During the 27 years after Proposition 2 1/2 became law in Massachusetts, the town of Randolph never passed an override of the state property tax cap. Between 2003 and 2007, voters rejected overrides three times. So when this year’s election was held on April 1 and the votes were tallied that night at Town Hall, […]
Robert Preer
Posted inEconomy, Politics
On second thought
UPDATE: Kingston’s Place turned out to be far from a done deal. The developer pulled the plug on the project in 2010. kingston — Residential growth, smart or otherwise, is rarely an easy sell in the outer Boston suburbs. Townsfolk fear that too many new homes and residents will erode the quality of life that […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Seeing red
holbrook When first-term Holbrook Selectman Katherine Connolly and her husband started their car on Valentine’s Day, they knew something was wrong. They got out to discover their two front tires had been punctured. “I called the police and the officer came out and just shook his head,” Connolly says. As she tells it, the officer […]
Posted inEconomy
Lawrence CommunityWorks expands the definition of a CDC
On most evenings, the offices of Lawrence CommunityWorks bustle with activity. The sprawling former mill building that houses the nonprofit community development corporation is divided into many small spaces, which get steady use for meetings of all kinds. In one room, a group could be meeting to talk about a new zoning plan that is […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Harvard students help Somerville revamp its budgeting process
INTRO TEXT It was an unlikely scene last fall, as 60 students from a graduate course on budgeting at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government descended on Somerville City Hall and its departmental outposts. Divided into teams of four or five, students sat with firefighters at their station houses and hopped on trucks when […]
Posted inPolitics
A Woburn native battles the Bowling Alone phenomenon
Many people at one time or another have read a book or article so engaging and compelling they vowed that once they finished it, they would get up and do something—volunteer for a cause, send money to a charity, or go on a diet. Cross-country flights, with their minimal distractions and rarefied air, tend to […]
Posted inPolitics
Rhode Island’s secretary of state takes an expanded view of civics
One early November morning last year, when the rest of their Woonsocket High schoolmates were sleeping late or otherwise enjoying a cherished day off for teacher conferences, 17 students from Michele Gerber’s 10th-grade social studies class reported to school as usual. After gathering in the classroom for last-minute instructions, the youngsters fanned out across the […]
Posted inUncategorized
The NOT-so-Accidental Treasurer
Timothy P. Cahill’s second-floor suite in the State House is next to the Great Hall and across the corridor from the House Ways and Means Committee. The governor’s office is around the corner and up the stairs. At the State House, where location has the same significance it does in residential real estate, Room 227 […]
Posted inPolitics
Year Up raises the aspirations of innercity high school grads
By the age of 35, Gerald Chertavian had made so much money that his two children would probably never have to work a day in their lives. Now the Lowell native has dedicated his life to ensuring that young adults without such advantages can find jobs in the technology-driven economy of the 21st century. “There […]
Posted inUncategorized
The CALL doesnt stop at job placement
For many years, Jewish Vocational Service of Greater Boston was a small agency that helped Jewish immigrants find jobs. The organization was founded in 1938 to accommodate the influx of Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe. In 1981, it had about 10 employees and a budget of roughly $200,000. That was the year the agency hired […]