For those who haven't voted by mail or in person yet, the town web site has an image of a sample ballot, which shows the complete text of Question 6 at the bottom of the back page:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3402/Presidential-Sample-Ballot
The question asks voters whether they wish to support a "... system of single payer universal health care ... ," here in the state of Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, that wording still leaves many unanswered questions.  After a search on the web came up with few results, I contacted our state representative, Kate Hogan, to inquire.  I did not talk with her in person, but Allison Kenney, the Communications Director in her office, sent me an official statement, issued by Representative Hogan.  From her statement, I learned:
• The "District" mentioned in the wording refers to the "Third Middlesex Legislative District" which includes Maynard, Stow, Hudson, and Bolton.  The question also appears on ballots in towns in some other districts but it is not on ballots in all cities and towns in Massachusetts.
• The question is non-binding.  That means that, unlike the other five questions, the vote on this question would not create a new law if passed.  Instead, a "Yes" vote would recommend that Rep. Hogan support legislation as described in the question.  A "No" vote on this question would not recommend that she take any action, either way.  However, the vote totals will provide her with a sense of the will of the voters, overall.  Note that, even with binding questions, as 1 through 5 are this year, for each one that passes, new legislation will be enacted, exactly as printed in the "Information for Voters" booklet, but the legislators can still modify the law later on if they see fit.
• The question is sponsored by a group, "Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care."  They have a web site here:  https://masscare.org/ballot-question-2024/

In her statement, Representative Hogan says, "Ultimately, the solution will be a federal one and will require [a] big commitment to change, but as we know, states can lead the way."  She goes on to describe how Massachusetts has been a leader in reform in this area, and how she has taken the initiative to help improve various aspects of state law to benefit Massachusetts residents.

I spoke with Maynard's new Town Clerk, Melissa L. Pelletier. She has now been hired to replace our previous Town Clerk, Dianne Reardon, who retired in late September.  She told me that she has not received any questions from voters on Question 6 so far, and there has been little publicity about the question, so it's uncertain if it will get significant support.

28 October 2024 - After publishing this story, I was contacted by Kimberley Connors, Executive Director of Mass Care (aka the Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care - see link above).
She told me that the organization was started 20 years ago, but that trying to spread the word about their work has recently become more difficult because of the collapse of many local newspapers.  Since I did not contact her before publishing this story originally, I agreed to interview her, and report on our conversation here.

"The ballot question is intended to give voters a chance to express their displeasure with the current medical system," she explained.  The organization's position is that the profit driven medical and insurance system now in place has created medical “deserts” throughout the Commonwealth (where there is a lack of reasonable medical care available in some local areas).
The bankruptcy of Steward Health Care and the closures of two of their hospitals is just the latest example, she told me.  (See this news report, one of many, on the situation that unfolded:
https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/steward-health-care-close-2-massachusetts-hospitals-judge-approval/723045/ )
"Nashoba Valley Medical Center was used by many residents of Maynard," she explained, "but because of this bankruptcy, the hospital closed when the state could not find any buyers to keep it open."

Although the Town Clerk hasn't received any questions on Question 6 from voters so far, I decided to publish this story anyway, because I am always interested in a better understanding of the issues we face.
Democracy depends on an informed electorate.  It isn't much good if people just walk into the polling place and think they should mark everything on their ballot, even if they have little idea of what they're voting on.
"Get Out The Vote" campaigns seem to indicate that if you just go vote, you've exercised your right.  I disagree.  In fact, I think leaving a few things on a ballot blank is good practice if you haven't had time to gain a good background on what's at stake.
That said, I don't blame people if they haven't been able to satisfactorily understand every issue they are being asked to vote on.  As I've said before on this web site (and have posted articles on this topic on my Opinion page here), good government depends on a collaboration of the public, the officials they elect, and reliable sources of information.
However, the "Information for Voters" booklet has 40 pages of single spaced text, devoted to just 5 questions.  There are 16 pages on Question 4 alone!  So, we are faced with a dilemma - struggle through the reports and legal language, then listen to the debates on the radio or TV, or read analysis online, ... or risk ending up in the voting booth without a clear idea of what to do.
If the process seems daunting, I recommend at least reading the first two pages for each question, just to get an overview.  Then go to the section called "Majority Report" and see what the legislators on the review committee had to say.  What I found interesting was their summary of statements from various proponents, opponents, and members of the general public who showed up to give their opinions about the proposed law, for each question.  A lot of this is in easy-to-read language, based on the actual people who will be affected by the law, one way or another.
Just to be clear, I don't necessarily agree with the ultimate recommendations given in the Majority Report.  Also, although I have written this news story on Question 6, I didn't do so to recommend a vote either way; I leave it to you to make up your own mind.

