First of all, I got my snazzy Wellington Yes yard sign today and have it posted proudly in the lawn. I’ve seen them popping up all over town. If anyone is interested in getting one for their yard, drop me a line (paul (at) bloggingbelmont.com).
For those of you who missed it, the Boston Globe’s North section ran an article today by Jen Lefferts on the push to rebuild the Wellington. The article highlighted Together for Wellington, and the effort to get younger voters to the polls, using tools like Facebook and Twitter to reach and inform younger voters, including BHS seniors and graduates of recent classes. Jen did a great job with the piece, interviewing two former Wellington students: Jacob Scharfman and Ben Schrekinger. Scharfman is a BHS senior who’s quoted as saying that “Our elementary school students deserve a new building” and “I’m willing to pay for it.” Schreckinger is a BHS ’08 grad who also provides some great quotes, including the closer about education and the schools being a defining feature of the community. Nice! Lefferts also manages to provide a nice encapsulation of the debt exclusion vote, interviewing T4W co-chair Laurie Slap and resident Nancy Oteri, who is opposed to it.
Jacob and Ben are just two of the almost 300 members of the Together For Wellington Facebook group – many of them in the 18-24 age group (though certainly not all). It’s been an eye-opening experience to use FB as a way to pull folks into the Wellington campaign and to push information out about important events around town related to the campaign. It remains to be seen what impact it will have on election day, as FB “friendship” is a loose kind of bond that doesn’t necessarilly translate into commitment. But my guess is that this kind of outreach is going to be a staple of local elections for years to come, as it was for the National election in November.
All in all a good read. I’m interested in your thoughts.
Vote YES on June 8!
No offense to the high school seniors, but how exactly are they helping to pay the property tax bills which cover this expenditure?
Well, these kids are 18-24 now. If any of them plan on buying property in Belmont before they're, say, 40 (and I'm sure more than a few of them will), then they will be paying part of the cost of the Wellington, right?
When you are ahead in the polls the best advice is to lay low… Too much publicity opens the door for error. The Yes voters to date are better organized than the No. The Globe article incites No voters. The naivete of an 18yr old saying he is “willing to pay for it” doesn't help. 2000 signatures is overwelming support in a vote count likely less than 6000. The more silly comments incite NO voters the larger the turnout and that is not conducive to a YES outcome. IMO.
TM should be interesting with the Wellington vote/ Minuteman funding / and Anne's Free Cash Amendment. I'll need to bring a 2 liter tonight to stay awake…
Umm…who says we're ahead in the polls? Are you talking about the BCH unscientific polls?!
In the meantime, an older woman just drove up to my house, asked my babysitter and 4 year old daughter “what church we went to,” then pulled out my Wellington yard sign and left. Nice.
Well, these kids are 18-24 now. If any of them plan on buying property in Belmont before they're, say, 40 (and I'm sure more than a few of them will), then they will be paying part of the cost of the Wellington, right?
When you are ahead in the polls the best advice is to lay low… Too much publicity opens the door for error. The Yes voters to date are better organized than the No. The Globe article incites No voters. The naivete of an 18yr old saying he is “willing to pay for it” doesn't help. 2000 signatures is overwelming support in a vote count likely less than 6000. The more silly comments incite NO voters the larger the turnout and that is not conducive to a YES outcome. IMO.
TM should be interesting with the Wellington vote/ Minuteman funding / and Anne's Free Cash Amendment. I'll need to bring a 2 liter tonight to stay awake…
Umm…who says we're ahead in the polls? Are you talking about the BCH unscientific polls?!
In the meantime, an older woman just drove up to my house, asked my babysitter and 4 year old daughter “what church we went to,” then pulled out my Wellington yard sign and left. Nice.