Mabfan's Musings

For those of us living in Massachusetts, tomorrow is the day of the primary to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy. We've had a fascinating campaign season this fall, mostly because of the odd schedule forced upon the voters by the law that requires a special election within a certain timeframe. Even now, reports are that most Massachusetts voters are either unaware of the election or have no idea who they intend to vote for.

As a local politician (Library Trustee and Town Meeting Member), I'm sometimes asked for my endorsement in local Brookline races. People don't tend to actively seek out my endorsement for anything higher than Brookline Selectman, because, frankly, my opinion would probably not carry that much weight outside of the town. That said, though, I see no reason why I shouldn't offer my endorsement for the Senate race, so for anyone who is still trying to decide how to vote, here's where I stand.

I endorse, support, and plan to vote for Alan Khazei, the co-founder of City Year, in the race.

Why Khazei? I can't really say it any better than the Boston Globe did when they endorsed him, so rather than reiterate what they said, I offer the link here (Boston Globe: For Democrats – Alan Khazei for Senate) along with some quotes from the endorsement:

The 48-year-old Khazei offers a strong vision for success in the Senate, channeling the energy of activist groups and private-sector policy incubators while dedicating himself to the laborious task of building legislative coalitions.

He offers a time-tested and relevant example of this approach: his two decades of work bringing together politicians of both parties and citizen-activists to develop a national service plan....

Khazei promises to apply the same principles to other issues, believing that building a grass-roots network for change while demonstrating both commitment and a willingness to compromise in pursuit of common ground can break down political barriers. This isn’t just hopeful rhetoric. Khazei speaks admiringly of streetwise education reformers who, having seen challenging conditions in urban classrooms, dreamed up such innovations as charter schools and Teach for America. Along the way, these activists had to elbow their way around established interest groups that tried to squeeze them out of the policy debate. With the support of an energetic and idealistic senator, public policy can flourish.

Extended to issues like health care, the environment, energy, and job training, this entrepreneurial model of progressive politics offers hope for real improvements....

...[H]is energy, idealism, and intelligence - combined with a grounded sense of how the Senate works - is unusual, and gives voters a chance to support a new, home-grown approach to politics. He isn’t trying to line up just enough constituencies to eke out a win; he’s asking voters to sign on to a vision - a less top-down, less programmatic way of improving people’s lives. His emphasis on capturing the energy of private initiatives and translating it into the conventions of the Senate feels rooted in Massachusetts and the Kennedy legacy, but also appropriate to this moment in history.

I've talked with many friends leading up to the primary, and I've discovered that many of us are supporting different candidates in the race. Given the importance of this race, it would be a shame if people let the opportunity to choose our next U.S. senator slip away, as it's likely that the winner of one of the primaries will end up representing Massachusetts for years to come. So for all my Massachusetts friends, I encourage you to take the time to vote tomorrow. Obviously, I hope you'll vote for Khazei, but whether or not you do, I hope you'll vote nevertheless.

As for me, I'll be at my polling place at 7 am tomorrow, casting my vote.

Last night, I attended the first session of Brookline's Special Town Meeting in my role as a Town Meeting Member from precinct 12. The Brookline TAB was live-blogging Town Meeting, and I decided to do so as well. I plan to do so again tonight, so if you're interested, you can follow on my Twitter feed (@mabfan) or watch my posts on Facebook, as they'll port over there automatically.

I was fascinated by the fact that I was not the only one live-blogging. Selectman Jesse Mermell also tends to report from Town Meeting on her own Twitter feed (@jessemermell), and apparently there were a few journalism students in attendance who also blogged it (I'm looking at you, @taliabethralph) . If anyone out there reading it wants to blog tonight, use the hashtag #btm. At least, that's what I'm trying to use. Apparently, it stands for other things as well. (I mistyped it a few times, making me wish that Twitter offered the option of editing one's tweets.)

For those of you who didn't follow along last night, we got through Articles 1-6 and Article 10. We try to adjourn after whatever article we're in the middle of at 10:30 pm, and Sandy Gadbsy, the Moderator, wisely took a motion to let us skip the three articles about the Fisher Hill reservoir and instead deal with a shorter article before we adjourned.

