At Town Meeting and next week’s elections, we have many tough choices to make, both how much we will tax ourselves for public services and who will join our elected leadership. In all likelihood, every choice we make will have positive and negative consequences. If we fund everything being sought, we’ll drive affordability beyond the limit for some of us. If we stay within what everyone can afford, important features of the town will be lost.
We thank the candidates for giving us a choice. We don’t believe that any one person has all the right answers. We appreciate that all candidates are dedicated to what’s best for Harvard, even though they have different ideas for getting there.
We hope that winners will limit their celebrations and quickly get down to the important work of finding solutions, setting priorities, and planning the future. We hope that losers will not be discouraged and give up, because every candidate has values and opinions that should continue to be heard.
Nearly every issue has valid considerations on both sides. For example, 40B is a terrible process, threatening us with unwanted development, adverse neighborhood impact, and excess pressure on schools. It is the law, however, and we should do the best we can—while working to change the law — to get the best mix of housing with the least adverse impact.
Most of our issues are a complex mixture of facts and opinions. The issues don’t exist in isolation and no one person or board can address them all. The most important need is for communication, collaboration, and cooperation. We hope the many boards and citizen groups that are working on these different issues will begin immediately to work together—and not wait until next year’s budget season.
The town meeting form of government is the closest thing to perfect democracy. Please attend Town Meeting Saturday and vote there and at the polls Tuesday. Practice democracy—practice makes perfect.
