Letters

LETTER: Watertown Grieves Civil Rights Leader Bernard Lafayette Who Helped Spread Dr. King’s Teachings to Town

By |

Dr. Bernard Lafayette and Watertown Kingian Nonviolence Trainer Holly Cachimuel, who is a former Watertown teacher.(Photo by Chuck Dickinson)

The death of legendary civil rights icon Dr. Bernard Lafayette on March 5 resonates deeply throughout the city of Watertown. “Doc” first came here for several days in 2016, at the behest of former Watertown Middle School teacher Ruth Henry. Henry had trained in Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Resolution under Dr. Lafayette. Lafayette had promised Martin Luther King, Jr. before his 1968 assassination that he would spread King’s nonviolence teaching and practice around the world. Later that same year, Watertown hosted Dr. Lafayette for a two-week long Trainers’ Institute, organized by then Superintendent Dr. Jean Fitzgerald.

Business

Chamber Hosting LGBTQIA+ Morning Meetup in Watertown

By |

The Charles River Regional Chamber will host an LGBTIA+ Morning meetup on Friday, March 20 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at Fly Together Fitness in Watertown. The event is free and open to LGBTQIA+ members and non-members. See more information provided by the Chamber below. Rise and connect! Our popular LGBTQIA+ Networking Series is switching things up — trading the evening cocktails for morning coffee and heading back to one of our favorite community spaces.Join us at Fly Together Fitness, a proudly LGBTQIA+-owned pole and dance studio in the heart of Watertown, for a morning dedicated to LGBTQIA+ professionals looking to make real business connections across industries.Complimentary coffee provided.

Entertainment

Dance Classes with Boston Dance Theater at Mosesian Center

By |

The Boston Dance Theater will present public dance classes in Watertown beginning March 26, 2026. See details in the announcement from BDT, below. Public Classes at the Mosesian Center for the Arts — SPRING 2026 SESSION

Reconnect with your body and the joy of movement in our weekly community classes. Open to movers of all levels, these classes foster physical curiosity and connection in a supportive environment. 

Spring Session runs from March 23-April 17 – CLASSES INCLUDE: Creative Expression & Dance for Everyone Discover the joy of movement through a rotating series of dance styles — contemporary, ballet, tap, Irish step, salsa-fit, and more — each week led by a different BDT artist in an accessible class that celebrates creativity, rhythm, and expression, perfect for beginners, returning dancers, and anyone eager to explore dance in a fun, supportive environment. REGISTER FOR CREATIVE EXPRESSION

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Group Holds De-ICE Citizens Bank Protest

By |

Twenty-five people came out to the Indivisible Progressive Watertown No Ice-Citizens Bank Protest in Watertown on March 7, 2026. (Photo by Joshua Touster)

The following piece was provided by Indivisible Progressive Watertown:

On Saturday, March 7th, 25 members and friends of Indivisible Progressive Watertown joined in solidarity with the De-ICE Citizens Bank coalition to protest Citizens Bank’s financing of Core- Civic and the GeoGroup. These two corporations are responsible for building 90% of the private prisons and ICE detentions centers across the United States. 

On March 7th over 71 protests were held in 13 states around the northeastern and midwestern United States calling upon the Citizens Bank administration to end ties with CoreCivic and the GEO Group immediately. Both companies have a long history of neglect and mistreatment of people incarcerated in their facilities. Emmanuel Damas, the Haitian man who was detained and died from sepsis related to a toothache on March 2, was at the Florence Correctional Center, operated by CoreCivic. 

Some of the signs at the De-ICE Citizens Bank protest in Watertown. (Photo by Joshua Touster)

The De-ICE Citizens Bank protests are part of a growing movement to pressure Citizens Bank that began three months ago.

Around Town

Public Meeting to be Held in Watertown on Affordable Housing Incentives Study

By |

The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

On March 26, 2026, at 6 PM, Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) staff will present the preliminary results of its testing of potential incentives to promote affordable housing in Watertown. The MAPC study is designed to provide the City with recommendations for voluntary incentives to encourage more and/or deeper affordability in new market rate developments, as well as recommendations for incentives to encourage affordable developments. MAPC tested certain incentives using financial models of market rate and affordable developments. The test results, along with discussion of other incentives not suitable for such testing, will be the basis for MAPC’s final report. Members of the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and comment at the meeting, as well as an opportunity to provide written comments.

Letters

OP-ED: It’s All a Balancing Act, Part Three: Linkage Fees and Taxes…They’re Going Up How Much??

By |

By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

This is the second part of three looking at the impacts of the Life Science Industry on Watertown. Part One focused on the impact on housing and the environmental impacts. In Part Two, we looked at the costs to the City of Watertown to maintain safe control over the Life Science industry and its effects on our community. In Part Three, we’ll look at linkage fees and how they could help our community.  We’ll also look at how our community got into a position where in Watertown, a city well known for its fiscal responsibility, residential property taxes could soar to 18 percent higher by 2027. Linkage Fees:

Let’s start with the linkage fees mentioned in Part One.

Letters

OP-ED: It’s All a Balancing Act, Part Two: City-related Costs and Concerns

By |

By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

This is the second part of three looking at the impacts of the Life Science Industry on Watertown. Part One focused on the impact on housing and the environmental impacts. In Part Two, we’ll look at the costs to the City of Watertown to maintain safe control over the Life Science industry and its effects on our community. Let me repeat the quick caveat from Part One: In bringing these issues up, I am, myself, presenting an unbalanced scenario, in response to that 100% positive view of Sam Ghilardi’s report on bio labs in Watertown, so please keep that in mind. Watertown Building Inspections:

Another note: given all of the construction planned and in progress, do we, in fact, have the adequate City resources to assure that construction regulations and procedures are being followed and inspections and checkins are frequent enough to catch scofflaws?