The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

letters to the editor

Letter to the editor: thanks for election help from Town Clerk

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To the editor:

I think it’s fair to say that this election was a truly epic undertaking—16 days from start to finish, 4,000 total votes cast (roughly half during the 100 hours of early voting). And we’d like to thank every one of you who helped to pull it off:

  • from the volunteer poll workers who helped staff early voting as well as the polls;
  • to our election chef, who kept us happily fed;
  • to the DPW crew, who constructed some and installed all of our signage, not to mention setup and breakdown of the polling place;
  • to the coordinated police presence at the polls, in the parking lot, and on escort duty;
  • to the hospitality of Smith School staff;
  • to the great coverage of the Lincoln Journal, the Lincoln Squirrel and local cable;
  • to the volunteer support staff who helped us carry the load at the office;
  • to the four high school students who took the initiative to sign up, train and serve as part of the closing team;
  • to the Smith School teachers who made a visit to an operating polling place part of their curriculum that day;
  • and, of course, to the indefatigable and indefatigably good-natured assistant and deputy town clerks and their likewise generous and patient families.

Well done! And thank you!

Sincerely,

Susan Brooks, Town Clerk

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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Happy Thanksgiving from Rep. Stanley

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To the editor:

During this time of Thanksgiving, I wish to thank the good people of the 9th Middlesex District for placing their faith and trust in me. Serving Lincoln and Waltham in the Massachusetts General Court is an honor and responsibility I take seriously. Thank you to my family and friends. Together, we have put an enormous amount of time and effort into running for office and serving our community. I am grateful for your friendship and continued support.

I hope everyone takes a moment over the next several days to be thankful for their friends and family.  It is a great honor and privilege to serve you as your state representative, and I look forward to continuing to fight for our community’s interests up on Beacon Hill for the next two years. Here’s wishing the residents of the 9th Middlesex District a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday!

Sincerely,

Tom Stanley (D–9th Middlesex District)
19 Neighbors Lane, Waltham

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.

Letter to the editor: Gallagher Tully thanks citizens

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To the editor:

It was a great honor and privilege to have my name placed on the ballot. I introduced myself (Stacey Gallagher Tully, candidate for State Representative for the 9th Middlesex District) thousands of times, but it never got old. In fact, it was energizing and refreshing.

Meeting so many great people and families—the hearts of our communities—along the campaign trail was extremely rewarding. I was humbled each and every day by the outpouring of support from so many different corners of the 9th district. Engaging conversations with so many people at their doors, at community events, in local grocery stores—sharing personal stories and ideas and concerns—was the highlight of this campaign.

To my volunteers, an outstanding team of hard workers, you offered and gave of your time, talent and treasure to support this campaign. I want to publicly thank you. You are my heroes and I continue to be inspired by your passion and commitment to better government through conservative principles.

Onward and Upward, Lincoln and Waltham for today is a bright new day. This is not the end, it is just the beginning of my public service in the capacity of a candidate. “If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.”

Sincerely,

Stacey Gallagher Tully
85 Lincoln Road, Waltham

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.

Letter to the editor: an important conversation about Town Meeting

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To the editor:

On Saturday, the town will have an opportunity to come together and hear what is on the minds of town boards and committees, in addition to asking questions and sharing ideas. That is one important conversation.  There is another.

This past summer, an important community conversation was resumed. Every so many years, a new generation of Lincoln looks at itself and asks important questions about our decision making process: Town Meeting. Some clearly feel the format is not conducive to inclusion. Others believe it brings out the best of community participation and decision-making. And, as many have said, democracy is not a spectator sport and requires full participation.

But how do we best achieve that when we have a form of governance crafted in the 18th century that is still serving us in the 21st? Are there ways we can improve access to information, debate and decision-making to expand participation? The Town Moderator, an elected position established in the 18th century, stepped to the plate and took these and other questions to the Board of Selectmen on October 24. The conversation’s focus was to explore how we might improve Town Meeting and decision-making. After some discussion, the Selectmen agreed that having a town-wide conversation about fine-tuning Town Meeting was important and urged the moderator to consider how best to move forward.

