Your Arlington, your views

The following is a summary of a meeting that occurred at the State House (Sept. 25) regarding the status of Department of Conservation and Recreation issues in the Alewife area, as reported by Rep. Will Brownsberger in an e-mail update on Sept. 29. It is republished here with his permission.

There is a lot going on, and I’m grateful to Commissioner Rick Sullivan for his continuing attention to a wide range of concerns.

The Silver Maple Forest issue was not a central topic in the meeting, although we touched on it briefly — that issue has been directed up at the level of the Governor’s office. Another issue which was not on the table in the meeting is traffic improvements at the Rt.2/Rt.16 intersection. I continue to follow up on both of those issues and will report separately on them.

Present (for all or part of the meeting):

From DCR:
Commissioner Sullivan
Samantha Overton (Urban Parks)
Dan Driscoll (Planning)
Bill Gode (Flood Control)
Mike Galvin (Engineering)
Rosemary Power (Government Relations)
Legislators and others
Senator Pat Jehlen
Senator Steven Tolman
Representative Will Brownsberger
Representative Sean Garballey
Representative Denise Provost
Selectman Clarissa Rowe
Ken Donnelly
Cindy Friedman (Senator Marzilli)
Robert Fitzpatrick (Senator Jehlen)
Mike Rademacher (Arlington Town Engineer)

Alewife Reservation Master Plan Status

The plan is partially implemented in the area of the Arthur D. Little parking lot, but waiting for Cambridge CSO work in the area across Little River from the lot. The Uplands acquisition was vetoed by the Governor and in the absence of the vetoed funds DCR does not feel it has the financial ability to acquire the property. Legislators and local officials continue to look for ways to save both the Silver Maple Forest and the Mugar property. Implementation of the plan in the area towards Little Pond will occur as a later phase.

Regarding the proposed bikepath segment in the Sunny-side area, DCR is planning to organize conversations with Arlington officials this fall to resolve differences about the location of the bike path.

Amelia Earhart Dam

DCR feels that the 2008 and ‘09 budget earmarks for study of the dam suffice to move an appropriate study forward to address (a) the feasibility and cost of installing a fourth pump; (b) the feasibility and advisability of changing pumping protocols at the Amelia Earhart to control flooding. DCR expects to have an RFP out on this next month and will send it to legislators for review before issuing it.

Mystic Lakes Dam

DCR is well along in designing a repair and reconstruction of the Mystic Lakes Dam. This project is necessary for safety reasons — the dam is weak. It will also create a fish ladder and allow active management of the upper lake for flood storage purposes. They hope to put out an ENF [environmental-enforcement action] before the end of the year. One inevitable negative to the reconstruction will be the removal of trees on the dam. The trees on the dam are all volunteers and their roots create faults in the dam which diminish its strength. It is expected that construction will start in Fall 2009 and take approximately two years.

Dredging and Debris Removal in the Little River and Alewife

The ongoing concern about maintaining a free flowing channel is very well recognized both by the stormwater group (Robert Lowell) and by the Urban Parks group (Samantha Overton). Currently, they are testing the materials in the channel bottom to identify possible hazardous materials (including sharps from the homeless population) and to define the process to be used in debris clearance and/or dredging. They do not feel that they can order large crews of people to work standing in the channel, even for branch removal, before assessing risks. They expect to make findings over the next few weeks and to define a course of action from there.

Blair Pond sedimentation project (dredging and control structure)

They are currently doing depth mapping to design their approach to dredging the pond. lt may or may not be possible to simply move materials within the pond as opposed to trucking materials off site. This will afffect permitting issues and the timeline. No deadlines were set, but the work appears to be moving forward.

McCrehan Pool

It was agreed that DCR would review the possibility of allocating staff resources to participate in visioning conversation about the pool — to inventory short term to do’s as well as longer term possible goals.

Belmont Bikepath Right-of-Way Issues

The transfers and easements to create the right-of-way for the Belmont to Alewife bike path are all approved by the grantors. The actual documentation received has to be approved by both EoEEA and DCAM. The General Counsel of DCR is attending to the movement of the documents through these approvals.

