Civic Engagement – My Truant Pen

Stoneham Town Election Results: April 4, 2017

I think this election cycle in Stoneham was remarkably awesome. We had many contested elections for important town roles. The candidates were all phenomenal. They debated issues, priorities and skills, but I didn’t see any meanness or personal attacks on display. Voters in town were engaged in thinking through the race and what it meant for the town (although I’d love to see higher turnout numbers next time!)

I’d like to offer my gratitude to all those who ran, who offered their perspective and who were willing to spend their time and energy making this town a better place. Thank you!

That said, here are the winners of the contested races!

Selectman: Shelly MacNeill
School Committee: David Maurer & Nicole Finocchi Nial
Planning Board: Augustus Niewenhous
Moderator: Jeanne Craigie

You can see the full vote tallies, including # of voters and margin of victory at this link.

Congrats, Stoneham, for being such an awesome place to live with so many amazing people willing to serve you!

My ballot – Stoneham Town Election: Tuesday April 4, 2017

Civic Engagement

Stoneham Town Election: Tuesday, April 4 2017

Ballot here
You can see the Candidate Statements here.

EDIT April 1, 2017 (but actual edit – not a joke)
One of the amazing things about being in a small town is that posts like this can create a dialogue. This election has been a remarkably productive and positive one.

There’s been some confusion, so let me reassure the audience that everyone I’ve talked to and have taken notes on has been aware that the purpose of the meeting was for me to get information on their candidacy, and I told them I’d be publishing the results.

Here’s some additional information I’ve gotten:

Planning Board –
Devon Manchester reached out to me to by phone to offer me some information on his candidacy, which I appreciated. We talked by phone for half an hour. You can read the transcript here. I liked some of his insights, but felt like he undervalued the work that the committee had already done on things like the sign law. This is a very difficult race to decide on the best candidate. I thought carefully about our conversation, but although a great dialogue, I don’t think our chat has changed my vote.

Moderator –
Larry Means – In response to questions that I and others have raised, Larry Means has posted an explanation on why he had the DPW worker removed. His explanation includes video of the event, so you can watch for yourself. I think it outlines the technical stance he took in the meeting. But especially in a role like Moderator, I would like to see a person who has the respect and admiration of the town employees, which is not demonstrated in the interaction he references.

I’d like to commend Jeanne for being very civil about me not endorsing her, although not all the conversations on Facebook have been quite as polite. She’s really taken the higher road in responding to me, which is actually quite reassuring.

This race is ALSO very difficult to call. I feel like the candidates have different qualifications that rather evenly offset each other.

It was my intention to make the hard voice to tell you who I was endorsing for all these races. I know as a newcomer to town, trying to stare down a ballot with positions you didn’t know existed and names you’ve never heard, it’s really demoralizing to realize that you can’t cast a meaningful vote because there is no public information for you to base a vote on – even if you look. I want to at least let people know what I’m doing and why, so they can agree or disagree with my thinking. But in this race, I suspect my decision will be made with a Sharpie hovering over an oval and a gut-check of what my heart says. Sorry theoretical newcomer to town.

Stoneham goes to the polls for a town election on Tuesday, April 4! I started preparing my selections back in January. I didn’t get to interview all the candidates I would’ve liked to (not their fault!) but still need to cast a ballot, so used publicly available information for the other candidates.

I’m pretty thrilled by the vibrancy of our small town democracy. We have legitimate, contested elections with qualified candidates in many of the critical town roles, including Selectman, School Committee, Moderator and Planning Board. This is a great thing for our town and our community. The really hard part about this election is that in general I think all the candidates are pretty qualified. I don’t think there’s anyone on the ballot I’ll be horrified to see in office.

I’ll be updating with new information right up to election day, so if you have more information or would like to talk with me, drop me a line at brenda.j.flynn@gmail.com!

With all that said, here are my picks. My reasoning is below.

SELECTMAN
Shelly MacNeill

SCHOOL COMMITTEE (pick two)
David Maurer
Nicole Fenocchi Nial

PLANNING BOARD
August S. Niewenhous (see update above)

MODERATOR
Tossup (see update above) – was previously Lawrence Means.

