• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

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

  • Home
  • About/Contact
  • Advertise
  • Legal Notices
    • Submitting legal notices
  • Lincoln Resources
    • Coming Up in Lincoln
    • Municipal Calendar
    • Lincoln Links
  • Merchandise
  • Subscriptions
    • My Account
    • Log In
    • Log Out
  • Lincoln Review
    • About the Lincoln Review
    • Issues
    • Submit your work

elections

Lincoln votes strongly Democratic in 2022 midterms

November 8, 2022

Editor’s note: This story was updated on November 9 at 1:50 p.m.

In keeping with its longtime political leanings, Lincoln voted decisively in favor of Democratic candidates for statewide office and U.S. Representative in the 2022 midterms, according to unofficial results on the evening of November 8.

All four ballot questions passed in Lincoln. Statewide, Questions 1, 2, and 4 were approved while Question 3 was defeated.

For the first time in recent memory, residents in Lincoln’s two voting precincts had different choices for state representative. Due to redistricting after the 2020 census, the new Massachusetts state House maps split Lincoln between two districts along the town’s voting precinct line: the 13th Middlesex (Precinct 1, in the western part of town) and the 14th Norfolk (eastern Lincoln). District-wide, State Rep. Carmine Gentile (D) ran unopposed for reelection in the 13th Middlesex, while Alice Peisch (D) beat David Rolde (Green/Rainbow) in the 14th Norfolk by a margin of 89% to 11%. Tom Stanley, Lincoln’s longtime state representative, no longer represents any part of the town.

The precinct line within Lincoln did not change because the population distribution within town did not shift enough to warrant an adjustment. State Sen. Michael Barrett (who ran for reelection unopposed in the 9th Middlesex) ran uncontested for reelection and still represents Lincoln.

Precinct #1 Precinct #2Total% of votes
in race*
GOVERNOR /
LT. GOVERNOR
Healey & Driscoll (D)1,6749332,60781%
Diehl & Allen (R)31224055214%
Reed & Everett (L)2723502%
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Andrea Campbell (D)1,6659192,58480%
James McMahon (R)33026459419%
SECRETARY OF STATE
William Galvin (D)1,6629392,60181%
Rayla Campbell (R)27621348915%
Juan Sanchez (G/R)66361023%
TREASURER
Deborah Goldberg (D)1,6929352,62786%
Cristina Crawford (L)22918241114%
AUDITOR
Anthony Amore (R)42330773024%
Diana DiZoglio (D)1,3967602,15670%
Gloria Caballero-Roca (G/R)62431053%
Dominic Giannone (W)181028<1%
Daniel Riek (L)4222642%
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
Katherine Clark (D)1,6619292,59082%
Caroline Colarusso (R)32124056118%
COUNCILLOR
Marilyn Devaney (D)1,5798962,47599%
STATE SENATOR
Michael Barrett (D)1666,9332,599100%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Precinct 1
Carmine Gentile (D)1,636—1,636100%
STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Precinct 2
Alice Peisch (D)—91991992%
David Rolde (G/R)—77778%
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Marian Ryan (D)1,6399242,563100%
SHERIFF
Peter Koutoujian (D)1,6439362,579100%
QUESTION #1
(millionaires' tax)
Yes1,1646421,80658%
No7975171,31442%
QUESTION #2
(dental insurance)
Yes1,5389012,43980%
No38123962020%
QUESTION #3
(alcohol sales)
Yes1,0455941,63955%
No8225131,33545%
QUESTION #4
(driver's license eligibility)
Yes1,5048482,35275%
No45931877725%

* Totals do not always add up to 100% because write-in and blank ballots are not included.

Category: elections, news Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

Candidate forum highlights housing, schools, and diversity

March 17, 2022

Candidates in the March 28 town election shared their views on the proposed community center, the Lincoln-Sudbury regional agreement, South Lincoln, and diversity and inclusion at a March 16 forum — the first public event held in the renovated Brooks auditorium.

Four of the races (Select Board, Planning Board, Lincoln School Committee and L-S School Committee or LSSC) are contested, and the Lincoln PTO, the forum’s organizer, addressed questions specific to those groups of candidates. The event, which began with introductions by all 16 candidates who attended, can be viewed here. An earlier forum for the LSSC candidates sponsored by the Sudbury League of Women Voters can be viewed here.

Community center cost is an issue

Select Board candidates Jim Hutchinson and Adam Hogue, who are vying for the seat being vacated by James Craig, said they supported the community center but expressed concern about how to pay for it (although many residents at the State of the Town meeting in November 2021 supported pursuing the project aggressively before costs went even higher). The project is now estimated to cost around $25 million and comes on the heels of a $93 million investment in the Lincoln School.

