government

Letter to the editor: Special-ed may not ‘make the cut’ at future Minuteman

March 9, 2016

To the editor:

At the Special Town Meeting, Minuteman high School’s Dr. Ed Bouquillon presented a slide I initially thought was disingenuous and absurd. The slide showed Minuteman’s costs decreasing while costs at other voc/tec schools are rising. I later realized it may have been the most insightful slide presented that night.

We saw at the meeting that all three new vocational-technical (Chapter 74) schools in Massachusetts were undersubscribed before new construction and now have waiting lists. If the trend continues, and given this data on neighboring schools along with Gov. Baker’s commitment to vocational education, the new Minuteman school will soon be at capacity.

The new Minuteman High School is being built for 628 students, a significant decrease from the present number of 800. State regulation requires Chapter 74 schools to accept students based on a five-point evaluation process, with “in-district” students being given priority. Legally, schools cannot deny acceptance based on the student having an Individual Education Plan (IEP). However, given the smaller school size coupled with the increased demand, it is safe to say a large percentage of students with IEPs will be no longer make the cut. This is significant because as also noted at the meeting, Minuteman’s current student population includes 47 percent students with an IEP.

The decreasing percentage of students at Minuteman with IEPs will result in lower costs. This will start an interesting feedback loop: with a greater number of high-achieving students attending the school, more higher-achieving students will be attracted to the school, again reducing the number of students with special needs. Students with IEPs will either stay in their comprehensive high school or go to other Chapter 74 schools, increasing their costs while the top students are drawn to Minuteman.

It appears that the mid-2020s end game is Minuteman becoming an elite vocational-technical school focused on hands-on STEM education, attracting the top students while other voc-tech schools pick up the education and costs of students with a higher level of need—students who no longer make the cut at Minuteman. Lincoln students who have in the past benefited the most from attending Minuteman may no longer be eligible.

This brings us full circle to Dr. Bouquillon’s slide showing reduced costs at Minuteman and increasing costs at surrounding voc/tec schools. This is simple game theory (gentrification of vocational-technical education). How disappointing that no one, not even Minuteman, mentioned this likely outcome at the meeting. We in Lincoln will soon be left hosting an elite vocational-technical high school featuring hands-on STEM education and our children who traditionally had the most gain from attending Minuteman will not be able to participate.

Sincerely,

Bob Antia
165 South Great Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

News acorns

March 8, 2016

Antia invite residents to meet Planning Board candidate

Lincoln residents are invited to the home of Sharon and Bob Antia at 165 S. Great Rd. for coffee and conversation on Saturday, March 12 to meet Planning Board candidate Jennie Morris Gundy between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. You are welcome, though not required, to let us know you are coming by calling 617-593-0141 or emailing Sharon.antia@gmail.com.

Self-defense class for teenage girls

High school and college-aged girls who are residents of Lincoln and Sudbury are invited to participate in RESIST (Realistic Escape Strategies and Instinct-based Self-defense Training), a course that teaches how to escape from an attacker by using instinct-based moves. The two-session class is taught by the Lincoln Police Department on Monday and Wednesday, March 14 and 16 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. The class is free, but participants must pre-register and the class limited to 16 students.

On Day 1, we will talk about general safety and dating safety before learning and then practicing physical self-defense moves like strikes, blocks and knee strikes. For Day 2, students and instructors will don protective gear and participants will be “attacked” using the learned moves to escape. This part of the course is intense but amazing and empowering. For questions and to register, please contact Jena Salon at jenasalon@gmail.com. This class is funded by the Ogden Codman Trust, the Domestic Violence Services Network, Inc., and the Lincoln Police Department.

Governor’s Council debate features Lincoln’s Georgiou

March 7, 2016

Lincoln attorney Peter Georgiou, a candidate for the Governor’s Council in the upcoming primary election in September, will be featured at a debate on Saturday, March 12 in Bemis Hall. The event, which is sponsored by the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee, will serve to introduced Georgiou and the other candidates and inform Lincoln voters of the role the Council plays. There will be a reception with coffee and refreshments starting at 9:30 a.m., and the debate will be held from 10 a.m. to noon.

The Massachusetts Governor’s Council, also known as the Executive Council, is composed of eight individuals elected from districts and the Lieutenant Governor, who serves ex officio. The eight councilors are elected from their respective districts every two years. The Council meets weekly to record advice and consent on warrants for the state treasury, pardons and commutations, and recording advice and consent to gubernatorial appointments such as judges, clerk-magistrates, public administrators, members of the Parole Board, Appellate Tax Board, Industrial Accident Board and Industrial Accident Reviewing Board, notaries, and justices of the peace.