SELECTMAN
I had the opportunity to speak with both selectman candidates. I am no journalist, but I tried to ask them the same set of questions and give them similar opportunities to explain their positions. All the candidates I talked to discussed “healing of divisions” within our community. I find the divisiveness of Stoneham politics to be very odd indeed. It’s not Democrat/Republican (as far as I can tell). The division doesn’t seem to have a philosophical underpinning. It’s hard to reckon who’s on either side. (I’m pretty sure that not knowing which side I’m on means I’m not on a side? Right?) But this coming together is something I’m optimistic that whoever we elect will work hard to do. I will certainly be holding them accountable for doing so.

Shelly MacNeil
Webpage
Facebook
My Conversation with her

Shelly was the first of the candidates to reach out to me to ask to talk. I’d never met her before, and had no idea who I was going to vote for in this election. I was impressed with her. She seemed committed to running for all the best reasons, which she articulated well and passionately. She had clearly thought deeply about her reasons for running, and what she hoped to accomplish.

Her work on the Substance Abuse Coalition was top of mind for her, and I believe that if she is elected, she would take a well-planned, methodical approach to this crisis for our community. I also have high hopes that her intention to coordinate planning better across the town will result in better communication and outcomes for our community.

Shelly has my vote because I think she has the skills to be deeply effective, the willingness to do hard, unglamorous work, and a cooperative and pleasant personality which will allow her to work with people across Stoneham.

Christine Warren Linn
Webpage
Facebook
My Conversation with her

I was pretty excited when I heard Christine was running. My only experiences with her have been on Facebook where she’s organized a Couch to 5K, but she has been a high energy presence in the town. It took a long time for us to both find to get together, since we work opposite schedules.

Christine doesn’t think experience is necessary to run for selectman. She may be right. But I do want my selectman to think hard about the issues facing the town, and come with mature and well thought out positions. One of the first things Christine asked was for me to hold off posting this until after the candidates debate. When I asked why, she said it was because she didn’t want her opponent to know “where she was coming from”. I asked if she meant that she hadn’t been forthcoming about her platform to this point, she changed her mind and said I could publish whenever I liked. She changed her mind on the request twice more in our conversations.

I’m happy to listen and accommodate a reasonable request, but this tiny example showed me that Christine hadn’t really thought through her position on timing. I’m sure she’d be more thoughtful on things that really mattered, but it struck me that I prefer a selectman who thinks through their requests/positions BEFORE they make them.

Our conversation ended up being much less substantive than my conversation with Shelly. Christine had fewer specific plans and ideas and less insight into our current position and challenges.

Overall, I think Christine might do a great job as a selectman, but what I saw was not a compelling example. Given that Shelly was extremely well qualified, my decision for this race feels very clear.

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

I didn’t meet with any of the school committee candidates. (Honestly, when I started posting my ballots a few years ago, I didn’t realize it would end with me spending hours talking to candidates!) I have good information on two of them and no information on the third. This is obviously unfair to that third candidate (Elaine Trant Brown), so if you have good information you should a) share it with me b) choose to vote for her instead!

First choice – Dave Maurer
Dave and I have worked together on some technology initiatives, and had extensive conversations about the role of technology in education. He does this work because he’s passionate about the kids in this town and has tremendous technical experience to back it up. He has worked long and diligently, not really coveting the spotlight or attention. He’s got energy, background and a good track record with the Middle School and I’d like him to be continue on to the High School. I highly recommend his work.

Second choice – Nicole Fenocchi Nial
I’ve been lucky enough to have Nicole as one of the leads of the PTO in South School during both my sons’ tenure there. I’ve gotten to see her passion, diligence & organization in full swing. She does a great job of keeping things rolling and making things fun in what has to be one of the least glamorous jobs a town has to offer. I can attest that she will be a strong and capable presence on the School Board.

