Author: kerriganforclinton

I’m happy to announce office hours for November 2017, a combination of in-person and online sessions I hope will improve communication with the residents and business owners of Clinton.

I’m mixing in-person and online office hours once a week throughout November, and hope to continue every month for the rest of my term. It’s really important that I make myself available to you, the people I represent. I’m planning on trying a few different locations and times to see what works best for people. I hope to hear from you.

The schedule kicks off with an in-person session at Clinton Town Hall on Tuesday, November 7, the day of the special state primary to choose candidates to replace retired state senator Jennifer L. Flanagan. If you vote in the morning, stop by and say hello. I’ll be upstairs in the selectmen’s chambers.

I’m also doing three online chat/Q&A sessions in November, through my Facebook page, facebook.com/kerriganforclinton. I might even try a Facebook Live session if I can squeeze it in.

As always, residents are welcome to submit questions, thoughts and concerns though Facebook, online at kerriganforclinton.com, or via email at kerriganforclinton@gmail.com.

NOVEMBER 2017 OFFICE HOURS SCHEDULE

IN PERSON:

Tuesday, November 7, 7:30 to 9 a.m.: Chamber Room (second floor), Clinton Town Hall

ONLINE/FACEBOOK (FACEBOOK.COM/KERRIGANFORCLINTON):

Tuesday, November 14, 12 to 2 p.m.

Monday, November 20, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Wednesday, November 29, 7 to 9 p.m.

Clinton’s redevelopment effort got a nice boost of energy this afternoon with a visit from Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito to one of our priority development properties, the Bigelow Spinning Mills on Main Street.

Lieutenant Governor Polito came to Clinton to discuss the $50,000 MassDevelopment Site Readiness Grant recently awarded to the town so we can look into potential uses for the historic mill building, which dates back to the mid-19th century and Clinton’s beginnings of a town at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.

Also present were State Rep. Harold Naughton, my fellow Selectman Michael Dziokonski, Town Administrator Michael Ward, Community and Economic Development Director Phil Duffy, MassDevelopment’s Director of Land Planning and Permitting Ed Starzec and VP of Planning and Development Claire O’Neill, and Suzanne DiSalvo of Lerner Ladds Bartels, the architects conducting the site readiness study.

Clinton was born from its mills, and redeveloping this site into something that benefits the town, residents of Clinton and the greater region overall, and the building’s owners is a huge priority for us. I’m really excited to see what DiSalvo and her team come up with. We’re hoping to see something by the end of the calendar year.

Monday is Election Day in Clinton. I’m running for Board of Selectmen and I’d appreciate your vote.

For the past two months, I’ve met with people from all over Clinton. Republicans and Democrats. Seniors and young parents. Lifelong residents and recent transplants.

Some think local government has failed them. They’ve lost faith in Town Hall and think the people who should represent them don’t care about the things they stand for.

Others say we’re on the verge of becoming Massachusetts’s next big success story. They say our taxes are low, our services solid, and that we’ve done the planning needed to make huge strides very soon.

The one thing they all agree upon, however, is that the next 10 years will be pivotal for Clinton. Almost everyone I’ve talked to believes what we do over the course of the next decade will decide the fate of our town for generations to come.

That’s why I’m running for selectman, and that’s why I ask for your vote.

For the skeptics, a vote for me is a vote for transparency and accountability. I want you to believe in your town again, and will do whatever it takes to restore your trust.

For the hopeful, a vote for me is a vote for continued planning, and re-energized action. Any success we see in the coming years will be a result of us chasing it down. As selectman, I won’t take my foot on the gas.

For those of you in the middle, a vote for me is a vote for what we all want: A better Clinton, with a sturdy tax base and improved quality of life. Let’s finally put aside the petty tribalism that holds us back so often. We need to look ahead, to plan, and to act. Together.

It’s a big election for the town. Besides the selectman’s race, there are four people running for two spots on the School Committee. No matter who you support, make sure you come out and vote. It’s so important.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for caring. Come out and vote for me on Election Day. Together, I know we can make Clinton a better place for all of us.

At the recent Clinton candidates night, I spoke about overcommunicating. Tonight’s Annual Town Meeting provided a great example of how aggressive communication with voters and taxpayers could not only prevent misunderstanding, but also get people feeling good about the direction local government is heading in.

