COVID-19 Vaccine

LETTER: Resident Objects to Vaccine Requirement for Watertown Public Schools Staff

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To the Citizens of Watertown,

Watertown Public Schools is now forcing a COVID vaccine mandate on all WPS staff, even though, according to school committee members that I emailed, 96-98% of their staff are already vaccinated. The schools have already achieved herd immunity. Clearly, this new mandate is targeting the handful of people who do not want to try this new vaccine. There is plenty of evidence, both anecdotally and statistically, showing that some people have been severely injured or even killed by the new COVID vaccines. This is not a conspiracy theory, it’s a fact.

Election 2021

LETTER: Council Candidate’s Thank You Letter to Watertown Voters

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(This letter was written before election day but was submitted after thr deadline for election letters.)

Letter to the Editor, 

I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to the hundreds of residents of East Watertown for their kindness, opinions, suggestions and overall great Watertown spirit that they shared with me during the past six months. 

I enjoyed every day of this effort as you give me the encouragement to keep knocking on doors meeting the next voter. It’s been an honor to serve 16 years as a Member of the Library Board of Trustees and will be a greater honor to serve you and Watertown as a Member of the Town Council representing East Watertown. 

I wanted to say thank you to the voters of East Watertown, thank you to the many people who have provided support for this campaign and a special thanks to my lovely wife, Joyce for her support of my civic duty to our wonderful community, Watertown.  

Mike HanlonDistrict A Council Candidate

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Resident Shares His Experience Voting in the Town Election

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The following letter was written on Nov. 2, 2021. Dear Friends,

Re: Voter Shock! Today is Watertown Election Day, and as a civic minded individual, resident in the City known as the Town of Watertown, I did not linger in bed until my usual hour of 7:30 a.m., but rose to prepare to exercise my duty. I voted and believe that I have recovered sufficiently from my shock, that I may now share with you my experience. Things you should know:

·         Watertown once included the towns of Weston, Waltham and large portions of Lincoln, Belmont, and Cambridge.

Election 2021

LETTER: A Reflection on the 2021 Watertown Election

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To the Watertown community,

We are heading into the final days of this election cycle and as we do so, I have begun to reflect on what the past month of campaigning has brought and what the next five days will look like. When I decided to run for office, my goal was to bring people together, participate in spirited debate, and to help build a better Watertown. I have been coaching soccer in town for fifteen years and have had the privilege to have coached hundreds of, if not a thousand, kids in town. Instilling in them the fundamentals of soccer so they can succeed on the field is only part of what I do as a coach. The other, and more important, part is instilling in them life skills such as sportsmanship, teamwork, leadership, integrity, resilience, and perseverance.

Charter Changes

LETTER: Resident Dissatisfied by Public Safety Committee Process, Endorses Council Candidate & Charter Changes

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I have serious concerns about how Councilor Feltner has used her position of power as the chair of the Committee on Public Safety and it is one of the strong reasons I will not be voting for her for District B Councilor. I will be voting for Tiffany York for District B Councilor, and urge fellow neighbors in District B to join me because this is a critical time to have Councilors with competency in what justice, equity, diversity and inclusion means and how to actually create it on the next Town Council. As a light-skinned person of mixed African and European heritage who presents as white to most people, I benefit from an enormous amount of skin privilege and see it as my responsibility to speak up as I am able to when I see and experience racism, and to work to make our community safer for all residents. And it is hard. While I don’t experience most skin discrimination, I have ancestrally inherited fears of targeting and reprisals when being brave enough to speak up.

Elections

LETTER: Resident Endorses School Committee Candidate

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To the editor:

This election day I am casting my vote for Amy Donohue for School Committee.  

Amy’s credentials as a dedicated public servant and involved parent have been well-documented over the past several years. 

Her commitment to our Public Schools goes far beyond the interests of her own children, as she cares deeply about the quality of education for all students. She has advocated fairly and passionately for students, families, teachers, and administrators during her first term. I have had the good fortune to be friends with Amy for well over 10 years, we also served as co-presidents of the Watertown Education Foundation. Having spent many years fundraising for the school-wide Educational Grant Program either at the Spelling Bee or Trivia Night or Dancing with the Stars, I have seen first-hand the time, effort, and energy Amy has dedicated to our town. I have found her to be a caring, compassionate, intelligent person, willing to listen to all sides of an issue and fully considers all options before making important decisions.  

Her tireless involvement in the community, through The Ed Foundation, teaching in our public schools, and as a local business owner, to name just a few, shows that she is a person of service and integrity, who truly wants the best for Watertown. I know she will continue to serve the school committee with the same passion she exhibits in all of her endeavors.

District D

LETTER: District D Resident Endorses Candidate for Town Council

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Dear Watertown Community and District D Residents,

I am a proud member of District D in Watertown and strongly support Connie Henry for District D Town Councilor. Connie has been an educator in the Boston Public Schools, recently retiring after serving as Assistant Director of K-12 Mathematics. Even though she is retired, Connie now continues to support students in her work at Boston University. She has been a passionate resident and advocate for District D in Watertown for 45 years and raised her children andgrandchildren in this Town. Connie’s long-term passion for climate issues includes early work on the dismantling of the former nuclear reactor in Watertown, and now supporting a sustainable climate action plan and securing green space for all residents.

Charter Changes

LETTER: Resident Backs Council, School Committee Candidates, Opposes Charter Changes

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To the Editor:

I’m writing today, urging the Common Sense mainstream Watertown voters to participate in the upcoming non-partisan municipal election on November 2, 2021. Watertown is at a tipping point. As I mentioned, our municipal elections are nonpartisan and for good reason. Councilors and School Committee members are elected, charged, and paid to administer purely local concerns. Yet, there are those who for 2 decades now, have tried to use their municipal office to promote partisan issues, often radical, rather than focusing on the daily nuts and bolts operations of the community.