Other models for Town Meeting exist so that we need not reinvent the wheel. We have neighbors who debate this issue on a regular basis. Years ago, HATS (Hanscom Area Towns—Lincoln, Lexington, Concord and Bedford) hosted just such a discussion. In attendance were other Town Moderators, representatives of the League of Women Voters, Town Meeting members and others. Many towns have created a guide to Town Meeting for their own communities. Our own Town Clerk has created such a guide: “Welcome to Lincoln! A Guide for New Residents.”  This is being distributed to newcomers and will soon made available online.

But what more can we do? How can we include new ideas, technologies and innovations? What became clear in the meeting between the Selectmen and Town Moderator is a need for the setting of context to open any discussion:

  • What exactly is Town Meeting?
  • Where did it come from and why?
  • What are the state statutes that establish it, and that also dictate how decisions are made?
  • What can and what can’t we do to alter voting and decision-making?
  • And, if we want to make fundamental changes to how we govern ourselves, what would it take to do so?

Once we have established the basic information and “road rules,” we can then begin a discussion of how we might make changes. While no date was set for the Town Moderator to return to the Selectmen to report next steps, it is clear that there is a need, and an important conversation has begun.

Many of us wonder how we, as a clearly divided country, can come together to govern at a national level. But we should not doubt that we can and will come together as a community. It is important to find time to listen and share thoughts this Saturday morning at our annual State of the Town meeting, and also to participate when and where we might find an opportunity to discuss how best to fine-tune Town Meeting, and celebrate the civility that has dominated our ongoing community conversations.

Sincerely,

Sara Mattes
71 Conant 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.

Lincoln DTC endorses Clark, Stanley, Barrett

letterTo the editor:

The Lincoln Democratic Town Committee endorses Katherine Clark for U.S. Congress, Tom Stanley for State Representative, and Michael Barrett for State Senator.

Massachusetts and Lincoln have been well served by Congresswoman Katherine Clark. She distinguished herself in leading a protest on the House floor with Representative John Lewis to chastise the Republican led Congress for its refusal to pass two responsible and common sense gun safety bills.

Most recently, she successfully collaborated with Republican Congressman Glenn Thompson to pass her bill for Strengthening Career and Technical Education—a cause that has been advocated actively by the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee in the hope that workers in declining industries can learn and succeed in the 21st-century century economy.

Representative Tom Stanley speaks softly and doesn’t always advertise his accomplishments, but he has represented Lincoln well, particularly in support of the town’s application to pursue funding requests for school facility improvements, and representing Lincoln’s interests in funding requests to offset Lincoln’s costs of providing services to the Hanscom Air Force Base residents, all of whom live within the town of Lincoln.

Senator Barrett has been a leader in climate change and clean energy and has continued his fight to pass bills aimed at combating climate change, create energy diversity, and achieve energy sector compliance with the Global Warming Solutions Act. He has also introduced bills to change the current fixed rate income tax to a more equitable graduated income tax, and to repeal the sales tax exemption for jet fuel. He has been named Legislator of the Year three times and has been honored as one of the 10 best legislators in Massachusetts.

The Lincoln Democratic Town Committee is proud to have such a strong cadre of elected legislative officials. We encourage Lincoln voters to re-elect them.

Sincerely,

Barbara Slayter (co-chair, Lincoln Democratic Town Committee)
7 Trapelo 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.

Letter to the editor: elect Tully as Lincoln’s state rep

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To the editor:

When I first heard Stacey Gallagher Tully was running for the office of state representative, I immediately fired off an email asking her to join me for coffee. She was quick to agree to meet with me and I am writing to ask you to consider giving her your consideration in the election on November 8.

Stacey comes from a family with a long history of working on the Kennedys’ campaigns, and Stacey has spent time in D.C. and Georgia working with Jimmy Carter. She too has a long history of public service and is ready to take the step of moving into the legislature. You may have seen Stacey at Donelan’s, at the transfer station or at one of a number of locations. She has come to Lincoln Woods at least two times and at a coffee hosted there last recently she told us of her plans to hold office hours in Lincoln and how much she looks forward to working to bring both communities together to solve issues we have in common.

