The Lincoln Squirrel

News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

My Turn

My Turn: Who can best craft a workable plan for South Lincoln?

By Allen Vander Meulen

I admire the experience and track record of all three candidates for the two open Planning Board seats. If electing competent, thoughtful candidates to the Planning Board is the only concern, all have proven themselves worthy.

One major point of contention, and really what (in my mind) should be the single largest differentiating factor between the three, is the issue of how to resolve the conundrum of approval for large-scale projects in the Lincoln Station area — or anywhere in town, for that matter.

The problem is that the mechanism by which the will of the town is made known on such issues — through a Town Meeting vote — is unworkable: the perception potential investors and developers have is that the substantial investment they must make to draft and gain all the necessary approvals before ground is broken on a major project is at great risk by what they perceive as a roll of the dice at a Town Meeting vote. Recent history (in the form of Lincoln’s vote at the 2012 Special Town Meeting to defeat the proposed school project) proves this is a valid concern. No developer has approached the town with a proposal for a major project in the Lincoln Station area for at least 15 years, and that will not change as long as the current mechanism for approval of such projects remains in place, unchanged.

Now, I want to emphasize: I’m talking principle (town and Town Meeting control over the approval process) vs. mechanism (a single final vote at Town Meeting) vs. perception (of potential investors and developers). All three candidates agree the principle will not change. But for potential developers to perceive Lincoln as a viable candidate for such development, the mechanism must change.

Therefore, what sort of changes to our current process must we make to preserve the principle of the town having control over approval of a project while at the same time assuring potential developers that if they adhere to “the rules,” then their significant investment in getting a project approved in Lincoln will not be at risk due to a whim or last-minute controversy? I am not saying we should eliminate the Town Meeting vote or its central role in the process. What I am saying is that how we accomplish this must be rethought.

The SLPIC Lincoln Station zoning proposal was a start at the creation of such a mechanism. However, lack of transparency, an oversized committee, and some major missteps in communication doomed it. It is clear that the Planning Board, which will always be at the heart of this entire discussion, has learned some important lessons from the furor that arose when the proposal was first published and is retooling their approach in light of the lessons learned.

I am very interested to see if any of the three candidates can provide a vision for a path towards a solution that will address this challenge, and if they will be a positive force within the Planning Board as the task of crafting such a solution proceeds.

Based on what I’ve heard and read from Rick Rundell, he understands this challenge quite well and has the vision, political finesse, and skills needed to craft a workable solution (if anyone can). I have not yet heard or seen evidence that either of the other candidates have either a workable proposal in mind to resolve this, or the vision necessary to create one. So, which candidate (if any) I will vote for as my second choice in the coming election is still an open question.

Allen Vander Meulen
Beaver Pond Road, Lincoln

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: 48 residents endorse Domnitz and DeLisi for Planning Board

Dear friends and neighbors,

Monday’s vote for Planning Board is significant, and we the undersigned, 48 of your Lincoln neighbors, offer the following perspective.

Over the past year, we became aware of a sweeping and profound zoning change taking shape in the Planning Board’s advisory committee (SLPIC). The proposal was designed to smooth the way for developers to move large-scale development projects directly through the Planning Board. We are but a few of the over 200 families who live within what would have been the new “South Lincoln Village Zone,” joined here by impacted neighbors and other allied residents. Our neighborhood is currently a mix of single-family and multi-family homes, condos, and apartments that are both owned and rented, and it’s about five times as dense as the rest of town.

We challenged the proposed zoning bylaw because it permitted four-story buildings with 20 units per acre, built right to their lot lines. The new zone would have covered roughly 30 acres and paved the way for hundreds of new condos and/or apartments to our small, congested neighborhood without requiring project approval by Town Meeting. For example, they modeled a net potential gain of 271 units over only four of the 27 properties within the new zone.

Through organizing, collaborating, raising our voices, and attending many Planning Board and SLPIC meetings, we gained some insight into the three candidates for Planning Board. We invite you to join us in voting for Bob Domnitz and Lynn DeLisi. Lynn is the only current member of the Planning Board who voiced her opposition to this ill-conceived and harmful proposal. Being the lone voice over many months was no doubt tiring and isolating, but Lynn has persisted in elevating our concerns over the impact on our diverse neighborhood.

