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Weekly Roundup
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June 19th, 2009
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Greetings!
What vision do you have for your community? How do local towns and cities support the public structures in our communities - especially in these economically difficult times? What are our options moving forward?
These are some of the questions we will be exploring during our Municipal Connect the Dots trainings this summer and fall.
ONE Massachusetts Leadership Team member, Easton Selectwoman, and Massasoit Community College Municipal Finance Instructor Colleen Corona (photo, right) will educate participants on the basics of local budgets, including where we get and how we spend our money, the fiscal crisis facing our local communities, and how we can more effectively communicate about these issues to our friends and neighbors.
If you are interested in hosting or attending one of our special Municipal Connect the Dots workshops, please contact one of the following ONE Massachusetts staff members:
Here is a look at what else has been going on across Massachusetts: [Skip Ahead: Civic Engagement | Revenue | Government Reform]
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 Civic Engagement
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Goal: By 2013, the voice and input of the state's multi-racial, multi-ethnic communities will create a counterweight to the currently dominant voice and will be tangibly reflected in the public decision making process.
Upcoming:
- Tuesday, June 23rd - Forest Futures. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is hosting a Walk-in-the-Woods (4pm, Leominster State Forest) and Public Forum (6pm, Doyle Conservation Center, Leominster) to elicit your feedback about public values, goals, and concerns about the management of DCR forest lands going forward. [More Event Information]
Updates:
![Communities for Summer Jobs [Bay State Banner]](http://www.baystatebanner.com/files/local15-2009-06-18/local15a.jpg) Community Organizations Support Summer Jobs Programs. Representatives from more than a dozen community
organizations gathered Monday to thank political and business leaders
for their support in funding summer jobs for local teens, and to spur
more action to help young people still seeking employment. [Full Article at Bay State Banner]
- Citizens Call for Public School Support. A group of concerned black citizens met with
representatives from the Boston and Cambridge branches of the NAACP at
Boston City Hall last Friday, hoping to coordinate a response to local
public education issues.
[Full Article at Bay State Banner]
- Statewide Community Forums. During May, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and senior administration officials visited cities and towns across Massachusetts talking with citizens about the challenges faced by our state. Although the in-person forums have finished, this important conversation is continuing in an Online Community Forum. [Citizen Task Force Executive Summary]
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| Revenue |
Goal: By 2013, a fair, adequate, and stable tax system will be implemented. It will raise sufficient revenue so that state and local governments can fund the array of services needed.
Upcoming:
- Tuesday, June 23rd - Community Budget Forum. State Sen. Jamie Eldridge will be hosting a Community Budget Forum to give constituents an opportunity to learn more about the state budget process and proposed tax increases, ask questions, and voice their thoughts and concerns. Sen. Susan Fargo and Rep. Tom Conroy will also be in attendance. The forum will be held from 6 - 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln-Sudbury High School Lecture Hall (Room A217), 390 Lincoln Road, Sudbury. [More at Wicked Local Sudbury] [Sen. Eldridge Website]
- Transportation Funding. The transportation system overhaul being voted on by the Massachusetts House and Senate on Thursday would sidestep an immediate increase in Turnpike tolls, MBTA fares and the state's gasoline tax but would all but assure a 25 percent increase in the sales tax. [Full Article at Boston.com]
- Federal Stimulus for Renters. Arlington, Brookline, and Newton are among 20 communities statewide slated to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal stimulus grants to prevent people from falling into homelessness because of tough economic times. [Full Article at Boston.com]
- Property Taxes. Voters have approved property tax increases in at least 11 communities around Boston in recent weeks. "Cutting and cutting and cutting until there's no more is not a balanced approach to solving the problem [of our budget crisis]" said Geoffrey Beckwith of the MA Municipal Assoc. "Communities... recognize that there's a point at which these investments must be made if the community wants to stay where it is or move forward." [Full Article at Boston.com]
- Additional Revenues. Our own Judy Meredith was on WBUR this morning, discussing additional revenues with Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation's Michael Widmer and others. "It's black and white, there's not enough
revenues in that budget," said Public Policy Institute Director Judy
Meredith... "Finally, I think people say,
'This is unacceptable.'" [Full Article and Audio on WBUR] [Find stories on municipal budgets at ONE Massachusetts]
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Government Reform
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Goal: By 2013, a transparent, accessible and accountable state and local policy-making process will be in place.
Updates:- Transportation. Legislature passed Transportation restructure this week (Senate 27-11, House 130-25). Bill supporters said the legislation would streamline the state's bureaucracy... Critics said the legislation violated the collectively bargained rights of transportation agency workers and expressed surprise since, they said, the House and Senate bills on the negotiating table had both included worker protections. [State House News Service] [More in Globe Op-Ed "Unfunded Mandates"]
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