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

My Turn

My Turn: Civil disobedience and Hanscom Field expansion

By Dilla Tingley

(Editor’s note: see “Activists continue push to derail Hanscom expansion” for context.)

I joined Bill McKibben’s Third Act. Wrote my letter and encouraged others to write letters in response to the DEIR on the Hanscom hangar project. Eagerly joined Alex Chatfield’s protest on Saturday April 20.

We were told that Extinction Rebellion [ER] was going to be disrupting flights on the runway. Our plan was to occupy the parking lot and the lounges of Signature Air and Jet Air. Signature Air was referred to as an enabler. They apparently have the contract to run the facilities at the new hangars. They currently provide luxurious amenities to owners and fliers of private jets.

When we arrived, the police presence was already there and handcuffing people in front of the Signature Air facility. Large presence of state, Concord, Bedford, and eventually Lincoln police. We had read our statements in the parking lot and then we stood across the drive from the Signature Air facility where they were arresting folks, and we sang songs and chants with the ER people providing much moral support. Eventually a state policeman dragged over a person in a traffic vest and said he was from Massport. That person demanded that we leave. The policeman gave us the option of crossing the drive and joining “your friends” and being arrested or leaving. We left. I think we were there about an hour.

I was not part of the group that stayed at the intersection of Hanscom Drive and Old Bedford Road. They were interviewed by many members of the press.

I was really happy to play a small part in this action. Private jet travel is anathema to our climate goals and the whole air lobby has way too much power. Jet fuel is not taxed. There is no sales tax if you buy a private jet. The only leverage we have over what happens at Hanscom is to control the building of infrastructure.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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 Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.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: Some ideas for improving town meeting procedures

By Ned Young

It’s commendable that the Select Board will soon be initiating a collaborative process to improve our Town Meeting procedures. To help people start thinking about it, here are some ideas. I have no particular pride of authorship in the draft below and look forward to a robust collaborative effort on the part of our fellow residents this Spring. Hope we all speak our minds like true New Englanders!

Proposed impartial discussion procedures at Town Meeting

A. Procedures for certain special articles
  1. These special procedures (“Impartial Discussion Procedures”) are to apply after receipt of a petition signed by a number of residents equal to a substantial percentage of the attendance at Town Meeting the previous year (say 20%) stating that these Impartial Discussion Procedures are appropriate for discussing a particular article (a “Special Article”).
  2. Spokesperson(s) of such a grassroots group in opposition to the resolution put forth by a town board on the Special Article shall have 10 minutes of time to speak from the podium with the opportunity to show slides.
  3. If more than one group of petitioners with enough signatures wish to speak for or against the Special Article, allocation of who goes first shall be by coin toss or other impartial method.
  4. A non-governmental entity seeking podium access must submit a petition signed by the same number of individual residents as required for a grassroots group and shall observe the same time limit as a grassroots group.
B. General procedures for all Town Meetings
  1. Board members comprising a substantial portion of a board’s members (say 20%) who oppose a board’s resolution on any article shall have an amount of time to speak from the podium with slides, equal to the amount of time taken by the presentation and remarks of the majority members of the board; a board member or members comprising less than such percentage who oppose(s) a board’s resolution shall have five minutes of time to speak from the podium without slides.
  2. Any town board or committee that wishes to support or oppose an article shall have five minutes to speak at the podium without slides. Allocation of who goes first shall be by coin toss or other impartial method, except that the Finance Committee may speak with slides and without time limit.
  3. Majority members of a board shall never purport to speak on behalf of minority members.
  4. The moderator’s meeting to go over Town Meeting procedures and set the order of speakers at Town Meeting in accordance with these rules shall be open to the public with adequate prior notice, remote participation, and promptly available video recording.
  5. No additions to or changes in the order of speakers established at the moderator’s meeting shall be made without a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting.
  6. All persons speaking at Town Meeting must clearly disclose or disclaim any financial or other personal interest in the matter when they begin speaking

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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: Thank you for participating and voting at the Annual Town Meeting

By the Community Center Building Committee

We thank each and every resident for participating in the development of plans for the Lincoln community center, for voting at the annual town meeting on March 23, 2024, and in the town election on March 25. It has been a long journey starting in 2010 through four previous study groups and committees, with dozens of volunteers who have worked through the complex questions and needs of the town.

At the town meeting on March 23, Lincoln residents voted 444 (81%) to 101 (19%) to approve funding to build the community center on the Hartwell complex on Ballfield Road. At the town election on March 25, voters supported Question 1, on financing the required bonds, by 944 (57%) to 709 (43%). We on the Community Center Building Committee thank you for demonstrating the town’s desire for true community.

