Author Archives: Geri Eddins

Voters are encouraged to mark their calendars for the Massachusetts state primary on Thursday, September 8, and the state and national election on Tuesday, November 8.  Milford Town Clerk Amy Hennessy Neves would like to remind Milford area voters of the following information regarding deadlines for absentee ballots and voter registration.

Voting
If you are a United States citizen and will be 18 years of age or older on or before election day (September 8, 2016 or November 8, 2016),  you can register to vote at Town Hall or you can download a form from the town website or from Elections Division at the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website.

• Download the form from Milford Town Hall.
• Download the form from Secretary of State’s Office.

IMPORTANT: Whether you register to vote online or by completing the paper form, the last day to register is 20 days before the date of the election. 

Absentee Ballots
Absentee ballots for the September 8^th State Primary are available in the Town Clerk’s Office. You can apply for an absentee ballot if you are a registered voter who will be unable to vote at the polls on Election Day due to one of the following reasons:

• Absence from your (voting) town during polling hours (7:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.) on Election Day.
• You have a physical disability preventing you from going to the polling place.
• Religious belief.

To download an application for an absentee ballot, click here.

If you have any additional question regarding voting, please call the town clerk’s office at (508) 634-2307.

Perspective Views of the Proposed Robsham Village Apartment Complex

Once news broke that a developer had submitted an application to build a Chapter 40 B rental housing complex in Milford on the property that had previously been eyed by Foxwoods for a destination resort casino, questions about the project started popping like popcorn all over social media. Citizens for Milford does not have all the answers, but we have made an effort to create one space with some of the answers here on our website.

On the new Chapter 40 B Housing 2016 page, you can find the following information:

• List of basic facts about the proposal.
• Direct link to the developer’s Project Eligibility and Site Approval Application (just in case you are willing to plow through all 127 pages!)
• Definition of the Chapter 40 B statute.
• Information table showing how Milford’s affordable housing inventory compares to other Massachusetts towns.
• Links to all relevant news coverage.

We will continue to update this page as more information comes to light.

Last night Town Meeting voted to approve Article 23, which will allow the Town of Milford to enter into a one-year contract with the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) to provide fixed-loop bus service in Milford on week days.

Although Citizens for Milford had hoped that Town Meeting would defer the vote until the fall, we appreciate the creative efforts of the Board of Selectmen and of Representative Fernandes to dramatically reduce Milford’s financial obligation for the first-year pilot program. In conjunction with the CHNA grant, Milford’s obligation has been reduced from $250,000 to only $50,000. We also appreciate the Board’s plan to review progress of the pilot program at regular intervals.

Citizens for Milford recommends that Town Meeting members pass over Article 23 at Town Meeting on May 23.

Article 23 proposes that the Town of Milford enter into a one-year contract with the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) at a cost of $250,000 to provide one  bus traveling on a fixed-loop in Milford Monday-Friday on a 13-hour schedule. The bus would be capable of transporting a maximum of 16 passengers, with a maximum of 14 passengers if a wheelchair is on board. The bus route has not yet been determined. A $75,000 grant from the community outreach arm of Milford Hospital is available to reduce the cost to Milford in the first year. A second grant, which would apply only to the first year of operation, is pending in the state legislature. The current proposal does not address the need for infrastructure improvements (sidewalks, crosswalks, shelters, etc.) and their associated installation and maintenance costs.

By asking Town Meeting members to pass over Article 23, Citizens for Milford simply requests that the Town take additional time to conduct a complete analysis of the transportation needs and all potential options for meeting those needs. If Article 23 is passed over this month, a new public transportation article could be considered at fall Town Meeting.

Our official statement, as included on the letter we have mailed to all Town Meeting members, is this:

Citizens for Milford recognizes the demand for increased public transportation options in town, but we are not confident that the current MWRTA bus proposal best meets the needs of all Milford residents in a safe, efficient, cost-effective way.

We recommend that Town Meeting members vote to pass over this article until the needs of all residents are fully explored and all transportation options are thoroughly vetted to ensure we can make a well-informed decision about public transportation in Milford.

For more information (including the complete text of Article 23, the letter to Town Meeting members, and our two-page analysis flyer ), visit the Public Transportation 2016 page.

Note: Both pages of the informational flyer were updated to reflect the changing nature of the MWRTA bus proposal on May 13, 2016. If you downloaded these files previously, please take a moment and download the updated files now available on the Public Transportation 2016 page.

Citizens for Milford was pleased to host Congressman Joe Kennedy III at our public meeting on May 3, 2016,  titled “A Conversation with Congressman Joe Kennedy III.” About 50 Milford residents attended this informal question and answer event. Following opening remarks by the Congressman regarding his work in the U.S. House of Representatives, attendees were invited to pose questions. Questions ranged from tackling the dysfunction in Congress, to the treatment of people with disabilities, how federal arbitration is used to deny rights to consumers, the solvency of Social Security and Medicare, and immigration issues.

