[MassHistPres] Influencing Town Politics

[Dennis De Witt]

The critical distinction, which rather got lost in all this, is that  
the first question and the first answer had to do with a Commission  
as a town body acting politically.  That is completely different from  
individuals who happen to be commissioners acting politically on  
their own -- or even some commissioners acting politically in concert  
with each other as long as they are mindful of the limits of the open  
meeting law.

For instance, an Historical Commission as a body cannot advocate for  
a pro-CPA selectman candidate.  But its individual members may do so  
as passionately as they please -- as long as they are doing it as  
individuals.

Dennis De Witt



Dennis De Witt
On Mar 28, 2008, at 4:34 PM, Marcia Starkey wrote:

> Hello,
> It seems to me that most discussions which involve the goals of  
> preservation
> or planning or conservation commissions are discussions of community
> direction and priorities. Candidates for public office expect to  
> receive
> such questions and hopefully have formulated replies.
>
> In some towns there is too little informed debate, and a letter to the
> editor in today's Recorder discussed a tendency in small towns he  
> called a
> "cult enviroment (can't question any public safety expenditure)"  
> which leads
> to multimillion dollar facilities.
>
> The Greenfield HC is advised to contact councillors when a matter  
> of concern
> is up for discussion. Communiciation.
>
> Marcia Starkey
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Feist" <jfeist at charter.net>
> To: "Diane Gilbert" <d.m.gilbert at comcast.net>; "Maggie Rosa"
> <maggierosa at comcast.net>
> Cc: "MHC listserve" <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 6:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Influencing Town Politics
>
>
> 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 > > > > > >
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