Hogue said he was against raising taxes to fund a community center, something that would be necessary if it were to be paid for primarily through bonding. “We have to look at different funding options,” he said, adding that the town could consider “pushing off other capital projects so we have to borrow less… This is going to be an expensive project. We have to be very conscious about how we actually fund those [projects] because our taxes have gone up quite a bit in town.”

The projected cost increase for the community center (first pegged at about $15 million in 2018) “has caused a bit of sticker shock for a bunch of us,” said Hutchinson, a former Finance Committee member. “We should take another look at the scope of the project and see if there’s any way we can maybe move some of the functions to our newly renovated school or other spaces in town and keep costs under control somewhat.” 

The town’s debt stabilization fund is another potential source of funding, as are private donations, though the town is not permitted to actively solicit donations for public projects, Hutchinson said. “I want to have dialogue with the community and do what you all want, not what I want to do.”

L-S regional agreement

Earlier this month, the L-S School Committee established a subcommittee to look at the regional agreement governing how funding for the high school is apportioned between Lincoln and Sudbury. That agreement has not been reexamined in many years.

The agreement “should be treated almost like a marriage, and what makes a marriage stronger is trust, respect, and communication,” said LSSC candidate Maura Carty. Budgeting timelines in the two towns have diverged, and the superintendent of schools must spend considerable time making both operating and capital budget requests to both towns. “I’d like to give the superintendent more time to spend with our students” while streamlining the budget process, Carty said.

Current LSSC chair Cara Endyke Doran agreed that a review of the agreement was overdue, saying the committee should update it to reflect “standard legal language and best practices.”

“There’s been a lot of talk across the river in Sudbury that’s really alarmist” when the subject of reviewing the regional agreement comes up, said incumbent Kevin Matthews (all three candidates vying for two open seats are Sudbury residents). “It’s a contract between two towns, but it’s also an opportunity to build more trust between the towns. There’s no way that anyone is going to snowball the other one in something like this.”

South Lincoln zoning changes

The future of South Lincoln in light of the state Housing Choice Act was issue #1 for the three Planning Board candidates competing for two seats. The board and its SLPAC subcommittee were working on ideas for rezoning the area to encourage more housing and commercial development even before last year’s passage of the state law, which (if enforced in its current form) would require Lincoln to allow at least 750 housing units within half a mile of the commuter rail station. They went back to the drawing board after residents complained two years ago that an initial rezoning proposal would give the Planning Board too much power at the expense of Town Meeting.

All three candidates emphasized that any changes will have to be approved by residents, not just the Planning Board. “We’re all ears to hear anyone’s suggestion,” Gladstone said. “Our job is to facilitate bringing as much information to as many people as possible so the town can decide.” Though some fear that the “we’re going to make a decision and suddenly something is going to be foisted on the town, that is simply not the case.” 

“If it does require some rezoning, the town will make the final decision,” said Ephraim Flint, a challenger who previously served on the board.

“South Lincoln is very important to the town, and whatever changes we make there, we will be living with for many, many years,” Planning Board Chair Margaret Olson observed. “I’m looking forward to hearing about more options and tools to help us all understand what something might even look like, being able to visualize and understand what this means and what the implications are.”

Mental health, diversity, and social issues in schools

The two Lincoln School Committee candidates (both newcomers running for a vacant seat) said they supported the school district’s work around AIDE (antiracism, inclusion, diversity and equity). “We have to have smart educational accountability. We spend a lot of money and we have to be sure everyone is included and gets a good education,” said Joseph Dwyer.

Kim Rajdev implied that the goals of AIDE are not well served by having children grouped by ability. “It really pains me when I hear a very young child say ‘I’m not good at math’,” she said. The schools need to “move away from content and more toward adaptability and teamwork skills… thinking on our feet.”

Later in the forum where each contested candidate was asked about the most significant issue facing their board, Dwyer echoed Rajdev’s sentiment. “What students specifically learn today will be irrelevant as a flip phone 20 years from now. We have to teach them how to learn, not just regurgitating numbers and facts. They need to learn how to learn, analyze a situation, improvise, adapt, and overcome that situation.”

Mental health for teachers as well as students in the wake of the pandemic’s disruptions is also a central issue, Rajdev said. “We need to have deeper learning, but in a measured way and check in with teachers to make sure it’s not overwhelming for them,” she said.

The L-S School Committee candidates agreed on the importance of addressing mental health issues among students. The high school needs more data and metrics on this issue, Carty and Endyke Doran said. 

“The services are there,” but a majority of students don’t feel comfortable asking for help with mental health. More school-wide programs and events would help with that issue as well as building a sense of inclusiveness and confidence among students, Carty said.