The two most controversial issues we voted on last night were the Runkle School bond appropriation and the restoration of the Carlton Street Foorbridge. Runkle School is the K-8 public school in my neighborhood, so I have a strong interest in seeing the renovation move forward. The school right now is overcrowded, with classes meeting in the lobby and staff members using closets as offices. Everyone agrees that the renovation has to happen, and in the end the $29 million appropriation carried unanimously. The only problem is, there are a few abutters (including one of my fellow TMMs) who are concerned with the process as it has currently played out. The town will need a special permit to make Runkle large enough to accommodate the students they are expecting over the next decade, and it's going to affect the feel of the neighborhood. I'm hoping that those with concerns about the project will have their concerns addressed, but last night we needed to approve the money if we wanted to have the project move forward.

As for the footbridge... ah. There's a lot of history about that footbridge; the precinct 1 delegation to Town Meeting has turned over twice due to voters in that precinct either favoring or opposing restoration. Last night, we had the pleasure of hearing former governor Mike Dukakis address Town Meeting in support of the bridge. Dukakis's first elected office was as a Town Meeting Member, a position he won exactly 50 years ago this past March. Town Meeting gave him a standing ovation after he spoke. In the end, restoration passed by a vote of 192-25.

(As a side note, two proponents of the footbridge gave a list of objections to the bridge that they claimed were false, including the notion that the footbridge was placed there by aliens in 1894. I'm starting to get story ideas...)

Article 6 would have been controversial had the petitioners moved it, as it dealt with amending the town budget to remove the funding for the police security cameras. Although no motion was offered, Sandy allowed Frank Farlow to address us on the issue and Selectman Betsy DeWitt to give a response. Frankly, I'm not sure how much we really needed to hear about the issue given that there was no motion being offered. I'd much rather have waited to hear these arguments once a motion is actually on the table, which will probably be in the spring.

Neal Simpson of the Brookline TAB and I have a gentlemen's bet going as to whether or not Town Meeting will finish up tonight (my guess) or continue to Thursday (his guess). There's only 18 articles total on the warrant, and most of them seem relatively uncontroversial to me. Tonight we'll start with the Fisher Hill issues, which may take a while to explain but I doubt they'll take a while to debate. The child care zoning amendment will go through easily, I'm sure, and then we'll probably have a lot of discussion about the zoning for car-sharing organizations (e.g. Zipcar, which had a strong showing of supporters last night whom I expect to see there again tonight). My guess is that we'll get far enough into the warrant that people will want to stick around to see it through, even if it takes us to midnight.

We'll see. Check my Twitter feed tonight and follow along.

Special Election Sign in Brookline

Today is Election Day across much of the country, but not in Brookline, Massachusetts, where our next election isn't until December 8 – the primary for the special election to fill the vacant senate seat. So while our friends in Boston and Newton choose a mayor today, those of us in Brookline get to relax and watch.

However, just because we don't have an election today doesn't mean that there's no politicking going on. Brookline's representative Town Meeting, of which I am a Member, meets the week before Thanksgiving, and this year the big issue seems to be the zoning of Zipcars in the town. Articles 12 and 13 on the warrant deal with changes to the zoning bylaws that would make the Zipcars currently in Brookline legal. If Town Meeting doesn't pass these bylaws, it could conceivably mean the end of Zipcars in Brookline.

Although it's extremely unlikely that Town Meeting will not pass these articles, there's been a lot of debate in town regarding exactly how Car Sharing Organizations, or CSOs, should be zoned. Not surprisingly, Zipcar has emailed their Brookline customers to ask them to contact their Town Meeting Members in support of the articles. In his letter, Dan Curtin, the General Manager of Zipcar, has explained rather well the best way to approach your elected representatives. His point is a simple one: find out what precinct you live in and contact the Town Meeting Members for your precinct. He's also encouraging people to attend the Selectmen's hearing tonight to show their support; again, quite appropriate.

However, in the wake of his email to supporters, I (and I presume other TMMs) are getting emails from people who are obviously new to this sort of things. In one email, a constituent referred to Town Meeting as Town Council. In another, I was asked to vote in favor at tonight's meeting, which is not the actual Town Meeting at which I can vote but the Selectmen's hearing. So in the interest of helping out the Brookline voters, I thought I'd offer a quick and easy guide on what to do when emailing your Town Meeting Members on an issue. (Disclaimer: I am speaking here for myself, not for all Town Meeting Members.)

