Category Archives: Arlington

Vote Brazile, Diggins, Exton -June 2020

I’m casting three important votes (by mail!), and I encourage you to do so as well.

Juli Brazile is the best choice for Town Clerk.  Juli is a leader, a manager, an organizer, a doer, and, most importantly, a public servant.  As chair of Envision Arlington (formerly Vision 2020) she mobilized dozens of volunteers.  She will tackle the big issues – like making elections more accessible to everyone – to the small ones – like making it possible to buy your dog license online. She will transform the clerk’s office so that it serves the town’s residents where they are – be it in person, on the phone, or online.

Len Diggins will make an excellent member of the Select Board. I’ve gotten to know Len through his work for ACMI and our regular discussions about Select Board issues. His initiative to grow Town Meeting precinct meetings has increased education and involvement, and it’s an example of the priorities and leadership that he will bring to the Select Board.  His experience in regional transportation oversight will also be valuable as the town grapples with our growing population, both in Arlington and in the region.

Liz Exton is my choice for School Committee.  She brings important experience to the group, and perspective and knowledge that the committee will find invaluable.  First, she’s a parent of students in the Arlington system.  Second, she is a teacher in another school system. Her experience as a Town Meeting Member and override campaign activist are also important – she knows both what is possible, and what the limits are. 

I do not live in Precinct 12, but if I did, I would be voting for incumbents Eric Helmuth and Juli Brazile.  Eric’s qualifications are overwhelming: he was the chair of the group that brought electronic voting to Town Meeting.  He’s the current chair of the Community Preservation Committee.  He is also kind and thoughtful.

Eric and Juli are the target of Arlington Fights Racism (AFR), who nominated a slate of four candidates for the four seats. AFR’s stated goals are noble; their endorsement criteria is ostensibly to “increase the diversity of representation.” But their choices would lower Town Meeting’s diversity and remove highly respected members. Town Meeting will be diminished if Eric and Juli are not returned to their seats.

Joe Curro has compiled a longer list of Town Meeting endorsements, and I agree with the choices that he’s made.

Good health to all.  Thanks,

Dan Dunn

tone, rhetoric, and message in this time of corona

 I posted this on the Arlington email list and Facebook
 on Sunday, May 3

Dear Arlingtonians,

It’s been more than 7 weeks since our collective trial has begun. It can feel like a new normal, and it can feel like each day is harder than the one before. For most of us I think it’s a mix of both.

This email is a commentary on how the collective trial is manifesting itself in our community dialog. It’s also a call for personal reflection, and if you feel it is appropriate, some follow-up actions.

Let’s start with some quotes from messages I’ve been sent or cc’d as Selectman. Some of these were to me (as an elected official) and some of these were sent to town employees (non-political).

  • One email compared the Select Board to the Politburo.
  • Another said that because of insufficient publicity the election process “will be a sham.”
  • Another email suggested that town officials were engaged in campaigns to exclude residents in the same vein as campaigns to exclude women and people of color.
  • Another says the town is “requiring full hooding” of public meeting participants even as the use of Zoom meetings evolves every week.

The rhetoric in these emails is asymmetric with the problems that are being addressed. They’re over-the-top attacks that aren’t justified by the underlying issues.

Worse, these messages accuse the recipients of some really terrible things – disenfranchisement of voters, bigotry, misogyny, racism, and malice.

The recipients are working hard to keep our town safe and productive, while they’re simultaneously defending themselves from these accusations. These messages are demoralizing and distracting. These messages are about real issues, issues that are worth addressing. But the message style is making everything worse, not better.

Let me bring in a thread from my professional life at Hydrow. We’ve been seeing a huge increase in inbound volume since mid-March, and it’s been very positive. But a couple weeks ago the VP of support messaged me: “Customers are also getting increasingly unreasonable/unstable/abusive in the past week… especially around delivery failures,” she told me. Most of our customers are great, but a handful of them are suddenly being terrible when they weren’t before.

I’m connecting two dots. The people writing these messages (Arlington residents and Hydrow customers both) are under intense personal stress. If you take someone’s psyche and you wring it out like a dishrag with stress, fear, and unknowns, it’s going to squirt out somewhere. Their psychic pain is squirting out in these venomous, unproductive messages.

Thanks for reading this far. Here’s where you can help. It all boils down to this: Be the change you want to see.

  • If you you’re writing a message about something that needs improvement, please keep it positive.
  • If you see someone who isn’t keeping their cool in their messaging, figure out how to de-escalate it, or maybe just step away. I can tell you this email wasn’t my first reaction when i read some of those emails, but this email will hopefully more effective than my first knee-jerk thoughts.
  • Be another positive voice. If you see someone who isn’t keeping their cool, create a whole new message – one that appreciates the work and the progress that we have been able to achieve.
  • If you see something you think could be better – think about volunteering! The town is powered by hundreds (thousands) of volunteers, and we can always use more.

As a short-timer on the Select Board I have the benefit of 9+ years of experience, plus the luxury of some perspective. My skin grows thicker, and I can tell you that helps quite a bit.

Thank you all for reading and considering.