Matthews supported improving student services but observed that “all of that needs to be paid for,” which is challenging in a time of declining enrollment and revenue at the high school. “It’s important  for us to be very cognizant of how we’re going to take care of students who have been impacted by the pandemic mentally and emotionally and have them be educated in a way that’s equal to everything else.”

“We need to know what’s working and not working so we can appropriately allocate funds and resources for our students,” Endyke Doran said.

The School Committee candidates were also asked if parents should have input on how the schools present information on controversial social issues to students. Many districts around the country are arguing over how (or even whether) to teach about topics such as race and homosexuality, although those issues were not mentioned specifically in the Lincoln forum.

“Yes, it’s our kids, and we should have input,” although local schools must be guided by state education standards, Rajdev said. If a parent is concerned about age-appropriate teaching material on controversial topics, “that discussion should be happening with the teacher and the superintendent. The School Committee is there to make sure the district is following the strategic plan and is supporting the administration” as its board of directors.

“There’s something that should be 100% clear: anything that is taught at school should be public to the parents,” said Dwyer, adding that he was recently told that he would have to sign a nondisclosure agreement if a school board were to tell him what was being taught. “That’s wrong. Parents have the primary responsibility. It’s very important for parents to know everything that is being taught, chapter and verse.”

Housing and diversity

Both Select Board candidates identified the housing crisis as the most pressing issue facing the board. “We need more housing and I do believe we can afford to do those housing units down there” as directed by the Housing Choice Act, Hogue said. “We can’t move slow on this; there’s a housing crisis in this area, and we need to develop and pass more housing options for people… [if] we’re going to get serious about this as a community.”

While Hutchinson said he supported the act’s intentions, he said it’s flawed in its current form. “The state needs feedback from us on how to fix this. Seven hundred and fifty units is not appropriate for our town… I believe residents would like to help do our share with the housing situation, but let’s get the implications of this act right first.”

Two of the Planning Board candidates agreed that housing is the biggest issue for the board right now. “The housing crisis is real. We all want South Lincoln to be a more vibrant place, and that probably requires having more housing there,” Olson said. “This will consume a great deal of the Planning Board’s time over the next couple of years.”

“What’s being asked of the town is some that’s desirable in some sense, but the scale is out of proportion to what we can achieve,” Flint said. Because of two-acre zoning and other  factors, most of Lincoln’s housing “tends to be upper-end and that’s significantly changed the economic demography of the town. How do you deal with that?”

Gladstone said he felt strongly about getting the community center built and hoped that additional development would help pay for some of it. 

“It all goes back to housing,” Hogue said when he and Hutchinson were asked what they would do to help Lincoln become more inclusive and diverse. “You can talk about diversity all you want, but if people can’t move here and afford to live here, we’re not going to have diversity.”

“We have to put our money where our mouth is,” said Hutchinson. As a member of the working group deciding how to spend federal pandemic relief money, he said he supported creating two new AIDE-related positions, one to guide teachers and a consultant to help build the town’s diversity programs. “It’s not easy to figure out what to do on some of these issues, and I’m looking forward to learning lessons [from the consultant] on best practices.”

Category: elections, news Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

PTO to host debate for town candidates

March 3, 2022

The Lincoln PTO will hold a debate featuring candidates in the March 28 town election on Wednesday, March 16 from 7–9 p.m. The event will take place in the newly renovated Brooks Auditorium and will also be live-streamed and recorded.

Moderating the event will be PTO co-chair Rob Stringer and former PTO president Carol Kasper. All of the candidates for the four contested races (Select Board, Lincoln School Committee, L-S School Committee, and Planning Board) have said they will participate, as have most of those who are running uncontested. “We really want everyone to get to know all the candidates,” Stringer said.

Each candidate will have two minutes to introduce themselves and will then face questions from the moderators. There will also be Q&A opportunities for the audience, probably with questions written down and sent to the moderators as with recent Town Meetings.

National issues have trickled down into local politics in many cities and towns, “but we want to make sure it stays civil and nobody feels attacked from the right or the left. We are still neighbors,” Stringer said.

Details and online links will be announced closer to the event.

Category: elections, government, news Tagged: elections 2 Comments

Several contested seats in upcoming town election

February 8, 2022

There’s more interest than usual in running for town office this year, as 21 residents filed papers to run for 17 seats in the March 28 election (see table below). The contested races are:

Select Board (two candidates running for one seat) — Incumbent James Craig is stepping down after two terms and Jim Hutchinson and Adam Hogue are competing for that open seat.

Planning Board (three candidates running for two seats) — Incumbents Margaret Olson and Steve Gladstone are running for reelection, and Ephraim Flint is also running. Flint previously served on the Planning Board in the 2000s.