1. Be polite.

This should go without saying, but you'd be surprised how often it doesn't.

2. Make sure you know what precinct you live in, and write to your own Town Meeting Members, not all of Town Meeting.

Many is the time a Brookline resident will send an email to every member of Town Meeting, and all 240 email addresses are on the list. While I appreciate the enthusiasm and passion that these residents have, the fact is that sending such an email can and does dilute the message you're trying to get across.

The reality is that I have to be responsive first and foremost to my own constituents. What might be the right way to vote for a Town Meeting Member representing Coolidge Corner may not be the right way to vote for a TMM representing Washington Square. I'm far more likely to appreciate your concerns if I know that you're writing to me because I'm one of your own representatives.

Corollary: If you do decide to write to all of Town Meeting, please use the blind carbon copy function, and make it clear from the outset what precinct you are actually residing in.

3. Do some minimal research on the issue.

At the very least, please let me know what article number you're writing to me about.

4. If you vote in local elections, tell us so; if you don't, start doing so.

Whether or not a citizen voted is a matter of public record, and I have to admit that here's an issue on which I get kind of, well, strict. On the one hand, as a Town Meeting Member from my precinct I feel an obligation to represent the interests of all my constituents. But on the other hand, if you want me to take a stand on an issue on your behalf, I'd kind of like to think that you might have voted for me and might do so again in the future.

if you don't bother to show up at elections, and I hear from some other constituent on the opposite side of the issues, whose opinion do you think I might pay more attention to?

One resident of precinct 9 used to email me about issues, but never bothered to vote in town elections. After a few years I called him on it, pointing out that if he really did care about what happened on a local level (which we all should), he should make an effort to vote. Even if there are only five candidates running for the five Town Meeting slots in a particular year, voters can show up at the polls and write in anyone they want. In fact, one year, two voters got into Town Meeting through a write-in campaign that they conducted that very day at the polls.

As a politician trying to make my community a better place, if I'm going to remain in office, I need your votes. And nothing gets my attention more than an email that begins, "Dear Mr. Burstein, I am a resident of your precinct, and I vote in every local election."

According to the Secretary of State's website, I would only need 10,000 signatures to get on the ballot for Senate from Massachusetts.

The question is, as a local politician who has never held a state office, would I have a chance at all at convincing the voters of the commonwealth that I would be their best choice for senator? Running for an office such as senator requires an organization and funding, and at the moment I have neither one of those. I can collect 50 Brookline signatures myself next year to run for re-election as a Library Trustee. Collecting 10,000 Massachusetts signatures would require many, many volunteers (or paid workers) throughout the commonwealth.

Also, I'd need to make my platform explicit; a website would probably be a good start.

The kids had us up feeding them at 2:30 this morning and by chance I turned on my iPhone, only to discover that Ted Kennedy, one of my senators, had died early this morning.

I never met Kennedy although I saw him from afar once at a rally. But Nomi told me a story once about how responsive Kennedy was to his constituents. If I recall the story correctly, Nomi's mother was working with a group fighting to get the Americans with Disabilities Act passed, and Kennedy spent an hour with them in his office, listening to their concerns.

It is hard to believe he is gone. Someone will succeed him, but no one can replace him.

Probably the most controversial pair of articles to come in front of Brookline Town Meeting at the session just past were the ones devoted to the security cameras.

In brief, a few months back the town received money from the Department of Homeland Security to set up a few security cameras in some of the more high-traffic areas of the town. The police department planned to use these cameras to help fight crime. They had some reasonable arguments in favor of the use of these cameras, pointing out that they were only in public spaces and that the footage would be useful in reconstructing events.

Despite these assurances, though, and despite the respect and trust that the town has in our police chief and our police department, there was a grass-roots movement to fight the cameras. People opposed to them were concerned about a variety of things, including the storage of the footage, access to the footage, and a general unease having to do with anything coming from the Department of Homeland Security.

