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To the Citizens of Milford

As someone who spent approximately 15 years working with municipal and state public officials to coordinate regional approaches to emergency response needs, I decided to take the time to evaluate Milford’s regional dispatch discussions from 2017 forward. My experience includes coordination of multiple sectors and disciplines, as well as building and sustaining collaborative quasi-governmental organizations. I’ve reviewed every relevant set of Board of Selectmen’s (BOS) minutes as well as those from the MACC Base (MB) Board of Governors (BOG), proposals, RFPs, position statements, video recordings and correspondence between Mont Vernon, Wilton and Milford BOSs. I’d like to share my conclusions from an arm’s-length review of the materials.

Today, I focus on the role of the Milford BOS:

1. Since 2017, the BOS has had a single objective in mind – a Milford-led system. While claiming to want to continue our partnership, its actions, language and proposed revisions to the Inter-Municipal Agreement (IMA) have emphasized Milford control. The BOS isn’t interested in a collaboratively governed approach.

2. The BOS is so dedicated to its approach that it is willing to take $700K from town funds to reduce the proposed bond. If life safety were the motivator, those funds could have been used to pay for any of the previously proposed fixes.

3. Every year, MB returns unspent funds to its towns. Milford insists this money be returned. And every year, Milford returns those funds to its general fund instead of investing in improvements to its individual communications needs. The BOS is deliberately not planning for, or maintaining, communication needs at the MB or Milford levels. Instead it is opting for an overhaul that will result in a Milford-led system.

4. Many voters are under the impression that Milford analyzed options for a collaboratively governed regional solution. That is incorrect.

Voters need to know that the needed infrastructure is NOT the core issue being voted on in Warrant Article #3. It’s a desirable (and needed) byproduct. What we are voting on is ownership.

What is not being presented is the fact that alternative regional governance models could facilitate exactly the same fixes. This does not require a town-run system, but Milford has chosen to pursue only this governance option.

This is a complex issue and I am limited to 400 words. For those interested, I can be reached at 603-673-1722.