Dan Dunn

Town Meeting ’13, Session 2; Special Town Meeting

I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I’m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I try to publish the notes every night after the meeting, as time allows. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.  I do not try to reproduce my entire notes for this online version. Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Most of the time I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

The regular Town Meeting was called to order, and we opened the Special Town Meeting.  I heard some question about why there was a special town meeting.  The reason we did it this way is to make the leaf blower regulation changes as seamless as possible.  Anything passed in a town meeting doesn’t take effect until some period of time after the meeting is completely dissolved.  Regular town meeting sometimes extends into June.  The special town meeting was dissolved tonight.  Thus, the new leaf blower regulations will take effect much sooner, almost-but-not-quite before the May 15 when the seasonal ban will technically go into effect.  

The Arlington High School Madrigal Singers sang the national anthem. They performed three other songs.

The moderator announced that precincts 1-7 were taking organizational votes today. He referred to a breakdown in civility on Monday. He gave the definition of an ad hominem attack.

Since it’s the Special Town Meeting, we have to set our ground rules again. The basic motions about seating etc. were made.

Announcements

  • Scott Smith of the Bicycle Advisory Committee announced a bike path cleanup for Saturday at 9:30
  • Carol Kowalski made several announcements about the Master Plan process.  She introduced the town’s consultants who outlined the 18-month process.  Harry McCabe asked why we didn’t have a building moratorium during the process, and the answer was that the changes anticipated so far weren’t sweeping.
  • Michelle Durocher announced Saturday’s cleanup of Meadowbrook Park at 9am.
  • Maya Ginns announced a town-wide cleanup on May 11.
  • Jim O’Conor talked about joining town meeting member email list.
  • Chris Loreti  found a pair of eyeglasses
  • Lyman Judd announced that he was forced to apologize for his actions at the previous town meeting.  He gave a meandering speech on various topics, some related to the incident on Monday.  This was a spectacle, awkward, painful to watch, and a waste of the meeting’s time.  It is not clear to me what the moderator was hoping for when he (apparently) required an apology from Judd.  That said, I don’t have a easy alternative to recommend for dealing with misbehaving members.

Article 1 – Reports

  • I gave the report of the Board of Selectmen.
  • Al Tosti gave the report of FinComm.
  • Michael Quinn moved that the Municipal Power Committee be dissolved.  This was the first committee I joined in Arlington.  It was a good group, and I enjoyed the work we did.

Article 1 was tabled.

Article 2 – Leaf Blowers

Selectman Kevin Greeley recounted the history of the leaf blower debate in Arlington. He advocated support of the proposed compromise.  Christopher Moore proposed an amendment to apply the bylaw to internal combustion, not just gasoline. Wes Beal made a substitute motion to “press the pause button” and send it back to a committee. Paul Schlictman said it was not a true compromise. There are real concerns on both sides, but we should vote this down.  Landscaper Tibbets described the process of the compromise committee and advocated its support.  He received applause and cheers, and the moderator asked them not too.  I completely agree with him.  Cheering only inflames and does not advance the debate. Michael Ruderman gave a “minority opinion of one” from the committee. He said the committee was driven by people with a financial interest, and not enough input from non-landscaper experts. I think some people thought this was an attack, but I think Ruderman’s language was careful and quite appropriate.  It is entirely reasonable to point out someone’s financial interest and how they affect a position being taken.  Carol Band asked Town Meeting to reject the compromise, and go with the compromise Town Meeting approved last year. Mark McCabe moved to terminate debate – failed. Andy O’Brien talked about emissions of gas and propane leaf blowers. Questions were asked and answered about the language. Bill Berkowitz described the question as one of balance of different people’s rights.  Speakers were for and against the compromise.

We took a 10 minute break

After a couple more speakers, Jim Doherty move terminate debate, and it was terminated. Beal’s amendment went down by voice vote. Internal combustion amendment was approved: 125-74.  The main motion was approved 113-95.  So, the vote last year was 95-85.  After so much debate, a ballot question, public hearings, etc., it all came down to 20-odd town meeting members whose votes approved the new policy.  Interesting to think about.

Article 3 – Tourism

Angela Olszewski explained what the proposed building is for. Visitors come to Arlington – we need them to understand where they’re visiting and encourage them to stay. John Leonard is concerned about grafitti.  Steve Harrington thinks it should be somewhere else. Ted Sharpe spoke in favor of busking. Chamber of Commerce is in favor. Sean Harrington moved to terminate debate. approved.  Spending approved on voice vote.

Article 4 – Water Bottle Ban

Harry McCabe with a substitute motion on behalf of Amy Currul.  She spoke to explain the substitute motion. She spoke of the negative environmental effects of water bottle production and disposal. Diane Mahon spoke, opposed to the ban, and introduced the manager of Stop and Shop.  Stop and Shop are opposed.  A couple more speakers were opposed.  Nathan Swilling moved to terminate debate. McCabe’s substitute went down by voice vote, and no action was approved.

Article 1 taken from the table.

Meeting was dissolved.

State of the Town – 2013

This is the text I plan on delivering tonight at Town Meeting.

