[MassHistPres] Influencing Town Politics

[Jonathan Feist]

Really good comments floating around, both for and against my position. :)

One of the great obstacles in historical preservation is inspiring people to
actually care. While I understand the benefit of a bureaucracy being
politically neutral, I think there is a greater good to be served by
generating discussion about some of these topics. People¹s eyes pop when you
tell them that it¹s better to fix a door to $300 than to replace it with a
new one for $1000. Or that there is actually a good reason not to replace
all their windows with vinyl.

I might feel differently about propriety if chairing the HC was a paid
position. But by its volunteer nature, it only attracts preservation
advocates, or maybe some people with silly notions of power, though I
haven¹t actually met any of those in person.

It seems unnatural to keep quiet during times like this. In fact, what
inspired my survey was one of the candidates requesting that I support their
campaign, and another candidate hinting the same. I decided to stay neutral,
but to at least participate in the discussion in my own way.

Proper or not, I urge others to follow suit. There is much work to be done,
and much opposition to our values.

--Jonathan

on 3/27/08 3:48 PM, Diane Gilbert at d.m.gilbert at comcast.net wrote:

> I understand the concerns of those who caution about mixing politics with
> preservation advocacy and initiatives especially when one is a member of a
> municipal agency such as the historical commission (appointed by the
> Selectmen) challenging (in a nice way) the board, elected, who is the
> appointing authority for the commission.
> 
> Jonathan shares my passion for free speech and for an open, public discourse
> on these matters.  I happen to serve on the Dartmouth Select Board and also am
> currently the President of the Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust.
> 
> When it comes to matters of historic preservation, I never hold back.  I use
> my bully pulpit on the Select Board to advance the cause of preservation but
> recuse myself from voting on any matter that concerns the Dartmouth Heritage
> Preservation Trust, a 501c3, independent from the town but certainly an
> advocate and partner with the town on matters of historic preservation.  After
> two years, I resigned from the historical commission before I was elected to
> the Select Board because I didn¹t feel the commission was doing enough to
> advance the preservation agenda.
> 
> It seems to me that under MGL Chapter 40, section 8d, the historical
> commission has a duty to the public to ensure they do all they can under their
> purview to protect and preserve a community¹s historic legacy and heritage.
> So I¹m not sure why it¹s inappropriate to survey the candidates to find out
> their positions.  I would do it.  They serve the public and the public¹s
> interests.
> 
> Diane Gilbert, Town of Dartmouth
> 
> 
> On 3/27/08 11:17 AM, "jfeist at charter.net" <jfeist at charter.net> wrote:
> 
>> > I'm not sure how discussing issues could be considered inappropriate. I
>> didn't 
>> > endorse any candidate, and my understanding is that part of the role of
>> > historical commissions is to raise awareness of issues related to
>> historical 
>> > preservation. I would be delighted to be ousted, if this is not the
>> > case. --Jonathan ---- Maggie Rosa <maggierosa at comcast.net> wrote: > A note
>> > of caution. > When the Gloucester Historical Commission attempted, last
>> fall,  
>> > to  > solicit answers to a questionnaire that we generated for candidates
>> > 
>> > for city mayor and council we were rapidly informed that this was not  >
>> > appropriate as we are beholden to the same rules that city employees  >
>> must 
>> > abide by and not participate, as a group, in city political  > activity. >
>> > 
>> > Maggie Rosa > maggierosa at comcast.net > > 26 Fort Hill Ave > Gloucester, MA
>> > 01930 > > Home Phone # 978-281-1871 > Cell 978-290-2553 > > > > > > >
>> > On Mar 27, 2008, at 9:15 AM, Jonathan Feist wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > > In
>> > an attempt to make historical preservation more of a local campaign > >
>> issue, 
>> > I sent a little survey to the five candidates running for  > > selectmen, >
>> > 
>> > in Harvard. > > > > I posted my results (with my own commentary) on a new
>> > blog. It went  > > live > > yesterday. I announced it to some locals that I
>> > know, and it already  > > seems > > to be getting some traffic beyond that
>> > group, which means that there  > > is > > pretty good interest around here
>> > for such things. It will be  > > interesting to > > see how it actually
>> plays 
>> > out and whether these issues get more air  > > time as > > a result. But
>> you 
>> > might try something similar, if you have similar > > rabble-rousing
>> tendencies 
>> > to my own. I also sent ³Letters to the  > > Editor² to > > our local
>> > newspapers announcing it, hopefully to come out tomorrow. > > > > Here¹s
>> the 
>> > link: > > > >> http://harvardpreservation.wordpress.com/ > > > > --Jonathan
>> > 
>>>>>>>>>>> > > > > > > > > > > ===============================================
> > > > 
>> > Jonathan Feist, Chair > > Harvard Historical Commission > > 978-772-4864
>> > (home) > > 617-747-2148 (Berklee office) > > > > Preserve Historical
>> Harvard, 
>> > MA: > > http://harvard.ma.us/histcomm.htm > > > > > >
>> > ****************************** > > For administrative questions regarding
>> this 
>> > list, please contact Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us > >  directly.  PLEASE
>> DO 
>> > NOT "REPLY" TO THE WHOLE LIST. > > MassHistPres mailing list > >
>> > MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu > >
>> > http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres > >
>> > ******************************** > ****************************** For
>> > administrative questions regarding this list, please contact
>> > Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE
>> WHOLE 
>> > LIST.  MassHistPres mailing
>> > list MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
>> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshi
>> > stpres ********************************