The town's Elections web page has instructions for where and how to vote here:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/170/Elections

In person voting on election day is at the Fowler School, Maynard's middle school, located at 3 Tiger Drive.  The polls will be open from 7 AM until 8 PM.  If you are not already registered to vote, the deadline is Saturday, the 26th of October (tomorrow as I write this) to register.  If you wish to vote by mail, and are already registered to vote, the deadline to submit an application for a mail-in ballot is this Tuesday, October 29th, before 5:00 PM, at the Town Building. The form to use to apply for voting by mail is on the Secretary of the Commonwealth's web site, here:
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/download/vote-by-mail-applications/vote-by-mail-paper-application-2023.pdf
Print out the form, fill it out, and take it to the Town Clerk's office in the Town Hall.
In order for mail-in ballots to be counted, they must be received at the Clerk's office by 8:00 P.M. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.  If there is a chance that the mail will not get there in time, there is a ballot drop box to the left of the front door of the building.  Ballots returned returned by mail must be postmarked by 5 p.m. Nov. 5, but will be accepted for three extra days.

Maynard, MA - An annual Fall tradition in Maynard kicks off this month with the "Maynard Fall Ball."  The Ball is an event to raise funds for the Maynard Holiday Parade, scheduled for later on in December.  Residents are invited to both events, which promise to be just as much fun as they have been in the past.  Proceeds from ticket sales and activities at the Ball go to defer the costs of hosting the parade, which is free for anyone to attend.  The parade will include bands, costumed characters, and special guests, all of which must be paid for with funds raised in advance.

In addition to music and dancing, KBK Sports, an auction company, will be present with auction items, including Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots signed memorabilia and collectibles.  Although KBK will be compensated with a customary commission for setting up and running the auction, 75% of the funds spent on auction items by attendees will go directly to help fund the parade.  There will also be a raffle, the winner of which will be treated to a ride in the helicopter that carries Santa in the sky over the parade.

For questions or further details, please contact Jen Picorelli, Maynard Holiday Parade Director, at 978-290-6373 or by e-mail at [email protected]

As in years past, Santa himself will be flying over downtown via helicopter before the parade begins, waving to and welcoming parade goers to the parade route.
More details regarding the parade are available at the official parade web site:
https://www.lightuptheholidaysmaynard.com

Article 3 was the biggest ticket of the night, a plan to borrow 3.4 million dollars to fund replacement of the bleachers at Alumni Field with a new facility.  The proposal included seating for 750 people, with a press box mounted above (for WAVM students to record video of the games), along with a separate building to house a concession stand, and ADA compliant bathrooms with enough capacity for a full crowd.  Based on current building codes, bleachers cannot be constructed without enough bathroom facilities included.
If the measure were approved, the town would borrow the amount by issuing bonds to be paid off over the next 15 years at a 3.5% interest rate.  The total cost, with interest included would be just over $4.5 million.  Property taxes would increase approximately $70 per year for the average single family household, assessed at just over $500.000.

Proponents also explained that the cost has increased since the original concept was developed as building code requirements have been added in the mean time and construction costs have gone up as well.  A document detailing the plans was projected on the screen for voters to view.  A copy of the plan, along with other information, is available on the school department's web site page devoted to it:
https://www.maynard.k12.ma.us/page/alumni-field-bleacher-project
Discussion on the article went back and forth between pro and con arguments along with a variety of questions in between. 

Apparently, the field is not in good condition, but town officials could not give an estimate of the cost of field renovations because the process of determining that is still in very preliminary stages.   At least one voter recommended that the town come back with a more comprehensive plan to include the field and bleachers together as a single project.
Others questioned the town’s priorities in general, with more than one voter asking why we would be spending more on school related projects when a new senior center has still not been addressed.  Last year, the town voted to borrow over 50 million dollars to build a new elementary school to replace the existing one.   That vote passed overwhelmingly (see previous story "Historic Vote Brings Historic Attendance at Meeting").

When asked how many days per year the field is used, or how many high school students are currently enrolled, proponents did not offer any exact answers.

But at that point a loud murmur arose in the room, so the Moderator asked for a show of hands for how many voters wished to extend the time for debate, for this one person.  Seeing a significant number in favor, he invited the person to have his say.

Finally, a vote was taken.  The count was 97 "Yes," and 136 "No," so the article did not pass. It would have needed a 2/3 majority to pass, so this was a decisive loss.  (These are the vote totals I wrote down while attending the meeting.  However, for official results, check the Town Clerk's web page:  https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/535/Special-Town-Meeting-October-7-2024 )

An "Enterprise Fund" is a way to separate both income and expenses within the town for a particular purpose, rather than intermingle the money with the "general fund" that is used to pay the rest of town expenses overall.  For example, the water and sewer systems use an enterprise fund which puts all money collected from water and sewer bills paid by residents into a separate fund for just that purpose.

