Welcome to TIVERTON 1st!

Tiverton 1st is a grassroots community organization open to all who support preserving our quality of life in Tiverton by maintaining both our community and school services in a fiscally-responsible way, and promoting cooperation, compromise and community pride.
Membership is open to all Tiverton residents who are at least 18 years old & support Tiverton 1st's principles & goals (non-residents or those under 18 years old are welcome to join as non-voting members). There's no membership fee.Just email your name, address, phone # and email address to: Tiverton1st@cox.net.
You can also request to become a "Tiverton 1st Friend"& join our confidential email list.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

FTR RESULTS: FEW VOTERS TURN OUT TO APPROVE ONLY BUDGET OPTION

Just 269 of Tiverton's 12,314 registered voters cast ballots in this year's Financial Town Referendum that approved the Budget Committee's recommended budget & tax proposal (and also approved all six resolutions on the ballot). The outcome of the budget vote was never in doubt, as there was only one budget option on the ballot and no way to reject it (all six resolutions were also approved).

On the one hand, it's great that Tiverton came together around a consensus budget that maintained vital services at a reasonable cost. The Budget Committee, Town Council & School Committee deserve tremendous credit for their hard work and such a professional, thoughtful process after several years of having a political faction using every means to push its political agenda on the people of Tiverton. The importance of electing community-minded people to represent us couldn't be clearer.


On the other hand, because of the provisions of the FTR Charter Amendment voters approved in 2011, somewhere around $10,000 in taxpayer money was spent so 0.02% of voters could cast a vote in this FTR whose result was already decided. The obvious alternative was simply having the sole budget adopted without the time & expense of a meaningless FTR, and it's just one of the flaws in this FTR process that many of us pointed out before and after it was put before voters. We believed then (and still do) that an FTR process is superior to the Financial Town Mtg process many of us spent years trying to replace. But this year's waste of time & money is the result of what started as a non-partisan attempt to create a consensus FTR plan to replace the FTM being subverted by a political faction with its own agenda. 


The Town Charter requires the election of a Charter Review Commission at least every six years, and the last was elected in 2007. Hopefully the upcoming CRC presents voters with a chance to improve the FTR process so that it both respects the will of voters and does so in a smart, cost-effective way.


Brian Medeiros

Tiverton, RI

Monday, May 20, 2013

FTR VOTE IS TOMORROW (TUES. MAY 21)


The annual Financial Town Referendum (FTR) to determine the town and school 
budget and the tax-rate is tomorrow (Tuesday, May 21). Three polling places will 
be open from 7a-8p: VFW Hall, Countryview, & Amicable Church. Sample ballot 
is available at the town website (www.tiverton.ri.gov). 
 
There is only one budget/tax levy option on the ballot, the one proposed by the 
Budget Committee, so it will automatically be approved. It continues to fund 
vital town and school services, and results in a tax-levy increase of 2.2%. 
 
There are also six "resolutions" that voters can approve or reject. Budget 
Committee Resolution 1 would adopt the Budget Committee's itemized budget 
proposal as the official town budget. Budget Committee Resolutions 2-4 would 
restrict certain funds to the purpose for which they were appropriated. Budget 
Committee Resolution 5 would return unused funds to the General Fund at the end 
of the fiscal year (excepting DPW funds for future paving). Town Council 
Resolution 6 would authorize the Council to sell any of five municipally-owned 
buildings at Fair Market Value. This would allow the Council to sell unneeded 
buildings promptly without having to call a special election or wait until next 
year's FTR for required voter approval. 
 
All six resolutions are in keeping with the goals of the budget proposal that 
will automatically be approved, and voters should consider approving them as 
well. 

Monday, May 6, 2013

""COMPLETE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE" COMEDY AT SANDYWOODS THUR. MAY 9

"The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)"
A delightful comedy presented by
the Rhode Island Shakespeare Company
THUR. MAY 9 @ 8p
at Sandywoods Center for the Arts
(43 Muse Way, Tiverton)
tickets at door/ adults: $15 / seniors & students: $10
info: Russ Smith @ 241-7349

TIVERTON MEETINGS ON COX CHANNEL 18

Several Tiverton meetings airing tonight & tomorrow (May 6/7) on Cox channel 18:

MON @ 8:00p/ TUE @ noon: FTR Hearing of 5/2 (presentation of Budget Cmte proposal, the only one on the ballot, & resolutions which will be voted up or down by FTR voters)

MON @ 9:35p / TUE @ 1:35p: Town Council Meeting with Planning Board of 4.29 (to hear details of proposed Souza Rd development)

MON @ 11:10p / TUE @ 3:10p: School Committee Meeting of 4.23 (including discussion of the role of standardized testing)

"ANOTHER OPENING, ANOTHER SHOW!": MAY 9, 10, 11 @ THS

Tiverton High School Drama presents "Another Opening Another Show!, a song and dance extravaganza featuring some of the most beloved classic and contemporary Broadway musicals. 

The show includes a cast and crew of 50 students, directed and staged by Gloria Crist with Choreography by Jenni Santos McNamee.  

Performances are May, 9th, 10th and 11th at 7pm and tickets are $10.  For more information please call 401-749-1203.