Citizens for Milford

The following information was provided by the Milford Town Clerk’s Office on September 26, 2016:

We are excited to announce that all registered voters will be able to vote before Election Day for the first time ever in Massachusetts. Early voting will begin on October 24th and continue through November 4th, 2016. Prior to the enactment of this new law, the only way a registered voter was allowed to vote prior to Election Day was through absentee voting. Although absentee voting will still be available for registered voters who qualify, only those who will be absent from their city or town on Election Day, or have a disability that prevents them from going to the polls, or have a religious belief preventing the same, are legally allowed to vote by absentee ballot.

Unlike absentee voting, early voting is for every registered voter. Registered voters do not need an excuse or reason to vote early. Regardless of whether a voter wants to take advantage of early voting, vote absentee or vote on Election Day, the first step is making sure you are registered. To check to see if you are registered to vote, and to find information on how to register to vote, you may visit the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website: sec.state.ma.us/ele. If you need to register to vote, you may do it online by visiting: RegisterToVoteMA.com. All you need is a license or an I.D. issued by the Registry of Motor Vehicles to apply online. To be eligible to vote in the November 8th State Election, you must register to vote or make any necessary changes to your voter registration by October 19th, 2016.

Early voting can be done in person or by mail. In Milford, early voting can be done in person at Town Hall during the following dates and times:
Monday through Friday October 24th through October 28th from 8:30 am until 5pm and also October 31st through November 4th from 8:30 am until 5pm.

For public convenience, Milford has also decided to offer weekend hours on Saturday, October 29th from 9am until 1pm ONLY.

Also, registered voters have the option to request an early voting ballot through the mail. Simply fill out an application and mail it to Town of Milford Clerk’s Office, 52 Main Street, Room 12, Milford, MA 01757. You can find the application on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website: sec.state.ma.us/ele.

Please note, however, once a voter has cast an early voting ballot, the voter may no longer vote at the polls on Election Day.

For the first time in Massachusetts, the first choice all voters will make is which day to vote. Early voting will make the most fundamental right of our citizens more convenient than ever to exercise. We encourage all of our citizens to exercise that right and take advantage of the opportunity to vote on their schedules.

Each Sponsored Flag will Fly in Draper Memorial Park for Five Patriotic Holidays Starting this Veterans Day

Citizens for Milford is partnering with the Milford Corps of the Salvation Army to organize the Draper Memorial Park Field of Flags, a tribute acknowledging the service and sacrifice of our veterans and active military personnel with a display of American flags to be placed in Draper Memorial Park on five patriotic holidays each year starting this Veterans Day.

For a $60 donation, you can sponsor a 3′ x 5′ American flag, standing tall on a 10′ staff, in Draper Memorial Park. Each flag will include a yellow ribbon with an attached card naming the person being honored, military branch, years of service, and sponsor’s name. You can choose to sponsor a flag in honor of a veteran (alive or deceased) or an active member of the military. You can also choose to sponsor a flag in honor of all our nation’s veterans.

TO SPONSOR A FLAG for the Draper Memorial Park Field of Flags project, click here to print a copy of the  Field of Flags Order Form. Please be sure to complete the form and mail it to the address provided on the form with your $60 check made out to SALVATION ARMY before October 31.

To read more details about this opportunity to recognize our veterans and active military personnel in such a tangible way, click here.

Citizens for Milford is partnering with the Milford Corps of the Salvation Army to organize the Draper Memorial Park Field of Flags, a tribute acknowledging the service and sacrifice of our veterans and active military personnel with a display of American flags to be placed in Draper Memorial Park on five patriotic holidays every year: Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Veterans Day.

Citizens for Milford and the Salvation Army are launching this new project for Veterans Day, November 11, 2016.

Details on how you can sponsor an American flag (3′ x 5′ flag on a 10′ tall staff) to be placed in Draper Park in honor or memory of a loved one will be announced soon.

Learn more on the Draper Memorial Park Field of Flags page.

Milford Town Meeting June 2013 Photo (c) Mary MacDonald for Milford Patch

In 2015 Citizens for Milford proposed to the Board of Selectmen that a working group be formed to identify opportunities to improve the quality and efficiency of Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved this proposal and gave Citizens for Milford the green light to establish a Town Meeting Working Group (TMWG), which will periodically report progress to the Board of Selectmen. The TMWG held its first meeting in June and defined the following as its mission statement:

The objective of the TMWG is to evaluate the entire process and to improve upon the methods of presenting information to Milford residents while maintaining a pleasant and informative forum to hear their concerns and opinions.  It is essential that precinct members have ample opportunity to understand the issues and be better prepared to make rational decisions.

More information about the TMWG, as well as a link to the group’s meeting minutes, is available on the Town Meeting Working Group page.

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.