Why weren’t you there?

Brian Mich

    Norwood

In response to Matt Lane letter

To the Editor:

I believe that Mr. Konetchy clarified his view of the CPC during the LVW debate by saying he supports the CPC but feels that any voted sums should directly benefit the townspeople and not put money into the pockets of a private company. I did not hear that he wants to abolish it as he once stated in the PAST.

There is an organized group in town that has pushed a tax and spend agenda that has burdened many empty nesters and seniors with large tax increases. In many cases Empty Nesters are still financially supporting the chicks who left the nests. The Senior Tax Work Off Program is VERY limited as to the number of people they can help.

Perhaps (I am not familiar with it) “Norwood Now is not a democratic forum” but neither is Progress Norwood.

The 3A MBTA plan was NOT based on townwide consensus. It should have gone to a townwide (since we always seem to compare our town to other towns) vote as other towns did.

The focus groups touted by the Planning Board were only announced on websites. It was not in the local newspapers, posted at town hall, nor in fliers around town facilities. It has been pointed out numerous times in numerous town critical forums over at least the last 4 years, that ALL forms of communication not just websites need to be used. Most recently this was brought up again by TMM Helen Donohue at the hospital meeting.

Many TMM voted their personal agendas instead of going door to door on the streets of their districts to find out what the people they represent want. It is my understanding that if you represent a district you need to canvas ALL the demographics in your district.

The plan is not a “pathway for possible future housing”. It is a done deal for every lawyer and contractor to pounce on and make a profit. Case in point Savogran project. If a housing complex such as Avalon “is (an) economically advantageous development for Norwood” why is the town budget in trouble?

The biggest complaint towns and some legislators have with the bill is no funding is provided by the state to assist with the infrastructure expenses towns will incur to support the mandate.

The Boston Globe reported that Mass. SJC said “the detailed guidelines issued by the state that municipalities must follow WERE CREATED IMPROPERLY (my caps) and must go through a formal regulatory process.” So… our 3A MBTA plan is based on Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Gov. Healey bypassing due process. The regs are not “blessed” nor finalized until that process completes. AND everyone in the state was supposed to be told to give input on the rewriting of those regulations. The attorney general and the governor chose not to widely advertise for that input. Since we do not know what those regulations will be, it suggests that our plan should be totally revisited AND voted on townwide.

Anne Mackiewicz

District 7 TMM

Voting and beyond

To the Editor:

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Every day, there seems to be a new budget for a town, state, or nation which shows that the money we have is not enough for what we would like to do to support programming and the quality of life that people deserve. How can we address this issue? Some may consider raising taxes. It is an effective way to acquire more money but is accompanied by negative outcomes. These outcomes may include people experiencing financial stress, and maybe not being able to afford living in the region anymore, resulting in them needing to move. Budget cuts are another alternative that hypothetically leads to spending less, though how we choose what areas we cut back on can be difficult, including how much we cut back monetarily.

One of the ways we can let our voices and opinions be heard is through voting. In Norwood, we are extremely lucky to have an active League of Women Voters. Anyone can access their website, https://my.lwv.org/massachusetts/norwood, and they ask that people running for elected positions answer questions related to their desired position and the town. The League posts the information and responses they share on their website, so we can be informed when we choose to vote. When voting has passed, or if someone is not yet old enough to vote, we can still send letters to our elected officials. Our voices do not need to stop after filling in a dot on a piece of paper.

Elizabeth Begg

Norwood

Student at Bridgewater State University