government

To the editor:

We the undersigned, along with residents from other towns in his district, recently met with our State Senator, Mike Barrett, to ask him to support the We the People Act being submitted to the Massachusetts legislature this month. We are concerned about the corrupting influence of massive amounts of money in elections and how human rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution to human beings are being used by non-human entities like corporations in harmful ways. Sen. Barrett enthusiastically agreed at the meeting to co-sponsor the proposed bill and actively support its passage.

We also met recently with Rep. Tom Stanley in Waltham to ask him to co-sponsor the We The People Act as well. He, too, enthusiastically agreed to support the act and will do everything he can to help it pass. Rep. Stanley said he views this issue as one of the most important at this time.

The We The People Act calls on Congress to propose a constitutional amendment to affirm (1) that rights protected by the U.S. Constitution are the rights of human beings only, not corporations, and (2) that Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and spending.

This act also proposes that if Congress does not pass the amendment, the Massachusetts legislature will call for an amendment convention as Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides. If a recalcitrant or dysfunctional Congress blocks reform, two-thirds of the state legislatures can petition Congress to call a convention—not for overturning or changing the Constitution, but for proposing an amendment. California, Illinois and Vermont have already passed such legislation. The threat of such a convention can force Congress to act, as it did with the 17th amendment, to elect senators by popular vote instead of by state legislatures. The results of any such convention would still require three-quarters of the states’ approval.

A growing coalition of citizen groups across the country also supports this bill. For more information on this issue, check out Movetoamend.org or VoteYesforDemocracy.org.

Please contact Sen. Mike Barrett (617-722-1572 or Mike.Barrett@masenate.gov) and Rep. Tom Stanley (617-722-2230, Thomas.Stanley@mahouse.gov) to thank them for supporting the people on this issue. Also please call, email or talk to friends and family in Massachusetts as well as across the country to tell them how important this Move to Amend is to accomplishing anything in the future for the people about any issue of import to them, their children or their grandchildren. We need to put the power to legislate back in the hands of the people and out of the power of big money.

Sincerely,

Jean Palmer, Tower Road
Gary Davis, Indian Camp Lane
Dilla Tingley, Laurel Drive
Peter Pease, Huckleberry Hill
Elizabeth Cherniack, South Great Rd
Joanna Hopkins, Linway Road

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Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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.

To the editor:

I, Alvin Schmertzler, am pleased to enter the election for School Committee.

I have been a member for eight years, during which time we have chosen a new superintendent, Ms. McFall, and worked diligently to develop plans for restoring the school facility and bringing it up to 21st-century standards. We are still hoping to develop a plan that will gain the support of two-thirds of the Town Meeting and hopefully one that we are in a position to submit to the MSBA for financial support. To inform the town’s citizens of the variety of options that have been developed and to obtain their questions and ideas, we have increased and expanded outreach to the citizens. We hope it has been and continues to be helpful.

Working with the administration team, new education goals have been developed that will guide the schools toward continued progress in educating all out students to the best of their abilities. We are continuing our efforts to develop ideas and plans to close the achievement gap for underperforming students and we continue to enroll METCO students from the inner city. Working with the Department of Defense, a new middle school is under construction at the Hanscom campus and a plan for a new lower school is awaiting final approval.

I am asking for your vote so I may continue to work on these and other tasks as they arise.

Respectfully,

Alvin Schmertzler
142 Chestnut Circle, Lincoln
als1reg@verizon.net

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Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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.

To the editor:

My thanks to the editor of the Lincoln Squirrel for reminding all of us that it’s time to throw our proverbial hats in the ring and volunteer for town boards and committees. I’m pleased to announce that I will be running (again!) for reelection to the Planning Board. I have appreciated the town’s support of my candidacy for the past 12 years, and with your support I will continue working to preserve what we love about our town.

We benefit in Lincoln from the farsighted, altruistic actions of residents who placed large tracts of land in conservation and knowingly gave up opportunity for personal gain by adopting large-lot zoning and development controls. We are all stewards of this precious legacy.

There are major projects and initiatives before the town at this time: the K-8 school building project, the Community Center, the Route 2 project, modifications to The Commons (formerly “The Groves”) campus, construction of a new Minuteman Regional High School building within Lincoln, and the Planning Board’s upcoming proposal to unify zoning at Lincoln Station to provide an expanded range of options for revitalization. I’d like to continue working with my dedicated, creative colleagues on the Planning Board as we assist the town through these changes.

I’d be happy to discuss with you any ideas or concerns that you may have. Please feel free to call me at 781-259-1080.

Sincerely,

Bob Domnitz
21 Mill St., Lincoln

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Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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.

By Alice Waugh

For homes that use town water, it’s a new year with new things to look forward to—including quarterly water bills and new rates to encourage water conservation.

The change in billing frequency from semiannually to quarterly came about because Lincoln has failed to meet its state target limit of 65 gallons per person per day. As a result, the Department of Environmental Protection required the town to come up with a set of measures to try to meet the goal, and one of those measures is more frequent billing to keep closer tabs on usage.

“It’s like when you overspend your budget, you tend to balance your checkbook a little more frequently,” said Water Department Superintendent Greg Woods. The changes were outlined in this letter from the Water Commission that was mailed to residents several weeks ago.

Rates are also going down for homes that use less water. Under the old billing system, those that used up to 48,000 gallons of water every six months were changed $5.07 per thousand gallons. Now, homes that use up to 40,000 gallons per year will be charged only $4.06 per thousand gallons.

However, after that level of usage, the price goes up. Homes that use 40,002 to 80,000 gallons every six months will pay $8.57 per thousand gallons, compared to last year’s rate of $7.79 per thousand gallons for homes using 48,001 to 90,000 gallons every six months. Homes with a separate meter for irrigation water will also be paying 20 percent more for that water (see chart below).

A family of four that meets the target of 65 gallons per capita per day would use about 100,000 gallons per year, according to the Water Department’s latest annual report.

In comparing Lincoln to five neighboring towns, four (including Lincoln) had annual rates between $500 and $600 for a home using 100,000 gallons per year. Wayland was considerably higher at $977. However, Woods cautioned that it’s difficult to make exact comparisons because each town has a different distribution system. For example, Lincoln relies on surface water from Flint’s Pond, while Acton, at four times Lincoln’s population, has a much larger system that relies more on groundwater wells, he explained.

Currently the DEP has no plans to fine residents or towns for exceeding their water usage targets. “All indications are that they will work with communities to get into compliance,” Woods said.