The obvious issue is traffic. Driving off Route 128 onto Route 20 and then Route 117 is not just a Waltham issue. As most of us know, it has a huge impact on us here in Lincoln. We need a representative that will talk to us, the people of Lincoln, who will work with us, who will be accountable to us. Stacey Gallagher Tully is asking to be that person. She has a proven track record working on senior issues and health issues in Waltham. She has a history of serving the people of her community and would like us to be part of her community.

Contrast this with her opponent Mr. Stanley, who is without a doubt committed to Waltham—but Lincoln, not so much. To be sure, Stanley has helped the administration in Lincoln gain access to the right people in Boston; after 16 years he knows his way around. As for the rest of us in Lincoln, he has been absent. In fact, he is quoted in the recent Lincoln Journal as saying he spends all his campaign time in Waltham. Lincoln is not even on his agenda.

Many of us remember the days not so long ago when we had a state representative who spent time in Lincoln, talked with us, the residents, and worked to serve all of us in Boston, not just the administration. A vote for Stacey Gallagher Tully is a vote for representation of the people, by the people.

Sincerely,

Sharon K. 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.

Letters the editor supporting ‘yes’ on Question 2

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Editor’s note: See previous letters on this issue below.

To the editor:

I have been reading and thinking but not posting about charter schools until now. As I drill down into the arguments, it seems to me that the progressive view as espoused by Sara Mattes, for example, has at its core the desire to maintain political control over the schools. I see charter schools as a disruptive technology, as creative destruction. With creative destruction, something new comes about that completely changes the old paradigm so much that it destroys the old paradigm and replaces it with something different.

I think that those who are opposed to having more charter schools in Massachusetts see this paradigm shift very clearly. At the same time, I find Jay Kaufman’s letter ludicrous. He says that studies show that better teachers are the answer to better schools. If that is the case, why do we not already have them? Why have the schools in the U. S. showed a very clear decline over the past 40 years? There is the concern that parents choosing charter schools will take money away from the public schools. In Lincoln, people are affluent enough that if they do not like the public schools, they pay for private schools—in fact while still paying the taxes to support the public schools. Impoverished urban parents do not have that luxury. Why punish the people in Roxbury out of a desire to protect the Lincoln schools? Charter schools give them a real choice for a better education and that outweighs every other consideration in my mind.

Sincerely,

Colleen Katsuki
226 Old Concord Rd.

To the editor:

I was raised in a family of public schools teachers and educators. I myself taught in the Somerville public schools. I applaud and support public schools that properly educate their students so they can become productive and contributing members of society. And I also support parents who seek alternatives if their schools cannot educate their children.

That’s what many of us in Lincoln have done, made a choice and moved to a community where we were told there were good schools. The only difference between the 33,000 parents who want the best education for their children through charter schools and many of us is their economic status. Low-income and working-class parents don’t have many choices. I support the parents’ right to choose their children’s education. I am concerned that people who will not be affected by the outcome of this vote could vote no and take away other parents’ chance to do what’s best for their child.

I understand public education in Boston because I have worked with teens from Roxbury, Dorchester, and a low-income Latino neighborhood of Jamaica Plain for over twenty years. When I worked at The Food Project, teens from Boston neighborhoods worked side by side with teens from Somerville, Waltham, Lincoln, Wellesley, Lexington, etc. It was painful to observe the consequences from the profound differences in academic rigor, expectations and exposure. Too many of the teens from the Boston schools had difficulty doing the simple math at the farmers’ markets and struggled with any writing assignment, no matter how minimal. It wasn’t about I.Q. It was about a lack of educational opportunity. To make things worse, most of these woefully under performing teens were receiving good grades, so they rejected our offers for tutoring because they were told by their teachers that they were doing well.

The town of Lincoln participates in the METCO program because its residents already understand that a significant number of the Boston public schools are underperforming. If the kids we bring out to Lincoln every day deserve to get a good education, so do the 33,000 others kids on waiting lists for charter schools. Supporting charter schools means they have a chance to have a quality education near where they live.

It is also important to note that the quality of one’s education is a very significant contributor to our increasing economic inequality. Being poorly educated means being under employed or unemployed. That is a tragedy for the individual, a significant financial burden for society, and is potentially disruptive to our civic order. The financial issues regarding charter schools are specious but the financial and societal consequences of having significant percentage of teens/young adults under prepared to participate in our society are enormous and will, one way or another, affect us all.