Although I myself would tend to side with the folks opposed to the cameras, I wasn't active in the fight, because I didn't really see the harm. In fact, despite my standard liberal progressive voting record in Town Meeting, I wasn't sure where I would end up voting on the cameras. I listened closely to the very reasoned arguments of two of my fellow Town Meeting Members from precinct 12 as we discussed the cameras in a discussion meeting before Town Meeting. Casey Hatchett, who is also a police officer, supported the cameras and pointed out all their usefulness to the department in keeping the town safe. David Klafter, who is firmly in the progressive camp, opposed the cameras and warned about the encroachment on our liberties. (I was pleased when both of my fellow TMMs brought their arguments to the floor of Town Meeting, one right after the other.)

The cameras have been in place in a pilot program now for a few months, the idea being that the town can evaluate how effective they are and whether or not they are a good idea. Although it is the decision of the Board of Selectmen to keep the program going, Town Meeting chose to weigh in on the issue. Article 24, if passed, would have encouraged the Selectmen to keep the program going; article 25, on the other hand, would have urged the Selectmen to end the program immediately. (Some of us were amused by the possibility that both articles might pass, but Town Moderator Sandy Gadsby reminded us before considering the articles that Town Meeting is usually consistent on our votes.)

Before Town Meeting, I took the pulse of my constituents to see where they stood on the cameras. I called two friends of ours who are married to each other and I asked my wife. Feedback was mixed, so once again I found myself having to listen to my own conscience on the issue.

And in the end, for me the tipping point was an editorial in the Brookline TAB: Editorial: Camera pilot program too risky. I urge you to go read it in full, but for me the money quote was this:

"Even if the study committee were to give the program high grades based on its mandate — and it might — it will never satisfy what we feel is the fundamental question: If a free society is monitored from a remote location, is it still free?"

I can still see the point of supporting the cameras, I have to admit; with the recent economic downturn, we seem to be experiencing more crime in Brookline. (If not, it just feels that way.) But the TAB got me thinking about the definition of a free society. And in the end, I have to say that I do worry about the tiny bits of freedom that are eroding in the wake of our new technologies. (The convenience of Google Maps, for example, has to be weighed against the knowledge that anyone on this planet can now easily see the plants I choose to put in my windows.) Stopping the cameras now is incumbent on us, because even if we trust the watchmen of today, we have no idea who will take on the role of the watchmen of tomorrow.

Afternote:

As usual, the Brookline TAB's reporting of the events of Town Meeting is comprehensive. Here are some good articles I recommend.

How did Town Meeting vote?

Last night's capsule Town Meeting

Brookline Town Meeting rejects surveillance cameras

I always feel that there's too much going on in my life to adequately note it here. For example, this past weekend we had sdelmonte and batyatoon visiting, and next weekend is Shavuot, and the weekend after we're doing something, and...

You get the idea.

Also, for everyone who keeps asking me, gnomi is continuing to do fine.

So, anyway, tonight is the first night of Brookline's Town Meeting. Having just been elected from my new precinct, I feel an obligation to show up, even though there are many other political choices tonight (do I go to a rally in support of Sotomayer or against Proposition 8?). Tonight may very well be the longest Town Meeting session of the year, as we're going to approve the town budget for Fiscal Year 2010, which starts on July 1.

Unfortunately, the state has warned all the municipalities that the amount of local aid promised may end up dropping, even though many municipalities are determining their budgets over the next few weeks. So we may end up approving a budget, only to have to reconvene to adjust it when we find that we're not getting as much money as we had expected from the state.

It'll be an interesting discussion tonight and tomorrow. Just don't expect me to get much sleep. :-)

Last night, as a newly elected Town Meeting Member from precinct 12, I attend the Neighbors Building Brookline Warrant Review Meeting. Although I've been a Town Meeting Member from precinct 9 since 2001, I’ve never participated in an advance discussion other than by email or phone. I found this gathering of my new precinct delegation most useful, as it gave me a chance to hear different perspectives on the issues in a more intimate setting.

I've written up a report on the discussion at the Neighbors Building Brookline website. The report can be found at this link: Warrant Review Meeting Report. I considered reposting the report here, but decided that if anyone's interested, you can just click through from my blog to the report. Feel free to comment here, though.

According to the unofficial results from the precinct 12 Town Meeting election, it would appear that I remain a Town Meeting Member for another term.

My thanks to all those who voted for me.

