[Ed note: My Southborough accepts signed letters to the editor submitted by Southborough residents. Letters may be emailed to mysouthborough@gmail.com.
The following letter is from Al Hamilton.]
To the Editor:
There has been a lot of conjecture about the meaning of the recent special town meeting and annual election. Let us be clear, in both cases the only thing the town’s legislature and the voters were asked was if they wanted to authorize borrowing and repayment of a loan related to the “New Neary”. In both cases the clear, overwhelming answer was NO!
Now the spin starts. “No, the voters said they want options.” “The turnout was too low.” “We need to preserve the option of bringing it back.” “The meeting lasted too long and I had to leave.” All of these arguments boil down to one thing. “We don’t like the results of this democratic process.”
What do you say to the over 1100+ citizens who did their civic duty and sat through 4 hours of debate and then voted? “Sorry, your vote doesn’t count.” “Sorry, you did not vote the right way so we will mix in a bunch of other options to dilute the majority and make this plan look like a winner.”
What about the 2,020 people that again did their civic duty, went to the polls and voted. Do their votes not count either? The Select Board needs to take concrete action to take the “New Neary” off the table. Failure to do so will only lead to furthering suspicion, mistrust, and anger by the clear majority who voted twice against this program. The voters and Town Meeting should not be disenfranchised, the Select Board should respect their votes, and withdraw the New Neary application from the MSBA so that we can move forward.
Al Hamilton
35 Pine Hill Road
Excellent points, Al. Democracy in action should still mean something.
Thank you, Al, for your leadership on this issue. As you know, I attended the last two Select Board meetings and spoke on this issue. The SB members say they heard the vote, they’re very humbled and they want to look to the future yet a majority of them refuse to shut the door on the failed proposal. A majority of the SB would not support your request for a pledge not to seek an extension from the State to bring back the failed proposal. A majority of the SB says “you never give up money [State reimbursement] until you absolutely have to” as if this is some sort of business deal, rather than an informed, deliberate and democratic process whereby the voters spoke loudly and clearly. You are exactly right that this failure by the SB majority to act in accordance with the will of the voters will only lead to further mistrust and anger, which will make the process of reaching an acceptable plan for the K-8 schools all the more difficult. I am disappointed but sadly, not surprised.
“Sorry, you did not vote the right way so we will mix in a bunch of other options to dilute the majority and make this plan look like a winner.”
This is exactly what I have been feeling as well.
Excellent letter, Al. One of our Yes neighbors shared on a town Facebook site about a couple of construction projects in her hometown of Auburn. A Fire Department HQ project was approved in May of this year, with a price tag of $31 million. She wondered why residents there had no qualms about approving the construction during these uncertain economic times. I checked on the project, and it turns out that the Town decided to use $8 million from cash reserves to reduce borrowing to $23 million, lessening the impact on taxpayers and saving them $3 million in interest. The building that was being replaced was actually a former elementary school that had been built in 1951. The Fire Dept. had moved there in 1985 on what was supposed to be a temporary basis, and the only renovations done were to add 3 garage doors before the relocation. There was an urgency to approve the rebuild because of mold, asbestos and biohazard issues. It took a 40-year process to get to construction. The first plan had to be scrapped because of financial considerations, and the scope of the project had to be narrowed to get voters to approve it. And that’s in a town where the residents value public safety and its dedication to the Fire Department is immense. She also pointed out that a brand new middle school was built in 2015 for $32.6 million with no push back, whereas in 2006 the town was bitterly divided about building a new high school. Checking the economic conditions for both of those timelines, it turns out that the housing market was beginning to melt down in 2006 – inflation was increasing and mortgage rates were climbing. Employment rates were declining and consumer confidence was shaky. In 2015, on the other hand, the US economy was experiencing its greatest growth in a decade. (Auburn has almost a 40% commercial tax base, in comparison to Southborough’s circa 19%, which I would imagine also helped). What I learned from these examples shared by a Yes voter that it is really important to address this issue holistically, taking a look at what we really need and what we can afford, just as Auburn did. I feel incredibly fortunate to live in a town where residents have always gone above and beyond to support as many funding requests as possible. Finally, I am even more convinced that you are steering us in the right direction after reading the account of Auburn’s journey to complete these two projects.
There is absolutely no requirement that we decline this opportunity now, and no benefit to doing so. Once that door is closed, it is closed for good – and we will have given up a substantial source of funding that could ease the burden on local taxpayers. We should not take that risk lightly, especially without fully exploring how the MSBA option compares to any alternatives.
You attempt to claim that the town overwhelmingly voted against the current proposal. That claim misrepresents the reality of the vote. Voters were presented with a single, binary yes/no decision – not a range of options, not a nuanced set of tradeoffs. Rejecting one option in that context is simply not the same as rejecting it within the context of multiple options.
The responsible course of action is clear: keep the MSBA option on the table. Evaluate it alongside other proposals. And only when we are required to make a final choice, armed with complete information, should we consider closing that door. To do otherwise would be to limit our own options unnecessarily.
Ms. Dente
You are correct there is no requirement to withdraw the application.
Unlike others, I make no claims on divining the intent of Town Meeting nor the Voters. I merely note that both bodies were asked if they wanted to authorize the borrowing and repayment of a loan to fund this project; the result was a clear and resounding NO. You cannot deny that the vote was anything but overwhelming in both cases.
Let’s review the bidding:
The NBC had 3 years and nearly $1,000,000 of your tax dollars to develop and promote a Neary proposal. They had a website promoting the plan. They held dozens of forums. They had email campaigns. They had a support group that bought more signs and did more mailings than the opposition. They requested and got a single subject special Town Meeting that cost about $50,000 to make it easier to galvanize support.
In contrast the opposition only jelled in the Winter and operated on a shoestring budget being outspent at every turn and had no access to public resources.
This should have been a slam dunk for the NBC. Instead, it was a complete rejection of the matter put before Town Meeting and the voters.
The NBC and the Select Board completely misread the temperature of the electorate. This was despite they’re having been advised that they did not have the votes. Regrettably, they continue to misread the room.
It is clear that the plan is to arrange for the minority that voted yes to hold fast to the New Neary while dividing the clear majority that voted no by dissipating their votes among other options. Is this cynical? Perhaps, but it is hardball and it requires a hardball response.
As long as the Select Board is perceived as defying the will of Town Meeting and the Voters the atmosphere of anger, mistrust, and suspicion will continue. It is likely to manifest itself at the next Town Meeting. To restore trust, the Select Board must take tangible steps to take the New Neary off the table.
I would be happy to sit down with you and discuss further.