Thank you Mr. Moderator. Good evening everyone. Welcome to our elected officials, town employees, and interested residents. Welcome to all returning Town Meeting Members, and for first time members, thank you for joining us. You’re going to learn a lot, and we’re going to learn from you too.

Tonight, I want to share with you what I think we’re doing well as a town and what I worry about for our future.

The town’s finances are good, but good is not forever. Our 3-year plan was built around the tax override we approved two years ago. Since that vote, several key areas of the budget have further improved: our employees agreed to join the GIC, we negotiated a long-term trash disposal contract with lower fees and better service, and our support from the state increased more than we expected. That 3-year plan might last 7 years.

I’d like to talk about the GIC in a bit more detail. As we expected, it significantly reduced our health insurance premiums. The move to the GIC has outperformed our expectations, with lower annual increases and a one-time million-dollar benefit from fiscal-year timing. The move to the GIC included a lot of negotiation and discussion about the compensation of our town employees. The town and employees have been working on a comprehensive salary study that will help us better understand how well or poorly our employees are compensated, and how Arlington compares to other similar towns. When that report is complete in a few months, we will need to evaluate our employee contracts.

With all that good news, with a 3-year plan turning into 7, then what do I worry about? I worry about how this plan ends, and how the next one begins. Think back to two years ago, at the end of the last 5-year plan. Town Meeting started in 2011 with a budget that was almost $3 million dollars in deficit. We were looking at the service cuts that were required to balance the budget, and we were deeply distressed. Now, fast-forward to 2019. The projected gap is $9 million – not three, but nine million!

I worry about the Minuteman Vocational School. The building there is failing, and the school district as currently configured is not viable. Whether the school is rebuilt or Arlington chooses a different path, it will cost money. And at our own Arlington High School the list of deficiencies is getting longer, not shorter. In the coming years the school will need a large investment.

These are the things I think about as we deliver our services and spend the taxpayer’s money. How can we make that money stretch farther? Are we investing appropriately in education? How can we deliver more, spend less? Town Meeting controls spending; this is your task too.

Enough about the budget. But I can’t resist talking about numbers. Try these numbers: 6100, 7400, 7400, 8600. Those are the number of voters in the last four town elections. When you add in another 8200 voters at the leaf-blower ballot question last summer, and you can see an increasingly engaged town. I think this engagement will be a huge benefit for us.

Engagement leads to volunteerism, and volunteerism makes this town work. All of you are volunteering your time here at Town Meeting, and you all volunteer outside this room too. Thank you. Thank you for what you do, and thank you for making our town the place that we all love.

The increased engagement has come with one sour note. The debate has had a bit too much acrimony and too little empathy. Whether the topic is leaf blowers or the mass ave rebuild projects or a proposed zoning change, I believe many have inferred malicious intent when there is nothing more than disagreement on policy. Words are exchanged that open wounds without advancing the debate. It is healthy to disagree on policy, and it’s healthy to have passion about our town. But, please, may we all hold our tongues when we are tempted to attack the person holding a different view. That person is here for the same reason that you are: to make Arlington a better town.

The last area I want to talk about is planning, specifically parking.

When I ran for selectman two years ago, I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into. What I didn’t understand was how much of a problem parking is in Arlington. I spend more than a third of my time working on parking in one way or another. As a town we rightly spend a lot of time debating about taxes, and education, and public safety. We almost never talk about parking. Yet, parking affects us all, and for many people in town, it’s the biggest problem they deal with every day.

Of course, parking is more than just parking spaces – it’s public transportation, biking, walking, traffic congestion, enforcement, public safety, and zoning. That’s why I strongly encourage you all to be involved in the writing of the Master Plan.  The town started the Master Plan process last year, and the next large public hearing is ** .  I encourage you all to participate and help shape Arlington into the town you want it to be.

Finally, a word about our town employees. As a selectman, I get to work with and see them all. From the water service crews to the fire fighters, from the dispatchers to the recreation team, from youth services to veteran’s services, from clerks to department heads. Our town has built a great team. They get an immense amount of work done, day in and day out, and I’m very proud of them. I thank them all for what they do.

Thank you.

Dan Dunn
4/22/13

 

Special Town Meeting – Fall 2012

I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I’m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I then publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.

I do not try to reproduce my entire notes for this online version. Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Most of the time I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

It was busy outside Town Meeting tonight.  There were a lot of people and a lot of signs – leaf blower and November election both.  Inside, there were dozens of viewers in the gallery.

Jane Howard played the piano and we sang the National Anthem.

Moderator John Leone asked for a moment of silence for several town meeting members and town volunteers who had passed away in the last year.  He announced his intention to do the finance articles first, then the leaf blowers.

Selectman Kevin Greeley missed the meeting.  He had surgery on Saturday.  That makes me acting chairman.  I moved the regular motion about seating rules.  The only people allowed “on the floor” are Town Meeting Members and various officials; guests and observers should watch from the balcony.  It was my observation that this rule was well observed at this meeting.

It was certified that the meeting was legally called.

I moved that if we didn’t finish, we would reconvene at 8pm on the 15th.  Thankfully, this was moot.