Lincoln School Committee (two candidates running for one seat) — Newcomers Kimberly Rajdev and Joseph Dwyer are vying for the seat of Jen James, who was appointed to fill the seat of Trintje Gnazzo (who resigned mid-term) but is not running for election to a full term. Meanwhile, Adam Hogue (who is on the committee but not up for reelection) is running for a seat on the Select Board. If he wins that seat,  the School Committee and Select Board will appoint an interim member to fill his spot.

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Committee (three candidates running for two seats) — All three (two incumbents and a challenger) are Sudbury residents. The seats held by Lincoln residents Heather Cowap and Harold Engstrom are not up for reelection this year.

Board/Committee# of SeatsCandidate NameEmail
Board of Assessors1Bruce Campbell*camshaftbc@gmail.com
Board of Health1Steven R. Kanner*drkanner@orchardhealthcare.com
Cemetery Commission1Conrad Todd*robtodd1937@gmail.com
Commissioner of Trust Funds1Douglas B. Harding*dsh1965@verizon.net
Housing Commission1Rakesh Karmacharya*karmacha@hotmail.com
LSRHS School Committee2Maura Cartymauracarty4lssc@gmail.com
Cara Eileen Endyke Doran*caraforlssc@gmail.com
Kevin J. Matthews*kjmatthews05@comcast.net
Parks and Recreation Committee1Thornton Ringtring01@yahoo.com
Planning Board2Ephraim B. Flintebflint@verizon.net
Stephen R. Gladstone*steve.gladstone@gmail.com
Setha Margaret Olson*margaret@margaretolson.com
Lincoln School Committee1Joseph J. Dwyerjaysp51d@gmail.com
Kimberly Rajdevkrajdev@gmail.com
Select Board1Adam M. Hogueadam.m.hogue@gmail.com
James Hutchinsonjmhutch5@hotmail.com
Town Clerk1Valerie Fox*foxv@lincolntown.org
Trustees of Bemis Fund1Sara A. Mattes*samattes@gmail.com
Trustee of Lincoln Library1Ray A. Shepardrayashepard@gmail.com
Water Commission2Ruth Ann Hendrickson*raandbob@earthlink.net
Jason S. Leejasonslee.phd@gmail.com

* incumbent

Category: elections, government, news Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

Town election results: Doo wins seat on Parks and Rec Committee

March 30, 2021

In the only contested race in the local election on Mach 29, 2021, Brianna Doo beat Evan Gorman for an open seat on the Parks and Recreation Committee by a total of 303–87. However, Gorman also successfully ran for reelection to the Housing Commission.

Offices & CandidatesPrecinct 1Precinct 2Total
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
JENNIFER LANE REASER GLASS268162430
WRITE-IN112
BLANK18725
BOARD OF ASSESSORS
EDWARD H. MORGAN263153416
WRITE-IN101
BLANK231740
BOARD OF HEALTH
PATRICIA E. MILLER259158417
WRITE-IN101
BLANK271239
CEMETERY COMMISSIONER
DOUGLAS B. HARDING259156415
WRITE-IN112
BLANK271340
COMMISSIONER OF TRUST FUNDS
WRITE-IN19928
DONALD COLLINS5611
BLANK263155418
HOUSING COMMISSION
EVAN KARMEL GORMAN251149400
WRITE-IN303
BLANK332154
L-S REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT COMMITTEE
HEATHER-JEANNE COWAP SALEMME259155414
MARY D. WARZYNSKI192114306
WRITE-IN101
BLANK12271193
PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE
BRIANNA MARISA DOO183120303
EVAN KARMEL GORMAN513687
WRITE-IN101
BLANK521466
PLANNING BOARD
GERALD A. TAYLOR253153406
WRITE-IN123
BLANK331548
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
SUSAN HANDS TAYLOR245150395
JOHN A. MACLACHLAN227135362
WRITE-IN101
BLANK10155156
TRUSTEES OF BEMIS
MIRIAM L. BORDEN255155410
WRITE-IN101
BLANK311546
WATER COMISSIONER
JAMES M. HUTCHINSON262157419
WRITE-IN000
BLANK251338

Category: elections, government Tagged: elections 2 Comments

Candidate slate ready for town election in March

February 24, 2021

The slate for the upcoming town election features several newcomers hoping to win seats after some incumbents decided not to run for reelection, and one contested seat — two candidates are vying for one opening on the Parks and Recreation Commission. All seats are for three-year terms.

Residents can vote in person in the Smith gym from 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday, March 29. They may also vote by absentee ballot, or early by mail (this last option has been extended by the legislature).

The election is usually held two days after the Annual Town Meeting, but the ATM this year will be held outdoors on May 15 (details to be announced).