Now we move on to the tasks ahead. Our next steps involve finalizing the choice of architect, completing the conceptual design process, and selecting an owner’s project manager to assist us with full budget development, and to ensure the project stays on budget and on schedule. We will continue to provide frequent updates to you. Please join us at our CCBC meetings, continue to send us your questions, and follow our progress on the Community Center website.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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: Looking at core assumptions around aviation

By Christopher Eliot

The proposed Hanscom airport expansion has catalyzed a long overdue recognition of the climate impact of aviation. While climate change is global, this project is in our backyard. My statements against this project are on record, but it is important to look at the larger context of aviation as a whole.

It is taken for granted that aviation is vital to the modern world. Most people marvel at the technical achievements enabling safe travel anywhere in the world. There is something magical about waking up on a harsh New England Winter day and flying to a tropical island before evening. Aviation has many tangible benefits but in the face of the climate crisis we must look hard at the cost and benefit of every aspect of the modern economy without allowing romantic preconceptions to mislead us. 

During my nine years on the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission I have become aware of often overlooked problems related to aviation. Aviation has substantial and growing impacts on public health, the climate and use of scarce resources that should be widely understood and properly weighed in public discussion. Aviation is one of the top ten sources of climate change and it is widely considered to be the hardest part to fix. 

The aviation industry has a plan to become climate-friendly but I believe it is not a credible plan. The industry assumes it can obtain exclusive control massive amounts of public resources that have value for many other uses. The industry assumes a place of importance that may or may not be consistent with public values.

There needs to be a robust public discussion about the core assumptions of modern aviation. Is aviation really so important that society should devote half of our agricultural land, or half of our electricity capacity to aviation?  Should we just accept the fossil fuel requirements of aviation and look elsewhere to offset these sources of climate change? Should we accept aviation technology that might be less safe but more environmentally friendly? What balance of public and private investment for climate friendly aviation is wise? Should we instead work to reduce the use of aviation? People will have many answers to these questions and they should be widely debated.

These are choices about aviation that must be made. It is important for the public to widely contribute to the decision making process now, because the decisions made today will take decades to be fully deployed. With substantial public input, these choices will be made by a privileged few in the aviation industry, the FAA, and the fuel industry. Construction is already underway to implement plans designed primarily by the aviation industry that have not been widely discussed. Since these choices will deeply effect everyone, everywhere, it is important to broaden the discussion to reflect the shared values of the public at large.

Eliot, a Lincoln resident, is chair of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission. For updates on the plan to expand hangar space at Hanscom Field, see these stories in the Bedford Citizen. 

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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: What happened at Town Meeting?

By Barbara Peskin

We expect our elected officials to be fair and the Town Meeting moderator to be impartial. Whether you were “No for Now” or “Heck Yeah” at the March 23 Town Meeting, make a note of the following (you can watch the recording of the meeting here):

  1. Two elected Planning Board members, a resident group (Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives or LRHA) supported by 311+ signatures, and a town board (the Agricultural Commission or AgCom), requested and were denied podium time or use of slides. The decision maker was the moderator. The Select Board supported the moderator’s decision.
  2. The issue of podium time was hotly discussed at the March 18 Select Board meeting (illuminating recording here). The Selects, Planning Board chair, moderator, and many members of the public engaged in two hours of discussion. Residents shared that the visual impact of slides is powerful.
  3. A moderator’s meeting was held on March 20. It was open to the public, in person only, not hybrid, and not recorded despite requests. Anyone who would speak from the podium was required to be present. The moderator assigned a minute by minute presentation run down, including who would speak from the podium, for how long and whether they could have slides. Article 3 would be presented by the Planning Board chair. The Rural Land Foundation (RLF) was not on the presenter list, nor did they speak at the moderator’s meeting. Representatives of LRHA and Heck Yeah groups were present and were allotted 10 minutes from floor mikes (no podium, no slides).
  4. The March 23 Town Meeting recording shows that when the chair of the board of the RLF rises from the audience and stands at the podium, the moderator does not appear surprised. This is contrary to the schedule outlined to the public at the March 20 moderator’s meeting, and to the public discussion at the March 18 Select Board meeting. The RLF is a private entity, with a financial interest in the outcome of the vote, yet the moderator watches the RLF chair walk up to the podium and say, “Good morning. [I am c]hair of the board of trustees for the Rural Land Foundation.” The RLF chair speaks for close to three minutes, supported by slides, uninterrupted by the moderator. She closes with “…the RLF would like to offer a compromise on the HCA. Madam Moderator, may I have permission to amend the proposed bylaw of Article 3?” The unsurprised response from the moderator: “Yes.” A slide of the RLF amendment is then placed on the screen and read.
  5. Next, the town counsel states the “printed version of the motion” he had been given was technically different from what was read, and corrects it for the record. Both the printed version and slide of the amendment had to have been submitted to town counsel and the technology coordinator prior to the start of Town Meeting, since the RLF chair did not hand either of them anything when she arrived at the podium.
  6. Next, the Planning Board chair, without asking for a turn, appears to be expected by the moderator as the scheduled speaker after the RLF. The Planning Board chair goes to the podium and says the amendment “is compliant. It has been vetted” [by Utile, the town’s consultant].
  7. After an HCAWG member, Planning Board Chair, Finance Committee member, Select Board member, a second HCAWG member, and then the RLF chair speak from the podium, the moderator calls for comments from the floor. The first mike comment comes from a “No for Now” supporter completely surprised by the amendment. The second person the moderator calls on is a “Heck Yeah” resident whose prepared statement supports and includes reference to details of the RLF amendment.