Announcements

  • Carol Kowalski announced that next week, on the 17th at 7pm, the Master Plan kickoff meeting will be held.
  • Hugh McCrory – Uncle Sam statue is lit.
  • Gordon Jamieson – Community Collection day is November 17th.
  • Charles Simas tried to make a motion at this point, but it was ruled out of order.
  • Adam Chapdelaine reported the sad news that former Deputy Town Manager Nancy Galkowski has pancreatic cancer, and invited people to contact him and coordinate our contact with her.  I am crushed by this news.  Nancy is a wonderful person, and she contributed so much to Arlington in the decades that she worked here.  I wish her good health as she battles this terrible disease.

Article 1 – Reports

  • I moved that the Selectmen’s report be received
  • Charlie Foskett moved that the Finance Committee report be received.

Charlie Foskett moved that the motions contained in the reports be the main motions for each article.  This vote is very quick and easy, but it’s very important.  For new town meeting members the importance is not obvious.  If we didn’t make this motion, at the start of every article, the Moderator would have to call on someone to start the debate process by making a motion under that article, then find a second for the motion, etc.  Instead, through this vote, we automatically start each article with a motion already made and ready for debate.  That becomes key later on.  For instance, in Article 3, the main motion was the Selectmen’s vote of No Action.

Charlie Foskett moved to table Articles 1, 2 and 3.  This carried by voice vote. Mark Kaepplein asked for a roll call vote, but there was no support.

Charles Simas moved to bring up article 3 first (which we had just tabled).  The motion failed on voice vote.  Mark Kaepplein asked for a roll call again, again without support.  I was mystified by these roll call requests.  The order of the article consideration didn’t seem like it was worth fighting about.

Article 4 – Budget FY13 Adjustments

Finance Committee Vice-Chair Charlie Foskett explained that the proposed change is an advance to the school department. We stop collecting kindergarten fees ($970k). The state pays us $1.4 million per year more in the future.  Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine explained that this change improves the long term financial plan. John Leonard had a question about what a “qualified” student was. He supports the change. Stephen Harrington moved to terminate debate. Debate terminated on voice vote. Approved on voice vote.

Article 5 – Collective Bargaining

Charlie Foskett emphasized that this vote is moving previously appropriated money, not actually spending new money.  Adam Chapdelaine proposed an amendment (a new union agreement) and explained the rationale for the raises.  Stephen Harrington moved to terminate debate.  I was really torn on this vote to terminate debate. I generally think debate is good and healthy. That said, this article is a bit of a slam dunk. 96-98 the vote to terminate failed (requires 2/3 vote).  Mark Kaepplein argued that overall wages had gone up less than 2%, why so much for town employees?  Adam Chapedelaine answered that over 6 years the average wage increase is 2%. He also said the compensation survey will give us more information. Has turnover been high? No, he said.   Annie LaCourt asked and was answered that yes all of these raises are in line across unions.  She noted the health care sacrifices employees had made. Ted Paluso said he was trusting the finance committee. He also noted the room has “energy to get to the fight” about leaf blower.  He was disappointed. Finance Committee member John Deyst asked the meeting to remember that we are saving money because the employees went into the GIC, and the raises are consistent with the 5 year plan. Peter Fuller: were the contracts ratified by the unions? Yes they were. Mark McCabe moved to terminate debate, which carried on voice vote. The amendment passed. Main motion passed.

Article 6 – Thompson School

Charlie Foskett explained that this moves the money earlier than would otherwise happen.  Approved unanimously.

Charlie Foskett moved to take Articles 2 and 3 off the table.

Articles 2 and 3 – Leaf Blowers

The moderator announced that Articles 2 and 3 would be debated and then voted together.  He believes that they are too linked to be reasonably debated separately.  I thought that decision made a lot of sense.

I gave my speech on behalf of the Board of Selectmen.  We asked that Town Meeting show patience.