Residents invited to get greener with free home energy assessment

March 7, 2016

The Green Energy Committee (GEC) and the town of Lincoln are sponsoring the Lincoln Energy Challenge, a new residential initiative to help reduce overall energy use and save money on energy costs. The ultimate goal is to decrease Lincoln’s residential energy use 10 percent by 2020.

Thanks to government incentives and advances in technology, many new energy-saving options have become available. Volunteers from the Green Energy Committee have examined these options, many in their own homes, and want to share this knowledge with other residents to:

Reduce home energy consumption
Increase use of “greener” sources of electricity, particularly solar and wind
Consider rooftop solar panels or community solar options

As a first step, the GEC and the Town of Lincoln have selected Next Step Living (NSL), the largest provider of home energy assessments in New England, to coordinate outreach to our residents and offer free assessments. The committee conducted a competitive bidding process to select NSL to implement the program. The goal is for 300 Lincoln residents to complete a no-cost home energy assessment by April 2017 and to implement home improvement projects like air sealing, insulation, and furnace, boiler or appliance upgrades with the help of state-incentivized rebates. While many homes may have had energy assessments, residents are encouraged to get a revised assessment if more than two years have passed.

A home energy assessment takes just a few hours and includes on-the-spot improvements such as no-cost energy-efficient LED light bulbs and water-saving devices for faucets and shower heads. Each measure identified in an assessment reduces the amount of energy used in a home. If Lincoln residents implement the recommended measures, NSL estimates that the total savings will exceed $28,000 per year.

To schedule a free Home Energy Assessment, call 800-769-2864 or visit www.LincolnEnergyChallenge.com. For questions email Lincoln Green Energy Committee member Sue Klem at susan.m.klem@gmail.com.

Planning Board candidate #3: Jennifer Morris Gundy

March 5, 2016

Editor’s note: This is the third of three articles on candidates for the Lincoln Planning Board, which has three candidates running for two seats. We featured Steve Gladstone on Thursday and Margaret Olson on Friday. Olson’s piece initially omitted her address and cell phone number, which have since been added.

Jennifer Morris Gundy

To the editor:

My husband, Walter Gundy, and I came to town 24 years ago, just before our third son was born. We loved living in Cambridge, but were outgrowing our condo. We knew Drumlin Farm, Walden and the trails of Lincoln and were delighted to find a home we could afford here. All our boys attended Lincoln Schools. Two went on to L-S and the other to an alternative school in Brookline.

When we arrived, we owned an entertainment lighting business in Somerville with three partners. I was involved in planning and delivering installations for many large theaters and hotels, and became familiar with construction permitting processes and documentation. Later, I left the company to pursue an opportunity in media design and marketing that made fewer travel demands. In 2005 I enrolled at Simmons School of Management to earn an MBA, concentrating on sustainability and entrepreneurship. After graduating, I continued to work as an independent consultant, which gave me more time to volunteer for school, Scouts and church activities, and to become involved with town affairs.

I joined the Lincoln Green Energy Committee in 2009, and was instrumental in developing public forums and achieving Green Communities designation for Lincoln. In 2011, I helped launch a SolarizeMass initiative, in collaboration with Wayland and Sudbury, and served as solar coach. I’m proud that we have been able to apply over $400,000 of grant funding to make Lincoln more energy efficient, and to help add over 300kW of solar power to our energy portfolio. We achieved a great deal, and I believe I can use the knowledge and experience I acquired to help the Planning Board become more effective as well.

Lincoln will be facing several significant decisions within the next three years. We already have plans in place including a Comprehensive Long-Term Plan, a Campus Master Plan, and a Lincoln Station Planning Study to help guide those. However, changing circumstances may force us to take a close look at priorities and see that specific actions are taken to fulfill those plans. In particular, the loss of commercial tenants such as Cambridge Trust Company is going to put pressure on our ability to achieve the vision for Lincoln Station. I believe we need to accelerate processes and motivate compatible developers to work with us in creating a unique and vibrant commercial center that can serve to maintain the diversity in our community and help us feel better connected.

We have a new Planning Director, Jennifer Burney, in place, which should enable the board to focus on policies and policy implementation that produce results for the community as a whole. I’ll be guided by a line from Bob Lemire, a past Conservation Commission chair, who wrote in his book Creative Land Development: Bridge to the Future: “In Lincoln, we build what needs to be built, and save what needs to be saved.”