PLANNING BOARD

I have very little insight into this. Both candidates are known to me by reputation only. I think planning board is critical to our success as a town (can I suggest a moratorium on nail/hair salons?). I’m open to feedback on this one, but don’t have a strong or well formed opinion. In this case, I opted for the continuity of Mr. Niewenhous.

MODERATOR

So I saved the hardest race for last. In full disclosure, Jeanne reached out to me and we had a very productive hour long conversation. I reached out to Larry late, and haven’t been able to set up time as much for my schedule as anything. So there’s an information imbalance here.

In my opinion, the moderator role is one that would be best served by someone who’s primary skill was building relationship bridges and earning respect from everyone for their impartiality and calmness. The actual role of the moderator is to run the town meeting once a year (which has been contentious at times!) and also to make appointments to boards – an under appreciated responsibility. Both of these rely on reputation and relationship.

Over the few years I’ve been watching Stoneham town politics from the sidelines, I’ve seen passion and a willingness to invest time and energy from both candidates. But neither has struck me as a consensus builder.

My conversation with Jeanne (here) helped me understand her much better as a person. Her passion really came through. But I’ve seen a darker side of that passion on some of her interactions on town Facebook pages where her feelings were understandably hurt and she responded by removing people from the group. I get the hurt feelings, but that response doesn’t lead to that more civil society she spoke to. (FYI – in my humble opinion the amount of political decisions in this town which are made on Facebook is rather astonishing.)

I’m honestly really on the fence about this. Larry’s comparative lack of participation with social media does not necessarily mean he’s been more of a bridge builder – especially not if that’s where the engagement in our town is. There have been some times where it’s been hard to understand some of his moderation choices, such as when he had a DPW worker escorted out of a town meeting I attended. He’s generally run the meetings well, but there have been a few times when I wondered if the decisions were fully equitable, such as when the balcony wasn’t counted.

Both have been dedicated public servants in various roles. Both have experience and aptitude. I think either would do well in the role, but in this case I’m opting for the candidate with more experience in this particular role.

I’m finding my part to play in town to be a challenging one. I want to be engaged and well informed, but it’s remarkably difficult to gauge the effectiveness of a candidate even when you talk 1:1 with them. I had a particularly busy few months (as you can tell by the dropoff in blogging!) which made it difficult for me to be completely thorough.

So… share your ballot in the comments, along with your reasons for picking the candidates you’re passionate about! I’d love to learn more from your perspectives!

This is what democracy looks like

Civic Engagement, Faith

Like 175,000 other people, I spent much of my Saturday in the middle of Boston, cheek to jowl with other people, wearing a pink hat and holding a sign.

It was an incredible experience for me. I’ve never marched in a protest before. I dislike crowds, and I don’t seek danger. I think that everyone who read through the advice before the march had to think seriously about whether this was safe. It was full of things like Don’t wear makeup, since it traps tear gas and Write your lawyer’s name on your arm in sharpie. I took the precaution of marching with a lawyer, and went anyway.

I never made it in to the Common - we hung out at the starting line — I never made it in to the Common – we hung out at the starting line

My first experience with marching included a lot of standing and not-quite-hearing what the speakers were saying. I guess that somehow they didn’t expect 175k people to turn out, and didn’t have the sound system extending that far. Fair enough. But it also included being surrounded by a panoply of different people. Latinxs, grandmas, veterans, construction workers, middle-aged mamas, kiddos, teen boys climbing trees. It seemed like every walk of life was there, every age, every color. And it seemed like all of them were cheerful, determined and patient. And wearing ridiculous pink hats. (Even the construction workers!) The unions were in force, as the volunteers who helped people figure out where to go and how to move. People moved slowly be necessity, and took in the signs, t-shirts, posters and aprons of their fellow-marchers.

I kept trying to take VR photos to show the magnitude of the crowd

As we walked (at a snail’s pace!) along the march route, the bystanders would often kick us off into a call. We’d walk in and out of the chant. One of the persistent ones was a call-and-response:

Call: Show me what democracy looks like!
Reponse: This is what democracy looks like.

