Election 2017

LETTER: Resident Explains Why He Will Vote for Anthony Donato for Council

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There are many reasons to vote for Anthony Donato for Councilor at Large on November 7th. If you live in East Watertown, Anthony was a neighbor of yours for years on
Hillcrest Circle. His mother Eleanor Sullivan Donato lived on Upland Road for many more than that. The Sullivan Playground in Coolidge Square is named for Lt. Paul J. Sullivan,
Anthony’s uncle, who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1968. These are reasons
for Eastenders to vote for Anthony and also a very good reason for Veterans to
vote for him.

Election 2017

LETTER: Resident Shares Who He Will Support in the Watertown Election

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Each cycle many people ask me who I support in an upcoming election. Elections are something I have experience in having led campaigns for Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Ed Markey and progressive Gubernatorial candidate Don Berwick, and was the founder of ProgressiveWatertown. I am traditionally drawn to candidates to start with their heart and finish with their brains. And it seems that Watertown has shown it’s admiration of these same traits as well. First I congratulate each of the candidates for Town offices.

Elections

LETTER: Support Councilors for Fixing Pot Holes, Not Focused on Political Movements

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Vote Councilors that will worry about fixing potholes! Well it’s 2017 and sadly most voters believe this is a year when you aren’t required to fulfill your civic responsibility to vote. It’s an off year – right? Save for a small handful of special elections to fill vacancies in the Legislature, no one is running for anything until next year. 

Wrong! Nothing could be further from the truth.

Letters

LETTER: Fine Sand, Other Materials in Artificial Turf Worries Resident

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(The following was read to the Town Council on Oct. 24)

If you are sitting on a beach on a very windy day and sand blows up your nose, you are likely to sneeze or cough. If you don’t, you will soon have the urge to blow your nose to expel the sand. This is your body’s natural defense system that prevents the grains of sand from moving into your lungs. Artificial turf manufacturers use sand for cushioning, but it is nothing like beach sand.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Worried About Chemicals Being Used on Artificial Turf

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(This letter was read to the Town Council on Oct. 10, 2017)

Maintaining artificial turf means putting chemicals on top of chemicals. With a high quality, state of the art, cost-effective, grass playing field, which we do not currently have in Watertown, proper maintenance, supervised by a knowledgeable professional is essential to protect that field. But in the strange new world of unnatural fields, proper maintenance can mean less about protecting the field, and more about protecting the human beings, especially young ones, who use the field. Proper maintenance of synthetic turf requires that even more chemicals be applied to the field – a field which is already a mixture of hundreds of chemicals, in solid form.

Letters

LETTER: Consider the Neighbors When Lighting Victory Field

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For many the twilight and evening hours are special – a time to relax, unwind, draw closer to loved ones and friends, measure thoughts against the gathering night. But for hundreds of households in the vicinity of Watertown’s Victory Field, ours among them, such simple pleasures have become more elusive in recent years due to the nightly incursion of distressingly bright glare from the lights on the field. Sports have been played under the lights at Victory Field since the days of the old Watertown Twilight Baseball League back in the 1930s and for most of the 80 years since with little if any neighborhood disturbance or injury. But in 2011-12 the Phase One renovation of the baseball and football field introduced lighting of a much greater magnitude on 80 foot poles that so altered and affected our daily lives and routines it soon became a constant source of community ire and outcry. And from which there is no respite since they are left blazing every evening until 10:15 or 10:30 p.m. most of the year REGARDLESS of whether there is a game to light on the field.

Around Town

OP-ED: Library’s Girls Who Code Program Addresses Important Need

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Eight months ago my wife and I welcomed our daughter, Harriet, to the world. She has filled our suddenly sleepless lives with so much joy—and with some anxiety too. Like most parents, my wife and I worry about whether we can give our daughter all the tools she’ll need to lead a fulfilling life. Whether Harriet becomes a car mechanic, a small business owner, or a college professor, she is going to need a basic literacy in computer programming. Fluency in computer languages like HTML and CSS will soon be the low bar for employment in many industries.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Worries About Lead Contained in Artificial Turf

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(The following was presented to the Town Council on Sept. 26)

So, we need more artificial turf for our kids. Really?According to the Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the Mayo Clinic, there is NO safe level of lead, especially for children. A child’s brain and nervous system are in the process of developing. Biologically, even high school athletes are still children.