If we broaden educational options, not just through charter schools, more children will be better served, and more innovation, diverse perspectives, and cross fertilization of ideas will occur. As Colleen said, the schools in the U.S. showed a very clear decline over the past years. We need to dilute the government monopoly on education—take it back and create new models more appropriate for the 21st century, our rapidly changing society and world.

Sincerely,

Pat Gray
Goose Pond Rd.

Previous letters:

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.

Letter to the editor: some are working to rig the election

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To the editor:

Yes, the election is rigged—but not how you might have heard.

Hillary Clinton is the only responsible choice to elect as our next president. As NYU research professor Dianne Ravitch wrote yesterday, Clinton is far more qualified for the presidency than Donald Trump, who is completely unfit for the position. She is better educated, more experienced, more thoughtful, wiser and more knowledgeable. She has a demonstrated commitment to the well-being of all Americans.

Conservatives have worked hard to rig this election against Clinton using distortions, ridiculous conspiracy theories, and outright fabrications to which she has been subjected for decades. That strategy has used a continuous vilifying narrative by conservative candidates, surrogates, media and Internet bloggers to incite their base and brainwash themselves and the public. They are now threatening voter suppression and intimidation at the polls.

Most recently, last week’s accusation by Republican FBI director James Comey represented a further example of the continuing litany of unsubstantiated attacks, this time in violation of the Hatch Act.

Another example are the failed Benghazi hearings that dragged on for years at a cost over $7 million for the sole purpose of denigrating Clinton. Compare that with the hearings run by former Massachusetts Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill following the 1983 Beirut terrorist attacks that killed over 258 marines and U.S. personnel during the Reagan administration. Those hearings lasted only two months and produced meaningful bipartisan recommendations to avoid such attacks in the future.

Now Republican Congressmen and senators have said they will hold a Clinton administration hostage by subjecting her to continuous investigations for the duration of her term. Democrats must elect a majority to Congress if they are to achieve a constructive and functional government for a change.

Finally, the New York Times says in its endorsement that the best case for Secretary Clinton is not that she isn’t Donald Trump, it’s that she has the capacity to rise to the challenges this country faces at home and abroad.  Americans deserve a grown up president. A lifetime’s commitment to solving problems in the real world qualifies Clinton for this job.

Sincerely,

20R Gary Davis
Indian 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 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.

Letter to the editor: make plans to adapt to climate change

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To the editor:

Four years ago this month, what meteorologists called “Frankenstorm Sandy” took 159 lives and cost the U.S. economy $68 billion. At its outer edges, Sandy was a thousand miles wide. Today, 85 percent of Massachusetts’ 6.7 million residents live within 50 miles of the Bay State’s 1,500 mile coastline. It should not take a superstorm to wake up Massachusetts to the realities of climate change and its weather on steroids—but it may.

Next year, 2,000 business and political leaders will converge on Boston for the world’s seventh major climate summit. This conference is being held in a city that is two-thirds tidal fill and one of the most vulnerable in the world in terms of climate change induced sea level rise.

State lawmakers can showcase our resiliency by passing America’s first climate change preparedness legislation. Moved by the Senate to the House four times and left on the cutting room floor of this year’s energy conference committee, this legislation would prepare Massachusetts for the big impacts of climate change such as stronger storms, intense heat, and accelerated sea level rise.

A coalition of 46 engineering and architectural firms, business and environmental organizations, state and local governments and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has let Beacon Hill know we need climate change legislation and we need it now. They know that Massachusetts is vulnerable and we need a plan—a plan that shows us how to lessen storm impacts to our built and natural environments and then demonstrates how to use both to protect us.

Specifically, we need a plan that assesses the vulnerability of the Commonwealth’s electrical grid, buildings, roads, airports, dams, water supplies and sewage plants and then recommends how to strengthen them. We need a plan that recognizes the protective value of our beaches, wetlands, forests and rivers, and then explains how to use their natural features to buffer people from the impacts of stronger storms. Most importantly, we need a plan that identifies our most vulnerable human populations, especially the poor, isolated and elderly, and determines how best to insulate them from the ravages of superstorms.