It was an emotional and powerful affirmation to realize that yes. This is what a democracy looks like. I savored it. (And for the record, the Boston Police agree that it was an astonishingly peaceful event.

I ran into two folks I knew in the course of the march (which – I probably knew 80 people there in total, based on my friends checking in on Facebook!). Both of them were people I’d met in the church. One was Pastor Rob Mark from a fellow Presbyterian Church. Two were folks I’d gone to church with for years – whose daughter had been in my confirmation class. We caught up and chatted as we walked. My signs – my reason for marching – were very much rooted in my faith. One of the scriptures I find most meaningful is Matthew 25:31-46 – a quick summary of which is here:

Matthew 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I realized as I walked though that very few of the signs I saw had a scripture on them. The church on the corner played the great hymns of the civil rights movement (We Shall Overcome!). My friends showed their faith. But the word pussy outnumbered the word Jesus by many multiples. And that showed me where we’re falling down, friends. I don’t mind the pussy-posters at all. But I’m saddened that Christians were not very visible to point out that the call to help the poor and welcome immigrants comes at Jesus’ own command.

Teen Vogue, the new voice of responsible journalism in America (I’m not even kidding!), ran a thoughtful piece on how one of the civic changes we’ve experienced over the last generation is a decrease in participation in non-governmental democratic organizations. People aren’t practicing democracy on the small, local scale like they used to. They aren’t running for office in the Elk’s Club, taking leadership roles in the Masons or signing up with the Kiwanas on the same scale they did in prior generations. When’s the last time you voted on something – a real binding vote – that wasn’t governmental?

Well, the last time I did was today. It was the day of my Presbyterian Church’s annual meeting. We convened with Robert’s Rules of Order as our (generally) guiding principal. We made motions and didn’t argue about them until there was a second. We elected officials to represent not our own will, but the will of God as they see it. We read through our budget line by line, asked detailed questions, and got answers. We practiced our democratic skills.

It was a very democratic weekend, and an inspirational one. There is still so much to be done. There are people who have great fear right now: the dark skinned, the immigrant/stranger, the sick, those in prison, the hungry, the poor. But this Sunday I stand in hope that we will come together and protect and serve God through serving his needy people. So let’s turn the energy of this march into the deep-rooted and faithful work that needs to be done.

I finished my march before some marchers could start

Learning how to be us

Adventures, Art, Civic Engagement

Train ride to Washington - the glow of the screens compels you — Train ride to Washington – the glow of the screens compels you

I’ve always admired those people who seem to know exactly who they and their families are right from the get-go. I’ve discovered that my family identity isn’t a matter just of me deciding what it is, but more of discovery. For example, are we roller coaster people? Do we like roadtrips? When traveling, do we want a night to dress up fancy? Do the kids like museums as much as their parents do?

That latter point is one of great interest to me. The kids are approaching the peak age for really cool travel opportunities – able to keep up with the grownups and still interested in doing so. I’d really like to take them to see some of the great sights of the world in the next decade or so. (Yikes! Grey will be graduating from college in just over a decade!!!) But the question “are we museum people” must be answered – affirmatively – before I’ll do such a thing.

And so we snuck away for a week in DC this Thanksgiving.

We took the train to our nation’s capital. I drove five years ago, and it was a long drive. (I got my first ever speeding ticket that trip!) Plus, parking was an expensive problem in the city. It wasn’t useful to have a car. Air travel is necessary most of the time, but it’s not an enjoyable way to travel. In a train, there’s enough room to move around, but you don’t have to drive. Perfect.

The kids were so excited, I’m pretty sure they were expecting the Hogwarts or Orient Express – not the Amtrak Regional.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites. I’ve stayed there for business, and thought that it would be perfect with both the living and sleeping areas well separated. We could stay up after the kids went to bed, and there was room to hang out. It worked perfectly. Everyone brought their screens this trip (we all enjoy video games!). There was room enough for all of them – plus a table big enough for puzzles! There was a pool and a hot tub, and a tiny kitchenette good enough for heating and cooling things. It was pretty perfect!

