Around Town

LETTER: 85 East End Residents Endorse District A Council Candidate

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Dear Neighbors,

We are a group of East End residents writing to endorse Nicole Gardner for District A Town Councilor and to encourage our neighbors to cast their ballots for Nicole on November 2nd! Nicole has the experience, values, energy, and expertise the East End needs today. We need a business-savvy leader who can negotiate the rapid changes taking place in our neighborhoods. We need a leader with business experience who can help our beloved local businesses prosper. We need someone who understands the way local policies shape our neighborhoods—literally!—as more new developments are proposed across the East End.

Election 2021

LETTER: Mother of Two Watertown Students Endorses School Committee Candidate

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Greetings friends and fellow Watertownites,

I am writing this letter to enthusiastically endorse Jen Nicholson in her campaign for School Committee. I actually could not fathom a more perfect candidate for the job. Jen’s background leaves her uniquely qualified for a seat on our School Committee. She has had roles in all sides of the school system which will inform how she makes decisions for our school as a whole. The Watertown Schools are part of who Jen Nicholson is as a person.

District A

LETTER: Watertown State Rep. Endorses Candidate for District A Councilor

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I’m writing today as a parent, an East End resident, and a public servant to endorse Nicole Gardner to be our next District A Town Councilor. I encourage my fellow East Watertown residents to join me in voting for Nicole on November 2nd. Nicole Gardner has the analytical mind, vision, values, and independence necessary for the East End to prosper and flourish. We have some significant challenges ahead — housing affordability, the scale and pace of new business developments, traffic congestion, maintaining our green spaces, and ensuring that we work toward sustainability. 

As the East End grows, we need a Town Councilor with Nicole’s unique combination of business expertise, community organizing experience, and progressive values. I have seen firsthand how deeply Nicole cares about our community.

District A

LETTER: Watertown Resident Endorses Candidate for District A Councilor

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I’m writing as a Watertown resident and community leader to make a full-throated endorsement for Nicole Gardner to become our next District A Town Councilor. I encourage all progressives who live in the East End to cast their ballots for Nicole on November 2nd. Having worked closely with Nicole on the steering committee of Watertown Citizens for Peace Justice, and the Environment, I have seen her dedication to this community firsthand. Nicole has proven herself to be an open-minded and humble collaborator, taken the initiative on projects when she saw the need, and shown strong leadership. Her creativity, energy, and critical thinking will be an asset to our entire town.

Election 2021

LETTER: School Committee Candidate Has the Right Experience to Serve Children, Families

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Rachel Kay is a data scientist, a Lowell School mom, and a determined advocate for the students and families of Watertown. She is now running for Watertown School Committee and, if elected, her unique voice will be an excellent addition to school leadership in our community. “Data” has become a trendy thing to talk about, and for good reason because it can be extremely valuable to a well-functioning organization. But, it can be misused or used in an ineffective manner. That is where Rachel’s background will be such a huge asset to our school system.

Elections

LETTER: Group of Parents Advocate for School Committee Candidate

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Dear Watertown Residents,

We enthusiastically and unequivocally endorse Jessica Middlebrook for Watertown School Committee. Because of her significant experience as an educator and her commitment to equity and inclusion, she is uniquely equipped to represent and champion our community’s educational priorities. She will ensure that our schools foster environments that care for students’ wellbeing, promote learning, and lay the foundation for students’ success. Jessica would add a vital, empathetic perspective to the Watertown School Committee as our community makes policy decisions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other matters that affect the learning and wellbeing of our students. As a school mental health counselor, we are confident that Jessica not only possesses the knowledge and experience to shepherd our schools through turbulent times, but that her perspectives on the School Committee would strengthen our schools and benefit learners for years to come.

Election 2021

LETTER: School Committee Candidate Would be Voice for Parents & Students

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I met Rachel in the playground and my first impression of her was gentle spoken and genuinely kind. While COVID kept students and parents socially distanced, I got more opportunities to connect with her. As a woman of color and an immigrant who did not attend grade school here, I was always reluctant to share my thoughts with anyone. Part of it because I was not familiar with the system, another part of it was the fear of being viewed as “a trouble maker.” Rachel has been selfless with sharing everything she knows about education scientifically, realistically, as well as encouraging me and other parents to share our voice. I support Rachel for School Committee because we desperately need a voice for parents and students, safe guarding the bottom line of “doing the right thing.” Rachel is transparent about what Watertown is good at, and what we can do better, not limited to the K-12 level, but equipping our children beyond the 12th Grade.

Elections

LETTER: Couple Supports Group of Candidates Running for Town Council

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Letter to the Editor (for your consideration) 

My husband and I are looking for these things in candidates:

vision, kindness, empathy, strong sense of responsibility to the people, dedication to fighting global warming in major ways including decreasing diesel and the lung disease it causes, adding green spaces everywhere possible, equality and inclusion for all, careful planning of traffic flow so loud, speeding cars don’t alarm so many residents (and kill pets) so often, greatly decreasing industrial noise including that of leaf-blowers, banning gas-powered leaf-blowers (essential for fighting global warming) and encouraging use of quieter landscape equipment overall (even electric leaf-blowers can be extremely loud and irritating) and greatly reducing hours such people-torturing noise (and also construction noise) can be made. 

We also want to see town support of businesses and people who help to promote sense of community in very real ways, as in opening more coffee shops and cafes, allowing seating on the streets especially at those places, and adding trees, shrubs and flowering plants to those and other public areas that we need both to fight global warming and also (in the case of coffee shops) to slow the growing epidemic of isolation (and the anxiety and depression that often come from it) in American society. 

While we don’t know for sure if all of the following four town council candidates would support all of these things, we have talked with them, and feel they will come close to trying to bring greater wellbeing to most people in Watertown in these and other ways (and wellbeing is mostly what we’re talking about with the above list). The candidates are:

• Caroline Bays

• Tony Palomba

• Nicole Gardner

• Dan D’Amico

Sincerely,Susan Cooke and Victor Preston