Wednesday, March 20, 2013
A letter to the editor from Brett Rhyne.
- ELECTIONS
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Wednesday, March 20
To the Editor: My name is Brett Rhyne, and I’m running as a write-in candidate for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the April 30 primary. Why? Because I need a job. That’s only a little facetious. Since I stopped teaching at Salem State College in 2009, I’ve been unemployed or underemployed two-thirds of the time. Put another way, I haven’t been able to provide for my five-year-old boys for half their lives. Thankfully, family, friends, our community and the state have helped greatly, and for that, I’m extremely grateful. As a teacher and a journalist, I’ve always worked to make the world a better place. Now I’d like to be your trusted servant in the U.S. Senate. As I see it, at the heart of our problems is our grow-or-die …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Kilsyth Road resident Bill Davidson writes in to ask that non-binding resolutions stop clogging Town Meetings.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Town Meeting, as I understand it, is a biannual legislative gathering of Brookline's government to decide on submitted warrant articles concerning town-related business. However, it has been the practice of some Brookline residents to present their personal opinions regarding non-Brookline-specific issues to Town Meeting in the form of nonbinding resolutions. This needs to end. How does Brookline benefit from these resolutions? How do these resolutions conduct the Town's business? How do these resolutions constitute a constructive use of time at Town Meeting? The evenings of Town Meeting are long. There can be a lot of articles to consider--30 of them this May. The meeting needs to stay focused to complete its work. Non-binding …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Some tips and tricks for any Letters to the Editor you would like us to consider before Town Meeting begins next week.
The 2012 Town Meeting Warrant has thirty articles in it. Yes, three-zero. Some of the decisions are bound to hit close to home for some of our readers, whether it's raising the age of cigarette sales, building contraflow bike lanes, or an item in the town budget. If you feel we need to bring more attention to one of them, then send a letter in to the Brookline Patch editor. Patch is always open to publishing Letters to the Editor, not just about Brookline Town Meeting or Elections coming up, but also things like the Food Trucks program or other town issues. We will not be running any letters on the week of Town Meeting, so the latest you can get them in is the end of business on Friday. After that, we will not have time to process and …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Library Trustee contender Puja Mehta writes in to congratulate Kristen Uekermann on the win, and to express her support for the Board of Trustees.
To the residents of Brookline: I am writing to thank you for your support during the race for Library Trustee, and to offer my congratulations to Kristen Uekermann on winning a hard-fought race. I joined the race for Library Trustee, my first ever campaign, because of my passion for an institution that's at the heart of our community life. Your emails, phone calls and your votes have warmed my heart, and have reenergized my commitment to the Town and the Library. I will continue my work for the library and support the Trustees efforts in any way that I can. I will work to ensure that library service on Sundays in the summer becomes a permanent program rather than a pilot. I will also continue my work on behalf of Steps for Success and for …
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Five of Brookline's Library Trustees wrote in to endorse one of the two library trustee candidates.
To the Editor Brookline Patch: As Brookline library trustees we represent all the citizens of Brookline. It is our judgment as individuals to endorse for the open two year seat at the May 1st town election Puja Mehta. Both candidates for the two year seat would make great additions to the Brookline Library Board but we can only vote for one on May 1st. Puja has been an effective advocate for seven-day accessibility, has fund-raising experience for the benefit of the Brookline libraries, and has shown a steadfast commitment to Brookline libraries. Professionally, she has proven experience identifying innovative, cost effective funding for municipalities. This will be a tremendous asset for the Board. As a young mother, she understands the …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
With Election Day next week, Kristen Uekermann writes in to talk about her campaign, and share her vision for the library.
Since beginning my campaign for Library Trustee the question that I have most frequently been asked is “Why do you want to be a Library Trustee?” I initially decided to run for a position on the Board out of a desire to help the Library reflect the growing diversity of our town. But over the course of this campaign, I have learned a simple truth: Once you start listening to residents talk about the Brookline Public Library, you find more and more reasons to be involved. Over the past month, I have spoken with hundreds of Library patrons and those conversations will guide me as a Trustee. I’ve spoken with a literacy volunteer, who struggles to identify books that capture the interest of urban youth, while meeting the reading level …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Brookline resident writes in to bring attention to a budget item, one which he says will impact the deafblind community in Massachusetts and Brookline.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
To the Editor: The proposed 2013 state budget plan includes eliminating funding for services that will dramatically impact me and other deafblind citizens here in Massachusetts. As it stands, the funding for the Deaf-Blind Community Access Network (DBCAN), which is part of line item 4110-1000 under the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, is slated to be cut by $450,000, ending this unique and valuable service. This is incredibly distressing for us. DBCAN enables us to operate independently in the community by providing us with access to basic human activities such as transportation to work and medical appointments, attending church, organizing our homes, doing laundry, among many other tasks. When our DBCAN providers help us shop for …
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Kenwood Street resident and food writer Amy Traverso paints a different picture of the potential future of food trucks in Brookline.
- BUSINESS
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Letter to the Editor: I’m writing in response to Martin Yaseen’s letters to the editor protesting the food truck pilot program in Brookline. I share some of his concerns about the impact of food trucks on local restaurants, but I also wonder if Mr. Yaseen is operating from outdated assumptions about what food trucks are and the role they play in the current food landscape. These are not the so-called "roach coaches" that tour construction sites (not that I have any problem with them). They are rolling labs that allow entrepreneurs to test new ideas on consumers, often before committing to establishing bricks-and-mortar outlets themselves. Look at the success of Clover Food Lab, which began with a single food truck and has grown into a …
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
John Street resident brings up some concerns about food trucks which he feels were ignored at the April 10 Selectmen's Meeting.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012
As someone who spoke at the April 10 Selectmen's meeting against the introduction of food trucks into Brookline, ultimately I was more disturbed by the Selectmen's blithe disregard for the substantive questions raised not only by myself, but by two prominent town meeting members, restaurant owners, and other citizens, than I was by their ill-considered decision to proceed with this program. I was under the apparently erroneous assumption that the Selectmen, in their capacities as elected representatives of the community, had a civic responsibility not only to allow opponents of the food truck pilot program to speak, but, as well, to ADDRESS the significant issues that were raised. Among many issues raised were: 1) The fundamental …
Thursday, April 5, 2012
A candidate for the Board of Brookline Library Trustees, Puja Mehta, writes in to talk about her vision for the public libraries.
- ELECTIONS
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Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Trustees of the Brookline Public Library recently led the call to expand Library hours to Sundays in the summer through a proposed pilot program at the Coolidge Corner branch. With an estimated cost of $15,000 over 11 weeks, this expanded summer hours pilot program is a worthwhile, important investment in our community. It is a cost-conscious, measured step toward expanding accessibility while maintaining, preserving and ensuring relevancy of our library especially in the face of a new expanded technological era. I strongly believe the Brookline Public Library is the hallmark of our great community. I recently announced my candidacy for Brookline Library Trustee because I believe that all residents should have the ability to …
Bill Davidson
1:35 pm on Thursday, May 17, 2012
Please look at Article #29 from the 2012 Annual Town Meeting Warrant: http://www.brooklinema.gov/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=6170&tmpl=component&format=raw&Itemid=654 This is the kind of warrant article, while well-meaning, doesn't belong at Town Meeting. It has nothing to do with Brookline. It just wastes everyone's time. more ›