Adam Auster moved an amendment that modified what the committee should examine.  He said the issue needs compromise.  Chris Loreti moved an amendment full of procedural changes.  He supports moving the issue to committee.  Laurence McKinney moved an amendment to encourage ear protection. Stephen Harrington moved a substitute motion for Article 3 that would repeal the ban passed last spring.  He said he would rather not be here tonight, and had better things to do.  Harrington said the selectmen refused to talk to homeowners.  I thought it was a bit disingenuous of Mr. Harrington to say that he had better things to do even though he was the one who petitioned to have the meeting held.  Furthermore, his statement that selectmen “refused to talk to homeowners” is clearly untrue.  I can think of at least three meetings in the last year where citizens were invited to speak on the issue – there are probably more.  It is true that Mr. Harrington has not been permitted to speak every time that he has wished to.  He has spoken at selectmen meetings, but not as often as he would like.   Mr. Harrington said that if the ban is not overturned, the negotiations would fail. He said if the ban is not overturned, “we’ll be back in 45 days.” Robert Jefferson said yes on committee, yes on overturning the ban.  He invited town resident and landscaper Gary Tibbetts to speak.  Tibbetts said he would compromise, but since we’ve got a meeting, he would ask us to overturn. Tibbetts then showed pictures of the home of a leaf blower ban proponent and said the problem was that ban proponents were using bad gardening techniques.  I thought this was just appalling.  I tend to agree with Tibbetts – the leaf blower ban goes too far.  But this was just an awful attack, very personal, and very far from the real argument.  Tibbetts should have stuck to his better arguments.  As it was, he simply looked mean, and he lost votes for his cause.  Lyman Judd complained that he is not on the list yet. Jeanne Leary is concerned about noise pollution.  She thinks we should look at the big picture, not just leaf blowers. Selectman Diane Mahon noted that we have ear protection for employees using blowers. She supports the Auster amendment. She is worried about Loreti’s amendment.  She said this is a divisive issue that needs more time.  Mr. Radochia thinks we need a deeper compromise. He was disappointed that the debate has moved to a level of childhood bickering. Bill Moyer said he voted yes last time, but if he’d known how much rancor it would generate, he would have voted no.  He said he may vote to repeal in the spring.  But he won’t vote to repeal tonight.  He doesn’t like that people were brought back to vote without a compromise to consider. Lyman Judd accused the moderator of trying to restrict debate.  He said that the ban passed because some “good citizens did nothing.”  This is another speaker who went too far.  Reasonable people can disagree on this issue.  It is not appropriate or prudent to make passing statements that those who want to ban leaf blowers are evil.  He thinks we should overturn the ban.  John Maher spoke, and said that he regrets the vituperative nature of the debate and uncivil discourse.   He wants to repeal the ban.  Mr. Maher gave a shining example of how to debate.  I disagree completely with what he said.  But we can disagree and work together without the animosity.  Andy O’Brien talked about the emissions of leaf blowers: more than a pickup truck.  Gordon Jamieson supported the ban the first time around, and will again. John Deyst said he was amazed at rancor.  He believes that the summer grass on a driveway is just as easily done with a broom. David Bean moved to terminate debate.  It was terminated by voice vote. Auster amendment passes 155-39.  Loreti amendment approved by voice vote. 92-95 McKinney’s fails. The main motion passed, creating the committee, 156-43.  For Article 3, substituting Harrington’s motion to repeal failed 91-106 on a standing vote.  40 people stood up and asked for a roll call vote. The roll call vote took more than 30 minutes, and the final count was 95-110.  The main motion of no action passed.

The meeting was dissolved.

Elect Curro and Byrne – This Tuesday!

It’s election season in Arlington, and I offer two endorsements.

Short version: Vote Curro and Byrne for Selectmen.  On your ballot, those are positions #4 and #5.  Be aware that the names on the ballot are very similar and potentially confusing – you want Curro-with-the-O in the 4th slot, and Steve Byrne in the 5th slot.

Long version: We have the good fortune to have several quality candidates for Selectmen this year.  I’ve met them all and listened to their campaigns.  Two of them rise above the rest.  I think they are good for Arlington, and I want to work with them in the coming years.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Joe Curro for many years on Arlington issues.  I first met him outside a polling location – we spent a two-hour shift chatting and getting to know each other.  I found him to be thoughtful, a good listener, a good questioner, and had a great sense of humor.  He’s proven that to be true and much more.  His work for the town has been as excellent as it has been extensive: on the School Committee, on the Human Rights Commission, on Symmes, on Town Meeting, and more.  When I heard Annie LaCourt and Clarissa Rowe were leaving, I knew that Joe was one of the people I wanted to join me on the board.

I have known Steve Byrne for a shorter time, but he has been very impressive.  When I met him, I was planning on endorsing Joe Curro and no one else.  Steve’s energy and ideas were very convincing, and I’ve been working hard to help him get elected.  Sometimes you meet people with energy, but it’s not effective energy.  Steve, on the other hand, asks really smart questions so that he can apply his energy where it will make a difference.  I like his ideas, and I like the perspective he will bring to the board.  Some have suggested that he’s too young for the board.  I disagree – his perspective and his energy will be a great asset.  The board works best when it has a broad representation of ideas, and Steve brings them.  He has a long history in Arlington, having lived here all of his life.  He has a deep background in how the town and the state govern and function.   I hope that the town chooses to elect him on Tuesday.

I hope that both of them join me on the board!

Polls are open Tuesday from 8am to 8pm.  Some precinct borders changed, and the Thompson School voting location is closed.  You can double-check your polling location here: http://wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php

A Week In the Campaign

When I started this campaign, I knew better than to promise regular blog posts.  As expected, it’s been stinkin’ busy.  That said, I know some people are interested in the nuts-and-bolts of the campaign (I got good feedback on this post).  So here are some notes on the last week:

Thursday, 3/3

  • My plan was to start the day by standing in front of Dunkin’ Donuts and say hello, but I cancelled and caught up on sleep instead.  That turned out to be a very good choice.
  • At 10AM I met with the Arlington Advocate to answer questions for an upcoming article, then went to work.
  • Before I left work, I made my last-minute edits to my entry in the League of Women Voters information booklet.
  • I went to the budget hearing at Town Hall, then went home and answered emails.