The following was titled “Analysis: The Arlington Primary’s Big Winner” when it was posted on the Arlington e-mail list on Sept. 17 by Aram Hollman of Arlington. It is reposted here with his permission:

A dark-horse candidate, Did Not Vote (DNV), swept Arlington’s elections yesterday [Sept. 16], winning multiple races by garnering 20,302 (71 percent) of Arlington’s 28,797 registered voters. Percentages (may not add to 100) follow for candidates who received at least 5% of the
vote in races that were townwide and/or contested.

State Senator % US Rep. %
Did Not Vote 71 Did Not Vote 71
Ken Donnelly 13 Edward Markey 24
Jack Hurd 15

US Senator % Governor’s Council %
Did Not Vote 71 Did Not Vote 71
John Kerry 21 Michael Callahan 17
Edward Beatty 8 Trionfi-Mazzuchelli 4

DNV’s victory was both typical and unusual. Typical because DNV has won almost every campaign in Arlington for many years. Unusual, because DNV ran no campaign, had no campaign committee, had no campaign fund, no campaign workers, and no website. DNV completely
ignored the late Tip O’Neill’s adage, that “people like to be asked”, by asking no one.

For unknown reasons, neither the media nor the populace have examined DNV’s voting record, constituent service, or other measures of performance in office. The usual media fluff stories, about the candidate’s personal story, struggle to achieve, and lovely family, all of which successfully distract the average voter from substantive discussion about issues, were entirely absent.

According to the League of Women Voters, DNV did not even respond to their invitation to appear at candidates’ night [Sept. 11].

A check of state and federal campaign records yielded no information about the candidate, raising questions about official recordkeeping at both levels.

A low-key approach has rendered DNV immune from scurrilous accusations. No competing candidate, nor any of their “unaffiliated” 527 organizations, has ever accused DNV of having an affair, fathering an illegitimate child; being a closet Muslim, being a closet homosexual, being a closet Christian fundamentalist wacko, evading the draft, having parking tickets fixed or having drunken driving charges dismissed. Nor has DNV ever been accused of being for something
before being against it, pandering to voters, or being bought by lobbyists.

Almost no one speaks about DNV. This reporter found only one source who, after insisting on anonymity, said that DNV had engaged the political consulting firm of Apathy and Busyness, Inc. to run a “quiet campaign.”

The campaign was spectacularly successful. In the midst of otherwise clear weather, 2 feet of apathy fell on Arlington’s roads, starting at 3am of election day, blanketing the roads and making it all but impossible for voters to get to the polls. On top of the mess, passing storms dumped 3 inches of busyness during each of the morning and evening rush hours. “It was terrible, I tell you”, said a town plow driver. “Even some of us got stuck. Yes indeed, apathy and
busyness did a real number on the election turnout. Even voters with the best of intentions were thwarted.”

DNV’s stunning success leaves pundits with more questions than answers. Were voters simply disgusted with other candidates, or did they approve of DNV’s (seemingly nonexistent) record? Did voters, who were overwhelmingly Democratic, adopt the Republican mantra of “government that governs best, governs least,” or were they highly pleased with the plethora of programs and DNV’s ability to provide local aid?

Is DNV the candidate of transformation or of the status quo? Is DNV a civil servant dedicated to official duties and unwilling to roll about in the muck and mire of campaigning? Or is DNV the epitomy of aloofness and arrogance, taking advantage of the power of incumbency and completely ignoring constituents?

DNV’s latest success again raises long-ignored constitutional and legal questions. Is it legal for a candidate to be listed on both the Democratic and Republican ballots? Can a single individual hold so many offices simultaneously? Since DNV has held so many offices for so many years, will DNV receive multiple pensions, one for each job?

DNV supporters are a quiet lot, much like the “Silent Majority” that voted for Richard Nixon in 1968. Even though this reporter went to multiple polling stations during the day, not a single voter leaving the polls admitted to being a DNV supporter. They are loyal to their candidate. Unlike most of Arlington’s Democrats and Republicans, they take their obligation to vote seriously. Their turnout boosted Arlington’s traditionally pathetic voter participation rate, usually less than one-third of the population, to 100 percent.

DNV was unavailable for comment for this story. Phone calls and e-mails to DNV’s office were not returned.

One can only hope that the prevailing mood and weather will be better in November. DNV’s stealthy success is a threat to both the McCain and Obama campaigns, one that they ignore at their peril.

Aram Hollman, reporting for the Tongue-in-Cheek News Network