My wife and I are senior citizens. After many discussions with the Council on Aging, we selected Harvard over a number of communities because it offered the most comprehensive selection of services. We thought of our relationship with the town almost as a contract: COA represented available services and in return, we agreed to pay our taxes and age as gracefully as possible.
After reading last week’s summary of the COA and Capital Planning and Investment Committee meeting, perhaps I missed section (3) of the contract that now obligates me to raise capital for the center in addition to paying taxes and growing older. The new revelations about the Hildreth House renovations seem similar to those that changed the view of the Town Hall project. Hours of planning went up in smoke to an anti-tax increase drumbeat.
There certainly is truth to thoughtful spending, but debt need not be a forbidden four-letter word. Harvard is blessed with many more resources than most communities and debt can be managed. Alternative taxation systems have been proposed and seem to have been forgotten. And there are ideas for senior housing that would create a more dynamic market and community mix.
What irks me most is that the anti-tax view placed needed short- and medium-term expenditures at the mercy of greater revenues from long-term complicated economic development. Taken seriously, the anti-tax viewpoint owns the town’s medium-term vision and is absolutely devoid of fun!
Large project surprises might be avoided if Harvard would consider a Town Manager model of government with a more active central figure helping to create, nurture, and guide decisions in the context of an overall vision. This person could work between committees, governing bodies, and interested citizens to foster a sensible vision from a 360-degree perspective. A Town Manager might also guide in a broader and more creative perspective between revenue sources and expenditures.
Perhaps the solution to the Senior Center problem is selling its naming rights—The Charter House seems quaint enough. Meanwhile, at 72, I plan to keep working. Living on a fixed income is just too anxiety provoking.
Daniel Kagan
Old Littleton Road
