government

(Editor’s note: you can see Lincoln’s results for the November 3 election in the Lincoln Squirrel and on the Town of Lincoln website.)

To the editor:

Last Tuesday’s State Election brought 2,786 voters to the polls during the course of a very busy but blessedly smooth day. We are, as always, indebted to the many people who made it smooth, including the 41 poll workers who greeted and processed all those voters; the police officers who maintained order; our Election Chef, Richard Silver, who kept us well nourished; the Smith School custodial staff, who helped us to maintain a clean and well-ordered polling place; and the DPW crew for getting all of our equipment in and out of the Smith School gym in a timely manner.

And thanks to every one of you who took the time and trouble to exercise that most fundamental of our civic rights and responsibilities. We hope to see a great many of you at the Annual Town Election in March.

Those of us who administer elections (as well, I’m afraid, as the rest of you) will all too shortly be turning our attention to the 2016 presidential election. If you’re interested in training for and serving as poll workers in future elections, please contact us.

Sincerely,

Susan F. Brooks
Town Clerk

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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Editor’s note: For details on the Massachusetts ballot questions, see Ballotpedia.org.

To the editor:

Vote “yes” on question 4 and give all workers the right to earned sick time.

Currently, one million workers in Massachusetts cannot earn sick time. Earned sick time improves employee retention and productivity. Employees who work for employers having 11 or more employees could earn and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year. Employees working for smaller businesses could earn and use up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time per year. Earned sick time can be used for the employee’s own health needs or the health needs of a family member such as a child, parent, spouse or parent of a spouse. It can be used for recovery from a physical or mental illness or injury, preventive care or medical appointments and to address domestic violence needs within the family.

Earned sick time provisions protect employees from losing their job or being punished just for using their earned sick time. This would help our state’s workers, businesses, and economy. While Massachusetts has near universal health care, 1/3 of workers can’t access that health care without the risk of losing their jobs. This gives all workers the right to maintain their wellbeing and that of their families. Businesses would benefit from healthier, more productive and more loyal employees, while the reduction in worker turnover also generates big savings for business.

New York City, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Newark all have earned sick time laws in place. California, Eugene, Ore., San Diego, and several cities in New Jersey have recently passed laws to ensure earned sick time for employees.

Sincerely,

Gary Davis
21R Camp Lane

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.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.