At the December 2 Special Town Meeting, voters approved the 100% option for the proposed community center, Option C for HCA rezoning, and “yes” for allowing expansion at The Commons in Lincoln. Since the Lincoln Squirrel was unable to cover the meeting, we invited residents to share their impressions afterwards. Following is an edited sample of the responses.
“Nothing like coming together in person”
LincolnTalk has dominated the airwaves with data, opinions, and wishes before [Saturday’s] Even with so much information at our fingertips, time and time again, there is absolutely nothing like coming together in person with our neighbors, to legislate our town’s future, to truly listen and discern. We meet new people and find common ground (or not), but we all take away something new, every single time, from the experience… As Bob Domnitz said [Saturday], we might have appreciated some healthy food and a break, but seeing friends and talking was a different kind of nourishment for many.
We are a small town, certainly wonderful but also imperfect. For some who find Lincoln too precious or frustrating or suffocating, myself included, it occasionally requires leaving town to regain a healthy perspective. Folks then come home and cruise down Bedford Road to the five corners to marvel at all that is here, and how we imperfectly but in good faith hold each other up.
— Nancy Marshall
Someone left this personalized copy of a page from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are among the papers on the podium of Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden. “It gave me a big laugh after our robust meeting,” she said.
Of cold waffles and worries about rezoning
We are already joking that we will long remember the “cold waffles” Town Meeting. A resident of The Commons got up and complained that expansion there did not make sense since they are having trouble hiring enough help as it is, and he even had to endure cold waffles for breakfast. He went on a bit too long, and Sarah Holden tried to shut him down, telling him that his two minutes were up, but he just kept rambling on. The result was the whole auditorium erupted into laughter and he couldn’t talk over that!
Regarding the HCA vote: the Option E supporters were concerned about the ominous mentions of a clause allowing a developer to pay a fee in lieu of providing affordable housing, and apparently it seems the Planning Board might be willing to allow four-story buildings. Also the inclusion of the commuter parking lot as a building site with no evident replacement parking for commuters made people nervous. Also a parking garage in front of Donelan’s… There were plenty of reasons to give pause to worriers.
But the Planning Board had the public’s support and the vote was resoundingly in favor of Option C. It shows the citizens of Lincoln have a good amount of trust in our town committees.
— Diana Smith
A new sense of what the majority wants
I originate from New York/New Jersey, where I never heard of decisions being made in town meetings, but I have learned living in Lincoln over the past decade that this turns out to be an amazing albeit not perfect democratic process. In my several years on the Planning Board, I have never seen such controversy as what culminated in [Saturday’s] all-day meeting. Yet I thought it was handled very well. A grassroots organization of residents who care deeply about the future of this town was allowed to speak up and produce an alternative to the town’s [Housing Choice Act Working Group] response, and indeed that alternative proposal received at least one-third of the total vote. I have urged the leadership of that group to participate in our town process by now running for offices in the next election.
While my personal choices may not have been the ones selected, I still feel good, because I have a new sense of what the majority of people in the town want to see happen. As a member of the Planning Board and the board’s representative on the Community Center Building Committee, I will continue to listen to residents who speak up and work towards maintaining Lincoln as the special town we all moved to, and yet bring it further into the future. I believe that the Planning Board, with input from residents, can craft a good amended bylaw that will add more housing that is affordable near the train station and still be a viable center for commercial activity, green space, and gathering with neighbors and friends.
We have a lot of work to do between now and March, but we will do it!
— Lynn DeLisi
It’s high time for a voting tabulation system
(Editor’s note: the following is a copy of a letter that Kanner sent to the Select Board, Town Administrator, and Town Clerk).
Saturday’s Special Town Meeting seemed to me to be a success in hearing out a wide variety of our townsfolk on the three major issues presented, but it was also a catastrophic failure in its voting process. I believe Lincoln’s archaic, amazingly inefficient, and seemingly interminable process of simply taking a vote and tabulating the results, which process I estimate occupied about three hours of the eight hours or so of the meeting, threatens the survival of Town Meeting as a viable and representative method of governance. We have to do better.
Someone in town government must be looking into vote tabulator systems. As a citizen, though, I have heard no mention of any such investigation, so on Saturday night I did a quick Internet search. On the first try up comes a list of multiple companies that provide vote tabulation systems to towns for such events as town meetings. In fact, the town of Westford posted the results of their 2022 inquiry into its evaluation of such systems and concluded that the Meridia system was the best. They indicated that their town and 30 others (!) in Massachusetts are now using this system, and another 30 towns use other systems. The Meridia system is also used by the U.S. House of Representatives.
I also did the obvious arithmetic, which would be to ask how much a system that included 800 handheld voting units (to cover our massive turnout on Saturday). That would be about $25,000 or so all in. Think on that. We had 800 people sitting around for about three hours each while vote tabulations were done on Saturday. That’s 2,400 or so hours of citizens’ time, wasted. How would you value their wasted time?
I urge you to promptly look into such voting systems with the intent to have one in effect for the March town meetings. Too many people were wandering around, waiting and complaining, during the tabulation delays. The “Lincoln way” doesn’t need to be interminable voting and tabulation that wears everyone out and often overshadows the actual lively and substantive discussions that are the purpose of the meetings. Please, let’s get moving promptly with a goal to have a vetted system in place by March.