The issue in question was Article 18, asking to borrow $350,000 for a consolidated software suite for the town.

For the lay person, that’s a lot of money for software, but everything I’ve heard is that a move like this, if handled correctly, will go a long way toward modernizing Town Hall, enabling interdepartmental communication, and improving transparency.

So why wasn’t that story told ahead of time, instead of leaving voters in the dark until they were asked to vote?

Sure, the article passed, but not before a bunch of great questions: Does this amount include annual fees? Have we settled on a vendor or particular suite of software? Will this new technology work with the computers we have now? Will the Board of Selectmen consider any citizen input, particularly from citizens with experience in information technology, in making its decision on how to spend this $350,000?

What if, instead of leaving this vacuum of misunderstanding, we had gone to the Clinton Item with a story about how this change, this investment, will be good for everyone? What if we had some kind of mechanism in place to share success stories with our taxpayers, so they know we haven’t forgotten their hopes for improved efficiency and transparency?

As I said at candidates night, in order to enact any meaningful change, we’ll need to meet with every stakeholder in town. There will be differences in opinion, but we cannot continue to let opposition and gridlock to take root in miscommunication.

I communicate for a living. That’s what I do. If you elect me to the Board of Selectmen next Monday, June 12, I’ll make sure to tell the good stories coming out of Town Hall, and to share the less-than-great news, too. You deserve to know what’s going on. You deserve to know where your tax dollars are going. You deserve better.

It’s voting time in Clinton, as residents decide a combined 43 warrant articles at Special and Annual Town Meetings tonight, June 5, followed by Election Day next Monday, June 12.

A Special Town Meeting starts things off tonight at 7 p.m. Here is the warrant listing the seven articles we’ll vote on.

The Annual Town Meeting follows the Special Town Meeting, with 36 articles, including the annual budget, special requests for school books and Town Hall software, and citizens petitions on livestock — and chickens! — and cleaning up litter. Here’s a link to the Annual Town Meeting warrant.

The Clinton Item did a preview in Friday’s paper, but it’s always a great idea to at least read through the warrant articles before the meeting. It’s a lot of information to digest on the spot.

It’s just the beginning. Clinton’s town election day is next Monday, June 12. With two spots open for both the Board of Selectmen and School Committee, your voice could help decide where the town goes from here — not just for the next three years, but for the next decade or more.

Please, come out tonight for Town Meeting, and vote next Monday. Together, I know we can make a better Clinton for all of us!

The former Harvard Square Theater in Cambridge closed in 2012, a major blow to one of the city’s busiest neighborhoods. The closing affected several neighborhood establishments, who saw a drastic drop in business. Some were even forced to shut down altogether.

City officials were given hope in 2015, when the property was purchased by a developer. But, as of the start of 2017, city counselors hadn’t heard from the theater’s new owner and were getting frustrated with the lack of progress at the site.

A signature property sitting empty and in disrepair, bringing down an entire neighborhood. Sounds like several properties in Clinton: Potential jewels that are either ignored or underused, with no hope or change for something better on the horizon.

Well, in Cambridge, that wasn’t good enough. In a bold move, the City Council used some muscle to push the owner toward something that would benefit Cambridge and its taxpayers. According to the Boston Globe, this past February the council announced it was considering an ordinance “to discourage real estate investors throughout Cambridge from the practice of ‘land banking,’ or sitting on vacant properties for long periods for later profit with no intention of redeveloping them.”

“A proposed ordinance would require owners to maintain vacant or abandoned buildings and impose fines if they remain empty beyond a designated period of time,” the story continues. “If after two years the properties remain vacant or abandoned, the city would begin eminent domain proceedings.”

It worked. Today, the Globe is reporting that the building’s owner is planning to demolish the old building and replace it with a five-story office and retail complex, which includes a new cinema, a concession to neighbors.

“They hit it out of the park,” City Counselor Marc McGovern – who had threatened to take the property by eminent domain just months prior – told the paper. “The theater is coming back, the retail is going to liven up the street, and it’s a really spectacular-looking building that’s a piece of art itself.

“Normally, in these situations, it’s easy to find a couple things to complain about,” he added, “but honestly, I’m having a hard time finding one here.”

