Last Saturday’s Special Election, which saw 18 percent of the voters give 100 percent of Wakefield homeowners a hefty tax increase, brought back a hazy memory from about 40 years ago.

As a member of the Board of Assessors in the 1980s, Paul Faler was a fierce advocate for residential taxpayers. As I recall it, Paul narrowly lost re-election one year, and the next year he ran again in an attempt to return to the Board.

At a Wakefield League of Women Voters candidates’ night, he was asked, if he lost a second time, would he run again the following year as the taxpayers’ voice. Paul smiled at the question.

“At some point,” he said, “people have to save themselves.”
Continue reading ‘The price of apathy’


[From the Thursday, March 9, 2023 Wakefield Daily Item]

WAKEFIELD — The “Yes for WMHS” campaign raised over $12,000 to fund its advocacy for the new Wakefield Memorial High School building project, although nearly one-quarter of the total amount raised came from one individual.

In campaign finance reports filed with the Town Clerk, the Committee reported raising $7,657 between July 15, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2022. A subsequent filing on March 3 reported another $5,220 raised between Jan. 1, 2023 and Feb. 23, 2023, for a total of $12,877.
Continue reading ‘‘Yes for WMHS’ raised $12,877’


Watching two school building projects unfold virtually side by side in time and space has provided a unique window into what happens when environmental and educational activism collide at the local level.
Continue reading ‘Schools of thought’


The plan to get you out of your single-family home and private vehicle is proceeding apace as we forge ahead toward our collective future.

The latest phase in this great leap forward has been promulgated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is in the process of forcing it on local cities and towns with MBTA service, like Wakefield.
Continue reading ‘All aboard the Equity Express!’


There were few surprises at last Saturday’s Special Town Meeting, other than the fact that the start was delayed 45 minutes to allow several hundred people to stroll in fashionably late.

Who could have known that this much-anticipated and highly promoted Special Town Meeting would attract such a crowd? And you can hardly blame people for not knowing about the check-in process when they’ve never been to a Town Meeting before.

You mean we can’t just sashay in and sit down?
Continue reading ‘Meeting expectations’


For the past few years, we’ve been subjected to endless lectures informing us that voting is incredibly difficult and we must do everything in our power to make it easier for voters to participate in elections. 

Anything less would be VOTER SUPPRESSION! 

We’ve been told that democracy shouldn’t place even the slightest burden on the voter, for whom casting a ballot must not require any effort whatsoever. 
Continue reading ‘Election central’


School choice

04Nov22

Most of us know at least one person who grew up in Wakefield, attended Wakefield Public Schools and then had to reluctantly leave his hometown as it became increasingly unaffordable.

Well, living in Wakefield is about to get even more expensive, if the current plans for a new high school go through.
Continue reading ‘School choice’




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