There is no fighting City Hall in Harvard. As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “We are the government.”
Devens, Council on Aging services, town center sewer, the omnibus budget, etc.; these decisions are not made on high. They are made at Town Meeting, by you.
In this election season I am reading and hearing a great deal about leadership (“we need to elect leaders who will lead… we need better communication…”). In fact, Harvard has a remarkable number of dedicated elected officials who, at the end of the day, simply frame the conversation we hold at Town Meeting. Town Meeting government requires its citizens to be educated and involved. Most years, less than a third of our residents attend Town Meeting.
I will be voting to support the omnibus budget and the override required to fund it.
Overrides are not failures to run a lean budget. It simply signifies that the costs to operate our town went up by more than 2 ½ percent. I know my household bills have gone up by much more than that. We have a great town; it takes money to run it. I choose to support it.
Support the omnibus budget for any number of reasons: you want more services for seniors; you have kids in school; your house is your biggest investment and the reputation of the schools helps protect that investment; your kids got a great education here and today’s kids deserve the same; or, you believe in supporting education because it is the right thing to do for society, to “pay it forward.”
There is one week to Town Meeting, if you have a question about the school budget call or e-mail me—978-456-9909, sasklar@charter.net. Help keep Harvard the town that we love.
Stu Sklar
Scott Road
