***-----Original Message----- ***From: Pam [mailto:pam259@attbi.com] ***Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2002 8:21 PM ***To: MAPLYMOU-L@rootsweb.com ***Subject: [PLY/MA] Re: City of Brockton *** *** ***I hate to put anyone/place down..but it is true...Brockton is ***terrible to deal with! They do not allow you to see the books ***at all...You must write down who, when..you want looked up and ***they charge the $5.00 whether they find them or not. And..they ***will only allow ONE look up per day! ***They are far too expensive for me...I would rather keep ***searching elsewhere.. ***Sorry.. ***Pam Pam and others, As with any discussion, it seems to me there is another side to consider. I am not disputing what you say, but only suggesting that some other points be balanced with what you have said. Perhaps we should try to put ourselves in the place of the taxpayers in these communities, and of the people trying to run the office. It takes time to do lookups whether or not the search is successful. Someone needs to pay for that employee's time. Why should the people of Brockton have to support the hobby of someone on the other side of the country? Or for that matter support the hobby of someone from Brockton? As to using the books, there are issues of damage, traffic control in the office, and even theft as well as others. A town clerk's office is not a public library. We, of all people, should be conscious of what it is like when public records are lost to future generations. My experience with town clerks in MA has been positive, but I have not had experience with Brockton. Perhaps they are difficult to deal with--you know better than I. But the "problems" which you did mention--and I realize there may be others--do not seem "terrible" to me--they seem like a municipality's effort to control costs which are going to come out of the taxpayer's pockets, and that, it seems to me, is part of their job. I am sure you never abuse the system, but believe me, I know that when a government agency offers free services, some people will exploit the system, and since one never knows who it's going to be, there have to be rules for all.