Friday, 3/4

  • A light day. Email in the morning, then work.
  • In the evening I wrote a draft of my 5-minute video recording that ACMI was offering.  That proved a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I didn’t finish until 11PM.

Saturday, 3/5

  • First, the catch-up from my cancelled Thursday plan.  I stood in front of Dunkin Donuts and introduced myself to the visiting patrons.  This was pretty fun and interesting.
  • 10AM is the regular campaign meeting.  We talked about an upcoming mailing and made lots of edits to my 5-minute video speech.
  • 2PM – taking photos for the upcoming mailer.
  • 2:30PM – debate preparation with 3 volunteers.
  • Make a few calls to potential supporters.
  • Started practicing 5-minute speech, realized the editing session had made a number of inadvertent errors, and re-wrote parts of it.
  • Went out that evening with friends and saw Murder by Death! (It’s a rock band, not nearly as offensive as it sounds, and was a great time.)

Sunday, 3/6

  • Went to Panera at 10AM to meet someone interested in applying for work at HubSpot where I work.
  • Practiced the 5-min speech.
  • Worked on list of people for the mailer.
  • Went to the League of Women Voters legislators’ brunch and talked to a number of voters.
  • Went home, and sent in the text of my 5-min speech to ACMI for loading into the teleprompter.
  • Went to Joe Curro‘s campaign kickoff party.  Met a number of voters.  Collected a few donations to my campaign.  Took more pictures for my mailer.  Helped move furniture when it was done.
  • Went to Leba Heigham‘s campaign kickoff event.  Met a few voters.
  • Went home.  Did a number of campaign emails.  Scheduled a couple campaign coffees and meetings.  Wrote donation thank-you notes. Updated the campaign Facebook page. Practiced 5-min speech.
  • Where did my weekend go?  Went to bed.

Monday, 3/7

  • No morning meetings.  Practiced 5-min speech.  Went to work.
  • Officer meeting of my fraternity alumni group (Alpha Delta Phi at MIT)  in the evening.
  • Went home, did some campaign emails.  Answered a lot of emails about signs that were blown away in the storm the night before.  Practiced 5-min speech.
  • Sent Advocate a list of possible topics for the debate on Thursday.

Tuesday, 3/8

  • Took a voter call in the morning.
  • Worked from home.  Practiced speech.
  • Went to ACMI.  After first run-through, the nice woman asked me how I thought it went.  I answered, “wooden.”  She seemed relieved that I realized how bad it was!  Second run was measurably better.  Cameras are hard for me – I prefer people.
  • Went home and did some work.
  • Met with the reporter from Arlington Patch and had a good interview and a long talk about Minuteman High School.
  • Went home and did work, did some campaign emails, did some campaign phone calls.
  • Listened to my company’s announcement of a huge investment from Sequoia, Google, and Salesforce.
  • Went out and had picture taken with another volunteer for the mailer.
  • Sent out a draft of text and pictures of the mailer to be put together.
  • Signed up to be at Menotomy Beer and Wine for their Candidates’ Event on Saturday afternoon.

Wednesday, 3/9

  • Went to Town Hall at 8AM for the 5-year planning committee meeting.
  • Deposited some donation checks at the bank.
  • Went to work.
  • Went home, wrote opening and closing statements for Thursday’s debate.  Wrote up a list of talking points for the debate.
  • Sent out an email with a budget update with an eye to how many people we can afford to send the mailer.
  • Made a dozen calls to potential voters, asking for their support.
  • Did more campaign emails.

Thursday, 3/10

  • Met with a voter for coffee.
  • Talked to a couple voters on the phone.
  • Went to work, left work early.
  • Practiced opening speech 12 times in a row – never got it right once!
  • Went to debate at ACMI.  It went OK.  I need other people to see it and see what they think.
  • Did campaign emails and a couple phone calls.  Updated website.
  • Stayed up late writing this blog post!

I think that gives a decent flavor for the campaign and how I’m doing.  There’s lots of great voter contact, and lots more yet to be done.  Three weeks left!

Campaign Nuts and Bolts

As I’m sure you remember, I’m running for Selectman.

There’s not a lot of definitive guidance I’ve found about running a legal campaign for municipal campaign.  I’ve slogged my way through a fair amount of it the last few weeks, so I figured I’d write it up here for future interested candidates.

  1. The first is easiest – walk down to the Town Clerk’s office and pull papers.
  2. Create a committee.  There are a few campaigns where you don’t need a committee, but it looks to me like you really should do this.  Appoint yourself chairman, find a treasurer, and fill out the forms.  The CPF M 101 form is found here. Fill it out and turn it in to the Town Clerk.
  3. Then you need to get a EIN (tax ID number) from the IRS.  This took me forever to figure out, but finally found the magic quote: “A political organization must have its own employer identification number (EIN), even if it does not have any employees.”  Read it here, then request your EIN.  What makes it easier, by the way, is when you click the interview option that you’re doing this only for bank purposes – it’s a short application then.
  4. Open a bank account.  My regular bank, Cambridge Savings, won’t do campaign accounts anymore, so I went to Central Bank on Broadway.  I brought my treasurer, too.  We signed things that said we were neither terrorists nor online gamblers (what a waste of time and money. . .).  We deposited checks.  And we were in business.
  5. Next up is filing statements by January 20.  That’s the year-end statement for 2010.  To do that you need CPF M 102.  Again, file that one with the Town Clerk.