Bob Domnitz seeks to keep ultimate approval authority for these kinds of major development projects — i.e. a housing development twice as dense as Oriole Landing — with the town, not the Planning Board. He has seen many consequential development projects succeed by working with town boards and then earning town support. He has served on the Planning Board before, and we hope you will join us in bringing his experience and his fresh perspective to the important decisions facing the Planning Board in the coming years.

The Planning Board is reframing SLPIC and revising the zoning proposal. We hope that they will continue to respect the concerns of those members of our community most impacted by major zoning changes in South Lincoln. We all hope for thriving local businesses, community space, optimized commuter rail use, and decreased carbon emissions. Let’s task our Planning Board with also preserving the affordable housing options we currently have and maintaining the appropriately scaled development we treasure.

Signed, your South Lincoln Neighbors who live within the “South Lincoln Village Zone”:

John Dorr
Bayhas Kana and Sara Postlethwait
Yaman Kana
Kim Leigh-Manuell
Mark Levinson
Jason and Jessica Packineau
Veena Ramani and Adam Stark
Mary Rosenfeld
Sarah Schuller
Michael Welch

Signed, families living in close proximity to the proposed “South Lincoln Village Zone”:

Mark Ahern
Diana Bercel
Liz Burton
Vanessa Cartwright
James and Bonnie Echmalian
Denise and Eric Gieseke
Iris Hoxha
Katrin Kriz
Ada Lee and John Po
Isabel Lee
June Matthews
Thomas Moran
Catherine Moritz
Constance and Richard Ohlsten
Lisa Parker
William Schiano
Melissa Shea
Lisa Slater

Signed, Lincoln residents who join with our South Lincoln neighbors on this issue:

Jamie Banks
Pauline Curtiss
Christopher Dale
Erica Gonella and Shakil Aslam
Jane Herlacher
Maria O’Brien Hylton
Liz Lieblich
Julie Lynch
Caroline and Mark Nordstrom
Barbara Peskin
Jeannine Taylor

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Recommitting ourselves to addressing racism and educating our students

By the L-S Teachers’ Association

Dear communities of Boston, Lincoln, and Sudbury,

We, the members of the Lincoln-Sudbury Teachers’ Association, unequivocally condemn the senseless killing of Black people and the chronic injustices perpetrated against people of color in our country.

We are devastated by the recurring loss of Black lives, the brutalities inflicted on people of color, and the impact of these social injustices on all of our communities.

Today we recommit ourselves to addressing racism and educating our students — and one another — about the pervasiveness of racism in all its forms. We call on everyone in our communities to have the moral courage to stand with us and to work for justice.

We believe that education is among the best solutions to the scourge of racism in our country. Many of us have already engaged our students in our virtual classrooms to help them understand the complexity of current events. Furthermore, in keeping with L-S’s core values, we seek to teach our students to foster caring relationships, to respect differences, and to cultivate community with an empathetic, compassionate heart.

Today, we, the LSTA, join our administration in accepting the challenge of our times and reaffirming our commitment as educators and Americans to create a nation with liberty and justice for all.

Respectfully,

The Lincoln-Sudbury Teachers’ Association

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Corrections

The June 9 “My Turn” piece by Sara Mattes endorsing Bob Domnitz for Planning Board had a misleading headline using the word “tout,” which means not only “to promote or talk up” but also “to solicit, peddle, or persuade importunately” (and “importunately” means “troublesomely urgent or overly persistent in request or demand.”) Thus, “tout” could be construed as having negative connotations. The headline has been changed to “(Re)-elect Domnitz to the Planning Board.”

The June 10 story about the Water Department forum may have given the impression that apprenticeships were definitely planned as a solution to the department’s staff vacancy. While apprenticeships are being explored for the future, the current plan is to hire another full-time, licensed operator who can immediately take on the tasks that only a licensed operator can do. On July 1, when the FY21 budget funding is available, the department will begin advertising to fill that open position. The original article has been updated.

My Turn: Reelect Lynn DeLisi and Rick Rundell to Planning Board

By Ken Bassett and Mary Helen Lorenz

This delayed Town Meeting [period] includes what I consider two important elections for seats on the Planning Board: a seat held by Lynn DeLisi and one by Rick Rundell. Both Lynn and Rick are running for reelection. Mary Helen and I support their reelection based in no small part on their role in making the business of the board run more smoothly with greater reliance on professional staff, heightened respect for resident’s needs, and efforts to look to future needs of the town.

