[MassHistPres] Influencing Town Politics

[Dcolebslade at aol.com]

Do any of you have any kind of regular columns in the local  newspapers about 
the goals, authority, activities, etc. of the HC and HDC in the  community?  
In general are you able to find voice and support in the local  press?
 
Betty Slade
Westport
 
 
In a message dated 3/27/2008 3:49:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
d.m.gilbert at comcast.net writes:

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 > > > > > >
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