My Turn: Glass asks for votes as she runs for reelection

By Jennifer Glass

I write to announce my candidacy for re-election to the Board of Selectmen for a three-year term, and I ask for the support of Lincoln’s residents and voters.

When I first ran in 2017, I made a commitment to pursue holistic planning and decision-making given the breadth of topics that fall under the purview of the board. That commitment continues energize me in assisting us to achieve our collective goals and is what motivates me to seek election to serve the town for another term.

Town residents and our town government working together have begun and accomplished many important objectives during the past four years:

• We approved the Lincoln School revitalization project, and construction is well underway
• The development of Oriole Landing allowed the town to continue its commitment to more affordable housing options
• We launched the Lincoln Green Energy Choice program, which meaningfully reduces our collective carbon footprint
• We entered into an agreement with the deCordova Museum and the Trustees of Reservations to ensure a vital future for the arts in Lincoln
• We started community discussions about racism and racial equity following the brutal murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor
• The global pandemic forced us to entirely rethink how we run our town government and care for our residents.

Much of this work is ongoing. Last fall the board hosted a series of roundtables that brought together community members, our police chief, town boards, and community groups and institutions to talk about inclusion, diversity, equity, and anti-racism. This laid the groundwork for the IDEA Initiative, a new committee that we will appoint in April and that is expected to examine how the town can specifically and intentionally address equity and justice.

The work of the South Lincoln Planning & Advisory Committee (SLPAC) forms another major focus of the town. The Planning Board has been studying potential zoning changes in the area around the train station for a number of years, and SLPAC is continuing that examination with an eye toward making recommendations to the town in 2022. The town is now considering the potential changes in the context of the Massachusetts Housing Choice Act that the legislature passed in January that has specific provisions for towns with an MBTA station.

The legislature also recently passed a landmark act to combat climate change, which will have profound implications for us as individuals and a community for many decades to come. We will engage with town residents to assist us all in meeting our commitments under the act.

Now that the school project is nearly halfway completed, it is time for the town to restart the conversation about a community center that would house both the Parks & Recreation Department and the Council on Aging (or “the Council on Aging and Human Services” if we approve the name change at Town Meeting!). In doing so, we will continue discussions about the town’s provision of social services and about town finances and property taxes.

All of these issues are interrelated, and we must consider them together if we are to shape the future of the town in innovative and positive ways. Most fortunately, we have a skilled and knowledgeable professional team and dedicated volunteers on our town boards and committees to engage in this effort. With your vote of support, I look forward to continuing to contribute to the work of this team. Again, I ask for your vote at the town election on Monday, March 29.

Respectfully,

Jennifer Glass
11 Stonehedge Road

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”My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.