Sincerely,

Jennifer Morris Gundy
8 Bowles Terrace
781-572-4423 (mobile)
www.jenniemorris.com

Planning Board candidate #2: Margaret Olson

March 4, 2016

Editor’s note: This is the second of three articles on candidates for the Lincoln Planning Board, which has three candidates running for two seats. Yesterday, we featured Steve Gladstone, and on Saturday we will feature Jennifer Morris Gundy. Next week we will have an article about Board of Selectman candidate James Craig, who is running unopposed for the seat of Noah Eckhouse, who is stepping down. The town election is Monday, March 28.

Margaret Olson

To the editor:

I am writing to ask for your support in the upcoming election for Planning Board. I have lived in town since 1998, served on both the ZBA and for the past three years on the Planning Board. The work of the planning board is very important to the long-term health of the town in terms of both preserving and continuing the land stewardship values that make Lincoln so special and the health of our small commercial area at Lincoln Station.

Here is a brief overview of the major issues that the Planning Board will be facing over the next few years:

Regulation: Site plan review (SPR) has been the primary tool by which the town has sought to preserve the characteristics of our neighborhoods and road scape. As more and more houses have come under site plan review, we have been learning what its strengths and weaknesses are. As currently implemented, SPR takes up inordinate amounts of staff time and of course imposes a burden on homeowners seeking to make modifications to their properties. The board has worked over the past two years to streamline this process—to make it faster and more efficient while preserving the goals embodied in the regulation. We have more work to do here.
Commuter train: The commuter rail is an important amenity for residents working in Cambridge and Boston. As the commute by car into Boston and Cambridge continues to become longer and more difficult, the commuter rail will become even more essential. Currently, Lincoln is listed on the Metropolitan Area Planning Council site as an example of an “undeveloped station” (see page 31-32). As the MBTA pushes to reduce costs and compress schedules, Lincoln is vulnerable to reduced schedules. This will not only impact residents, but has already had a negative impact on the ability of the businesses in the Lincoln Station area to attract and retain employees. We need to find a way to keep or increase ridership in a manner that has a positive impact on the town and provides sufficient MBTA parking.
South Lincoln/Lincoln Station: For many residents, Donelan’s and the other Lincoln Station businesses are critical to the community; they are convenient and local. The economic changes of the last 20 years have not been kind to small local business areas. With a mix of attention to the train station and some creative planning we can keep Lincoln Station healthy and vibrant, but it will require considerable planning.
Complete streets: “Complete streets” is a term used to describe a street that is friendly to pedestrians, bicyclists and cars. On too many Lincoln roads, walking is not safe, and it’s particularly not safe at rush hour. We’ve gone to great lengths to preserve the rural feel of our roadsides, but too often we are enjoying that only from a car window. “Complete Streets” is a state initiative from which the Planning Board may be able to secure funding to help the town apply multiple strategies (not necessarily sidewalks or roadside paths).

Please continue make Lincoln a great and special place to live. I ask for your support and vote on March 28th.

Sincerely,

Margaret Olson
17 Boyce Farm Rd.
781-392-4403
margaret@margaretolson.com (mobile)

Planning Board candidate #1: Steve Gladstone

March 3, 2016

Editor’s note: This is the first of three articles on candidates for the Lincoln Planning Board, which has three candidates running for two seats. Tomorrow will feature incumbent Margaret Olson and Saturday will feature Jennifer Morris Gundy. Next week we will have an article about Board of Selectman candidate James Craig, who is running unopposed for the seat of Noah Eckhouse, who is stepping down. The town election is Monday, March 28.

Steve Gladstone

To the editor:

I would like to announce my candidacy for one of the vacant seats on Lincoln’s Planning Board.

Having joined the Lincoln community nine years ago, my wife Susan and I are still relative newcomers to a town whose founding families still enrich our community. It has been a real pleasure to become ever more closely involved with townsfolk, governance, and of course the landscape.

Soon after our arrival, I was in a position to serve on the Facilities Coordinating Committee. Identifying usage patterns, availability, capabilities and limitations of our core meeting spaces led to deeper engagement in the town’s management and social processes. Most recently I was selected as one of the three at-large members of the Community Center Study Committee.

Professionally, I have applied two science master’s degrees as Director of Research Operations at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) for 22 years, where I was part of the management team responsible for an interdisciplinary academic/clinical research enterprise with a $325 million budget. As a director in BIDMC’s Office of Science and Technology, I was intimately involved in budgeting, strategic planning, space allocation, and implementation of diverse critical functions. I am now part of the management team at a pharmaceutical startup in Cambridge.