Board/committeeCandidateIncumbent not running for reelection
Board of AssessorsEdward Morgan*
Board of HealthPatricia Miller*
Board of SelectmenJennifer Glass*
Cemetery CommissionDouglas Harding**None (the seat is currently open)
Commissioner of Trust Funds—Donald Collins
Housing CommissionEvan Gorman
LSRHS School CommitteeHeather Cowap SalemmeCarole Kasper
LSRHS School CommitteeMary WarzynskiEllen Joachim
Parks and Recreation CommitteeBrianna Doo, Evan GormanSarah Chester
Planning BoardGerald Taylor*
School CommitteeSusan Taylor*
School CommitteeJohn MaclachlanPeter Borden
Trustees of Bemis FundMiriam Borden*
Water CommissionJim Hutchinson*

* Incumbent running for reelection

** Doug Harding is running for the seat formerly held by his wife Susan, who passed away in 2020.

Category: elections, government, news Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

Planning Board candidates reflect on election result

June 17, 2020

The candidates in the hard-fought Planning Board race had gracious words for each other and said the election was a good experience for the town, even though it became contentious at times.

“I’d like to congratulate Lynn [DeLisi] and Rick [Rundell] for a good campaign that stuck to the issues,” said Bob Domnitz, who will serve his second stint on the board after winning more votes than Rundell in the three-way race for two seats. “I know some of our supporters were overly enthusiastic, but the candidates took the high road and that’s the way it should be. I’m proud of the entire town for coming out and voting in the numbers they did in this pandemic.”

“I’m impressed that over 800 people felt the issues were important enough to take the trouble to vote under complicated circumstances,” Rundell echoed in a letter posted in LincolnTalk. “I do think an enthusiastically contested election benefits the town by surfacing issues we should be talking about.”

DeLisi, who got the most votes of the three, said she was surprised to finish in first place. “Actually, I thought I would lose,” she said, since much of the campaign discussion focused on Domnitz vs. Rundell rather than DeLisi alone.

DeLisi was co-chair of the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee, a large group with several subcommittees, one of which was the Village Planning and Zoning team. That team’s proposal for rezoning part of South Lincoln and changing the project approval process to give the board more latitude provoked much criticism. But the full SLPIC group rarely met, and DeLisi said she was not even aware of what the zoning team was suggesting until the process was well along.

“I thought the zoning subcommittee was working on ways to make it easier for businesses to open in town… and not focusing on regulations to help developers build dense condos as well,” DeLisi said. “I’ve never chaired a committee where I didn’t know what was going on, and I clearly did not know what was going on,” she said.

Her SLIPC co-chair was Gary Taylor, who was the board’s representative on the zoning subcommittee (and ironically, the person who beat out Domnitz in another close election in 2015).

Domnitz and DeLisi want to see any future zoning change proposals come from the full Planning Board, not SLPAC (the successor to SLPIC) or a subcommittee.

One thing all three candidates agreed on: the discussion about South Lincoln isn’t over.

“My position was that the town should have the conversation — not just a matter of one group shouting it down before everybody had the chance to engage in it,” Rundell said.

“We’re going to have to talk about South Lincoln and how to sustain what we have there. Maybe we do have to change the zoning, but not in the way it was proposed,” DeLisi said. “I think we need to be speaking to the people who live around there and involve them in the conversation.”

Category: elections, government, land use Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

Rundell is out and Domnitz back on Planning Board

June 15, 2020

In a very close race for Planning Board, incumbent Lynn DeLisi and challenger Bob Domnitz won the two open seats, ousting Rick Rundell, who has been on the board since 2012. Domnitz previously served on the board from 2003–15 but himself was beaten by Gary Taylor in 2015 by a margin of 481-441 (click on ballot image). 

In the June 15 election, residents could vote for two of the three candidates. Domnitz, a Mill Street resident, beat Rundell in Precinct 2 (northern and eastern Lincoln), 459-412, but came in third in Precinct 1. DeLisi garnered the most votes of the three candidates, but Domnitz’s margin in his home precinct was enough to allow him to finish in second place overall, beating Rundell by 47 votes. A total of 806 ballots were cast in the election for a turnout of 17% of registered voters (the Planning Board was the only contested race).

The race was the focus of much townwide debate and campaigning. Over the last year, the board has been at the center of  controversial proposal (since shelved) by one of the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee’s teams to relax some of the zoning rules for the Lincoln Station area and give the board more power to approve projects that might otherwise have had to go to Town Meeting. 

Unofficial town election results for June 2020 (click to see both pages).

In the June 11 candidate forum, DeLisi and Domnitz roundly criticized the proposal by SLPIC. But Rundell pushed back, noting that the board could not change its decision-making scope without approval at Town Meeting. The SLPIC proposal was originally on the docket when Town Meeting was scheduled for March but were withdrawn before the meeting was rescheduled due to the pandemic. SLPIC then planned to bring a revised proposal to a Special Town Meeting this fall but subsequently shelved the plan entirely. 

