Burlington Letter To The Editor Roundup: Town Election Views

BURLINGTON, MA — The following letters were submitted to Burlington Patch by residents.

To submit a letter to the editor email chris.huffaker@patch.com.

The town election is Saturday. There are contested races for Board of Selectmen, town clerk and Shawsheen Tech School Committee, among other seats.

Previously on Patch:

• Burlington Election Final List: Dozens Run For Town Offices
• Letter To The Editor Roundup: Burlington Town Election
• Letter To The Editor Roundup: More Endorse Shari Ellis
• Letter To The Editor Roundup: More Burlington Election Views
• WATCH: Burlington Town Election Candidate Forums
• Burlington Letter To The Editor Roundup: Town Election And More
• Burlington Election: Letter From Candidate Shari Ellis

Letter from Burlington Town Meeting Member Adam Senesi:

Serving two terms as a precinct 1 Town Meeting member has been a privilege. It’s been a productive term, as Burlington opened the Station 2 safety building. I served on the Station 2 Building Committee, and this expansion of safety infrastructure improved ambulance response times by allowing Burlington’s Fire Department to expand advanced life support capability, while alleviating needs to outsource.

I also served on Town Meeting’s Water Supply Study Committee where we created a plan to expand access to drinking water. The committee developed a phased plan for infrastructure expansion via a partial hookup to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. In 2020, Burlington was recognized as an MWRA associate member community. The project is in the final stages of construction, and also provides Burlington partial autonomy by preserving use of our local Mill Pond Reservoir. This plan passed Town Meeting overwhelmingly through significant community outreach.

On Town Meeting’s Sidewalk Committee we surveyed the community to identify a series of “hot-zones” where residents demanded increased walkway safety. This is a work in progress, but many highlighted sidewalk deficiencies along Cambridge Street (3A). Cambridge Street is a state road, but our committee walked the street end-to-end to photograph sidewalk damage for a report we submitted the state. This enabled us to obtain a commitment in this year’s state budget for $1 million towards sidewalk construction on Cambridge Street.

A priority of mine has been good attendance at Town Meeting. My enhanced committee and subcommittee work includes my tenure on the Capital Budget Committee where I serve as Vice Chair. The challenge, if reelected, will be to stabilize Burlington’s finances post-Covid and put us on a path to resume discussion of renovating school buildings.

I ask for your support in reelection on Saturday, April 10th.
Adam Senesi
13 Town Line Road

Letter from Town Meeting Member Joanne Frustaci:

I am writing to endorse Amy Warfield for Town Clerk. Mrs. Warfield conducts our elections and the business of the clerk's office with the utmost integrity. I have spent a good part of election day campaigning at the polls. Mrs Warfield's towering presence and eagle eye at our polls on Election Day always reassures me there will be no shenanigans, and that recourse will be swift if a legitimate complaint is made.

The Town Clerk holds a powerful position. The office is an information/referral/access point for residents, voters and candidates. Amy and her staff respond comptently, fairly and evenly to all. No one is advantaged or disadvantaged in getting information or services due to political persuasion, popularity or lack thereof, and most of all, the presence or absence of ties to current officeholders. This is precisely the professional management of free and fair elections that we all want in Burlington.

I urge you all to re-elect Amy Warfield as Town Clerk.

Thank you,
Joanne Frustaci
Precinct 3 Town Meeting member

Letter from Burlington resident Bob Gonet:

Dear Editor,

I enthusiastically endorse Michael Kelly regarding his candidacy for the Shawsheen Tech. School Committee as the representative of Burlington. I have known Michael for 10+ years both as a neighbor and a friend. During that time, I quickly discovered two attributes about the man: his commitment and his dedication. Without question, Michael will be 100% committed and 100% dedicated to serving the town of Burlington in this very important role. Michael is someone who sincerely cares by way of his actions not just his words.

Sincerely - Dr Bob Gonet

Letter from Town Meeting Member Monte Pearson:

In Response to Selectman Runyan:

Mr. Runyan is wrong about other housing agencies in Burlington having a seat at the table at the Housing Partnership meeting of January 23, 2019. In fact, it is unclear who was at the table, because now, more than two years later, there are no minutes for that meeting. What is clear is that Jim Doherty, a member of the group and a paid town employee at that time, wrote a letter endorsing the placement of a 24-unit, four-story apartment building in a single-family zoned neighborhood.

Mr. Runyan also evades the point that, when the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, or Town Meeting discusses a building project, all of the neighbors in the affected area are invited to come to the meeting to voice their opinions. It is considered common curtesy that when our local government makes vital decisions like this, they do it in consultation with the residents affected. The Board of Selectmen did not talk to the neighbors. Instead, the neighbors finally got notice after many decisions were made, at the last moment, when they had to scramble to hire a lawyer.

What the BOS did was legal, but not fair.

It is a shame Mr. Runyan has injected politics into this issue. As the Chair of the Town Meeting’s Land Use Committee, I have spent the last eight years working to add new housing for seniors without disrupting our single-family neighborhoods. Both I and the other Town Meeting members on the Committee are unhappy with the process used by Mr. Runyan and the other Selectmen. We believe we can provide housing for seniors and protect our neighborhoods. In contrast, Mr. Runyan seems to want to give the Board of Selectmen the right to insert large apartment complexes into any neighborhood with vacant lots.

Monte L. Pearson

These letters were produced by Burlington residents. The views expressed are the authors' own.