Neighborhood activists are similarly thrilled with the proposal. It’s a complete winner that will bring foot traffic and a sense of excitement back to a part of the square that had grown depressed.

Clinton isn’t Cambridge. I don’t want it to be. But I want it to be the best Clinton it can be, and in order to reach our potential we desperately need to develop cornerstone properties like the Bigelow Mills and the former Swift Building on Main Street at Depot Square.

Instead of shrugging our shoulders about owners’ non-cooperation, can’t we try something new? Abandoned buildings are demoralizing to residents and a disincentive to potential developers and business owners. And the longer they sit in disrepair, the closer they are to becoming unsalvageable altogether.

As selectman, I will not rest until any and all options for smart, aggressive economic development are exhausted. It’s too important not to care any more.

Only a handful of days are left before June 12 town election. If you agree with my ideas and my hopes for a better Clinton, tell your friends. Spread the word. Together we can make this town better for all of us.

He sees all who go there, hears all they have to say, talks freely with everybody, reads whatever is written to him.

_The Albany Evening Journal on Abraham Lincoln, 1860

I’ll never be confused with Abraham Lincoln, but I came across the quote above last week and it just seemed to capture the part of this campaign I’ve enjoyed the most: Talking and listening.

One word that has come up a lot in my talks with voters — from Republicans and Democrats, old and young — is “transparency.” People want to know what their local government is up to, and want to make sure their voices and concerns are being heard.

That’s why, if you elect me to the Board of Selectmen, access will be a key priority. I want to make sure everyone, no matter who you are or where you live, feels like they have a voice in this town.

To me, access is about two concepts: One nuts and bolts, and another philosophical.

The nuts and bolts shouldn’t be hard.

• Publish a town report every year.
• Break down the budget in an easy-to-understand way. If we’re asking people to pay for something, they should know what it is and why we need it.
• Bring town government’s online presence into the 20th century, with a functional, user-friendly website.
• Broadcast all Board of Selectmen meetings online, to accommodate those residents without cable television, and maintain a library of past meetings online, like what already exists for the School Committee.
• In addition, I’ll hold regular office hours in whatever way is most convenient for you: In person, virtually via Facebook, or a combination of both.

The philosophical part might be trickier but, in many ways, it’s more important. Over the past several weeks, I’ve met with anyone who would talk with me, supporters and skeptics alike. Some think we’re on the path to being the state’s next big success story. Others aren’t so sure. But every one of them loves this town and sees its potential. We can’t let our differences get in the way of what we all want: A better Clinton.

As selectman, I’ll seek advice from anyone who’ll offer it. I’ll consider any legitimate idea for making Town Hall work better, for bringing more business into town, and for keeping Clinton an affordable, enjoyable place to live.

As town officials, we need to overcommunicate what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. I’ve said it before but, in order to enact any meaningful change, we need to engage every stakeholder in town. There will be differences in opinion, but we cannot continue to let opposition and gridlock to take root in miscommunication.

Let’s figure out what we want this town to be and get on the path to making that future together.

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and I know a lot of people are out of town, but with two weeks until Election Day, I’m going back out there to tell people how I’ll earn their vote. If I miss you, please get in touch. I want to hear from you.

And speaking of Memorial Day, take advantage of the long weekend and nice weather (while it’s still here) to reach out to your neighbors. Facebook and other technology makes it easier than ever to connect with people, but this campaign has taught me that unplugging and actually talking to people is where real community comes from. An article in yesterday’s New York Times says it well:

For generations, neighborly relationships have helped Americans make an asset of the nation’s diversity. Friendly conversations worked, however imperfectly, to help us glean some perspective beyond the limitations of our own experience. Today, however, technology too frequently nudges us into intellectual niches. Intimate and arms-length relationships may be comfortable and easy to maintain, but we hurt ourselves by making strangers of the people who live nearby. Invest some additional time getting to know your neighbors. You never know what you might teach them — or what they might teach you.

Looking forward to learning more from you this weekend. Hope to see you soon.

Heading out for an afternoon of talking with voters, but wanted to take a quick minute to talk about a story I saw in today’s Boston Globe, and a problem Clinton — along with almost every other town in the region — is facing.

Graffiti.

The Globe story talks about the Longfellow Bridge, which is nearing the end of a five-year, $300 million reconstruction project. It won’t even reopen until next spring, and yet it’s still already a popular target for graffiti “tagging.”