During the meeting, more than one voter wanted to know that if this went into effect, would the cost of trash stickers would go up and yet property taxes would not be reduced at the same time (and the property tax money now collected would instead just go to other purposes)?  However, town officials explained that the exact cost of stickers was far from being worked out and the tax burden was therefore still not determined.  They told the meeting that was just a first step to help manage the entire portion of costs to the town for these services.  The article was only intended to lay the groundwork for further discussions, proposals, votes, etc. in the future.
The article passed by a simple majority, by a show of hands, as a neither a secret ballot nor more than a simple majority was required.

By the end of the meeting, all articles passed by the required percentage, except for Article 3.  For anyone with questions regarding the terminology used at Town Meetings, such as "What's a Warrant?" please see my "Introduction to New England Town Government" (a PDF available for download via a link) on this web site's Opinion Page.

No, you don't have to squint at my illustration here, or go searching for your copy of the Warrant to see what caught my eye.  I'll give it to you right here (although you can see the full text of the Warrant on the town's web site here:
https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3331/Special-Town-Meeting-Warrant-October-7-2024
Here is what they wrote, "The Finance Committee is concerned about the total debt service that Maynard is carrying and the burden to the Town’s taxpayers. The Finance Committee would like to recognize that there are many important potential projects yet to be funded in the upcoming years. This includes projects such as the Winter Street DPW Garage, Stormwater, Golf Course and Senior Center improvements. The Town Boards and Committees are holding regular meetings on these priorities and Townspeople are encouraged to attend and make their voices heard."
I have put the text I underlined in color here, to add emphasis not originally present in their statement.

My point is this:  The town of Maynard faces at least two significant challenges.
   1.  The projects mentioned, and at least a few others not mentioned, are large, expensive, and require a complex process to scope out, design, and budget.  The more complex this process is, the more meetings and documents are involved, and the more difficult it is for the "Townspeople" to keep up with what's going on and develop an informed opinion.  Who has time to sit through all those meetings and read documents that can run 50, 100, or even many hundreds of pages?  (The Green Meadow Elementary School project had one document that ran 1600 pages, if I recall correctly).
I, as your loyal "self-appointed volunteer reporter," even have a hard time keeping up; I end up missing many meetings and don't have time to read more than a few documents that are presented. This begs the question: What has our democracy come to, if the public cannot properly avail themselves of the issues involved?
   2.  The world outside has a dramatic influence on our options, as a town.  The state and federal government are constantly changing laws, regulations, and policies that impact what we can do, specifically when it comes to building projects.  We either get an increasingly expensive building, or no building at all.  Trying to find a middle ground to save money has become increasingly difficult.  And that's just for government.  The "private sector," and the economy in general, also have significant impacts.  Construction labor and material are all market based, and markets can fluctuate, sometimes wildly.
For example, I often hear people lament that we have a number of empty storefronts in town, "Why doesn't someone do something to revitalize our downtown business districts?"  Why, indeed?  Others speculate, "It's due to greedy landlords!"  But the problem was largely caused ... by us!  Yes, it is we who shifted our buying habits from local merchants to big box stores (starting in the 1970s) and then to shopping online for direct delivery to our doors (the 00s through to now).
When we stopped shopping at local stores we dried up the revenue they needed to stay in business.  They, in turn were no longer there to pay for ads in our local newspapers, which then dried up their income from ad revenue.  We stopped buying classified ads in our local newspapers to post items for sale or give-away, and shifted to posting those online instead, ether on CraigsList or now on social media.  That left local newspapers adrift and eventually bankrupt.
There is no evil person or conspiracy here.  These are the changes we've made without fully understanding our impact on the towns in which we live.  We have prioritized low prices and access to an array of products so vast that no one "brick and mortar" retailer can ever hope to keep in stock. It is natural to want these things, but there are significant impacts on the quality of life in our towns.  We have yet to develop an entirely new arrangement to support local community communication and commerce.
And, of course, Maynard is not alone in this.