Hope that helps someone.

I’m Running for Selectman

With excitement, energy, and a healthy appreciation of the challenges ahead, I am announcing my candidacy for the Board of Selectmen. I’m asking for your support in the upcoming campaign, and your vote on election day on April 2, 2011.

My campaign for Arlington:

  1. Arlington, like most communities in Massachusetts, is working through a very difficult financial time, and some difficult decisions are facing the town. My experience as a member of the Finance Committee and my knowledge of the town budget will help us make wise choices about preserving important services for our residents while protecting taxpayers.We stretched our 5-year plan to cover 6 years, and it is time to write a new plan for the next few years. Unfortunately, the town has thus far been unable to reach an agreement with its employees that controls health care costs. Until we find that agreement we cannot fully preserve our town services for a price we’re willing to pay. Over the next year we’re going to have to decide which services we can do without and which services we’re willing to raise taxes for.
  2. Town residents rightly demand good customer service from the town. They want access to services at hours that are convenient and a fast, accurate, and polite response to their request. I believe that we can harness technology to bring better customer service, 24 hours a day, to the town. The town’s online question-and-answer website has been a good start, but it is time to expand that service.
  3. Taxpayers expect smart management of their money. The key to smart management is smart measurement. You get what you measure; if you choose the right measuring stick, you’ll get more of what you’re looking for. I plan on working with the Town Manager, other town officials, and town employees to identify key metrics that we should use to measure ourselves.

I’ve been an active volunteer in Arlington government for more than ten years. I’m a current Town Meeting Member, and a past member of the Finance Committee, Information Technology, Power Municipalization, and other committees.

I’m optimistic about Arlington’s future, but energy and optimism are not enough. I bring new ideas, new experience, and a strong work ethic to this campaign.

As the campaign progresses, please visit this website. I will put up regular updates here.  I welcome all questions and comments at dan@dandunn.org.

Sincerely,

Dan Dunn

Special Town Meeting 2010

I take notes during Town Meeting. They are not official in any way. As I listen to people speak, I type notes. I’m sure that, at times, I mishear or misunderstand the speaker, but my notes represent what I hear at the time. I then publish the notes every night after the meeting. I do go back and make a few edits as errors are pointed out to me.

I do not try to reproduce my entire notes for this online version. Sometimes I relay a quote from a specific speaker. Most of the time I only summarize the discussion. At points I give a purely personal opinion; those are clearly labeled like this: Personal note.

8:04 the meeting was called to order.

Town Meeting Member Charlie Gallagher played the piano, leading the meeting in singing the National Anthem.

Moderator John Leone is looking for two more members of the Town Meeting procedure committee.

He swore in the two new Town Meeting members. They were greeted with a round of applause.

Moderator Leone noted that the School Committee was sitting at the front of the meeting at his invitation because of the content and importance of the special town meeting.  A jester suggested to me that they were seated that way so they could have a clear view of the rotten tomatoes that would be thrown at them.

Selectman Chair Diane Mahon moved the rules of the meeting, which were approved. (The rules basically say that only town meeting members and town officials and town employees can sit “on the floor” of town meeting. Meeting visitors should watch from the gallery above the floor.)

Town Clerk Rainville certified the meeting is legally called.

Mahon moves that the meeting comes back Wednesday if we don’t come back.

Mahon read a proclamation on Stratton’s recent selection as a Blue-Ribbon School.

Article 1 – Reports

Finance, Selectmen, Capital Planning, and School Committees all submitted reports.  FinCom Chair Tosti moves that the reports’ motions be made the main motions.  (This has the effect of giving most articles a main motion and speeds the process by making all the motions at once, and in writing.)  The article was tabled.

Article 2 – Budgets

FinCom Chair Allan Tosti explained that we’re in deficit for FY10, and this budget motion fixes that. He explained the creation of the additional reserves, partly from cutting the school budget further, and partly from dipping further into the town’s reserves, specifically the tip fee stabilization fund.   He said we didn’t want to go into the tip fee, and will try to return it. The reserve fund is for all town budgets, not just schools, not just town manager. This is a moderate position, he said.

School Committee Chair Curro spoke. He talked about how we’d gotten into this mess, the changes the town is making to prevent it in the future, and talked about the FY11 budget.  I really liked his speech. He clearly acknowledged the failures of the school department leadership in budgeting and communication. That clarity has been lacking in many other discussions by the school department. That acknowledgement goes a long way in my mind. It gives me reason to believe that they are going to make progress in implementing the changes that are necessary for a high-performing, well-managed school department.