When you watch the recording of the Town Meeting, notice that the proponents associated the RLF’s Amendment with the word “compromise.” The proposed amendment was not a “compromise.” A compromise is defined as “an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions; an ability to listen to two sides in a dispute, and devise a compromise acceptable to both.”

A tactical surprise by one side is not a compromise. The LRHA residents, who were always open to compromise and discussion and who attended almost every Select Board and Planning Board meeting since the State of the Town in September, were not told about nor asked for input on the RLF amendment. The dissenting Planning Board members and the AgCom were also kept in the dark. This does not bring the town together in compromise. It exacerbates the town division. Just repeating the word compromise does not make it so.

Here is what the LRHA, AgCom, and No for Now residents hoped for: green space and tree protection, increased setbacks, and reducing density both at the mall and in the Lincoln Station area by finding another parcel in Lincoln to include for compliance. The compromise they sought demonstrated respect for the land and people that live and work in the rezoned area. There was time to come to true compromise.

The moderator gave the private RLF access to the podium yet denied it to elected officials and other residents requesting to balance information presented. Is that impartial?

The presentation of the amendment appeared to be tightly controlled and coordinated behind the scenes. The orchestrated amendment tactics worked in favor of the proponents. Article 3 passed by a slim margin: “Heck Yeah” at 52% to “No for Now” at 48%. These last-minute machinations may well have affected the outcome of this very close vote. The loss will be most palpable to the people who live and work in the rezoned area.

I have been a proud resident of Lincoln for 29 years. I am not proud of the way our town leaders pulled the strings to squeak out an affirmative vote on the HCA in March, when we had plenty of time remaining this year to respond to public feedback and reach a real “compromise.” We can do better, and going forward, we must do better.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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: Kudos to Jonathan Soo and those with campaign signs

By Susan Taylor

Thanks to everyone — especially to Jonathan Soo — who braved Monday’s chill winds to encourage voters at the polls. Dozens of us gathered on Lincoln School grounds with camaraderie and commitment to democratic choice. But Jonathan did more. He supported us all.

Jonathan arrived before 8 a.m. with a hot-water maker supplied by a portable battery so all of us — no matter our candidate or issue — could have a hot drink on such a cold day. And Jonathan came back at lunchtime with a crock pot of yummy noodle soup when we most needed sustenance. And then, Jonathan came back again after sunset and helped us clear out as wind chills fell well below freezing.

Thank you to all who cheered, held campaign signs, shared sun screen and sandwiches, and made new friends in the frigid wind! But most of all, thank you to Jonathan who came with a smile and warmth for everyone. Let us all take a bit of his spirit as we move forward together!

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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: Postlethwait says thanks, lauds rezoning adjustments made before Town Meeting

By Sarah Postlethwait

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Gary Taylor on his victory. It was a huge turnout and you have a strong following! Thank you for the years of service you have given this town already and will continue to offer in the future.

I would also like to thank the nearly 700 of my neighbors, friends, and complete strangers who went out on a limb to vote for me. I am incredibly grateful for your support!

I know many of those people voted for me because they were also frustrated with the lack of community collaboration and transparency experienced in the past few months. I hope that Mr. Taylor will consider the voice of the 42% of residents who cast a vote in my favor and push for changes in the process going forward. Doing so will ensure 100% of the town wins.