During the forum, Rundell characterized himself as a “forward-looking candidate” and said the board’s role should not be “fossilizing the town in a certain state.” 

Ironically, Rundell said in March that he was recruited to the Planning Board shortly after arriving in Lincoln by Domnitz because he felt the board lacked a professional architect. 

The Lincoln Squirrel will interview all three candidates about the results and hopes to publish a story on June 16.

Category: elections, government Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

Candidates offer their views and make their pitch

June 4, 2020

Earlier this year, the Lincoln Squirrel asked candidates running in the annual town election (then scheduled for late March) to discuss their experience and the important issues they thought would face their board or commission in coming months and years. The Squirrel published responses from candidates for the Water Commission and the Planning Board (the only contested race this year) earlier this spring, as well as three new pieces by Planning Board candidates Lynn DeLisi, Bob Domnitz, and Rick Rundell. See the full slate on this specimen ballot. Here are the responses from the remaining candidates.

Manley B. Boyce II

Cemetery Commission (22-year incumbent)

Hard to believe that I have been on this commission since 1998. Before being on this commission, I spent three years on the Emergency Fund with the Council of Aging under the direction of the Board of Selectmen.

Although some of the land formation has changed, the direction of the members of the Cemetery Commission has not. We have always, as a commission, been united in our mission to support our townspeople with a beautiful and restful sanctuary to respect and honor our friends and family members.

If reelected to this position, I would strive to be a part of this commission to continue to oversee and orchestrate the tranquil presence of our cemeteries. This requires funding and land expansion that is needed now and will be required to accommodate future generations.

As our cemetery expands, we find we now need a full-time custodian to oversee the preservation of the cemetery land and for the ongoing burials. Funding is imperative to achieve this goal. A second and crucial funding need is for a mini-excavator to reach our hard-to-access lots. This mini-excavator would be shared, used, and maintained by the Highway Department;

Jonathan Dwyer

Board of Selectmen (three-year incumbent)

Having finished one term on the Board of Selectmen, I am running for reelection. A key BOS responsibility is to ensure the town’s government is responsive to residents. I consistently hear concerns about the cost of living in town, the need for expanded social services, and desires for developing a more diverse tax base. Residents want a community center, a vibrant town center, greater town commitment to net-zero living, and improved transportation infrastructure supporting multi-mobility and safety for all roadway users. Voices also call for more diverse housing, expanded conservation of land, and greater investment in our historic structures. 

Considering that big projects like the town office renovation and athletic fields expansion are done, the new school project is underway and Oriole Landing is on course to meet our affordable housing goals, I think it is time to discern the town’s current priorities and update its 11-year-old Comprehensive Long Range Plan. I would be honored to serve another term on the board to listen and to lead in partnership with colleagues Jennifer Glass and James Craig.

I respectfully ask that you make me the last “Selectman” to run for office in Lincoln (there is a citizen’s petition to rename BOS to “Select Board” at a future Town Meeting yet to be scheduled).

Harold Engstrom

Lincoln-Sudbury High School District Committee (first-time candidate)

While I have helped on boards around Lincoln before (Codman, soccer, etc.), I haven’t run for nor been elected to any position anywhere. In the three-year term I’m running for, probably the most important part of the job will be helping to select new leadership for L-S because the current superintendent will come to the end of her tenure. My motivation for running for L-S School Committee is very general: provide responsible stewardship and help our community maximize the potential and development of all students and staff at L-S. I expect that my approach will be to (1) first understand how the L-S school committee currently functions and why it functions that way, then (2) understand what the currently stated guiding principles and currently approved plan for L-S is, and then (3) work to execute duties as decided on by the committee. It is possible that I may not agree with the majority sometimes, but that will not keep me from working constructively to do what we vote to do. Our public schools are our biggest and most important ongoing community project.

I was asked to run and I also feel that giving back is important. My sons graduated from L-S and my daughter graduates this spring. Helping to keep L-S a great place for others, and possibly helping to make it even better, would be a privilege.

Derek P. Fitzgerald

Commissioner of Trust Funds (six-year incumbent)

The town’s trust investments have had a good run over the last several years as the markets have gone up significantly. The immediate task is to keep a good monitoring program in place and to avoid unneeded risks and complexity. At some point the markets will turn and trusts need to be positioned to minimize risk to capital yet still earn a reasonable return on investment. I believe the Lincoln trusts investments are well positioned, but this is an on-going process. 

In the last year, the board directed our portfolio managers to minimize the trusts investments in the fossil fuel industry in pursuit of the ESG goal of supporting a greener planet. Lincoln didn’t have much exposure to begin with so the impact has been minimal on the investment holdings and performance.

