To the editor:
Although the discussion of 3A became the focus of my presence at Town Meeting, the primary reason I, and I suspect many others, wanted to attend the meeting was because of the override vote.
In the weeks since my comments at Town Meeting were posted to the internet one unfortunate consequence has been a characterization of Marblehead that I feel is unfair.
My experience over 30 or so years in Marblehead has been that it is a wonderful and friendly place with a strong sense of community. I feel it when a group of neighbors helps an older resident dig out his car, or when a group of high school kids patiently talks with my 4-year-old niece while we wait in line at the carnival, and I’ve felt that even more clearly the past few weeks.
My reasons for speaking up about housing and about this are the same. I want other people to experience the Marblehead that I have been so fortunate to.
It would be one thing if the cause of this budget issue was some sort of frivolity, or if there were obvious and easy cuts we could make. But I think that years of financial reports predicting this situation and a pattern of similar issues in other towns makes it clear that there is no magical fix. This can was kicked for many years and now the bill is coming due.
The downsides to paying more taxes are quite obvious but the cost of doing nothing is not nothing. There is a false frugality to letting the town we live in degrade rather than pay for its upkeep. Today’s maintenance prevents tomorrow’s messes and investment in infrastructure prevents us from needing the patchwork fixes we have seen in the past.
While this override was conceived from a crisis, it provides each of us with the opportunity to invest in this town once again, as we have all done before when we chose to live here, buy homes here or even raise children here.
I will be voting ‘yes’ on questions 1, 2 and 3.
David Modica
Bayview Road
