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

My Turn

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 Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.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

My Turn: Feinberg endorses Domnitz for Planning Board

Dear Lincolnites,

It’s been a while since you heard from me. Some of you may remember me as the guy who wrote that weekly column in the Lincoln Journal about life and politics in Lincoln. Well, I’m ba-ack! At least for this one time, to wholeheartedly endorse Bob Domnitz for the Planning Board.

Bob is running for re-election because of his concern about the Planning Board’s current efforts to usurp Town Meeting’s role in approving significant development projects within the town. The Planning Board would like to revise the Zoning Bylaw so it alone would become the final arbiter on such projects, rather than Town Meeting.

Lincoln has an almost 300-year time-honored tradition and history of the Town Meeting form of government. Now is not the time to strip Town Meeting of its authority and weaken it. Join me in electing Bob Domnitz to the Planning Board.

Sincerely,

Neil Feinberg
104 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” replaces “Letters to the Editor”

To our readers:

Starting today, the Lincoln Squirrel will run opinion pieces and letters under the banner of “My Turn.” This is more in line with how other newspapers and websites handle their “op ed” sections (opposite the editorial page, though the Squirrel does not feature editorials by editor/publisher Alice Waugh).

In the past, we’ve published opinion pieces and open letters to fellow Lincolnites as “letters to the editor,” but newspapers traditionally apply that label to letters that are addressed directly to the paper’s staff commenting on previously published news stories or opinion pieces. “My Turn” more accurately reflects the diverse nature of first-person Lincoln Squirrel pieces by residents, whether they’re expressing an opinion about something, advocating a certain political or social action, thanking the community for help, or offering any other first-person public communication from a Lincoln resident to the editor or the town at large.

Previously published letters to the editor will still be grouped in their own category in the dropdown menu found in the left-hand column of the Squirrel website, but future pieces will be filed under “My Turn.” As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Alice Waugh
Editor/publisher, The Lincoln Squirrel
lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com

Planning Board candidate forum on June 11

Lincoln resident Sharon Antia will host a forum on Zoom with the three Planning Board candidates running for two openings in the June 15 election on Thursday, June 11 at 7 p.m.

If you have a question you’d like to ask one or more of the candidates, please email it to sharon.antia@gmail.com and she will compile and ask as many questions as possible. Alternatively, on the evening of the forum, we will accept questions via the chat function in Zoom as time allows. Questions that have already been suggested include:

  • How will planning in Lincoln be influenced by the new world order? How will Lincoln’s relationship with Massachusetts, the nation at large, and the world influence any planning decisions? Do current events suggest we have any responsibility to think about the world at large when we think about planning in Lincoln?
  • How will the town support our local restaurants through this pandemic?
  • Is there anything the Planning Board can do to support social distancing and community building? 
  • What about housing, the transfer station, the DPW, and South and North Lincoln? What is the Planning Board’s role, and how should they collaborate with other boards and commissions?
  • And what about the school? Some people are worried that the refurbished building may be obsolete in a few years, or are wondering if we should reconsider the tax burden on residents What, if anything, can or should the Planning Board do to review the current school plans and potentially suggest alternatives?

Link to join the candidate’s forum:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86813510489?pwd=akR2WVZKWUY2djE3OFAyTlBCaTExZz09

  • Meeting ID: 868 1351 0489
  • Password: 310709

Click here to learn about early voting and voting by absentee ballot, and to obtain forms for either option. You can also vote in person on June 15 from 12–4 p.m. at Town Hall.

More information:

My Turn: Robert Domnitz on why he’s running for Planning Board again

(Editor’s note: Following is a statement submitted to the Lincoln Squirrel by Robert Domnitz, who is running in the only contested race in this year’s local election. He was included in a roundup of Planning Board candidates published on March 5. In 2015, he narrowly lost a race for reelection to Gary Taylor.)

By Robert Domnitz
Why I’m running for Planning Board (again!)

I previously served on the Lincoln Planning Board for 12 years, from 2003–15. I’m hoping to come out of “retirement” because I think our current Planning Board is heading in the wrong direction regarding revitalization of the Lincoln Station area. They are developing a complex revision to the town ‘s zoning bylaw which they believe will foster increased business activity and greater housing density.

Although this goal deserves town-wide consideration and debate, a key feature of their proposal is that they — and they alone — will have authority to approve large-scale development proposals without review by our Town Meeting. This is a dramatic departure from our traditional reliance on Town Meeting for major decisions. It will allow a five member Planning Board to make unreviewable decisions about changes to one of Lincoln’s most important and diverse neighborhoods.

As a member of the Planning Board, I will work to ensure that our Town Meeting continues to play the central role in Lincoln’s decisions about land use. I believe that the Planning Board’s current effort to foster revitalization of Lincoln Station without meaningful participation of Town Meeting is needlessly divisive. Conversely, with Town Meeting’s participation, we have the opportunity to welcome projects that appeal to neighbors, business owners, and the Town at large.

My core values: preserve the town’s character, strengthen our community

Our Zoning Bylaw is an expression of these same core values, allowing us to manage growth and change responsibly while respecting our historic and rural heritage. We benefit in Lincoln from the farsighted, altruistic actions of residents who conserved large tracts of land and adopted strategic preservation-oriented zoning. We are all stewards of this precious legacy.