I was moved by a group of seventh-graders who came over to speak to our crowd of sign holders Monday. Those children were very concerned about the Lincoln that may be awaiting them when they are adults, and they felt their voices were also unheard. I informed them of their ability to bring a citizen’s petition to town meeting on any topic that they felt passionate about, and had an idea of how to improve. They were intrigued and invigorated to learn that their voices could actually count. They could have a say in their future, too. I hope they feel compelled to actively participate in our town government, and I hope that is a theme we can see continuing in the adult population, as well. An active engaged community makes a better end product.

  • I am incredibly grateful for the work that hundreds of my fellow residents who are associated with the LRHA accomplished in the past seven months to help protect our town. Due to their keen observations and unwavering persistence, the HCA rezoning that passed on Saturday was a vastly different article than what it was intended to be in September. They have also greatly contributed to democracy in our town at the same time.
  • The total number of housing units that could be built was reduced from over 1,400 to 800. A 67% total housing increase within a half-mile radius would have been detrimental to our town.
  • The state changed its model used by all towns to take into account wetlands, and allow for less density around them — helping preserve Lincoln’s environment, but also the environment of countless other towns in our state.
  • They brought attention to the bylaw that allowed a developer to count any “street-activated use” as commercial — including lobbies, residential gyms, common spaces, and leasing offices — which could have been detrimental to retail business at the mall if left in the wrong hands.
  • They brought attention to the lack of affordable housing being required, and as a result, the Planning Department promised to resubmit a new feasibility study that can support 15% affordable housing. This will help save our limited affordable housing trust funds, so it can be used to create a more diverse affordable housing stock.
  • They helped shed light on the negative impact on our beloved businesses if a hundred housing units would have been allowed to be built on the mall, resulting in the amendment presented by the RLF at town meeting.
  • They brought attention to the lack of environmental protections in both the HCA and general zoning bylaws, which will hopefully result in protections for open undeveloped space and mature trees in the near future.
  • Their push for clickers at Town Meeting resulted in this article being brought to Town Meeting and approved. As a result, much smoother and shorter Town Meetings will hopefully be in our future, allowing even more residents the ability and desire to participate.
  • They made residents aware of buses that helped many citizens have access to town meeting. Hopefully the town will continue the bus service in the future due to the limited parking available at the school for town meeting.
  • They advocated for people with disabilities to be able to participate in town meetings remotely, resulting in a town policy change that will continue into the future.
  • They advocated for the Town Meeting process to be reevaluated, including having a written set of Town Meeting rules, a policy for relevant town boards to be permitted to speak from the podium, and a request for more balanced presentations that include any dissenting voices of the presenting board to have equal podium time. As a result, the Select Board has promised to establish a committee that will address these concerns and look into making Town Meeting more fair and balanced, giving residents real choices rather than asking for a rubber stamp of approval.

While our work is not done, I can’t but help feel grateful for all that we have accomplished, and I hope that all of our fellow residents feel the same. I especially hope that all residents, no matter their view or age, will feel motivated to continue being active and engaged citizens, positively contributing to our beautiful town.

Thank you again for your support, Lincoln.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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: Thank-you from Jennifer Glass

By Jennifer Glass

Thank you. 

No matter how you voted at Town Meeting or in the election, thank you for the ideas, time, and energy that you dedicate to our town.  We have just made some big decisions together, the conversations have been passionate, and I know that we have each spoken from a desire to make Lincoln a stronger community. We will continue to have discussions about how we want to express our vision for the town, and I trust that we will continue to find ways to collaborate, compromise, and balance multiple viewpoints.

I really appreciate that Frank stepped up to run.  In the course of the past few weeks, he and I have spent a lot of time talking to people, and those conversations have not only been thoughtful and informative — they have also helped to forge connections and build community. 

I am very thankful for the opportunity to continue to serve on the Select Board, I encourage you to stay or become involved in the many and varied town boards and committees, and I look forward to the work we will do together.

In gratitude,

Jennifer

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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’s version of HCA amendment events

By Lynn DeLisi

Editor’s note: DeLisi, a member of the Planning Board, originally posted the following as a comment on the March 25 Lincoln Squirrel story headlined “HCAWG, RLF were surprised by rumored amendment to zoning motion” and is being reprinted here with her permission.)

