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Politics & Government

Mansfield Considering Issuing Fines to Drinkers

Town is looking for increase revenues to pay for rising costs.

A week after the final version of Selectmen Olivier Kozlowski's "cost savings incentive program" was voted and accepted by most of his board, suggestions from town residents and employees on how to save money in a bad  economy are already trickling in.

Kozlowski reported this week a number of suggestions had already been received, and asked board chairman Kevin Moran if he should read them aloud.

But Moran, who had not voted for the incentive program last week, was cautious.

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"We should discuss them next week, and how we want to handle them," he said. "How do we acknowledge them, and how do we communicate back?" Kozlowski said some of the letters addressed cost saving ideas the board had not discussed before.

One, he said, is to follow neighboring Foxboro's lead and impose a fine on anyone taken into protective custody. Foxboro recently became the first community in the state to suggest such a move.

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Wednesday, town manager Bill Ross noted an article allowing voters to adopt the measure will probably be on the upcoming town meeting warrant. Mansfield and Norton police and fire personnel are regularly swamped with hundreds of drinkers, many of them underage, during the summer's slate of Comcast concerts, clogging stations while parents and others are notified to come to get the offenders.

Mansfield Police Chief Arthur O'Neill has raised increasing alarms about the escalating problems, saying teenagers are drinking to the point of passing out and has also expressed concern about town public safety personnel, who must bear the brunt of the rising tide.

The cost savings incentive program allows anyone except selectmen, the town manager, department heads and their households to come forward with cost savings suggestions.

In the policy, the board reviews each suggestion, seeks out information from department heads and other sources, and makes a determination at a public meeting on the suggestion and its merit. If the board decides to implement a suggestion, and savings of at least $100 results, the submitter is eligible for a reward of one percent of the savings actually realized, provided town meeting agrees.

Moran had not cast a vote in favor of the program, expressing concern about the process of deciding which suggestions to adopt, and how they are to be implemented. He had a second philosophical concern, that residents and employees naturally would suggest improvements without expecting a reward.

Board member George Dentino, reviewing the new proposal last week, said, "I don't foresee a gold rush," but also acknowledged he was always in favor of people in town coming up with ideas that will generate cash. Ross had stated he wanted to give Kozlowski's program a try, but he noted, "we'd better be ready to demonstrate savings. We have to do that job well... If there's $10,000 in savings, we could expect to see a reduction in that line item."

Review of any money saving proposals received so far will be on next week's meeting warrant. The date for town meeting has not yet been set, but will probably be firm after Wednesday's regular meeting, when board members will have a more complete list of budget numbers from the various town departments and the finance committee.

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