Read the story and you’ll see how graffiti isn’t just a Clinton problem.

“At high-profile pieces of public property, including the Longfellow Bridge,” the story reads, “the struggle to keep ahead of graffiti never ends.”

Obviously, it’s a struggle here too. Last week, work crews from the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department cleaned up graffiti in town, spray-painting bridges and underpasses dark gray, in many ways covering up ugliness with ugliness.

We’ll never be able to stop vandals from being vandals (the photos above were taken today, so some of these people were right back at it). Increased enforcement helps, but Boston has four full-time employees whose only job is to fight graffiti vandalism. We don’t have that luxury here. What about complementing police efforts with something more creative?

The Globe story also quotes Nate Swain, a street artist from Charlestown who works at Artists for Humanity, a nonprofit group that teaches art to low-income and underserved children.

What if we partnered with a similar organization and gave our local youth and artist community a chance to express themselves on property that’s otherwise routinely defaced by vandals? In the street art hierarchy, murals often come out on top. Organizing an effort to improve local artistic expression and head off graffiti would be a low-cost, high-return proposition that could let our police focus on other more important things, while keeping our public infrastructure looking beautiful. (And it might give Profile Rock a much-needed break.)

Who knows? Maybe one of these groups might want to settle down here, and turn a vacant property into its headquarters, much like Artists for Humanity did in South Boston. Their program is so popular, in fact, that they’re expanding to accommodate more youth.

“Artists for Humanity is building a new generation of Boston-based artists and creative thinkers, and this expansion project will allow them to provide even more opportunities for our youth to become involved in creative work environments,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in announcing the expansion last year. “Their innovative approach combines arts and culture with STEM curriculum to give our young people the skills to think critically and obtain well-paying careers in the future.”

The bottom line is that we can learn a lot from the communities and organizations around us. If you elect me to the Board of Selectmen on June 12, I will chase down every creative, affordable solution I can find to help make Clinton better.

I’m out and about today talking to voters and seeing how they think we can make our town better. If you see me, say hello. And if you need a sign, hit me up. Happy to drop one off.

No one likes litter. It’s dirty and demoralizing. And, in a town like Clinton — one that’s struggling to attract business and the expanded tax base that comes with it — litter, pollution and blight send a clear message to the outside world that we don’t care how our town looks.

If elected to the Board of Selectmen, one of the first things I’ll do is start an effort to keep our streets clean and our sidewalks clear. It’s an easy way to restore community pride and appearance, and to keep Clinton walkable for all residents. Most important, it sets an example of service and responsibility to our children, our neighbors, and anyone who visits here.

As selectman, I would work to organize regular town-wide cleanup days, and initiate Clinton’s participation in the Great Massachusetts Litter Cleanup project. I’d also work with the Board of Health and DPW to make sure citizens know what is expected of them regarding litter, sidewalk maintenance and snow removal.

Speaking of snow removal, I’d take a page from a number of other communities and team up with the Council on Aging and School Department to establish a program to identify and assist people who need help with snow removal.

It’s a model that’s worked well elsewhere, and a great example of how we could look to other cities and towns for good ideas that can be implemented in Clinton. In addition to keeping seniors safe and our sidewalks clear, cross-generational programs like this have the potential for many other benefits.

• In Nutley, NJ, Mayor Alphonse Petracco says their Shovel Out Seniors program connects the town’s teens with their elders, encouraging new types of communication between the generations.
• In Hingham, participants in the Good Neighbors Volunteer Shoveling Program report that the friendly contact during storms provides a boost to seniors who might otherwise be snowbound.

Do you have an idea about cleaning up Clinton? Leave a comment below or send me an email at kerriganforclinton@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Yard signs are in. Help spread the word and show your friends and neighbors that, on June 12, you’ll be voting for a better Clinton.

A cleaner, safer Clinton.

A Clinton where local government is accessible and accountable.

A Clinton with an inclusive, comprehensive plan for smart, aggressive economic development.

A Clinton where the Board of Selectmen sets a tone of courtesy, professionalism, fiscal responsibility, and daring.

I need your help getting word out. Email me at kerriganforclinton@gmail.com or call 617.319.4738 today to get your lawn sign.