By contrast, we do not support Bob Dominitz’s run for a Planning Board seat which he lost in 2015 after 12 years on the board. During his tenure, I was before the board on two projects that Bob opposed as having the potential for significant negative impacts — the revitalization of the Mall with its accommodation of the new post office, and the replacement of the Stearns Room at First Parish Church Lincoln. Both projects were ultimately approved, but not without Bob’s numerous claims of potential impacts that in the end were not substantiated. It is Bob’s negative view of planning and problem-solving that, if he is elected, will not serve this town well as we face important challenges in a changing world.

We strongly urge your support for the reelection of Lynn DeLisi and Rick Rundell.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Bassett and Mary Helen Lorenz
37 Page Rd., Lincoln

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Many thanks for food assistance over the summer

By the Lincoln School Committee and Becky McFall

The Lincoln School Committee and Administration would like to thank the First Parish of Lincoln and the METCO Coordinating Council (MCC) for helping to bridge the gap of meal assistance over the summer months for Lincoln, Boston, and Hanscom families.

Families receiving meal assistance since the school closure in March received their final meal delivery yesterday from the schools. With these deliveries, families were provided with grocery store gift cards to support families with providing healthy meals for their children through the summer.

The First Parish of Lincoln approved an emergency grant of $14,800 to be used to continue meal assistance to qualifying children in Lincoln and Hanscom through the summer months. These funds will provide lunches for 37 children. The MCC provided $4,000 in gift cards to Boston families supporting eight Lincoln School children. We are extremely grateful for the generosity of our community members.

Sincerely,

The Lincoln School Committee
Becky McFall, Superintendent of Schools

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Reelect Rundell and DeLisi to Planning Board

By Joe Robbat

This year’s election is important. We need to reelect Rick Rundell and Lynn DeLisi to the Planning Board because, like their current board colleagues, they are committed to town planning — the board’s most important contribution to the town, in my view.

Thoughtful, prescient land use recommendations to town meetings from Planning Boards dating to the 1930s caused many of us to move to Lincoln and raise children in this bucolic landscape. The Planning Board has led the way and now they are leading again as the town envisions and plans. It is only the Planning Board who has the responsibility and tools to do so.

Rick is a proven town leader, having chaired the board in the past, and brings to it important public and private-sector land use skills. He is an architect whose insights are helpful to the boards deliberative process. I know Rick and his wife Virginia (who was on the board of Friends of Modern Architecture). I only know Lynn from being in front of the board as an applicant. I found her gracious, welcoming, and helpful. They are both sensitive to applicants and believe in the benefits of living in community.

Please vote next Monday, June 15.

Joe Robbat
151 Old Concord Rd., Lincoln

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Many are disenfranchised at Town Meeting

By Carol DiGianni

Since the pandemic is still clearly a hazard for those of us who are seniors, or otherwise incapacitated, it seems like an oversight not to have options for some form of remote voting on Town Meeting warrant articles.  There is remote voting in the upcoming election — why not for those of us whose economic life in impacted by the recent substantial hike in property taxes here in Lincoln? Seniors are a substantial demographic here and deserve the right to vote in their own behalf.

I for one feel it unfair to be penalized for staying safely at home while others who are more able-bodied can vote to impact (once again) my economic life. Given these extremely extenuating circumstances, I propose an immediate change in the law regarding in-person quorum for Town Meeting, in time for this town meeting, to allow absentee/early voting by mail or some form of real-time online voting. Thank you.

Carol DiGianni
140 Lincoln Rd., Lincoln

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: BLM movement must extend to prison reform

By Laura Berland

Nowhere are racial disparities more starkly on display than in our nation’s prison system. African-Americans are incarcerated in state prisons across the country at more than five times the rate of whites, and at least ten times the rate in five states.

If you think Massachusetts is an exception to this terrible reality, you would be mistaken. While black and brown people make up 20% of Massachusetts residents, they make up 55% of the state’s prison population. Over 1,000 men and women serve life without parole sentences in Massachusetts, the fifth-highest rate in the country. Our parole board is so dysfunctional that it has a backlog of over 250 commutation and pardon petitions that have not been acted on.

As the vast majority of people in prison are sentenced by the states rather than the federal government, it is imperative to direct reform efforts at the state level if we are serious about addressing this issue.

