Maureen D. Aube: Clarification about Mayor McLaughlin’s ‘road repair fund’

To The Daily Sun,

In the recent article, “Morrill challenging McLaughlin for mayor’s seat in Franklin,” Mayor Desiree McLaughlin stated, “the city has nearly $2 million in a road repair fund and has chosen to pave Davis and Daniell streets.” This was her rebuttal after Glenn Morrill had said that “the city needs 80-odd miles of road paved and suggested that the leaders find a solution to pave a few roads annually.”

This is the first time that I have heard of “a road repair fund.” It has been my understanding that there was no money left for road repairs in the 2024-25 municipal budget. And now there is nearly $2 million in a road repair fund. Indeed, this is a puzzling statement especially for Franklinites who have complained and rightfully so about the disrepair of Franklin’s roads.

I am all about transparency as is Mayor McLaughlin. Here are the facts. The nearly $2 million is residual grant money from a road project. Note that this is not money generated from Franklin property taxes. 

Let us be honest, this money only exists because the grant funded project did not go over budget. Also, it stayed within the budget with money left over. In this situation, it behooves Mayor McLaughlin to be more forthright in her statements that can be misleading.

Maureen D. Aube

Franklin