For the first time, I decided to take the day off from work to campaign during the day for Town Meeting. Nomi and I arrived at our new polling place, the Runkle School, at around 7 am, and already there were many other candidates waiting in front to meet voters. Nomi went inside to vote while I handed out campaign flyers, and then she took over for me while I went inside to vote.

At this point, I'm really not sure what kind of turnout we'll get. Last year, precinct 12 had a turnout of more than 700 people, but the weather was beautiful and there was an override on the ballot. This year, the only contested town-wide race is for School Committee, so unless you've got a horse in your Town Meeting race, there might not be much incentive to come out and vote. (Also, it's cold and drizzly, and supposed to rain more steadily later.)

We had a number of voters come this morning, but there were also a lot of parents dropping off their kids for school, and not all of the parents were planning to vote. Still, those of us there running for Town Meeting or supporting other candidates are maintaining a nice level of enthusiasm.

I'm handing out palm cards for my slate, Neighbors Building Brookline, but I also prepared a small flyer about myself. I wanted to let people know that I've never missed a night of Town Meeting ever since I was elected in 2001, and that I've been one of their Library Trustees since 2004. I'm hoping precinct 12 voters will see my dedication to representing them, and choose to elect me to represent them as I represented precinct 9 for nine years.

I'll be back out campaigning from 11 am to 1 pm and then from 3 pm to 5 pm. Members of my slate will be around during the vital evening hours, which is good because I have a press screening to attend. But if you're a voter and you're around in the middle of the day, please stop by and say hello.

For those of you interested in my campaign to be re-elected to Town Meeting, I have now posted my Candidate Statement at the Neighbors Building Brookline website.

As I mentioned on Monday, all week I've been posting the candidate statements for the five Town Meeting candidates that NBB has endorsed from precinct 12. I honestly have no idea if any voters have been reading the statements, but I expect more will do so soon. This morning, on my way to work, I stopped at the Post Office and dropped off the NBB flyers, which include the address for the website. So I'm hoping that over the weekend, voters in precinct 12 will take advantage of the website to learn more about the candidates.

I'll be campaigning much of the day next Tuesday, and I'm hoping to get to know more of my neighbors.

As many of you already know, in my campaign to be re-elected to Brookline Town Meeting I've been endorsed by Neighbors Building Brookline, an association devoted to improving our community based in precinct 12 of the town. Yesterday we gathered to prepare the campaign mailing that goes out on Thursday morning. The flyer includes information on the five endorsed candidates, but of course on any flyer space is limited.

So in my own role as a member of the group, and with the help of fellow member Mike Oates, I've taken steps to start working more on our group's website, which is located at http://www.neighborsbuildingbrookline.org. In the future, we hope to make the website a resource for Brookline residents, but for the moment, we're mostly focused on the upcoming election. To that end, as we note in our blog post Candidate Statements Start Today, we've decided to post candidate statements this week from the five candidates we've endorsed for Town Meeting, one each from Monday to Friday. The idea here is that any precinct 12 voter who wants more information can come to the website and find out more about the candidates we've endorsed in the election.

If you're a precinct 12 voter, I welcome you to come check out the statements this week from our endorsed candidates for Town Meeting (Lee Cooke Childs, David J. Cotney, Jonathan Grand, Michael A. Burstein, and Casey Hatchett). It'll give you a chance to find out a little more about the five of us, and why Neighbors Building Brookline feels that we'd be valuable members of Town Meeting. (Actually, four of us already are members of Town Meeting.) If you live outside of Brookline, consider visiting the site anyway, as an example of local politics and community organizing in action.

And if you're a precinct 12 voter, I hope you'll vote for me next Tuesday for Town Meeting.

As a Brookline resident I don't get to vote in Boston municipal elections, but since we're surrounded by Boston on three sides I tend to try to stay plugged into Boston's politics as much as I can. (Also, six days a week I find myself in Boston.)

Over the years, I've come to be impressed by Mayor Thomas Menino (although I will note that I do have friends who disagree with me). In my humble view, Menino presents himself as a caretaker mayor who wants to make sure that life is made as easy as possible for the residents of his city. He's not someone who has a grand political vision and wants to push it through; his vision for the city is to make it a place of simple livability.

It seems to be a common impression, and now I know why. It's because that really is how Menino does his job. And here are two pieces of proof.