Less glamorously but perhaps just as importantly for the prudent management of the trust, the board updated and adopted a new investment policy to direct our portfolio managers in the oversite and allocation of the town trusts.

Adam Hogue

School Committee (one-year incumbent)

The biggest challenge facing us currently is the current pandemic. My goals on the committee is to keep our budget fiscally responsible to the town and also be an advocate for our students to give them the best education possible.

Sarah Cannon Holden

Town Moderator (12-year incumbent)

I am running for my fourth three-year term as Lincoln’s Town Moderator. My prior experience includes six years on the Finance Committee, two years on the Community Preservation Committee, nine years on the L-S School Committee, and six years on the Board of Selectmen. In each position I have learned a little bit more about the town (and probably myself), and I cherish the friendships that I have made while serving the town.

My interests in civics, politics, and service led me to law school 20 years after I graduated from college. I have had an active and interesting career in labor arbitration and mediation. It was interrupted briefly in 2001-02 when I ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor as a qualified Clean Elections Candidate. My role now as moderator seems to fit in with this background. I certainly enjoy the role and the challenges that it poses. I hope always to conduct a fair, open and respectful meeting, and to be receptive to new ideas for making the meeting run efficiently without sacrificing the robust and complex essence of democracy.

My three children attended the Lincoln and Lincoln-Sudbury Public Schools.

This year’s Town Meeting will be a new experience for all of us. It will be in a tent on June 13; it will be a very abbreviated meeting with all presentations having been done online in the weeks and days beforehand, and it will include a comprehensive consent calendar with only three other articles for our consideration. Our primary concern is the health of all in attendance. With that in mind, I believe that it is important for us to work through the agenda carefully and as efficiently as possible.

I will do my best to lead us through the meeting after so many volunteers and staff have done the work to get us prepared. Please check in early on June 13 so we can get started at 9:30 a.m.

I ask for your vote on Monday, June 15. The polls at the Hartwell School parking lot will be open from 12–4 p.m. Thank you.

Fred Mansfield

Board of Health (20-year incumbent)

Important issues for the upcoming year(s) include:

  • Infectious diseases and the town’s response, e.g. EEE, Covid-19, West Nile, tick-borne disease
  • Water quality
  • Natural gas leaks
  • Town nurse coverage for elderly and disabled
  • Immunization advocacy: measles, flu, Covid -19
  • Issues around control of nicotine and cannabinoid distribution and use

Ellen Meadors

Board of Assessors (18-year incumbent)

The main goals of the Board of Assessors are to:

  • Provide fair and equitable assessments based on true market values
  • Meet with citizens and citizen groups to discuss their assessment concerns
  • Propose and support tax relief measures for those who need them
  • Coordinate with and support other departments, boards, and commissions
  • Incorporate new technologies to improve assessments, enhance services and reduce costs.

In the next few years, we expect to be incorporating new technologies into our assessing process. In particular, our assessing contractor, Regional Resource Group, is finding it more and more challenging to do the yearly periodic re-inspections of properties. Qualified assessing staff is getting more and more difficult to find and some homeowners feel it‘s an invasion of privacy to have people walking around their house measuring the exterior. We are hoping to be able to use high-definition aerial images and image processing software tools to do detailed exterior inspections via computer that are sufficiently accurate to meet State requirements. The Board will be working with RRG to define a new process and get State approval.

Tara Mitchell

School Committee (three-year incumbent and current chair)

There are so many exciting aspects of working with the school district at this point. The new primary and middle schools at Hanscom and the Lincoln campus renovation project is allowing our district to advance into 21st-century education. Teachers at both schools are building skills, honing techniques, and collaborating to help better prepare students for the challenges they will face in the future. Lincoln staff have started to reimagine how they use spaces and how they work with students and colleagues now and in the future.

As a school committee member, I’m excited to support the district’s strategic plan, which focuses on professional development, elevating instructional practices within all classrooms, and providing deeper learning for all students. I look forward to communicating how this vision is becoming a reality and ensuring the policies and budget recommendations continue to support the district’s goals. 

Rob Stringer

Recreation Department (first-time candidate)

No previous government offices held, but I am a soccer coach, baseball and basketball assistant coach, and I’m on the PTO.

There are a few things I’m very interested in helping the Rec Department deal with in the next few years: how to handle the adjustments to our yearly program of events due to the school building work (Fourth of July, parking for the pool, use of fields) and how can we build on the work to leave a legacy that makes us stronger. Look for new ways to engage Lincoln residents and surrounding communities using the wonderful parks and people we have. 

I enjoy working with the communities I’m already involved in (PTO and local sports) and thought it would be another way to stay involved as my kids age out of my ability to coach them.

