I am new to town, having only moved here 3-4 years ago. Im an honest-to-god transplant who thought this cute little coastal town would be an amazing place to raise my family. About the time we moved here, I heard about the possibility for a new school. I attended several public meetings about the towns plans and I decided this this topic was important enough to me and my family to get involved. This meant immeasurable sacrifices on the part of my family, but for the past three years I have served on the Public Building Commission and the Master Plan Steering Committee (my seat was appointed through PBC.) I also had the opportunity to sit on the School Building Committee but as a mother of four (all currently under age 6) who works in Boston, I felt I had to trust those who had more time than I did. Having been able to be a close part of the decision making process that has lead our town to the vote tomorrow, I have been incredibly impressed with how this has all turned out. Everyone has their opinions, but in my experience of working with the board of selectmen, the town administrator and all of my colleagues on all of the various commissions I have come to know I have been very humbled by the graciousness of time which people give and the consideration made to everyone’s different opinions. To date, there have been no less than 50+ public meetings of which anyone in town could have participated in to ask questions or learn more about this piece of the Master Plan which is going to be voted on tomorrow. There were multiple meetings by each sector: Public Safety, School, Library, etc. where they requested the town to voice their opinions. I can understand the folks in town who may not think the school or public safety complex is a priority for them. And for that we respectfully agree to disagree. But what I cannot understand is the sentiment to “try again” and devise a different plan. If you are voting ‘no’ for the purpose of hoping for something different instead, but agree something needs to be done, you are doing an incredible disservice to those in our community who have spent countless hours working on and preparing a package that was deemed palatable to the tax base. What may seem grandiose to those of you in this category was very likely well thought out by a handful of individuals that included not only your neighbors but specialists in those fields. I, personally, do not believe that any of the plans being brought forth are too expensive or too fancy. From my own experience working with the Chiefs, OPM and architect on the Public Safety Complex I know that what was finally decided upon was needs based and ALL of the extras were cut out. Although I did not participate in the SBC meetings, I have no doubt the same thing was done there. To vote ‘no’ because you think we can pay less or cut out “unnecessary” expenses is suggests that you do not believe in the democratic process in this town and that you do not trust your neighbors who have worked so diligently for the past 3 years. I strongly urge those of you in this category to consider the commitment you will make to the town to bring a cheaper option to vote in the next 2-4 years. Many of you didn’t participate, at all, in the past 3 years, why should anyone trust that you will the next time around? To vote ‘YES’ tomorrow shows that you not only stand by your community, its elected officials and your neighbors but it shows a willingness to help make the necessary improvements to our town to ensure it continues to be great.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 20:59:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015