None of what is being reported here was shared with both Eph Flint and myself. In fact, let me set this straight: after Eph and I made it very clear that the Planning Board needed more time to address the many outstanding issues residents have raised, [board chair] Margaret Olson contacted me and suggested we do an amendment and told me that [Director of Planning and Land Use] Paula [Vaughn-Mackenzie] would help me. She further added that we could discuss it as a board and maybe then present a unified board to the town meeting instead of Eph and I supporting a “no” vote.

The next day, I contacted Paula; she convinced me not to go below 15 units per acre in the mall and had Utile approve the numbers I had. She asked me to get Eph’s approval, which I did. Margaret then called a special Planning Board Meeting for last Saturday, March 16, but since I was to be out of town then, it was postponed to be discussed at the Tuesday, March 19 Planning Board meeting. However, Eph and I never understood why it was taken off of the agenda and we were not aware that Paula had mentioned it at a [Housing Choice Act Working Group] meeting.

We both talked to many other town residents in the few days before Town Meeting and decided that an amendment was not the way to go — even though it was a step in the right direction and relieved some of the density we feared at the mall. The reason is that there were many other issues not yet discussed and still not, and there has been no consensus yet in town about how to do this right. Nor, most importantly, have the current residents of the Lincoln Station area been consulted about their views for the rezoning in some cases of their own properties. We wanted more time to reach a true compromise in a democratic way. We wanted representatives of different viewpoints to sit at the same table with the Planning Board to discuss what is most important and how to zone for it.

The reporting of the Working Group meeting by Alice Waugh is a good illustration of why that working group needs to be disbanded. Their discussion was never reported to us as Planning Board members and should have been.

I am extremely dismayed by the events of the last few weeks in our beloved town and hope our leadership can find a way to obtain a consensus among all of us for the sake of future generations of residents of Lincoln. I am also outraged that Eph and I were treated as “black sheep” and not allowed to present our wishes for the town at the podium.

I have been a member of the Planning Board for a decade and have never seen such an awful set of circumstances such as these develop — ultimately leading to a very weak and divided vote. I call now for a real vote at the polls.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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: On the fairness or unfairness of the procedures at Town Meeting

By Edward Young

Although the moderator said that none of the controversial procedures followed at [Saturday’s] Town Meeting should be considered as precedents, they raise questions that should be addressed when the town considers Town Meeting procedures comprehensively later this year, if not sooner. Here is how the moderator regulated who spoke, when and where.

Prior to the meeting, the moderator had announced that a group of over 300 residents — who had petitioned for time for a spokesperson to speak from the podium, with slides, in opposition to voting now on the announced resolution regarding a draft HCA bylaw nine months before the deadline for HCA compliance — would instead speak for ten minutes from microphones in the auditorium, without slides, and that a spokesperson for another group of residents who favored voting on the resolution now would be allowed to speak in the same manner. Presumably, only town officials and members of town advisory committees, all of whom favored immediate adoption of the resolution, would be allowed to speak from the podium or present slides.

Two members of the Planning Board who had voted against the draft bylaw in its current form also asked to be able to speak from the podium, as their three fellow Planning Board members who had voted in favor were allowed to do without time limit. This was denied, and they were restricted to getting in line for two minutes each at the microphone. Instead of allowing the two members to say themselves whatever they wanted to say from the podium, in their own tone of voice and in the fresh context of whatever was being said at the meeting, another Planning Board member chose to read aloud, in their own tone of voice, a public statement that the two members had made some weeks before.

Neither group of residents, nor the two Planning Board members, has any financial stake in the outcome of the HCA vote.

However, before either group was allowed to speak, the Rural Land Foundation — which is not a part of town government, and which has a financial stake of millions of dollars in the outcome of the HCA vote — was allowed to speak from the podium, with slides. This came as a complete surprise to the voters in the auditorium.

By being recognized first, the RLF was enabled to move a detailed amendment to the HCA resolution that precluded discussion of the main motion for quite some time. The RLF flashed on the screen a series of highly complicated charts that were not handed out before the meeting and which voters had not had a chance to review.

After the amendment had been discussed and voted on, the two groups of residents were finally allowed to speak on the (amended) main motion. The opponents of the motion were called on first and the proponents had the chance to rebut what they said. It would be interesting to know if that order of speaking was decided by coin flip or other neutral method.

The two Planning Board members were patient enough to eventually make it through the microphone line for two minute comments.

That’s how discussion was handled at Town Meeting.

So I submit that a robust examination of the fairness or unfairness of what just happened at Town Meeting is very much in order. I wonder if anyone would care to provide reasons in justification for it?

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or 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.