Two of the foundation directors are in my sphere, another one somewhat less so. All three act as if the foundation is their personal soapbox to get what they want politically. They're all about working for the override, what happens with school committee. I don't know tax rules but it seems they may have crossed a line non-profits can't. As private citizens they can, but they talk in terms of the foundation.

Makes no sense for the city to give $10,000 to these people to advance their personal status. The aldermen need to end this practice now. Certainly the schools can figure out how to use $10,000 of unrestricted funds on their own.

The school committee and aldermen won't give the superintendent the money she needs but the mayor gives $10,000 to the women of MEF. It's all about politics.

The city was giving out the $10,000 grants long before MEF was created. So it is all about the grants.

Really? Long before?
Regardless, why deny $10,000 to the leader of the schools and give it to a few political hacks to dole out for crass photo ops?

Please don't misunderstand.An education foundation can be a good thing for the schools - look at Winchester.

Like so much else in Melrose, here it's about looking good more than doing good.

Same thing with the arts money. We have an Arts Council doing good for years. Instead of giving the council money beyond the state money, the mayor created the Messina fund to hand out money for his own political purposes. Give the money to the Arts Council instead. If the Messina people want to give away money, let them raise it on their own instead of taking city money which the Arts Council could distribute better.

This is all so crazy - last year the Mayor gave the schools 2 million dollars from the city side - now he has run out of "slush money" to duplicate this - therefore - the overrride. The schools have had plenty of money - the issue is how it is spent - just listen to the Gerry Mroz at every meeting attempting to convince this inept school committee what they need to do improve student outcomes - and it doesn't involve extra money - just better leadership and competent school governance.

I was just informed by one of the Alderman that the $10,000 to be given to the MEF is actualy donated money from the public! He wasn't sure when I first asked him and had to check with another "in the know" alderman to confirm it to me later. Let's see...so the BOA vote to allocate this money from the city and yet they don't as individual aldermen know where the money is coming from so when asked they need to check with someone who knows? Sounds like our federal congress when voting on bills they don't read!

I expect this attitude, to a certain degree, from our federal representatives, but I don't from our local respresentatives who oversee our local tax dollars. Now I have to wonder if this is actually the truth. The Mayor has an emergency fund which seems similar in function, yet the BOA doesn't vote to allocate those individual funds to specific people so why the MEF grant money - if that money is donated by the public also? Something doesn't "smell" right.

Yes I agree. We should do away with the Melrose Emergency Fund and the Melrose Education Foundation. Both are intent on destroying our good town. Maybe you can find a candidate who will campaign on that platform. I am sure that it will get a ton of support.

Hey "Starling",

There is nothing inherently wrong with either an educational foundation or an emergency fund. But in Melrose, both are used as political tools with highly questionable if not downright illegal practices. Few if any of those managing these things seem to care if basic laws (ethics, IRS, etc.) are violated along the way. With each violation (or set thereof) you can count on the city hires--PDR, JS, ML, RVC, etc.--to sing even louder songs, over and over, about how "legal" their practices are, protesting way too stridently and pointing the way for anyone with half a brain to request information, Follow the Money and see for yourself, or as a group, where the deep corruption brews and simmers in all its sick manifestations in Melrose.

So you just keep spinning and spinning, Starling, for your agenda is easily obvious. Also, just because people win elections here doesn't mean they are ethical, smart, or care one whit about the general good.

The $10,000 annual Dolan giveaway to MEF straight from the tax rolls (NOT from citizen "donations"!) is a perfect example of the kinds of Bad Practices (opposite of Best Practices) that may even be illegal because of the way it is done. This MEF deserves a great deal of official scrutiny, starting with an examination of its board and links/conflicts of interest.

Starling needs to do even the most cursory investigation into any other town's educational foundation. There is no educational foundation of which I am aware that gets funding in this manner. Every other town does fundraising, which determines the amount of money they have to award to teacher grant requests. If they don't raise the money, they don't give as many grants. As usual, the poster is trying to paint this as mean people wanting to abolish something good, when all we want is for things to be run on the up-and-up. I have a friend who teaches in a town that has a foundation that routinely raises hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. This year, donations are down. Guess what? Fewer grants are being filled. The town has not figured out a way to fund these people for political gain. It is the usual Melrose nonsense.

It was made quite clear at the last couple of BOA meetings that the $10,000 for the MEF taxpayer giveaway has been coming from the City's Human Resources budget. Ponder that...