Firstly, there's this column from today's Boston Globe: Mayor Menino, at your service by Yvonne Abraham. I highly recommend that people interested in local politics read the whole article.

(Aside: speaking as a writer and editor, I find Abraham's article a delight to read.)

Apparently, Menino holds regular receptions for new homeowners, during which he shows genuine interest in his citizens' lives and looks for ways to help them out. Abraham presents one specific case in which Menino connected a new homeowner who just lost his job with a city housing expert working to stop foreclosures. In another case, Menino actually knew one homeowner's father, a Boston cop, and details about her new neighborhood.

(Another aside: columns like these present most eloquently the reason why we need newspapers to stay in business.)

Menino may not be a great orator, Abraham points out, but he clearly cares about your problems.

Which leads me to the second thing.

Some of the members of our synagogue, Kadimah-Toras Moshe, have been dealing with the issue of Boston College's expansion plans into their neighborhood. Originally, a public hearing and presentation to the Zoning Commission had been scheduled for the evening of April 8, which this year is the night of the first Passover seder. Members of the community wrote to Mayor Menino and other politicians, pointing out this conflict and imploring them to take action. This resulted in a letter sent yesterday from Menino to Robert Fondren, the chairman of the Zoning Commission, in which Menino asks him to postpone the meeting to a later date. And that led to an announcement today that the hearing will in fact be postponed.

I grew up in New York City, and I understand that the mayor of New York has a much bigger job to do than the mayor of almost any other city in the United States. But I never got the feeling that any of New York's mayors had the same personal connection with his city's residents as does Mayor Menino of Boston.

As many of you know, I'm very involved in local politics in my adopted hometown of Brookline. Since 2001 I've served as a Town Meeting Member from precinct 9, and since 2004 I've also served as a Trustee of the Public Library of Brookline. Both of these are elected positions, and so I face re-election to each office every three years.

As a Library Trustee, I'm in the second year of my second term, so I don't have to worry about re-election until 2010. But as a Town Meeting Member, this year is an interesting one for me. My current term expires this year, and so I would normally be running for re-election...except that in December Nomi and I bought a condominium in precinct 12, so I now have to run as a new candidate in our new precinct.

Conveniently enough, though, we happened to buy the condominium of a Town Meeting Member whose term also expired in 2009 and who was moving out of the town, thus leaving an open seat from our new precinct. I breathed a sigh of relief at this turn of events, because to be perfectly honest I don't like challenging incumbents unless I feel very strongly that they're not the folks for the job. This way, I could file papers as a candidate and not feel like I was challenging anyone already present.

(Brief explanation: each precinct has 15 TMMs representing it, in staggered three-year terms. So this year, there are five TMM seats to be filled from each precinct.)

As it turned out, one of the other incumbents chose not to run, meaning that only three incumbents were running for re-election. But then beside me, three other residents of the precinct decided to run, meaning that there would now be a challenged election, seven people running for five positions.

In a race like this one, it's always good if you can get endorsements, and I'm pleased to be able to announce two endorsements for my candidacy.

The first endorsement has come from Neighbors Building Brookline, a coalition of precinct 12 residents who first came together in 1994 to support an override. I already knew some members of the coalition through my work in town politics, and I was hoping for their endorsement. The simple fact of this year, though, is that all seven candidates from precinct 12 are excellent candidates. So when I met with NBB earlier this week, I knew that I couldn't take their endorsement for granted. I very much appreciate the difficult job they must have had in picking their candidates, and I am delighted that they saw fit to endorse me. Assuming I am elected, I plan to be an active member of the coalition, meeting with them to dissect the warrant as they do in the weeks before every Town Meeting.

One notable thing about NBB is that they don't actually take positions on the warrant. The people in the group span the political spectrum, but they're all dedicated to doing as good a job as possible understanding the articles that come before Town Meeting, so they can cast educated votes on the issues. As someone who always wants to hear the opposition's point of view on an issue before casting my own vote, I'm looking forward to these discussions.

(As an aside, although the Town Meeting Members of precinct 9 all knew each other, we generally didn't get together to discuss the warrant beforehand. But we did often email each other.)

My second endorsement was not entirely unexpected, but one that still pleases me nevertheless. Once again Brookline PAX, a local political action group, has chosen to endorse me for Town Meeting. Brookline PAX has actually endorsed me in every local race I've been in, and I hope they've been satisfied with my work as I've fought for better library services and good development for the town.

