What do you do?
I attend as many Town Council, School Committee, and other Franklin meetings as I can. I usually will report on the full and complete meeting publishing my notes as the meeting progresses. Weekly, I create a summary of what happened the prior week including an outlook on the coming week. You should be able to take about 10 minutes to keep up with what matters in Franklin.
Why do you do this?
This is my public service effort to give back to Franklin because accurate information matters. All too often a conversation or opinion includes incomplete or inaccurate information. I find that the local newspapers cover very little of what actually occurs at a meeting. That won’t change, their objective is to sell papers and advertising. I don’t have that objective so I can focus on the complete story and all the details that go with it.
How did you get started?
The Sherlock Family moved here at the end of 1995. Franklin was a good choice to return to New England. Both Dolores and I grew up in Rhode Island so this is 'close' to home. We have enjoyed our stay here and plan on staying for sometime. As my daughters grew up, graduated from Franklin High, and went off to college, I had more time at night to find out how and why we had a budget problem. I started attending Town Council and School Committee meetings.
I had already begun blogging at Steve's 2 Cents in 2004. After attending PodCamp Boston in 2006, I realized that I had the tools available and could start writing and publishing my notes during the meetings. The timely publication of information is important. Decisions could be made with incomplete or inaccurate information and we would regret it.
I attended, wrote, and shared this information with my fellow citizens and voters up through the Town election in 2007 on Steve's 2 Cents and split off this site: Franklin Matters in November, 2007. I will continue to devote time and effort here utilizing the social media tools as they become available (and where appropriate) to help fulfill the information needs of the Franklin community.
But isn’t your wife a teacher?
Yes, you should be aware that my wife is a kindergarten teacher here in Franklin. She teaches at the Oak St School. But what has that got to do with my sharing information? I realized while my two daughters were going through Franklin High School that the students coming after them were not getting the same opportunities. So I believe that there are over 6,000 reasons for me to focus on the school budget. I also believe that there are over 30,000 reasons for me to focus on the Town budget.
Are you preparing to run for office?
From time to time, a number of folks have asked me if I would consider running for a local office (either Town Council or School Committee). The answer has always been “No”. I do not expect that the answer will change anytime soon.
Community Information Director?
Yes, this is a title I assumed to reflect the role I see myself playing. Franklin could have someone doing this work, it is required but they can’t afford it. So I’ll volunteer my time and effort to do so.
How can you afford to do this?
I do this as my hobby. I was fully employed and did my blogging/writing, etc. in my "off hours". I expect to be fully employed again. Until that time, I will be working and networking to identify that opportunity.
. As this is only a short-term contract position, I will continue to identify a longer-term position.Updated 9/9/10 - I have taken a contract position with Modis working on a project at Citizens Bank in East Providence, RI.
What are you doing with the Food Pantry?
I have accepted a role on the Board of Directors and created the title of Community Information Director. I will look to help the Food Pantry in a couple of ways. One, they have expanded the membership of the Board and are embarking on a strategic planning initiative. I believe my project management skills and my work creating a good customer experience can help in this effort. Two, I will work to help the Food Pantry in their communication efforts. Drawing upon the experiences I have had using and implementing social media tools, I will help to spread the word about the good work of the Food Pantry.
You can read the full announcement of my role with the Food Pantry here
Disclosure Statement
- This blog doesn't accept ads or sponsorships.
- I don't own stock or accept royalties from any company or product mentioned on this blog.
- I don't serve on the board of any ‘for profit’ company.
- If the occasion were to come up, I would consider accepting samples of stuff with a nominal value (under $20 or so).
- I will tell you that there is no correlation between mentioning stuff and whether or not someone sent it to me.
- I write about what I find and think matters in Franklin.
My goal in maintaining this blog is to share my ideas and create a conversation that will generate something more than we each started with.
My success will be determined by your readership and comments (or lack thereof).
I consider myself an amateur writer and a lifelong learner. I start each day to learn something new. I look to share something with someone in a way that matters. I also look to have a laugh during the day. The more I can do all these three things (Learning, Sharing, Laughing), the better my day is.
My LinkedIn Profile can be viewed here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephensherlock
If anything changes with what I have said here, I will let you know.
I promise.
Note: this was revised 1/17/11