Category: elections, government Tagged: elections 1 Comment

Town meeting, election postponed for at least a month

March 13, 2020

The town meetings and election scheduled for the end of this month have been called off, with tentative new dates in late April, though town officials have the option of postponing again if the Covid-19 epidemic has not abated.

“The sentiment is very clear — everyone thinks we should postpone,” said Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden at an emergency meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Friday morning.

“We are very strongly against pulling people together at any public gathering at this point in time,” said Patricia Miller, a member of the Board of Health, which met on March 11.

Holden officially declared that the Town Meeting and Special Town Meeting will be postponed “to a time certain” — Saturday, April 25 a 9:30 a.m. in the Donaldson Auditorium. The actions came just hours before Gov. Baker issued an order banning public gatherings with more than 250 people, with some exceptions.

The most time-sensitive issue that was due for a vote on March 28 was the Special Town Meeting question about the school project. Last month, the School Building was forced to cut items totaling $3.5 million after construction bids came in higher than expected, so they’re hoping residents approve adding back up to $2 million for the items they consider most important. 

Architects and construction firms need to know by June 1 which items will be part of the project, and they would prefer that the town vote by mid-May. However, the project as a whole is not stalled. “The contracts are signed, the project is moving forward,” Selectman Jennifer Glass said. “The pieces in question are the items we’re thinking about adding back.”

Virtual meetings

In the coming weeks, town officials will be thinking about ways to make both the town meetings and town government function given the necessity of social distancing. Meetings of boards and commissions and their accompanying public hearings will be postponed when possible or held remotely. The state’s open Meeting Law requires members of town boards to meet in person in public, but an executive order issued by Gov. Baker on Thursday night relaxes that requirement, allowing meetings to be held remotely, without a quorum gathered at a single location, as long as the public has access in real time to the proceedings via the web or some other audio or videoconferencing method.

“We need to move on that now,” Miller said about the issue of getting access to the appropriate technology for board chairs. These methods could also be used to shorten the town meetings when they do take place, such as having televised presentations of the warrant articles. 

Unlike elections, residents may not vote early or by absentee ballot at Town Meeting. However, officials could survey residents ahead of time to shape a shortened agenda with just the most popular or important items. Votes on other matters such as the citizens’ petitions could  be postponed until later in the year or even 2021.

If necessary, the April 25 Town Meetings could be opened and the immediately postponed to another “time certain.”

Town election

Under state law, the only way to postpone town elections is via court injunction or special legislation by the state. Voters as well as poll workers at elections tend to skew toward the senior citizen population, who are more vulnerable to serious illness from Covid-19, and the idea of them interacting with hundreds of people on Election Day is “disconcerting,” Town Administrator Tim Higgins said.

The board voted to ask the governor to file emergency legislation on behalf of the town seeking authorization to postpone the election to a date on or before June 30. However, if the election is to be held the customary two days after Town Meeting (which is now scheduled for April 27), officials must nail down the election date by April 5 because 20 days’ notice is required. That period is to allow people who were not eligible to vote in March to register.

The rescheduled election will probably also allow “modified early voting by mail,” which is essentially the same as absentee ballot voting, but without the requirement for the voter to sign an affidavit saying they are unable to vote in person for religious or medical reasons or because they are out of town. Voters would still have to request ballots in advance.

Lincoln’s town election is normally held on the same day as Sudbury’s so the two towns can simultaneously elect members of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee. However, that isn’t critical this year, since the seats for that board are uncontested.

Like everything else nowadays, these tentative plans are subject to change, depending on what happens with the pandemic and whether the state offers more rules or guidance on how town government should be conducted in the Covid-19 era.

Lincoln public health nurse Trish McGean, who was also at the selectmen’s meeting, said that as of Friday morning she did not know if and when the town’s preschools and private schools would close, though she assumed they would follow the lead of the Lincoln Public Schools.

There were no official cases as of Covid-19 on Friday, though experts agree that the virus is circulating widely. When someone does test positive or presumptively positive, the state Department of Public Health will inform McGean, who will publish that fact (minus patient-identifying information) on the town’s Covid-19 website at lincolnpublichealthnews.com.

Category: Covid-19*, elections, government, health and science Tagged: elections Leave a Comment

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Great Create adds color to school May 20, 2025
  • Legal notice: Conservation Commission public hearing (18 Todd Pond) May 20, 2025
  • Legal notice: Conservation Commission public hearing (51 Sandy Pond) May 20, 2025
  • News acorns May 18, 2025
  • Tack Room to get expanded outdoor patio May 15, 2025

Squirrel Archives

Categories

Secondary Sidebar

Search the Squirrel:

Privacy policy

© Copyright 2025 The Lincoln Squirrel · All Rights Reserved.