Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/government/elections/page/63/)
The campaign to re-elect Susan Falkoff to Town Council at Large is hosting a campaign kickoff. Please join Susan and supporters for a fun and enlightening party to kick the campaign into high gear! Everyone is welcome. The event is on Sunday, Sept. 20, 3-5 p.m. at the home of Mark and Erneseta Kraczkiewicz, 77 Riverside St., Watertown.
The League of Women Voters of Watertown recognizes that everyone is still enjoying the end of summer and perhaps worrying about the start of the new academic year. However, the town election season is also coming up. In particular, the citizens who live in District B have a chance to make their choices in the Preliminary Election on September 17, 2015. Please take note of the date because it is a Thursday rather than the usual Tuesday. We encourage all the voters in District B to exercise their privilege to vote in this election.
Raya Stern, President
League of Women Voters of Watertown
(Note, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday).
Residents heard from the District B Council candidates at a recent Candidates Forum, but there were some left over questions. Here are the answers from the four candidates. The Preliminary Election for District B is on Thursday, Sept. 17. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Only voters in precincts 4, 5 and 6 (who vote at the Philips School and Hibernian Hall) can participate.
Candidates for District B filed their campaign finance papers, and challenger Lisa Feltner lead the way with more than $2,000 raised. A candidate in another race, however, had the most donations. The campaign finance reports were due eight days before the preliminary election. Three of the candidates filed by the deadline – Tuesday, Sept. 8.
My name is Kendra Medville Foley and I am a candidate for the Watertown School Committee. I am running for School Committee because I am passionate about the importance of education – for my three young children, for the children and families in Watertown and for the health and vibrancy of our town. I know that an excellent school system not only helps every child and family, but also makes an enormous contribution to a community being safer, stronger, and more vibrant. Two years ago, when my oldest child entered kindergarten, I got involved with the schools through the Hosmer PTO and Watertown Strong Schools. The process of advocating for greater investment in our schools by attending School Committee meetings, attending budget and finance subcommittee meetings, and talking to parents, teachers and administrators convinced me to run for School Committee.
Sheppard Ferguson, former President of Booksellers of Harvard Square, is on the ballot to be elected a Trustee of the Watertown Free Public Library. He believes his career creating and managing successful bookselling companies and as a free lance photographer working internationally will add strength and breadth of experience to the Board as it advises and assists the ongoing work of the library and its Director. An avid user of the library (1,676 check-outs in five years), Ferguson joined the Long Range Planning Committee of the library last winter. Since he has spent many hours studying the Library and Town’s planning and budget documents and talked with dozens of people about the library. Not surprisingly Ferguson confirmed that the Library is well loved by its users from Watertown and many surrounding communities, and is supported by the Town Council and Administration.
During last week’s candidate forum, the District B hopefuls had a variety of takes on how – and whether – the town should protect Watertown’s neighborhoods. They also talked about helping the seniors and the less fortunate in town. District B Councilor Cecilia Lenk said she wants to protect the town’s residential neighborhoods from having smaller homes torn down and replaced with bigger multi-unit developments. This could be done with design guidelines for neighborhoods, like what was recently passed for commercial areas of Watertown. “I recently put forward a motion to the Council, and it was sent to the Economic Development Committee, to have a discussion of the needs of neighborhoods,” Lenk said.
Candidates in for District B discussed the biggest issues they see for the district and the town and why they are running for the Town Council during Wednesday night’s Candidate Forum hosted by Watertown News.
When asked by moderator Will Twombly about what they thought was the biggest issue was each had their own view. For challenger Kevin MacDonald, a Watertown Firefighter, traffic was his biggest concern. “Traffic is a mess, and I keep reading things from the Council and the Comprehensive Plan talking about reducing the amount of parking, and I they think that will alleviate traffic,” MacDonald said. “But it forces people out onto residential streets to park.” Traffic also weighs on challenger Patty van Dinter’s mind.