Posts Tagged ‘Wakefield MA’
The price of apathy
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, […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 5 Comments
Tags: bike lanes, Blosoms at the Beebe, Board of Assessors, education, election, electorate, homeowners, Humor, Jonathan Chines, League of Women Voters, LWV, Mark Sardella, Mike Conley, Opinion, Paul Faler, People's Paradise, Phil Porter, Phyllis Hull, Politics, Proposition 2 1/2, Sam Benedetto, schools, solar panels, special election, TAW, taxes, taxpayers, Taxpayers Association of Wakefield, Town Council, townies, voters, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield natives, WMHS, Yes for WMHS
Schools of thought
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.
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Tags: activists, Amazon Rain Forest, Breakheart Reservation, Chelsea, civics, Conservation Commission, diversity, education, environment, equity, Everett, forest, Hemlock Rd., Humor, inclusion, Malden, Mark Sardella, MSBA, NEMT, Northeast Metro Tech, Opinion, Politics, privilege, Revere, schools, Shaun F. Beasley, social justice, trade school, vocational education, Voke, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Memorial High School, wildlife habitat, WMHS, woods
All aboard the Equity Express!
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 […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 8 Comments
Tags: apartments, automobiles, bicycle, bike, Board of Appeals, building, bus, by right, Cabot Cabot & Forbes, Cambridge, carbon, carpooling, cars, Climate Change, commuter rail, construction, cycling, developers, DHCD, emissions, energy, equity, Erin Kokinda, Fabians, home prices, home values, housing, housing prices, Humor, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, MBTA, Mike Kenneally, MTA, multi-family housing, Opinion, pedestrian, Politics, private property, railroad, ride-sharing, roads, social justice, suburbs, TDM, train, train station, trains, transit, transportation, Transportation Demand Management, Wakefield Daily ItemNew York, Wakefield MA, Watertown, zoning
A very Special Town Meeting
In just over a week, Phase 1 of the campaign for a new Wakefield Memorial High School will be complete. On Saturday, Jan. 28, the Special Town Meeting will be called to order and hundreds of people will pack the high school field house to hear school administrators and other town officials drone on at […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 10 Comments
Tags: accreditation, Central Committee, Climate Change, cost, Critical Race Theory, CRT, curriculum, development, Dolbeare School, education, educators, Greenwood School, home values, housing, Mark Sardella, natural gas, NEASC, Opinion, Politics, School Committee, schools, special election, students, taxes, teachers, Town Meeting, voters, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Memorial High School, Wakefield Warrior Logo, WHS, WMHS, Yes for WMHS
The art of the sham
Well, at least now we have confirmation that, when it comes to replacing the old Wakefield Warrior logo, what we knew all along was in fact true. The logo that was plagiarized from Ohio State University, which the School Department tried to quietly roll out in 2019, is the one that they wanted all along […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: Art, Art Department, attorneys, Dr. Doug Lyons, high school logo, law, lawyers, logo, Mark Sardella, Native Americans, Ohio State University, Opinion, OSU, plagiarism, policy, Politics, School Committee, School Superintendent, schools, students, teachers, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Memorial High School, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield Warrior Logo, WHS, WMHS
School choice
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.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: 1960, Andy Bray, ballot committee, building, building project, cost, Dolbeare School, economy, Galvin Middle School, inflation, Ken Duval, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Michael Scollo, Opinion, Politics, Robert Bradley, senior citizens, taxes, Television, Town Election, Town Meeting, TV, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Schools, WMHS, Woodville School, working families, Yes for WMHS
A revolting development
A Boston University study recently found that municipal zoning boards, planning boards and redevelopment boards are dominated by white male homeowners. Wait. Men are more interested in construction, development and zoning than women are? What’s the next bombshell revelation – male drivers won’t ask for directions? Fight the urban planning patriarchy! Speaking of zoning and […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: American Mutual, Board of Appeals, building, business, Comverse Technologies, construction, development Cabot Cabot & Forbes, elitism, Facebook, Humor, Lake Quannapowitt, Malden MA, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, Politics, public hearings, public transit, smart growth, social media, Town Meeting, urban planning, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, ZBA, zoning, Zoning Board, Zoning Bylaws
Sentimental journey
So, it’s settled. A majority of the Wakefield Town Council gets to define what “Official Town Sentiment” is. The Council voted earlier this month to give itself the power to determine what constitutes Official Town Sentiment, at least in terms of which flags can be flown from town flagpoles as an expression of such sentiment. […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: American Flag, Boston, Christian Flag, election, First Amendment, flag, flagpoles, flags, Humor, Juneteenth, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Mehreen Butt, News, Official Town Sentiment, Old Glory, Opinion, Politics, POW-MIA, Pride flag, Stars and Stripes, Supreme Court, symbol, Tom Mullen, US Supreme Court, veterans, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Town Council, Wakefield Veterans Advisory Board, Wakefield Warrior, Warrior logo, WHRC
High school math
Let’s start by stipulating that there will be a new Wakefield Memorial High School. And it will be fabulous. We know this because the local education lobby is very motivated and highly coordinated. We saw it in the recent Town Election. The three School Committee winners were all educators or former educators. And all three […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: ageism, debt exclusion, Douglas Lyons, economy, education, electric, energy, environment, fossil fuels, Galvin Middle School, gasoline, groceries, Humor, inflation, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts School Building Authority, Mike Conley, MSBA, Opinion, override, Phyllis Hull, Politics, schools, sustainability, taxes, taxpayers, townies, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, WMHS
Mark Sardella 