Elections

Community Preservation Act

OP-ED: Questions for Campaigners Knocking On Your Door This Election Season

By Guest Writer | November 3, 2016

To paraphrase Sir Paul McCartney: Someone’s knocking at the door, somebody’s ringing the bell – do yourself a favor, ask them some hard questions, and don’t let the CPA in. Over the past few weeks CPA (Question #5) proponents have been knocking on our doors, dropping their expensive literature, and trying to persuade us to adopt an unwarranted 2% surcharge tax to fund yet to be determined projects. I’ve received several phone calls and emails questioning the “information” being disseminated. Sadly, the said information is deceptive, distorted, laden with half-truths, and even outright bold faced lies. So when CPA Proponents knock at your door ask them the following.

Community Preservation Act

LETTER: Now is the Time to All Pitch in to Preserve, Improve Watertown

By Guest Writer | November 2, 2016

To the Editor:

It’s time for Watertown to recognize that we need to do more to create affordable housing, educate our kids for the present and future, maintain and improve our public parks and other recreational spaces, and preserve the heritage of old Watertown that’s getting destroyed. The pressures on us from commercial development and economic forces much bigger than our town or state make it necessary for us all to pitch in to keep Watertown an attractive place for young and old, families and individuals. The Town administration has done an exceptional job at keeping our tax rate well below the state average, but that discipline has come at a major cost. As a community we haven’t had the wherewithal to deal with the changes washing over us. We can’t afford to dream about how cities and towns ought to be funded while ignoring the realities of how the system now works and how to make the most of it.

Community Preservation Act

LETTER: CPA Could Bring New Life to Old Buildings in Poor Shape

By Guest Writer | November 2, 2016

In addition to some anti-CPA letters, the October 28 edition of the TAB also contained the glossy supplement Lens which included the article “Renovation and Innovation.” The piece showed how Bridgewater has restored and updated several historic buildings in ways that now save the town money, energy, and staff time as well as preserving examples of their history — a project partially funded by their CPA. Creative solutions like that are what we at the Historical Society of Watertown have suggested when talking about Orchard House and the Schick House (houses we do not own and over which we have no control). They represent the type of buildings that could be restored and converted to use as office space for some small business or organization. The Schick House could even become a bed and breakfast. Using CPA funds for that sort of project, besides preserving historic architecture, would create useful space for small businesses that generate taxes and provide jobs.