Lincoln enjoys a distinct rural character unique among towns so near Boston. It is a fundamental aspect of our special town spirit, one that deserves to be maintained, to “Keep Lincoln, Lincoln.” We must and will change as times change. This mindfully managed evolution is one of my core values. The Planning Board and Town should and must be open to new ideas and concepts as they blend with this guiding principle.

Volunteers are the backbone of Lincoln’s community spirit. It is exciting to continue my involvement in Town affairs by offering my candidacy for the Planning Board. It is my hope that this note gives the voters of Lincoln some familiarity with me personally, and with my professional background. Please call or email me with your thoughts, questions, or concerns—or join me for coffee at the Whistle Stop. And please DO vote, DO volunteer and DO get involved in this exceptional town!

Sincerely,

Steve Gladstone
67 Winter St.
steve.gladstone@gmail.com

Kasich winners clustered around Lincoln

March 2, 2016

Many of the 16 Massachusetts towns that went for John Kasich in the March 1 Republican primary are mostly in the Lincoln area but also include Amherst, Brookline, Cambridge and Wenham as well as Egremont and Mount Washington on the state’s western border, according to a map published by the Boston Globe on March 2.

Donald Trump won the Massachusetts Republican primary with 49.3 percent of the vote, followed by Kasich (18 percent), Rubio (17.8 percent), Cruz (9.6 percent) and Carson (2.6 percent).

On the Democratic side, the Globe reported that Hillary Clinton captured a large swath of towns in the Boston suburbs as well as some on the south shore, western Massachusetts and Cape Cod. Statewide, she won 50.1 percent of the Democratic vote vs. 48.7 percent for Sanders.

Lincoln goes for Kasich, Clinton in presidential primary

March 1, 2016

Here are the unofficial returns from the March 1 presidential primary in Lincoln.

Republican primary

	Precinct 1	Precinct 2	Total votes	Total %
Kasich	158	84	242	36%
Rubio	114	66	180	27%
Trump	93	81	174	26%
Cruz	20	19	39	6%
Carson	6	10	16	2%
Bush	7	1	8	1%
Christie	1	0	1	—
Fiorina	1	0	1	—
Gilmore	1	0	1	—
Santorum	1	0	1	—
No preference, blank, write-in	4	3	7	1%
Totals:	406	264	670

Democratic primary

	Precinct 1	Precinct 2	Total votes	Total %
Clinton	748	388	1,136	60%
Sanders	470	287	757	40%
O’Malley	2	1	3	—
No preference, blank, write-in	1	1	2	—
Totals:	1,221	677	1,898

Ballots cast by party:

Democrat	1,898	74%
Republican	670	26%

Lincoln’s voting precincts (click to enlarge)

Letter to the editor: Sanders is on the ‘right side’ of questions

February 29, 2016

To the editor:

In the lively and much appreciated discussion in the Squirrel on the Democratic candidates, I have seen people I respect supporting Hillary Clinton. While it would be historic to elect a woman president, I am concerned more about the rest of the history that will some day be written about the next four or eight years.

As a country, we are approaching turning points in several critical areas. Will we continue policies that generate income inequality and financial instability? Will we keep on pouring resources into being the world’s top cop? Will we come to grips with how we treat “those people,” be they black Americans or brown immigrants? Will we throw people out of the lifeboat of our heath care and safety net systems in order to keep them financially afloat?

From my perspective, Mr. Sanders is on the right side on all of these questions. He would take on the banks and question corporate-oriented trade agreements. He would show restraint in sending our troops into the world’s hot spots. He has been dedicated to civil rights his entire adult life. He would pursue rational, tested policies to assure effective and efficient health care.

Ms. Clinton, not so much. She is cozy with Wall Street, which is indebted to her husband for helping repeal the Glass-Steagall Act. Mr. Clinton also brought us corporate-friendly free trade with NAFTA, and Ms. Clinton was for the pending TPP trade agreement until grassroots opposition caused her to pause. As a senator, Ms. Clinton voted to invade Iraq, and as Secretary of State convinced President Obama to intervene in Libya. Despite her apparent popularity with African-Americans, her record on civil rights is checkered. On health and welfare issues, she speaks Washington-speak and favors policies that are yielding a slow-motion train wreck.

Pragmatic folks say the hill facing Mr. Sanders is just too steep. Well, as they say, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Or, perhaps more apropos to our locale, every revolution starts with a single shot. We did that once. I’m for doing it again.

Sincerely,

Gary Taylor
2 Beaver Pond Rd.