Two years ago we did not know Ron Ricci. Since then we have attended countless meetings with him and are consistently impressed with his devotion to the town of Harvard and his principles of governance. He knows that government is a tool for good that can do great harm if its checks and balances become misaligned. He knows that individual rights are the foundation of a strong community, not mutually exclusive to it, that both the individual and the community are strengthened when they work together. Ron worked with our small community along Old Mill Road in ways we never imagined any selectman would. He attended countless meetings at the Devens Enterprise Commission to ensure that the rights of Harvard citizens were not violated. He enlisted the help of State Senator Eldridge and Representative Benson, and brought them to our farm so that they could understand firsthand the severity of the problem we faced. He attended sound monitoring tests in the earliest hours (2 to 4 a.m.) of a cold November morning. He advocated for Harvard citizens when we were not given standing to advocate for ourselves.
Evergreen Solar opened it factory in December 2008. By March 2009 it was producing noise that was 18 times greater than the allowable limit. This constant barrage was destroying the health and property values of a small group of Harvard residents along Old Mill Road. It would have been a lot easier for Ron to remain uninvolved. By almost any calculus there was little to be gained by stepping into the middle. Evergreen is part of Devens, not Harvard. The Harvard Board of Selectmen has no authority there. Yet in spite of there being so little to gain, Ron could not walk away. He could not turn his back. He was going to do whatever he could to ensure that the individual was not sacrificed for the sake of a corporation. He went to bat for us because it was the right thing to do, because by protecting the rights of the few is the right precedent to set if the community of Harvard is to truly thrive. We are lucky to have someone so devoted to fairness and equity as a selectman for our town. We encourage residents to vote for Ron Ricci for reelection.
Laura McGovern and Jay Wallace
Dunroven Farm, Old Mill Road
