Ballot Monday on $1m. bond to fund the Affordable Housing Trust

The Town of Medfield has an election next Monday on the Proposition 2 1/2 override we already voted on positively at the annual town meeting (ATM).  We have an election Monday because proposition 2 1/2 overrides have to pass at both a town meeting and by a ballot.

I had two residents ask at my office hours this morning what the election Monday was about, so hence this explanation.

The $1m. bond the election seeks to fund provides monies to the newly created Affordable Housing Trust, and those monies can be used by the Affordable Housing Trust to assist future affordable housing projects in town to get completed.

The one example where those monies could already have assisted the town, if we had had the monies available, was to bridge a funding gap for a community mental health center that was looking to buy a house in town in which to site a group home, but their finances were about $100,000 short of the price at which a suitable house recently sold.  If the Affordable Housing Trust had then existed and had available monies to assist, it may have offered to provide funds to bridge the financial gap.  That group home would have netted the town five affordable units (SHI), as each bed in a group home counts as one SHI.

The $1m. that a positive outcome in the election Monday funds will provided the needed flexibility to make some affordable housing projects actually happen that the town will want.  To keep the town in a safe harbor the town needs to build twenty-one SHI per year for the next eight years, as we are short about 160 SHI to be at 10%.  We also need to build extras, as a new higher number of units in town will result from the 2020 census, on which the Department of Housing and Community Development will base our new 10% safe harbor number.

That $1m. can also pay a staff person that the town needs to have working on developing affordable housing, if we want to get to the 10% safe harbor that will allow the town to say no to unfriendly 40B’s.  Hiring a staff person will save us money over continuing to pay our current affordable housing consultants.

Below is a flyer about the election from the hugely active Dale Street neighborhood group that mobilized around the Mega-B –

Get to know the candidates:

1. At The Center at Medfield from 5-7 p.m., March 8, for the FOSI “Meet and Greet”
2. Medfield.TV videos on each of the candidates at http://www.medfield.tv/video-on-demand.
3. Candidate Forum in the MHS Lowell Mason Auditorium 6:30PM on March 16

Medfield Candidate Forum is Thursday, March 16 – Community members are invited to submit questions

Between Board of Selectman, School Committee and Library Trustee, Medfield has three contested races for this year’s election – it might even be a record!

In an effort to help educate voters before heading to the polls on Monday, March 27, a Voters Services Committee has organized a Medfield Candidate Forum in the MHS Lowell Mason Auditorium on the evening of Thursday, March 16.

The forum, sponsored by Hometown Weekly, kicks off with a reception in the lobby at 6:30 p.m., followed by the forum at 7 p.m. Through pre-submitted questions posed by moderator Richard DeSorgher, the Q&A portion will focus exclusively on the BOS and School Committee races. Library Trustee candidates will also be present, but will only present short prepared remarks. The evening is scheduled to end at about 8:30 p.m. Plans are also in development to provide attendees with information about the marijuana ballot question.

Anyone interested in submitting anonymous candidate questions for the forum can use this link:  http://www.hometownweekly.net/medfield/medfield-candidate-forum-seeks-questions/. Members of the Voters Services Committee, comprised of former Medfield League of Women Voter members and residents involved in civic affairs, will screen questions primarily for duplication and clarity.

All Medfield residents are encouraged not only to attend the Forum on March 16, but to also stop into the Center at Medfield from 5-7 p.m., March 8, for the FOSI “Meet and Greet” with all candidates. http://patch.com/massachusetts/medfield/fosi-hosting-candidate-meet-greet.

Medfield.TV and MHS students have also created videos on each of the candidates that you can find here:  http://www.medfield.tv/video-on-demand.

Get ready for a busy election season!

Town Election 3/27

Nomination papers are now available in the Town Clerk’s office for anyone wishing to run for office. 50 valid signatures of registered voters are needed. Papers are due back to the Town Clerk by Monday, Feb 6th.

There is an open seats on the Board of Selectmen, as Mark Fisher has opted not to run.

From today’s Commonwealth Magazine –

Outsider’s perspective on pot legalization

Monday, October 31, 2016

When you’re struggling with a decision, sometimes it’s helpful to get an outsider’s perspective. The CBS news magazine 60 Minutes on Sunday reported on marijuana legalization, which is on the ballot this year in California, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, and Nevada. If legalization passes in all five states, nearly a quarter of the nation’s residents will be able to buy marijuana legally for recreational use.

The 60 Minutes report, by Dr. Jon LaPook, focuses on Colorado, and specifically the county of Pueblo, which LaPook describes as the Napa Valley of cannabis. Marijuana legalization has brought 1,300 jobs, 60 businesses, and millions of dollars in investment to Pueblo. Colorado also appears to be keeping a close eye on the business, with cameras monitoring grow areas and plants individually tagged with radio frequency tags.

But despite all these pluses, Pueblo has a measure on its ballot to ban the production and sale of recreational pot in the county. Dr. Steven Simerville, medical director of the newborn intensive care unit at the local hospital, says 27 babies born at the hospital in the first nine months of this year tested positive for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. In the first 10 months, 71 teenagers came into the hospital and tested positive for THC.

Law enforcement officials are also troubled by marijuana, saying there’s no way right now to test drivers for driving under the influence. They are also worried about outsiders coming into the area and growing marijuana for out-of-state distribution. “The black market is alive and well and thriving,” said Public County Sheriff Kirk Taylor. “In fact, it’s exploding.”

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper originally opposed marijuana legalization and is now trying to make it work. He says the law has brought in $141 million in tax revenue last year and brought a black market business into the light of day. “No one can argue that the old system wasn’t a disaster,” he said.

Hickenlooper’s advice for other states considering legalization is to start gathering baseline data now to track what’s happening with newborns, teens, and others. He says he would tell other states to exercise caution on legalizing marijuana.

“My recommendation has been that they should go slowly and probably wait a couple of years,” he said. “And let’s make sure that we get some good vertical studies to make sure that there isn’t a dramatic increase in teenage usage, that there isn’t a significant increase in abuse while driving. We don’t see it yet, but the data are not perfect. And we don’t have enough data yet to make that decision.”

BRUCE MOHL