Election day is May 5; for the next month or so, other than observing Passover, I'll be working toward convincing my new neighbors that I would be as good a Town Meeting Member for them as I was for my previous neighbors from precinct 9. If you're reading this and you're a registered voter from precinct 12, please consider casting your vote for me on May 5.

Back in 2001, I ran for Brookline Town Meeting and won. Ever since, I've been a Town Meeting Member representing precinct 9.

Last December, Nomi and I moved from precinct 9 to precinct 12. Conveniently enough, we ended up buying the condominium of another Town Meeting Member, one whose term, like mine, expired in 2009. Furthermore, she moved out of town entirely, leaving an open seat for me to run for in the new precinct.

However, because we're new residents in precinct 12, I'm no longer considered an incumbent for my seat. So over the past month, I've been collecting signatures from registered voters in my new precinct, asking them for the opportunity to represent them the way I represented the voters of my old precinct for these past nine years.

Yesterday, I filed my nomination papers with the Town Clerk's office and am now an official candidate for Town Meeting once again.

Interestingly enough, there's not a lot of competition going on in town this year in the local elections. The TAB posted an article today from tomorrow's paper, Prospective Selectmen, Town Meeting candidates sitting Brookline election out, in which writer Steve Bagley notes that a large number of precincts have no competition in the local races. I'm quoted in the article, pointing out that there tends not to be a lot of interest in the races unless there's a pressing local issue. And this year, the biggest issue on the table is the economy, which doesn't really have a clear-cut way to be addressed on a local level (as noted by TMM Marty Rosenthal, who is also quoted in the article).

As it stands, I may end up having an actual race, because six people have pulled nomination papers for the five Town Meeting Member positions up for election in precinct 12 this year. As a candidate myself, I'll be honest and say that it would be a lot easier for me if the race ended up uncontested. Even if that were the case, I'm still planning to call up many of my new neighbors to introduce myself as a candidate for Town Meeting Member from precinct 12.

But as a proponent of democracy, I wouldn't mind seeing more contested races throughout the town.

The Illinois State Legislature is taking on the cause of Pluto, according to an article in the Daily Herald:

Like some sort of rulers of the universe, state lawmakers are considering restoring little Pluto's planetary status, casting aside the scientific community's 2006 decision downgrading the distant ice ball.

An Illinois Senate committee on Thursday unanimously supported planet Pluto and declaring March 13 "Pluto Day." The idea now moves to the full Senate for a vote.

See Pluto Politics Hits Springfield for the full story.

(Thanks to fellow traveler ffoeg for the tip.)

You know what's really cool? A New York Times columnist drawing a connection between current government follies and an old episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker:

...in one memorable episode, Kolchak was confronted by a politician who sold his soul to the devil in order to win a seat in the State Senate.

When I first saw this particular program, coyly titled “The Devil’s Platform,” I was covering a real-life State Legislature in Connecticut. My first thought was that accepting eternal damnation in return for a career as a state senator was a little like swapping your house for a pair of socks.

But lately I am beginning to wonder if, in our troubled times, being in a Senate — any Senate — actually is hell.

Go read Op-Ed: The Devil Made Me Do It by Gail Collins.

On Tuesday, when people in my company gathered to listen to the inaugural address, one particular sentence caused a small number of us to applaud and cheer.

Actually, it was just a fraction of a sentence.

As soon as President Obama had said, "We will restore science to its rightful place," those of us in the science department cheered, much to the amusement of the folks in the other departments.

The sad truth is that science has been under attack in this country over the past few years. I don't really want to revisit all the attacks right now; for anyone interested, there are plenty of articles and books on the subject. I will remind people that in 2004, a group of scientists – including 20 Nobel laureates – issued a statement pointing out the distortion of scientific facts that had been presented to the American people by the government. These distortions had mostly been made with the sole goal of supporting government policies that would have made no sense in the light of scientific facts.

But that light is beginning to show through the cracks. In the article Scientists Welcome Obama's Words, the reporters note that the scientific community is hopeful for policies which acknowledge that science must come before policy.