My background
  • Public sector (municipal): Lincoln Planning Board; Lexington Planning Board; Hanscom Field Advisory Commission; Route 2 Oversight Committee; Battle Road Scenic Byway Committee.
  • Private Sector: president (retired), Technical Collaborative, Inc., an electronics R&D firm.
  • Education: B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT,  J.D. from Boston College Law School,
  • Contact: 781 259-1080, electbobpb@outlook.com

”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: Minneapolis police conduct is offensive to the values of our department

(Editor’s note: This statement was published on the Lincoln Police Department’s Facebook page on May 29, 2020 and is reprinted here with permission.)

By Kevin Kennedy

To the Lincoln community:

Today, I join my fellow Massachusetts Police Chiefs and law enforcement across the country in condemning the actions and inactions of the four Minneapolis police officers involved in the death of Mr. George Floyd on May 25, 2020.  Our thoughts and sympathy are with the Floyd family. 

As a police department, we have embraced the six pillars of the President’s Task Force on 21st-Century Policing. We are committed to our standards of professional conduct, community policing, procedural justice, constitutional policing, and treating everyone with respect, dignity, empathy, and compassion.

The conduct of the officers involved was offensive to the values of our department and our  community. 

Sincerely, 

A. Kevin Kennedy
Lincoln Chief of Police

”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.

Letters to the editor: Hanscom jet plans

letter

Following are two letters to the editor from Lincoln residents Kati Winchell and Jim Hutchinson concerning a Conservation Commission hearing on a Hanscom Civil Airport application. Letters to the editor must be signed and must be about a Lincoln-specific topic. They may be edited for length, grammar/punctuation, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Send letters via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com.

To the Editor: 

A private luxury jet facility at Hanscom Civil Airport has filed plans with Lincoln Conservation Commission to expand into Lincoln wetlands buffer zones–and in the process expand the airport’s footprint. Lincoln residents should take heed of this latest move by Massport to grow Hanscom Airport.

Jet Aviation’s plans include a new hangar (40,000 square feet, twice the size of the one being replaced), new ramp space (2.1 acres), and a new landside access road. All these features would run within or through Lincoln wetland buffer zones. Jet Aviation maintains that this wetlands area is of “low quality” and can therefore be developed. The fundamental question is: Why should Lincoln set aside its wetlands protection standards to support a development that’s designed to attract and grow one of the single most destructive environmental polluters—private luxury jets?

The facility’s proposed changes are intended to attract and accommodate Gulfstream 650s, the largest private jets made for international travel. Gulfstream 650s are touted as being more fuel-efficient than their smaller cousins. The fact is, however, that a single round trip to China from Hanscom would consume enough fuel to power a Toyota Prius for approximately one million miles. It would generate approximately 400 tons of CO2 equivalent—which is equal to more emissions than a typical family in India generates in an entire lifetime. And that single round trip would carry a maximum of eight passengers.

On Wednesday, February 19 at 8:15 p.m. a public hearing on Jet Aviation’s proposal is being held by the Lincoln Conservation Commission at the Town Offices, Donaldson Room. Lincoln residents will be able to comment on whether the Con Com should approve or deny Jet Aviation’s plans to develop in Lincoln’s wetlands buffer zones. Please come and let your voices be heard.

Sincerely,

Kati Winchell
227 Concord Road

To the Editor:

Lincoln residents should be deeply disturbed by Massport’s latest plan to grow Hanscom Civil Airport, particularly as it comes on the heels of yet another development. Last year, the historic Hangar 24 was demolished and is currently being replaced by a huge 90,000 sq ft private luxury jet facility. This year, Jet Aviation (an existing private jet facility) has plans to grow that would involve incursions into Lincoln wetlands buffer zones.

Though the plans involve Lincoln wetlands, they have potential far-reaching impacts for all four Hanscom-area towns (Bedford, Concord, and Lexington, and Lincoln) because the Jet Aviation proposal would expand the Airport footprint – just as the Hangar 24 development has in Concord. As the Airport footprint expands, so do operation levels, and with them noise and air pollution. This incremental expansion of the Airport doesn’t end here; there are more plans in the wings.

Hanscom Civil Airport is located in the heart of one of America’s highest concentrations of historic and natural resources. It is the only airport in the nation that abuts both a national park (Minute Man Park) and a national wildlife refuge (Great Meadows). Growing the Airport in these unique and sensitive surroundings is inappropriate. Growing it into a Town’s wetlands buffer zone should be out of the question. It would be the height of irony were Lincoln’s wetlands protection standards set aside to facilitate the growth of private luxury jet use, one of the least environmentally-friendly activities In existence.

Next Wednesday, Feb. 19, there will be a hearing on Jet Aviation’s expansion plans at the Lincoln Town Offices at 8:15pm. All Lincoln and Hanscom-area residents are encouraged to attend and voice your concerns about trading protected wetlands buffer zones for private luxury jet use.

Sincerely,

Jim Hutchinson
Stonehedge Road