On our trip we saw the Spy Museum (our favorite) and we walked the Mall. We spent Thanksgiving at the National Museum of the American Indian where we had a great native lunch for our main Thanksgiving meal. (The museum itself was not massively impressive, although I loved the native dancers!) We also snuck over to the Air and Space Museum while the crowds were low. We did the Museum of Natural History, watched Moana in the theaters (very fun!). We closed up our trip with a lovely walk to the Archives, where we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Delicious Thanksgiving meal of native foods

We played a lot of video games, too. And went swimming. And played Pokemon Go. And read books. And slept in. It was awesome.

So…. I guess this is how our family vacations!

The fabled bird, the phoenix

Art, Civic Engagement

My playlist has kept pointing me to a particular song in the last few days. It’s the Mitchell Trio’s “Phoenix Bird“. I went to go look it up to see what history (and Youtube) had to say about it. I found… absolutely nothing. Not a single Youtube video exists of it. You can’t find it on Amazon, or Google music. It’s lost. There’s no tale of the context or history. I can only tell you what the words say.

But I’m finding it meaningful lately. The Mitchell Trio were social justice warriors fifty years ago, the last time we seriously fought the fight between those who think some people are worth less than others, and those who believe all people are created equal. Their other songs ranged from tongue in cheek to weep-worthy. (See In the Summer of His Years for that.) The Phoenix Bird talks about fighting this good fight again and again. It reminds me that brave people paid prices in blood for making courageous stands against bigotry. These singers are folk of their era, so they talk about “men”, and how men will continue to arise as needed to fight for freedom. But the call goes out to all of us.

I’m not sure it’s entirely encouraging, this cyclical fight that we have fought over generations since we first kidnapped and enslaved and forever exiled from their homes entire nations of people. But I am encouraged to arise and fight – for freedom.

Phoenix Bird
Mitchell Trio – from “The Violets of Dawn”
The story’s told
Of the days of old,
And the fabled bird, the phoenix.

The bird was killed,
And its wings were stilled
In a fire that burned with fury.

The flames grew cold
And then bird of gold
Then arose from the burned out ashes –

Rose to the sky,
There to circle high
Forever and ever after.

So the story’s told
Of those days of old
And that fabled bird, the phoenix.

And now once again,
Oh yes once again,
Once again that fabled story.

For freedom’s pride
Men are crucified
On a burning cross of hatred.

The flames may kill
Yet more men will arise! Arise!
For freedom.

Love, Accomplished

Civic Engagement, Stoneham

Anyone who has been following my Facebook feed has been inundated in the last two weeks by reminders: get your tickets now! Here’s an awesome silent auction item – bid now! How about this one! I do sort of feel sorry for my friends when I get neck deep in a project/election/initiative. You’re all very patient.

This project was a big one – one of our friends needed to raise $15,000 to get her four year old son with autism a service dog. Upon hearing this news, one of my other friends (who is completely irrepressible and amazing) declared that we were throwing a party to help! Maybe we’d raise as much as $5 thousand dollars!

Things got completely out of hand at that point.

Somehow, we got branded as the “Stoneham Social Club”. (That sounds so official. Trust me – it’s not official.) We got a hall. Then we needed to get people to fill it. The moms in my group of moms (who have pretended at points to be a book club, but let’s be honest – we mostly hang out once a month and catch up while, um, drinking wine) knocked on the doors of practically every business in town. We hit up our friends. And somehow we got thousands of dollars of auction and raffle gifts donated.

We started meeting weekly, and our meetings had actual agendas. Craziness!

There was a live band. There was the cash bar. Tablecloths were the subject of a major crisis. Table decorations. Significant and long discussions happened regarding the methodology of raffles & how to run a simultaneous online & in person silent auction.

I was responsible for all digital media and the auctions. Since it just so happened our crazy crew included a top-notch graphic designer, I had some good materials to work with. I created a website, a Facebook page, an event. One of my friends came up with the genius idea of using Facebook commenting to run the simultaneous silent auction. I spent a lot of time trying to write clever text for the auction items.

