By Ephraim Flint

After much reflection, I have decided not to run for another term on the Planning Board and would like to take this opportunity to thank Lincoln residents for allowing me to serve on the Board for the past three years. For a great many generations, going back to the early 18th century, Lincoln’s volunteer government and town meeting have served the town well, guiding Lincoln through many changes and challenges, and making the town the special place that it is today. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that this tradition continues.

We will be electing two Planning Board members at the upcoming election on Monday, March 31. I am delighted to support Susan Hall Mygatt and Rob Ahlert for these positions. Susan has been active in town government for many years. She is currently co-chair of the Conservation Commission and she previously served on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Through her many contributions to the town, she has demonstrated thoughtful consideration of issues and respect for Lincoln’s traditions and unique character.

Rob Ahlert has been an active participant at many board and committee meetings over the last 5 years. He’s young (compared to me!), energetic, and eager to help move the town forward in a thoughtful way that preserves our town’s heritage. Much of the Planning Board’s work over the last 5 years has focused on the Lincoln Station area. Rob will be an important contributor to this ongoing effort because, in addition to his technical skills, he lives in the Lincoln Station area. With all the changes that are slated for this area, I believe it’s critical that the neighborhood has a voice on the Planning Board.

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 Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

We, the undersigned, strongly support Margaret Olson for Planning Board. For the past ten years, Margaret has been both a dedicated leader and member of the board. highly hones management skills and her creative mind, Margaret has helped make decisions that serve to protect Lincoln’s character — open space and our landscapes — while promoting necessary policies for our present and future needs.

Effective participation as a member of the planning board requires a person who understands the complexities of zoning and is at home with site plans, as well as understanding Lincoln’s values, its past decisions, and its uniqueness. Members of the planning board must have the ability to create solutions to accommodate both our present and future needs. Members need to be committed to and comfortable with the public process.

Margaret has all those characteristics. She has worked on the Planning Board to:

• Institute Lincoln’s first Dark Sky lighting regulations
• Streamline the Site plan review process. This has resulted in benefits for both residents and the planning board, saving time for all
• Increase multi-generational housing by incrementally loosening the Accessory Apartment zoning requirements
• Engage cooperatively with a variety of boards and stakeholders to pass the Housing Choice Act that allows the town to qualify for specific grants—resulting in Lincoln already receiving $430,000 for water main replacement
• Improve safety for all forms of transportation by serving on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the Roadside and Traffic Committee and the Transportation Coalition.

Margaret believes in an open and collaborative approach to solving problems. She knows from observation that over-regulation costs the town money and increases a homeowner’s individual costs to get through permitting with no benefit to either the town or their neighborhood. Planning Board reviews should focus on the critical issues in a manner that is thorough, fair, consistent and predictable. 

Margaret’s ten years on the Planning Board coupled with her tenure on Lincoln’s Board of Appeals, her years on planning boards in other towns as well as her professional background have and will serve Lincoln well.  

In addition, Margaret has honed skills central to the management of public processes that have benefited the planning board. She developed these skills when she co-founded two startups, Constant Contact (IPO) and Plum (purchased by Nokia), where she was responsible for all personally identifiable information for a worldwide service, and she has served as chief technology officer at several companies. Margaret’s public process management skills — important for Planning Board public processes — were developed as chair of several technology standards committees.

We believe that Lincoln needs Margaret on the Planning Board for her technical skill, her management style, her deep understanding of Lincoln and its unique qualities and her commitment to consistent, fair, and predictable public process. We hope that you will join us and vote for Margaret Olson for Planning Board. The election is March 31 with early voting beginning on March 22.

“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.

By Nancy Marshall

Please elect Charles Morton and Jack Ryan to the L-S School Committee I write to enthusiastically endorse Charles Morton and Jack Ryan in their campaign for the L-S School Committee. Charles and Jack are in a three-way race for two vacated seats on the committee. I encourage you to meet Jack and Charles, in the process learn more about LSRHS and its wide and incredible array of opportunities for our children, and to vote Monday, March 31 at the polls in Lincoln for Charles Morton and Jack Ryan.

Charles Morton (CharlesMorton.com) is the father of four elementary and middle school children, all of whom will attend LSRHS over the next ten years. He is active in the Sudbury community as a youth soccer and volleyball coach. In his professional life, he is an academic, teaching chemistry at Brown. Before that, Charles worked with a wide array of learners as a tutor in the metro Boston area, which helped inform him and his wife where they wanted to live, raise and educate their children. From these experiences, he has an astute sense of what it takes to educate the whole child, the need for ongoing, thoughtful educational program evaluation and responsive change, and a full and enthusiastic respect for the teaching and learning that occurs at Lincoln-Sudbury. In my encounters with Charles, I find a calm, reflective, well-prepared candidate ready to roll up his sleeves, impart his perspective, but most of all to listen, learn and contribute fully to the roles and responsibilities of the L-S School Committee.

I have known Jack Ryan (RyanforLS.com) for 20 years. A retired lawyer, Jack and I overlapped as colleagues on the L-S School Committee, early in my tenure and at the conclusion of his first four terms of service. Jack chaired the LSRHS building committee, completed in 2004, bringing the project in on time and below budget. Jack has a wide lens on Sudbury, Lincoln, and our shared high school. He has served in many other capacities in Sudbury (Finance Committee for seven years, Sudbury Council on Aging Board, and other organizations). His pull to run again is multifaceted — policy, governance, funding, and also family, as he has grandchildren who will be attending LSRHS in the near future. Jack is sharp, knowledgeable, candid, and committed. He shares with me a depth of perspective and appreciation for LSRHS that also fuels his call to serve again.

Charles and Jack, both Sudbury residents, will be thoughtful and inclusive in their service to LSRHS, to Lincoln, and to Sudbury.

In addition to their websites, the Sudbury League of Women Voters has a recorded candidates’ forum featuring all the candidates for the L-S School Committee which can be found here. Sudbury Weekly, Sudbury’s online news source, also has “Thoughts in Return,” a Q&A with all candidates.

There will be an opportunity to meet the candidates and ask questions at the candidates’ forum in the Learning Commons at the Lincoln School on Monday, March 24 at 7:00pm. Please remember to vote on Monday, March 31 at the Lincoln School and ink in the circles for Charles Morton and Jack Ryan.

Note: I am an appointed member of the Lincoln Finance Committee. I am writing this letter in my personal capacity as a private citizen. My views are my own.

“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.