Treasurer Stephen Gilligan made a substitute motion. He wants to cut the school budget, but he does not want to dip into the reserves. His first argument was that the Finance Committee had previously objected to spending reserves. He’s correct, we did say that, but time has passed and facts have changed since then. Secondly, he suggested that FinCom expects FY11 to be a repeat of FY10, and that $200,000 is not sufficient for the task anyway. Mr. Gilligan was incorrect – we never suggested that FY11 will be a repeat of FY10; we simply said that FY11 is very tight.  Last year there were three $400,000 swings in special ed budgeting, two in the wrong direction, one in the good direction.  We increased the reserves to handle that type of repeat – of course there is no guarantee that it is enough. He made two further arguments, one that there is no rush to do this, because we could do it at a special town meeting in April. He also said that bond rating agencies will look on this as a failure to manage our reserves well. I think both of these arguments are reasonable ones. They didn’t persuade me, though.

Gordon Jamieson suggested that the finance committee’s path is down the middle of the issue and he supported it.

School Committee member Joe Curran spoke. He said that the School Committee was not following its own words.  I paraphrase: “If the school committee followed its words, we wouldn’t be here, and we wouldn’t be in a lawsuit.” He noted that no one has been reprimanded. He mentioned a number of negative issues the school committee has been a part of.

Joe Tully spoke in support of Treasurer Gilligan’s motion. He reviewed the school department mistakes, as outlined in the auditors’ reports description of the errors. Tully wanted to know who knew what and when.

Paul Schlictman gave a long lecture about budget cuts and state spending. He blames the problems in the FY10 budget on failure to properly fund the schools on a town and state level.

Bill Hayner, former teacher spoke. He deplored the ongoing litigation. He said that if this was a business, the CEO would be fired, and so would the board. He called on the entire school committee to resign and stand for re-election.

John Deyst, Finance Committee member, pointed to a specific part of the fincom report detailing FinCom’s feelings. He said that the school department needs to be a participant in the management of annual reserve funds, unlike past years. He wants to preserve the good educational successes of our school systems.

Josh Lobel asked a question about why not put this into a special education reserve fund. Al Tosti replied that the school committee already refused that option, and that it made sense to pool reserve funds. Lobel made the point that the school department is not wasting money. It was noted later in a private conversation that this was the only question of the night – everything else was a speech.  Very unusual.

Dean Carmen moved to terminate debate. 143-40 it was terminated (not sure I heard that number right).

Gilligan’s motion went down 86-100.

FinComm recommendation vote passed 2/3 by voice vote.

9:25 called a 10 minute break, returned at 9:39

Article 3 – Thompson Land Swap

Joe Curro proposed a resolution as a substitute motion. Board of Selectmen and School Committee and Finance Committee all endorse the resolution. It doesn’t refer to the land swap, nor the cost of the project. Joe Curro says that this is the strongest supportive action Town Meeting can make. Chris Loreti is concerned that the plan is too expensive. He’s voting no because he doesn’t think any of the discussed options are viable. Clarissa Rowe said that the support is more important at this time – no one will be supporting these prices, but this support is the right step to move the process forward. Ruderman terminates debate. Motion passes. There’s no chance that a building of $350/sq ft will be recommended under this resolution.  That would never get past the Board of Selectmen, let alone FinCom.  The challenge here is that there is no guaranteed path to a school renovation/rebuild – there are lots of parties involved, and they move toward agreement and each other in baby steps.  This resolution was a baby step that takes us closer to an eventual solution and millions in state assistance.

Article 2 again –

The moderator said that article 2 was a 2/3 vote, and as such needed a count since it wasn’t unanimous. I think he’s incorrect – I don’t think he needs a count, he can rule on a 2/3 voice vote if he chose to. 155-3.

Article 4 – Stratton

Capital Planning Chair Charlie Foskett explains that we’re spending roughly the same amount as originally planned, and when we originally planned. However some of the items have very long lead times. This vote enables us to order things earlier without actually spending the money earlier. No discussion. Passed 161-0.

Article 5 – GIC

Al Tosti reported that the Finance Committee supports a vote of no action. No action. This was a topic of much debate at the Finance Committee meeting tonight.  Several members wanted to keep this item open until next Monday, until after the various unions hold their votes.  There’s a couple of reasons for that – one is that the committee wanted to follow through on statements made this past April.  The other is fear that a union might repeat last year’s disaster and kill the deal.  In the end, the majority of FinCom decided to avoid inflaming the situation and let the article die.  Should a union kill the deal, it’s too late to salvage the issue this year anyway, and we’d take the issue up again in April.

Article 6 – Reserves

Voted no action.

The meeting was dissolved at 10:05.

I was pleasantly surprised that we got this all done in one night.  I had predicted two nights, and I’m delighted to be wrong.

I’m also pretty happy with how the debate on the school budget went.  I was on the list to speak.  If it got to me, I was going to remind people that there were only two options – the FinCom recommendation and the Treasurer recommendation.  The third option, to do nothing, was not an option at all. As it was, I think the discussion was terminated at an appropriate point.

In general, the debate was not about those two options.  It was a discussion about the school department, the school committee, choices made, and external conditions imposed.  I think that discussion was somewhat cathartic for the meeting.  A lot of people had a lot of things to get off their chests, and they did.  I think just about everyone had their thoughts aired by one speaker or another.  I hope this represents a turning point and we see the school department and committee earn our trust back in the coming months and years.