the Library and Senior Center.

3) How much will response times be affected in critical services, such as public safety, business and home permitting, road repair and maintenance, other resident needs?

4) How will the current administration convey this information to everyone who needs to know (Select Board, other committees, employees, voters)?

I am aware that some of these questions may be unanswerable (for instance, response times) but voters are asking these questions in order to make an informed decision on April 6.