Data tracking of racial disparities in incarceration shows numerous ways that communities of color are disproportionally targeted. Blacks are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for drug possession despite overwhelming evidence that whites and blacks use drugs at roughly the same rates. Then there is the policing that targets specific areas either covertly or overtly as in the case of “stop and frisk.” These are just a couple of examples.

The negative impacts of incarceration extend well beyond the actual sentence and include limited job prospects, housing instability, family disruption, stigma, and disenfranchisement. Because of concentrations of poverty and imprisonment in certain areas, entire communities feel these negative impacts.

Crime has been steadily declining since 1990 but police department budgets keep growing, and the endless building of prisons and jails continues. There are so many vested interests in keeping and expanding the prison and jail population, from the food and phone vendors to the Correction Officers’ Union, that it has become a beast that continually needs to be fed.

The massive protests signal that the time has come for a different approach. As budget season is upon us, let’s turn the words “black lives matter” into meaningful action. Currently, there is a proposal in the Massachusetts legislature to build a $50 million women’s prison (roughly 500 women are currently incarcerated in Massachusetts) as well as regional lockup for pre-trial detainees.

Let’s demand that our state representatives and senators say no to more prisons and jails and increased policing and instead direct funding towards investment in communities of color through community-based organizations. Let’s seize the moment to put maximum effort towards true criminal “justice” reform legislation that begins to address the brutalization of people of color through mass incarceration.

Laura Berland
15 Hillside Rd., Lincoln

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: DeLisi makes her case for reelection to Planning Board

(Editor’s note: DeLisi is one of three residents running for two seats on the Planning Board. The Lincoln Squirrel published statements by all three candidates in March and new statements from Rick Rundell and Bob Domnitz earlier this week. There will be an online forum for the candidates on June 11.)

Dear neighbors,

I am once again reaching out to you to ask for your vote in the upcoming Lincoln election. The fact that a seat on the Planning Board is an elected one is significant. This means that you have a choice to decide who represents you.

My background and training are not as important as what I believe in and whether I will stand up and represent what you believe in. Here is what I am for:

  • Responsible planning by collaboration with neighborhoods
  • Sensitivity to the feelings of abutters, the most affected by change
  • Keeping a DPW Site out of North Lincoln
  • Keeping the South Lincoln commercial district vibrant, but not dense with new housing
  • Keeping North Lincoln residents free from any more adversity
  • Regulations that preserve Lincoln’s unique rural and farm-friendly atmosphere
  • Preserving the historical significance of some of Lincoln’s neighborhoods and the designated historical districts
  • The highest quality education available to our children in safe facilities
  • A community center that serves our residents well
  • Safe and supportive facilities for senior residents
  • Keeping the availability of harmful substances away from our young generation
  • And… keeping Lincoln safe

While a member of the Planning Board, I actively participated in:

  • Several controversial decisions that affected the wellbeing of residents and their neighborhoods, such as whether or not marijuana establishments should be in Lincoln
  • Changing and simplifying some of the complicated process that new homeowners find in dealing with the Planning Board
  • The change of planning directors not long after I began (and drove that process)

I immediately understood the issues raised by McLean Hospital in setting up a residential home in Lincoln and misnaming therapy “education.” And I understood very clearly from my own research studies the effects marijuana establishments would have on our town. I spoke up and was active on all these issues and more. Most importantly, I listened to and consistently was sensitive to the concerns of abutters about change.

Although you may say, “Why does a psychiatrist/neuroscientist who bridges gaps between research and the clinic think she knows enough to be on a town Planning Board?” However, my seven years on the Planning Board have taught me a range of planning and architectural principles, adding up to more years than I actually spent in medical school. Scientific methods need to be applied more in our decisions than would be imagined. My background and experience have certainly helped my decision-making on the Planning Board.

One last word, with specific regard to the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee: I was not happy with the way it was running from almost its beginning, and was the first to advocate that it be radically revised or abolished. It was only last week that other members of the Planning Board all agreed to change it. However, I still am advocating for a member of the committee of five to be someone who represents the residents most affected.

I welcome comments, suggestions, and concerns anytime. You can email me at DeLisi76@aol.com or call me at 516-528-5366.

Sincerely,

Lynn E DeLisi
125 South Great Rd.

”My Turn” is a forum for Lincoln residents to offer their views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.