— Steven R. Kanner
Discussion was “mostly substantive and hearteningly civil”
I thought the discussion at all stages was mostly substantive and hearteningly civil compared to some snarky and/or obsessively repetitive LincolnTalk posts in the runup, especially about the HCA. Motions to cut off debate on all issues were well-timed; each passed by huge majorities (another sign of order being maintained). Yes, there were messy moments, but overall it was a good example of how democracy should work.
— Larry Buell
Some unanswered questions
- Why was Choice E not described on the ballot?
- Who paid for the lawn signs advocating Choice C and disparaging Choice E?
- Why didn’t FinCom articulate anticipated upcoming capital expenditures?
- Why not disclose that town operating expenses are growing faster than 2.5% and how a new $25 million building will affect those rising expenses?
- Why couldn’t attendees vote their ballots once received? If there were changes to the questions, would the town reprint the ballots?
- Why not survey all taxpayers as to preferences rather than rely on attendance on a Saturday?
- If the HCAWG wanted Option C, were the other choices actually red herrings?
- Why are longtime Lincoln stewards Sara Mattes and Ken Hurd ignored?
- Why do people make statements during the question period?
- Why does it feel like taxpayers are railroaded at Town Meetings by well-organized and funded insiders?
— Chris Burns
Another point of view
He got a ride! He took the van, from somewhat far away. Next, he checked in, walked down the hall, then sat there half the day.
He listened to the formal talks; stood up, when it was time. It took a bit of fortitude to stand there in the line.
His turn had come! This was his chance to stand up to the mike. And our chance, too, to hear him out, know what his life is like.
It was easy to feel antsy. His time was up, that’s true… Why not give him one more moment, see things from his point of view?
He put thought into his statement. (He’s an elder, with a name.) Its true meaning — did we miss it? Yet, “inclusion” we proclaim.
I’m sorry I’m not laughing, a wet blanket, but I’m sad. His vision dimmed, his hearing shot — that could have been my dad.
— Sarah Liepert
Lincoln Station is already the most densely populated area of town; is it fair to ask those residents to assume the entire burden of additional housing? Also, it is the most diverse: if one stands on Lincoln Road at the entrance to the mall, one can see the Lincoln Woods apartments, Ryan Estate (62+), the Ridge Court (“flying nun”) apartments, and at a slightly farther distance, Greenridge (where I live) and Todd Pond condominiums.
Each of these properties has its own architectural style, but somehow they all fit together into the character and ethos of Lincoln (and none of the buildings are taller than the trees!). They serve a diverse range of ages and income levels — a diversity which I believe that the town embraces. Although I realize that only a small fraction of Lincoln’s land area is being considered for rezoning, this is an important area – not only to those of us who live nearby but to everyone who passes through en route to or from their residences.
When I moved to Lincoln 30+ years ago, I did so on account of its semi-rural, small-town nature, its open space, farmland, conservation land, and trails. Let’s not compromise these aspects by granting carte blanche to a developer to build by right whatever he chooses. Any fraction of Lincoln’s unique character that we cede will be lost; we cannot, nor can future generations, get it back.
— June Matthews
Another point of view:
He got a ride! He took the van, from somewhat far away. Next, he checked in, walked down the hall, then sat there half the day.
He listened to the formal talks; stood up, when it was time. It took a bit of fortitude to stand there in the line.
His turn had come! This was his chance to stand up to the mike. And our chance, too, to hear him out, know what his life is like.
It was easy to feel antsy. His time was up, that’s true … Why not give him one more moment, see things from his point of view?
He put thought into his statement. (He’s an elder, with a name.) Its true meaning—did we miss it? Yet, “inclusion” we proclaim.
I’m sorry I’m not laughing, a wet blanket, but I’m sad. His vision dimmed, his hearing shot, that could have been my dad.
I agree with these sentiments entirely. I thought it was so disrespectful that that elderly gentleman who made the effort to show up and got laughed at and humiliated. I was embarrassed for everyone in that room.
And the same goes for how Bob Domnitz was treated and his microphone shut off while others got to ramble much longer than their 2 minutes. The Playing field seemed a bit tilted.
As one who did not attend the meeting on Saturday because of the voting confusion that took so much time at an earlier meeting, I must strongly endorse Steven Kanner’s suggestion for a voting tabulation system.
I would also point out to Lynn DeLisi that, from only the Saturday town meeting, she does not have “a new sense of what the majority of people in the town want to see happen.” She has only the opinion of those motivated enough, through good citizenship or personal gain, to attend an 8 hour meeting.
While I believe in the idea of direct democracy, I also believe the process could become more efficient.
This is entirely true. Thank you Gerhard!
In excerpting my comments, two omissions, one pretty poor one on my part. “Saturday’s Town Meeting” would be clearer at the outset. Secondly “for some who every once in awhile find Lincoln too precious or frustrating or suffocating, myself included, it occasionally requires leaving town to regain a healthy perspective” is far more accurate. I don’t think I would live here if it was a chronic sentiment!