It was a long run up. Tons of people worked so hard behind the scenes. People found donors. People put together amazing auction packages. People printed bid sheets.

Wall o' auction items — Wall o’ auction items

But oh my goodness, folks. It was amazing. We hit capacity at the Elk’s Club. The live music was perfect. The auction table was crammed with great items, and already well into the bidding. The food was delicious. Desserts were delectable. Apparently we set a new record for cash bar sales at that venue. There was dancing, laughing, and deeply competitive bidding for a gallon of maple syrup. There were heartfelt speeches, and tears of joy and love.

And we did it. We raised $15,000 for David to get his dog. And then we kept on going. The final tallies are still being calculated, but it’s somewhere between 20 and $25k. The extra will go to help pay for the month the family of five will need to spend in Ohio training the dog, and for health and life insurance on the puppy.

It’s been a hard year for believing in the goodness of people. There’s been death, violence, anger and ugliness on every page of every news site. You don’t have to go far to feel sick to your stomach about humanity. But my experience these last two months has been the complete opposite. People have been so generous, and so kind. An astounding number of people have gone out of their way to be loving and helpful. Any time work was needed, a multitude of cheerful hands went up to help do it. I’d love to name all the folks who contributed, but I suspect that list would exceed 100 … and I don’t even know the full tally!

So thank you. Thank you to all of you who put up with my posts. Thank you to those of you who bid on items. Thank you to those who came out to support David’s family. Thank you to those who donated items, even though you’d never met the sweet kid they’ll help. Thank you for those who opened your checkbooks. Thank you to all of you who opened your hearts. You’re good people, and I’m proud to know you.

And man, I can’t wait for our next meeting, when I plan on being completely frivolous.

Special love to our partners, who worked tirelessly to support us in what we attempted — Special love to our partners, who were uncomplaining in their support of us

Walkable Stoneham

Civic Engagement, Stoneham

The other day I dropped my car off to be detailed – a wonderful indulgence for a place where I spend so much time. The detailer is less than a mile from my house, so I drove out there, and walked back along one of Stoneham’s main streets – Montvale Avenue. As I did, I thought about what a missed opportunity it is that Montvale has never been looked at from a pedestrian’s point of view.

“If only” I thought, “Our awesome town had more money available to invest in sidewalks! It’s a little embarrassing that there’s no safe way to walk from the main express bus stop that goes directly to Boston, to our downtown.”

Well, I just learned that Stoneham has a clear-cut way to DOUBLE our sidewalk budget for the year. How awesome is that! Of course, nothing is ever as easy as it looks. Some folks on the Board of Selectmen are worried that Stoneham is doing too much awesome stuff (is that really possible?) and are unsure about whether we actually want the additional $400k in state money to build sidewalks. I know that *I* really want some better sidewalks. I am betting many other folks in Stoneham would too, so I wanted to encourage our Selectmen and ask them to work for this money.

To get the money, the town needs to:
1. Attend complete streets training (done)
2. Adopt a complete streets policy (One has been written, waiting board review)
3. Find a consulting company to do a study on our main issue areas and apply for a $50k grant from the state. (Done and won the grant. Trying to get board approval)
4. Complete study and submit projects to the state for $400k of money to construct.

Here’s some of what I’d do with that $400k, if I got to tell the selectmen what I want!

A key link in Stoneham’s public transit is the connection between the 345 Express Bus (that goes nonstop to State Street – it’s an amazing option) and our local 132 that goes to Oak Grove/Malden. If you imagine someone who doesn’t have a car, both of these are critical lifelines. Now imagine that person has a stroller, or is in a wheelchair. How are they going to get between them? I’ve definitely seen people in motorized wheelchairs actually IN the road in Montvale, which is a sign we have something wrong with our sidewalks. On my walk back from getting the car detailed, here were the worst spots for both safety and access.