Asked by a Milford resident what we as constituents can do to help move things along in the midst of a dysfunctional Congress, Kennedy answered, “You get out of government what you put into it. If you don’t vote, how are you sending a signal to Washington as to what we are supposed to care about?… We can move the country forward by having everyone make their voices heard.  …  Make your voices heard, and make us accountable.”

Milford TV video recorded the event, and we will post that video as soon as it is available. The event video will also be broadcast on Milford TV.

You can read more about the Congressman and his policies on his website Kennedy.House.gov.

Second Annual Milford Beautification Day

Saturday, April 30,
from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Join your friends and neighbors to help clean our streets and parks. Meet us in the parking lot across from Sacred Heart Church (5 East Main Street) to get supplies and instructions. Bags, gloves, and water will be provided. We will work rain or shine!

Families, community groups, churches, local businesses, and teenagers who need to perform service hours are all invited to participate. Younger children are encouraged to attend as long as they are accompanied by a supervising adult.

All supplies are being donated by Republic Services. The Milford Farmers Market and the Friends of the Milford Upper Charles Trail are co-sponsoring Beautification Day with Citizens for Milford.

In conjunction with the efforts being organized for Beautification Day, Citizens for Milford has also arranged for volunteers from the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department Community Service Program to initiate the Beautification Day work by conducting a clean-up on April 28 and 29.

Anyone interested in volunteering or participating in any way on April 30—as an individual, a family, or a group—should email us at CitizensforMilford@gmail.com. Although it is not necessary to sign up in advance, having an idea of the number of interested participants can help ensure enough supplies are available.

Help us spread the news! Download a copy of the Beautification Day Flyer.

A Conversation with Congressman Joe Kennedy III

Tuesday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m.
Parish Hall at Saint Mary’s Church, 17 Winter Street

Note: This event has been rescheduled from the originally published date.

Make plans to meet Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy III (Democrat), who represents our district in Congress, in an informal setting. Congressman Kennedy is attending in order to meet area constituents, listen to their concerns, and answer questions regarding national issues. Congressman Kennedy represents the 4^th District of Massachusetts in the U.S.  House of Representatives. Constituents in all towns within the 4^th District are invited to attend.

Citizens for Milford Co-Chairman John Seaver says, “Our goal for this meeting is to provide an opportunity for area citizens to meet face to face with our representative in Congress in a casual environment. Our agenda for this meeting is simply to enable citizens to meet with Congressman Kennedy so they can share their concerns and ask questions.”

The meeting will be video recorded and available for all to watch on Milford TV at subsequent times. The video will also be available to watch on this website and our Facebook page as soon as it is available following the event.

Help us spread the news! Download a copy of the Kennedy Flyer

Citizens for Milford encourages all registered voters to head to the polls this today and VOTE! The polls will be open between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

This year’s election features contested races for crucial town government offices:

• Board of Selectmen
• School Committee
• Parks Commission
• Board of Library Trustees

If you missed our Candidates Forum, you can watch it here.

If you don’t know your polling place, click here to type in your address on the Secretary of State’s website and find it. You could also call the Town Clerk at 508.634.2307.

Every vote counts! Be sure to cast YOURS!

Have you always wanted to run for Town Meeting, but didn’t want to collect all those signatures? Well, there’s another way. This year Town Meeting has multiple openings for 3-year seats in almost every precinct, and you could run for one of them simply by asking voters in your precinct to write in your name and street address when they vote on April 5th.  Openings for 3-year Town Meeting seats are available in these precincts:

• Precinct 1: 5 seats open
  
• Precinct 2: 5 seats open
  
• Precinct 4: 4 seats open
  
• Precinct 6: 4 seats open
  
• Precinct 7: 1 seat open
  
• Precinct 8: 3 seats open
  

To read more about the responsibilities of Town Meeting and how it operates, click the TOWN MEETING tab.

To run a write-in campaign, follow these tips to ensure the best possible outcome:

• Ask friends, family members, and neighbors who live in your precinct to vote for you by writing in your name. Focus on folks you know who are likely to vote.
• Be sure that the voters know the correct spelling of your name and your street address.
• Explain to voters that to vote for you, all they need to do is write in your name and street address in the appropriate space for Town Meeting Members AND to fill in the oval at the end of the line. If the oval is not filled in, the vote does not count! Voters must use the marker provided in the voting booth to fill in the oval. See the illustration below.
• Tell voters to bring a ballpoint pen to use to write in your name and address because the write-in space is too small for the marker provided in the ballot box.
• To make this as easy as possible for your voters, give them a small slip of paper or a business card with your name and address typed on it. Be sure to tell them NOT to leave this at the polls. Simply suggest that they put the paper in their pocket or purse when they are done voting. It is OK to bring this into the ballot box; it is not OK to leave it there.
• Remember to vote for yourself on April 5th!
• Before the election date, please call the Town Clerk’s office at (508) 634-2307 OR send an email to the Town Clerk at aneves@townofmilford.com to let her know you are running a write-in campaign. This will help the staff count the write-in votes more easily at the end of the night.

Download a handout with instructions for running a write-in campaign for Town Meeting.