We must be very careful in deciding which projects to pursue and how to pursue them.  If we vote in favor of too many costly infrastructure projects, we risk increasing the local property tax to such a level that it changes the very character of the town.  That is, people with modest means, such as the elderly, the artists, the self employed, the staff workers at our restaurants and schools, etc. will all increasingly leave town for other places to live where the costs are more within their means.  The ultimate end of that would mean that a "monoculture" replaces the diverse and vital town we now have.
There are towns not to far distant from us that are now dominated by families with high paying jobs, who want to have "good schools" for their children, smoothly paved streets, nice new buildings, and the like.  Everyone else has already left those towns because they can no longer afford the taxes or the price of real estate.  Increasing real estate prices benefit those who own a home and wish to sell it, but deter those who wish to buy.  We can't have it both ways.
I live here because I looked at a number of towns nearby and chose Maynard on purpose.  I didn't ask my real estate agent to just find me a house. I wanted to "buy into" a specific town because I wanted to live where there was a diversity of residents who were active in town affairs.
No, nothing can stay the same over time.  Changes must come.  It just pays to think through the impact of how we live and the assumptions we make, when it comes to what we value in the way of community. As for me, my slogan is "shop locally."  I can't always do that, but I keep it in mind and try to act accordingly, whenever possible.

I am hosting a presentation and exercises entitled “Freeing Ourselves from Blame and Shame” here in Maynard next week.  Here are the specifics:

• Thursday, October 17, 6:45 to 8:45 PM
• at the Maynard Public Library, Trustees Room
• FREE, but please RSVP as the room has a maximum of 20 people.
The link to RSVP is: https://tinyurl.com/MRLink02 (through EventBrite)
The link to the event announcement is: https://www.messagerain.com/upcoming-events.html
The link to the a detailed description is: https://www.messagerain.com/workshops.html

During Maynard Fest, I handed out cards to promote the event with some text on the back.  It reads:

“When we blame, we have the illusion that all bad things could have been prevented, “if only ...” someone had acted differently.  But we all make mistakes, emotions can overwhelm us, and we have limited time and resources.  Life is unpredictable!  No one has perfect foresight.  There are always risks.
I invite you to join me as we learn to replace blame with love and forgiveness, within ourselves, whenever we can.

I have hosted a similar event at a few different conventions, back before the pandemic, but this is the first time I’m doing so for the general public.  Please RSVP and I hope to see you there!

Note: This is not an official Library event.  The Library is only permitting me to use the room.

Yes, I'm just getting the word out about this, now that I have the room reserved and Maynard Fest is over.  I know it's somewhat short notice (10 days after I'm posting this), so I hope you can attend!

Maynard, MA - This Saturday, Oct. 5th, 2024, at Maynard Fest, residents of Maynard can see how far Artspace has come since leaving their previous building, back in the Summer of 2023.

According to Executive Director Suchitra Mumford, "In the summer of 2023, ArtSpace moved to 74 Main St. in downtown Maynard. As an arts organization we almost didn't survive. It took the dedication of our community and Board Members to make sure we continued and we have!"

"We continue to offer art studios for rent as well as opportunities to engage and promote the arts." according to Director Mumford.  In addition, the organization is now running classes and workshops for anyone age 16 or over.  "Through the help of grants, donations and program income, we are on our way to becoming a sustainable arts center in Maynard," she explained.

Carolyn Wirth, ArtSpace's Administrative Arts Manager on staff, authored an article in Artscope Magazine about the revitalization of ArtSpace in Maynard, in the September/October issue. Although the bulk of the article is behind a paywall, the first few paragraphs can be seen at the magazine's web site here:
https://artscopemagazine.com/2024/09/determination-rewarded-artspace-returns-to-downtown-maynard/
(See the Background section, below for more.)

ArtSpace has it's own web site with more complete information about the organization:
https://artspacema.org
The show "Source" that opens this Saturday is also highlighted on the Discover Maynard web site:
https://discovermaynard.com/event/source-the-artspace-fall-exhibit/2024-10-03/

Maynard Fest runs this Saturday, 3 October 2024, from 9:00 AM until 3:30 PM in downtown Maynard, along Summer, Nason, and Main streets.  All three streets will be closed to traffic during extended hours, in order to allow organizations to set up their tables and booths, as well to take them down at the close of the festival.
The festival is sponsored by the Assabet Valley Chamber of Commerce.  More information about the festival is also posted on the Discover Maynard web site:
https://discovermaynard.com/event/14145/

For many years, the word "ArtSpace" was synonymous with the building at 61-63 Summer Street, where it was housed.  The organization was permitted to use the building, the former Fowler School, by the town, essentially for no cost, as long as the organization took care of maintenance and utilities.
The building, built in 1911 clearly had some significant problems but the artists, along with the Acme Theater, managed to work within the building's limitations.
Then, some time in 2022, an attempt to do renovation work on the building exposed numerous fire code violations and the building was eventually declared uninhabitable.  In mid 2023, the artists and staff had  to vacate the building.

(See https://www.bradfordmill.com/artscape-studios for details.)

With all these setbacks, the board had to work diligently to find new space.  There was nothing as big as the Summer Street building, so they had to start small and go from there.