Michael Sattler
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On the article VIDEO: UPDATED - Chief McLaughlin on Lawndale Street Burglary Incident
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On the article Belmont Town Meeting 2011: As It Happens
Michael Sattler
8:31 pm on Monday, April 25, 2011
ReplyIf we're waitlisted by the State for the library grant money for 2-5 years, don't we have to do the fundamemtal repairs to the old building as well?
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On the article Schools Express Reluctance To Targeted Funds
Michael Sattler
3:41 pm on Friday, June 25, 2010
ReplyI don't doubt that the priorities the school committee supports are worthwhile to many, and it may be that part of the school committee's job is to advocate for the priorities they believe in when public support is scant. But in the end isn't it their responsibility to represent the needs of the town they serve - as the town itself defines those priorities? Or is it that parents are incapable of determining the correct priorities for their children?
Given that the override failed and it will be years until the next override opportunity arrives (if at all), turning down alternative funding opportunities for *anything* comes across as spiteful and high-handed, or even punitive. Far from "caving to a subgroup," accepting an offer of help from a group of interested citizens would at least secure the benefit of that program for those who participate in it. As has been said, people willing to chip in to fund a sport or a library may not chip in to add another psychological counselor. I wonder how it could hurt?
People have spoken for some time about how people in Belmont don't trust their government. Could one reason be that those in power sometimes brush off - or even denigrate - the will of the people they serve in favor of their own priorities (and those of "hired professionals")? If more Belmonters supported the school committee's agenda and priorities, wouldn't the override have passed?
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On the article Schools Express Reluctance To Targeted Funds
Michael Sattler
10:30 am on Thursday, June 24, 2010
ReplyIt seems there is a degree of public willpower and resources behind funding sports, and I've heard there is similar effort out there for funding the libraries. Perhaps there is less support for psychologists and language programs. I wonder if one of the reasons the override didn't pass is because the official school priorities for how to spend override funds were different from those of the community the school serves?
Michael Sattler
10:40 am on Saturday, January 7, 2012
As of 10:20 the officer on the scene said that it had been cleared up. The K9 units were packing up and leaving. There were police cars from Arlington and Woburn parked along Oakley Road, as well as the incident-response unit and a SWAT team.
Speculation: a burlgary on a Saturday morning is unlikely, nor does it explain the units from other towns; I suspect police went to the address this morning as part of an investigation or tip of some kind and the suspect refused to come out.