About Talk Franklin - a podcast from the Town Administrator's Office
This podcast provides a trusted information source from the Town Administrators office, featuring news, alerts, department info and more. Created in coordination with Franklin TV and Radio and Franklin Matters.
Talk Franklin, A Podcast from the Town Administrator's Office - August 17, 2026
This session of the radio show shares our “Talk Franklin” discussion with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen. We recorded our conversation virtually via Zoom on Monday, August 17, 2026.
Key topics
Mid-summer status
Town Council & contract extension
A validated budget for FY 2027
Joint Budget working on a strategy
More topics coming
Sept 2
Town available land and facilities
Sept 16
Legislative update with Senator Rausch & Rep Roy
Presentations by Food Pantry, SAFE Coalition, 250th Celebration
Sept 3
Police station building committee
Economic Development
Split tax workshops
UMass students' study on downtown
The recording runs about 37 minutes. Let’s listen to our conversation.
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Town of Franklin page - https://www.franklinma.gov/ (https://www.franklinma.gov/)
Notify Me - sign up for notification on meetings and agendas https://www.franklinma.gov/list.aspx (https://www.franklinma.gov/list.aspx)
Subscribe to Franklin First newsletter https://www.franklinma.gov/m/newsflash (https://www.franklinma.gov/m/newsflash)
Community calendar https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar (https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar)
Town Administrator contract press release https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/franklin-town-council-approves-town.html (https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/08/franklin-town-council-approves-town.html)
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV (http://www.franklin.tv/) and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm (http://www.wfpr.fm/)) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ (https://franklinmatters.org/) or www.franklin.news/ (http://www.franklin.news/)
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley" (http://www.eastofshirley.com/). The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
1 Jun 2026
Talk Franklin, A Podcast from the Town Administrator's Office - May 28, 2026
This session of the radio show shares our “Talk Franklin” discussion with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen. We recorded our conversation in the Franklin TV & Radio Studio on Thursday, May 28, 2026.
Key topics
Updates to the FY 2027 budget
Health care overview
Final stretch for budget approval
Finance Cmte Jun 3
Town Council Jun 10
Town Council Jun 17
The recording runs about 1 hour & 5 minutes. Let’s listen to our conversation.
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Summary memo on budget changes - https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/05/town-administrator-memo-to-finance.html (https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/05/town-administrator-memo-to-finance.html)
Finance Committee agenda with budget document updates
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06032026-2346 (https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06032026-2346)
Town of Franklin page - https://www.franklinma.gov/ (https://www.franklinma.gov/)
FY 2027 budget page - https://www.franklinma.gov/Archive.aspx?ADID=577 (https://www.franklinma.gov/Archive.aspx?ADID=577)
Community calendar https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar (https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar)
--------------
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV (http://www.franklin.tv/) and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm (http://www.wfpr.fm/)) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ (https://franklinmatters.org/) or www.franklin.news/ (http://www.franklin.news/)
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley" (http://www.eastofshirley.com/). The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
5 Mar 2026
Talk Franklin, A Podcast from the Town Administrator's Office - March 2, 2026
FM #1680X = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1680xin the series.
This session of the radio show shares our “Talk Franklin” discussion with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen and Liz Kalaijian, the new Director of Communications and Community Engagement for the Town of Franklin. We recorded our conversation in the Franklin TV & Radio Studio on Monday, March 2, 2026.
Key topics
Welcome Liz
Quick updates on Town business
Deep dive on Mass Municipal Association (MMA)
Close with some musical fun (songs about communications)
The recording runs about 59 minutes. Let’s listen to our conversation.
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Town of Franklin page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/ (https://www.franklinma.gov/)
MMA page - https://www.mma.org/ (https://www.mma.org/)
Mass Town Careers (A campaign created by MMA) - https://masstowncareers.org/ (https://masstowncareers.org/)
Town budget page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/168/Town-Budgets (https://www.franklinma.gov/168/Town-Budgets)
School budget page -> https://www.franklinps.net/o/fpsd/page/school-district-budget (https://www.franklinps.net/o/fpsd/page/school-district-budget)
Community calendar https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar (https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar)
--------------
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV (http://www.franklin.tv/) and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm (http://www.wfpr.fm/)) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ (https://franklinmatters.org/) or www.franklin.news/ (http://www.franklin.news/)
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley" (http://www.eastofshirley.com/). The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
Inside a recent episode
Talk Franklin, A Podcast from the Town Administrator's Office - August 17, 2026
Published 18 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] You know, number one, you know, we're going to start the first meeting in September on September 2nd. There's going to be a beginning discussion on town owned property. In the macro view, we've got Kate Hinckley coming in to give an overview of how many parcels the town owns, and we're going to slowly go down right into the ones that are still available, of which most people in town know are largely Davis there and the parmentor schools. And so we've got draft procurements ready to go on the agenda for the community to look at what a draft procurement may look like for Davis there, what a draft procurement may look like for 275 Beaver Street, We've got the police station building committee coming in on September 2nd to justify their decision of the parliamentar as the site of the police station. […]
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