Around Town

LETTER: Group Seeks to End the Winter Parking Ban

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Currently, Watertown enforces an overnight parking ban by prohibiting parking longer than one hour between 1:00 AM and 6:00 AM from approximately December through March. The primary rationale for this measure, which is enforced through the issuance of parking tickets, is to allow for better snow removal. The downside to such a ban is that many residents and their guests find themselves unable to store their vehicles anywhere near their homes overnight.  

The Watertown winter parking ban unfairly penalizes those with fewer means who do not have access to off-street parking. During the cold, dark winter months, parents with young children, the elderly, the disabled and many others are asked to walk a mile or two in the dark to go park their car in a remote lot, which then fills up.  

We understand that Watertown officials charged with the responsibility of making our streets safe are calling this a public safety issue, namely that emergency vehicles need to get through and if people park in the street during winter, at night, they cannot.

Schools

LETTER: Family of Former WHS Head Master Seeks to Keep Gym Dedicated in His Name

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(The following letter was originally written to Watertown School Committee Chair Kendra Foley)

Dear Ms. Foley,

Thank you for this opportunity to share our recommendation for the naming of the Gymnasium or the Auditorium at the new Watertown High School. We would like for Dr. John J Kelley, former principal of Watertown High School, to continue to be honored by the school. As you know, the gym at Watertown High School was dedicated to Dr. Kelley in the early 1990s. The decision to name the gym after him was based on not just his many years of service to the school and the community, but also on the positive and long-lasting impact he had on individual students throughout his career. While time has passed since the dedication of the gym, nothing about Dr. Kelley’s impact has changed.

Around Town

LETTER: Another Look at Question 2 – Reasons to Vote “Yes”

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Dear Neighbors,

We are Watertown residents and educators working in neighboring school districts (Belmont and Newton) asking you to consider these reasons for voting Yes on Question 2 this election. Question 2 proposes removing the MCAS graduation requirement for high school students. MCAS is a set of standardized tests the state uses to monitor public school performance in Massachusetts. Students are tested in grades 3-8 and 10, and sometimes 9, in English, math, civics and science. Question 2 does not eliminate MCAS.

Around Town

LETTER: Is Watertown in Balance?

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By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

Are We in Balance? Balance: “An even distribution of weight, enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.” Oxford Languages

I was reading a Watertown News article entitled: “Life Science Building Could Potentially Go on Part of the Home Depot Parking Lot” and the comments that ensued and felt the need to write. As usual, it got long! Balance in Bio Lab Development

First, thanks, Corey Dillon for the list of labs that are empty and/or underutilized at this time. May I add to your list with other lab spaces in Watertown?

Around Town

UPDATED – LETTER: Watertown Resident Evaluates Ballot Questions

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By Matt Lashof-Sullivan

Hey Watertown neighbors. Another election season is approaching and so it’s time for everyone to decide how they are going to vote this November. For many years I have sent out voting information and a list of endorsements for our local elections to my friends and immediate neighbors. This year, I decided to share them with a larger group, so I hope you find this helpful. How to Vote

To vote in person, go to your polling place on November 5th. 

We can all also vote by mail again, and you can still request a mail-in ballot until October 26th by using this form or otherwise by sending a letter to the city clerk.

Around Town

LETTER: A Plan to Spur Affordable Housing in Watertown Square

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Throughout the Watertown Square planning process, one concern was raised above all others: the urgent need for more affordable housing. We heard this again and again, in public remarks and written testimony, from residents across the political and socioeconomic spectrum. We have been calling for improvements to the Plan’s approach to affordable housing since the spring. With the unanimous passage of the Watertown Square Area Plan and the release of a draft zoning proposal from our city planners, Watertown’s elected officials now have an opportunity to address the primary concern of its residents. They have a directive to implement policies that can effectively and rapidly generate new affordable housing.

Around Town

LETTER: Thank You to Marilyn Petitto Devaney for Her Service

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Dear Editor:

I am writing to join those in thanking Marilyn Petitto Devaney, for her Fifty years plus of service as Town Meeting Member, Original Charter Commission Member, Watertown Town Council Member, Governor’s Councilor and Member of the Commission on Disabilities, to Watertown and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I knew Marilyn loved her community. We often observed her going to just about every Wake in town. This was because growing up here she knew everyone. That is where the name Townie came from. People were either related to each other or had strong relationships with Neighbors.  I learned to watch how I say something. One may say I am talking about Uncle, Aunt and or Cousin. We are taught to be sensitive to the feelings of all people. I met Marilyn in the 1970’s when she was a Town Meeting Member.

Around Town

LETTER: State Legislature Should Go Back Into Session and Pass Multiple Bills

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I was excited this year for our state to finally have a Democratic governing trifecta, with a Democrat leading in all three offices of Governor, Senate, and the House. However, this trifecta has been much less productive in passing legislature than I expected. As has become the norm on Beacon Hill, the House and Senate ran out the clock on many important priorities, adjourning on the morning of August 1st with a long list of unfinished business. After the hottest summer on record, they didn’t manage to pass a climate bill. Several other bills, among them economic development bills and bills to address the Steward crisis, are stuck in potentially dead-end negotiations, and that’s not to mention all the common-sense bills that never even made it that far.