A dozen residents during a public forum Monday night in Springfield unloaded on a top Patrick administration official about the state of the state budget, wasteful spending and a shortsighted approach to renewable energy.
State Secretary for Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard K. Sullivan listens as Pandora Lis-Hague of Russell speaks against the proposed bio-mass plant in her hometown at Monday's listening session at Boland Elementary SchoolSPRINGFIELD – A dozen residents during a public forum Monday night unloaded on a top Patrick administration official about the state of the state budget, wasteful spending and a shortsighted approach to renewable energy.
Former Westfield mayor and newly appointed state secretary of energy and environmental affairs Richard K. Sullivan chaired the hearing at Boland Elementary School attracted about 20 people.
The hearing, the only one scheduled for Western Massachusetts, was intended as one of a series of “listening sessions” to hear from residents as Gov. Deval L. Patrick prepares the fiscal 2012 budget.
Sullivan, joined by Agricultural Commissioner Scott Soares and Fisheries and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin, said the state is facing a $1.5 billion deficit because the state will not receive $1.5 billion in one-time federal assistance as it did last year.
Without that money coming in, other funding in the budget will have to be cut, he said.
“It’s not going to be a great year,” he said. “We’re going to be in a tight budget for 2012.”
He said his area, the Division of Energy and the Environment, which has a current budget of $188.9 million, has been instructed to prepare for the same degree of cuts as last year, or about 8 percent.
The point of the hearing was to hear from members of the public and then to bring those sentiments back to Boston.
David Conway of Agawam who belongs to a group that regularly hikes through state parks spoke in favor of sustained funding for the park system.
“We encourage you to urge the legislature to find funding to keep our parks open,” he said.
Pandora Lis-Hague of Russell was one of several speakers to criticize a proposed bio-mass plant in Russell that she said would pollute the air and cause health problems down the road.
The state should not give renewable energy tax credits to bio-mass plants as “incentive for burning up our forests,” she said.
“We have to be smart about this. Wind and solar is the way to go.”
Other speakers said the state should limit the allocation of aid through the Department of Transitional Assistance, and faulted Governor Patrick for his proposal to allow undocumented aliens be eligible for in-state tuition for state colleges and the University of Massachusetts.
One man who would only identify himself as “Mr. Nelson,” said “Massachusetts has become a joke. Everyone comes to Massachusetts to get free money.”
He said there are senior who have lived in the state all their lives who are struggling to pay their bills while newcomers are coming to the state to milk the system.
“Stop paying for people who don’t deserve it,” he said.