And in other news, the Texas Board of Education has voted to remove discussion of evolution's '"strengths weaknesses" in their science standards. The phrase "strengths and weaknesses" is a code word among anti-evolutionists to try yet again to sneak religion into science class, and I'm delighted that Texas is finally doing the right thing....after twenty years.

Whenever I hear about suppression of science, or the attempts to sneak pseudoscience into science classes, I am always reminded of Richard Feynman's words as a member of the Challenger commission: "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."

Unfortunately, people can be fooled, which is why we must always remain vigilant.

In some of the Psalms that we recite in synagogue, there is a Hebrew word whose exact meaning is unknown: selah. The word "selah" usually shows up when there is a break between two phrases, so some scholars tend to think that it was a note to people singing the psalms to pause for a moment before moving on.

Today is a day for selah. Today is a day to pause and reflect.

I often find myself consciously not blogging about major (or even minor) events that happen in the course of the week, because I feel that I have little to add to the general discourse. For example, last week we saw the deaths of two actors whose performances I enjoyed, as well as an emergency landing of a plane in the Hudson River that many called miraculous. I pondered adding my voice to the cacophony of discussion about these events, but realized I had little to say other than to note that they happened. So I remained silent.

But today's major historic event compels me to take note, even if I feel that anything I can add would be obvious at the best and banal at the worst. Still, here are my thoughts, for what they're worth.

Barack Obama was not my first choice for president among the crowded field of candidates we had running. Yes, it was rather evident that I'd end up voting for the Democrat in the general election, no matter who it would turn out to be, but early on in the process Obama struck me as someone who could use more experience before running for president.

However, the closer he came to the presidency, the more I learned about him, and the more I found I liked him.

I think what first turned me around was listening to his speech on race. Obama was articulate and intelligent, and more than that, he talked to the American people as if we were adults. He didn't shy away from the controversies inherent in some of his statements, and neither did he ignore the pain that racism and reverse racism causes in all Americans.

I started to read his books, and I found that Obama was a writer, someone who had a delightful facility of expression and an ear for the rhythms of language. Furthermore, Obama was clearly someone who had thought long and hard about who he was, and how others would see him. And, as a science-fiction writer and a comic book reader, I couldn't help but be pleased when Obama made jokes about being sent to Earth from Krypton, or when the press reported that Obama liked to read Spider-Man comics.

I still felt concerned about Obama's lack of experience, but as he started to put together his cabinet, those concerns melted away. He's surrounding himself with the best possible people for their jobs, and making it clear that he intends to listen to all opinions, no matter how controversial, before making decisions.

And, last but not least, there is the fact that Obama is "a black man of mixed heritage," as he describes himself. I know that I can't possibly put myself in the shoes of the many African-Americans who are standing prouder and taller today, but I too am feeling a sense of pride in being an American, a feeling that I haven't enjoyed in far too long.

Look what we've done. Look at what this country is about to do.

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office later today, I'll be watching. And I suspect I'll have difficulty fighting back the tears in my eyes.

As I mentioned earlier today, I haven't had much time to blog because we've been very busy. In brief, last month Nomi and I moved to a new apartment. We're still in Brookline, but the move has been both busy and stressful. (We're actually still in the process of moving some of our possessions out of our old apartment.) Our new apartment still isn't completely set up, and is unlikely to be set up for a while, which just adds to the stress.

But overall, we're quite happy.

I'm hoping to get back to a more regular discussion soon of the usual things of interest: writing, science fiction, conventions, history, politics, science, and all those other things I like to talk about. But with deadlines at work, Arisia coming up, and new stories to be researched and written, my presence here may be sporadic at best.

In the meantime, here's some things I want to share:

My high school has been in the news recently, which always interests me. The New York Times reported on The Big Cram for Hunter High School, in which they profiled groups of sixth-graders taking the test for admission. Of course, there's a reason you might want to go to Hunter, as it could help you one day get appointed Solicitor General of the United States (class of 1977).

My friend Michael Marano is a fellow Grub Street instructor, and he's teaching what looks like a fascinating class on "The Art of Genre" on how to give your genre fiction a more literary bent. I wish I had the time to enroll, but if you're a local writer, you might want to check it out.

The Hugo nominating ballots are being sent out, and people are posting all over the Internet about their eligible work. I'll be doing the same soon.

More to come...