Although the governor recently took a first step by issuing an executive order to his agencies to prepare for climate change, his directive has no authority beyond his administration and its four-year term. What the Commonwealth needs is a long-term plan required by legislative statute that matches the long-term impacts of climate change.

Industries that understand what needs to be done are insurance and real estate. They know we need to mitigate the impacts of climate change to avoid skyrocketing costs and risks. They’re using NOAA models that forecast a six-foot rise in oceans by 2100.  To this writer, that’s a long way off, but my two-year old grandson will be 86 in 2100—well within a healthy male’s life expectancy.

The Insurance Journal recently reported on a project “to create climate change indices that reflect an actuarial perspective, to create an index that measures changes in climate extremes, use indices to inform the insurance industry and the public, and promote the actuarial profession by contributing statistically to the climate change debate…”

In August, Zillow reported that NOAA’s projected sea level rise would sink 62,069 Massachusetts homes representing 3.1 percent of the state’s housing stock equaling $51.2 billion—almost half of that is in Greater Boston.

Since Sandy, our conversations about climate change have changed. The current challenge is not so much about saving the planet from heat-trapping gases as it is about saving us from a warming planet. Adaptation to climate change is not throwing in the towel but rather facing the realities of living with, coping with, and adapting to its effects.

With so much carbon pollution already in the air and our traditional fossil fuel energy production and use patterns locked in, we have no choice but to live with and plan for its consequences.

Last year was the hottest ever and NOAA forecasts this year will be hotter. Be it higher seas and coastal erosion, more frequent and severe droughts and flooding, or just plain weird weather, it’s time for Massachusetts to plan for what was previously the unexpected and manage what is now the unavoidable.

Sincerely,

Jack Clark
Director of Public Policy and Government Relations for Mass Audubon; co-chair of the Massachusetts Climate Change Adaptation Coalition

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.

Letter to the editor: Rep. Stanley asks for voter support

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To the editor:

Serving as your state representative on Beacon Hill is an incredible honor and privilege. Working to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our community, seeing the results of this effort and the positive impact this work has had on so many people is amazing. But our work is not done. I have more to contribute to make Lincoln and Waltham even better.

Throughout my tenure in the legislature, I have prioritized supporting programs and policies that improve our lives and strengthen our community. As a member of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, I have helped deliver millions of dollars of local aid, road repair and public education funding. Also through the state budget process, I have directed thousands—and in some cases, millions—of dollars in funding through amendments supporting such programs as Fragile Beginnings for premature babies, domestic violence and shelter support services, and the education of the children of retired military at Hanscom Field among others.

Over my years of service, I have been proud to work with our state delegation and local officials for the district’s best interest. Together, we have:

  • Earmarked $2 million for a new visitor center at Walden Pond in the Environmental Bond Bill (2014)
  • Fought with federal, state and local officials in the BRACC [Base Realignment and Closure Commission] process to keep Hanscom open
  • Fought the expansion of commercial aviation at Hanscom Field
  • Created a new budget line item to fund municipal school transportation for homeless children
  • Passed legislation to protect open space in the western Greenway
  • Transferred control of the Fernald property to Waltham preventing its overdevelopment
  • Earmarked millions in a bond bill for the proposed UMass Urban Center for Sustainability
  • Advocated and arranged meetings for public school building funding assistance for Lincoln
  • Helped secure $350,000 for invasive aquatic species removal in the Charles River and other watersheds with an amendment to the fiscal year 2017 budget
  • Increased funding for Council on Aging servicing our seniors

The most rewarding part of the job is assisting the hundreds of people who have contacted me through the years with their personal or family struggles. And most recently, it has been an honor to work with you all as we struggle to tangle our state’s fight against addiction and the stigma that comes with it.

Lincoln and Waltham need an experienced and effective state representative that has demonstrated leadership and accomplishment at the state and local level. In this year’s election, I ask for your support and vote so that we can continue to move forward and build stronger and safer communities for everyone.  Please visit my website at www.tomstanley.org to learn more about me and read an important letter from the Lincoln Board of Selectmen and School Committee.

Sincerely,

Rep. Thomas M. Stanley
9th District–Middlesex

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.