Dear Watertown Residents:
Have I written enough about the April 6th meeting at the library? Perhaps, but when has that ever stopped me before??
I received a comment to my last Op-Ed entitled “Calling All Everyday Citizen Heroes for the Watertown Square Meeting.”
See:
A reader responded:
“Of all the components of the MBTA Act/Watertown rezoning issue, the urge of some to protect a parking lot and to view construction of a garage as a threat to our way of life makes no sense to me. Building housing and parking in a central spot — and in a currently unattractive downtown area — is a good path forward. (I like Tresca’s by the way; hopefully, they can re-locate
to somewhere nearby — the ground floor of the new building going up where the post office was?)”
And here’s my response:
Hi,
I was prepared to write one of my signature long responses to your comment, but then I thought, you’ve cut to the heart of the matter. Why not respond in kind?
So here goes. We are aspiring to excellence in Watertown. “Aspiring” is the operative word, because we’re not perfect, but then nobody is.
With my latest “tome” what I was questioning, put basically, is the honesty of the process that our City Manager has been using in our city … is it truly an effort to get an accurate community response or is it to get the community response that he wants?
I was also questioning if this project is the answer to our problems in the Square, but since we haven’t been given the data needed in advance to evaluate that question (in disrespect to the people of Watertown), we are put at a very great disadvantage.
Our City Manager, George Proakis, then gets to propose his plan without any serious challenges from the residents. All he’ll get from HAW (Housing for All Watertown) and some of our City
Councilors, for instance, is a rubber stamp.
It’s up to the rest of us (the majority, by the way) to play devil’s advocate, to assure that this is truly the answer to Watertown’s “Watertown Square dilemma.”
See you at the meeting?
Linda Scott
Watertown Resident
Watertown Square Implementation Update, Monday, April 6th, 6 p.m. Watertown Public Library
Linda, I find your comments well-imagined and stated. I don’t always agree, but you always bring up good points to consider. I was on the recent charter review committee, where we fought especially for more transparency. The previous town manager was fiscally conservative to a ridiculous point (we really needed to hire some more people for years), although I’ll give it to him that he left Watertown in excellent fiscal shape. However, he never came to, or if he did, he never spoke at, public meetings. He left it up to the previous planning director, who was uncomfortable to say the least, in dealing with the public. The process was as opaque as you could get. The city newsletter is something that we fought for, as well as public liaisons and more communication in general.
I agree that we should SHOW UP to these meetings and ask questions, demand answers. But at least with this city manager, and hopefully the new planning director, I know they will show up to explain their point of view and listen to the competing interests. I do not get the feeling from past meetings that he ignores public comments, which was certainly the case with the last group.
Proakis has excellent planning chops himself, which is why he hired Utile, a design shop, to work on the plans and didn’t just rely on Stantec like we did in the past, which is an engineering firm and not known for its design. I was really pleased that we got him as city manager and broke up the old boys club that had persisted for many years.
Yes, we will have questions and probably not like it all, but I am not as suspicious anymore that the process will not be transparent and honest. It is so much better now.
What is the urgent need to eliminate the well used parking lot behind CVS etc., and tear down a beloved eatery in order to build a parking garage and yet more housing? A parking garage is much less convenient than the existing parking lot. Tresca’s has been there for a generation or two and many people love eating there. Other large apartment buildings have/are being constructed on Main Street, and the recent zoning change allows for thousands more. We don’t need to tear down and build yet another aparment building and a difficult to use parking garage.
Take a survey of Watertown residents, or at least those who attend the meeting. WE live here and it matters to us.
Thanks, Michael. The meeting on April 6 didn’t shed a lot of light on this behemoth project. I agree with you. Before the Council makes any decisions on this (it is ALL up to them!), we need a comprehensive survey of the whole city, not just the people who show up at meetings. I’ve never seen that library room as crowded as it was that night. There is great deal of interest in this. With zoom, it would have been massive! This must be taken to all of the people before the Council votes on this massive change….The Council represents all of us!
It shed a LOT of light on the project — the potential developers, the location of the proposed buildings, what’s under the parking lot, the potential number of parking spaces in the garage, how current owners are compensated for their property, and much more. Public hearings before the deciding bodies — the council acting as the development authority, the planning board, the council –is where the people get to have their voices heard. Reach out to your councilors as well. That’s democracy.
Thank you Linda for these posts. They are without a doubt fruit for thought.
In the interest on the quality of living in Watertown, I would like that all new housing to have bedrooms with at least 2 full size windows for light and ventilation.
Living space and dinning space should also have this amenity as well.
Warehousing people just so they can be in Watertown or next to work should be avoided with all effort.
What are your thoughts on buildings that warehouse people?
Will all this new development make living in Watertown more affordable?
Hi David,
Thanks again for your continued thoughtful comments. My thoughts on “people warehouses?” They suck!!!Can I say that on Watertown News, Charlie?
As for making Watertown less expensive, the project described on April 6 won’t be doing that…hundreds of apartments at market rate. There really was very little detail provided. More detail, please, city staff.
The rough idea for the building proposed showed a structure with a central open space — an atrium, meaning it could be built with plenty of light. As for the affordability issue, this was addressed in the Q&A and, the answer, as I recall, is that Watertown would have a greater ability to address the affordability issue on the residences that are built on the town-owned parcels where the old police station is, the library parking lot, etc.
George Proakis is not the devil. What is the obsession with him personally? He is pushing the agreed Plan forward in alignment with the wishes of the majority of Watertown stakeholders.
You are correct. But as you know, loud and vocal minorities often rule the day. How else did we get into the current mess as a country?
“No challenge from the residents”? The City Manager’s job is to propose plans for Council consideration. The Council is elected by the voters of Watertown. They are charged with representing the community, not some self-appointed voices on this page. Weigh in as much and with as long a post as possible. It’s information, not a dictate.
I’m the guy who wrote the comment that this letter is responding to. There’s an open meeting tonight to present ideas to the community. It’s not a final plan. It’s being held at a central, easily accessible location at a convenient time (after work for most). It was publicly posted. It’s part of a very open, very transparent community-wide discussion about the future of the town. As someone who covered town halls for about 8 years as a young reporter on Cape Cod and before that in D.C., I have to say the Watertown process on this MBTA communities question is a good example of how government should work. Now we’re nitpicking because there isn’t a Zoom link?
Hi Again John,
I submitted a question at the meeting on April 6 at the request of a Watertown resident whose medical condition could render attendance at a crowded event dangerous. She could have contributed herself on zoom, but alas, for some reason, the City did not make that option available.
All questions and comments were put on index cards and submitted to a City staff member for organization and submittal to George for a response. One person told me that her comment, a criticism, was not read and responded to. That happens with index cards, but not with “open mic” responses.
Well, that’s unfortunate that one question — or was it just a critical statement? — wasn’t addressed. Give Proakis credit for the other 2.5 hours he devoted to explaining and answering everything that came his way. (It’s a parking lot, folks.)