1) The intersection of Maple & Montvale

Take a good look at this amazing piece of photography. You see what’s missing? Where are the crosswalks? HINT: There are none. This crossing feels very much like taking your life in your hands. There’s no place in it for a human not cradled in a few thousand pounds of metal. There are no crossing lights, no crosswalks. It’s a dangerous, scary intersection that completely isolates the 354 bus line from Stoneham. From where I was standing to take this picture, it was over a 10th of a mile in either direction for me to get to a marked crossing. I’m frankly surprised this is legal. This also makes it very unwelcoming for the workers in Unicorn to walk in to Stoneham center for a cup of coffee or lunch. Please note that anyone getting OFF the 354 gets off on this side of the street as well, so anyone looking to take the bus and then walk home has to navigate this intersection.

To fix: Well, crosswalks and crossing lights seem like a mighty fine addition to this intersection.

2) The housing complex at Mountain View Drive

This little section right here isn’t a problem if you’re walking. But imagine it in a wheelchair, or even with a heavy stroller. It’s hard to see, but that curb is HIGH.

To fix: sloped access ramps, like most sidewalks have.

3) Where did the sidewalk go?!?! AKA 91 Montvale

So you survive the intersection, you make it over the curb… and suddenly the pedestrian right of way completely disappears for 100 feet. Just to make it MORE fun, there’s an island that would push you directly into oncoming traffic if you were trying to navigate it with a stroller. This is another one where I’m mystified how this got approved. It’s definitely one of the harder ones to fix, too. We’ll need good advice from a civil engineer on how to make this less likely to lead to a sorrowful outcome for anyone trying to walk it.

To fix: ask an expert.

4) Still no sidewalk for you! (91 Montvale to Lindenwood Cemetery)

Notice that people do walk this, regularly

This dirt path shows something important: people are already walking this route. We have people traversing an unsafe situation. Some of them may be folks like me, who prefer the bipedal mode of transportation for health and enjoyment reasons. Many of them may walk because they have to walk. People walk this in the dark, and in the snow. It makes me sad that we’ve done such a poor job making it possible for them to do so safely and enjoyably.

To fix: pour a sidewalk.

5) The other side of the road (across from Stoneham Bank)

“But wait!” you say, “You’re just walking on the wrong side of the road. Surely the OTHER side is safe!”

I wish. Two things:

1) I still haven’t gotten to a crossing with a cross walk, so I couldn’t safely cross the road if I wanted to.
2) There are at least two spots on the other side of the road where the sidewalk also disappears. I’d argue I’m actually documenting the “good” side by walking on the northern side.

To fix: put in sidewalk where sidewalk belongs.

6) More for cars, less for people (in front of Montvale Plaza)

This stretch is a significant distance where there is absolutely no sidewalk on the south side of the street. During the evenings, there are often cars parked where sidewalk should be (another one where I really wonder how that squares with laws about such things). This sidewalkless stretch goes for almost a full block. I end up walking it often when we head down to Taj Indian Bistro, or back from a walk in Lindenwood.

To fix: remove parking, put in sidewalk instead.

So that’s my wishlist. I’d love to be able to walk safely to the express bus. I’d love to connect our downtown business with the hundreds of office workers in Unicorn Park. I’d love to make it so you can safely take a stroller down one of our main streets. And I’d really love it if our selectmen dig deep to find the extra energy to take the FINAL step to claim $400k to make it happen.

Do you have a sidewalk project you’d like to see in town? Can you buy into my vision? Please reach out to the board of selectman before the meeting on Tuesday, July 12 2016 to let them know. Or better yet, come to the meeting to let them know in person.

Here are the selectfolk contact information (in alphabetical order):

Tom Boussy –
tboussy@ci.stoneham.ma.us – (781) 832-0098
Caroline Colarusso –
(781) 438-5720 – info@selectcaroline.com (she also holds regular office hours)
Ann Marie O’Niell – (781) 832-0098 (Ann Marie – I’d love to include your email!)
George Seibold – sorry, he hasn’t made any contact information public. There’s a form on the town website
Anthony Wilson – AnthonyWilson4Stoneham@gmail.com