Please don't throw the Charrette Study out

Below is the text of the speech I gave to the Planning Board at the Public Hearing on removing the Charrette from the Master Plan.  It was of no avail.  The PB voted 6 to 1 to remove the Charrette.  

I will be brief.  Tonight, as a result of the passage of Article 29 at the last Town Meeting, which requests that you delete and remove the entire contents of the "Plan NH" Charrette from the Rindge Master Plan, you are faced with a decision.  Please consider that you were not commanded to remove it, but simply requested to do so.  You can say, "No."  

Here are a few reasons why you should consider retaining it.

1.) Those who worked on the Charrette, did so with the understanding that there would be a work product as the result of their efforts.  Agree or disagree with the suggestions; it was an honest effort and everyone tried to bring their best "game" to the meetings and workshops.  When the Economic Development meetings began, working folks made time to come to early 8 AM meetings before going to work.  They gave up Saturdays and evenings to participate in the Charrette meetings.  Everyone was welcome to be part of it.  It was advertised to the general public by email, mail, webpage, Facebook Page, the newspapers and "The Rindge Connection."  I consider it suppression of "Free Speech" to bury the work product of our efforts.  It might seem like a small thing, but consider the impact and precedent you are setting.  When a person volunteers for the town it is with the understanding that, within reason, you will respect their gifts and their time and won't waste either needlessly. Deleting the Charrette is like erasing the work of the people who participated.

2.) Of all the projects this Town has taken on, this "chapter" or appendix in the Master Plan must rank among the most controversial.  If we are to "learn from history," the Charrette should stay in the Master Plan if only as a caution for future projects.  By deleting the Charrette, you are removing an important piece of our history from the record...you are, in fact, rewriting history.  If someone would care to add an appendix to explain why the zoning regulations associated with the Charrette failed, I think that would be helpful to future committees and planning boards.

3.) The zoning regulations failed.  That should be enough for the people who opposed the Charrette and its vision.  I did not campaign for or against the zoning regulations.  The only thing I ever cared about was that people were truthful and allowed to express themselves openly, without intimidation.  The voters of Rindge have spoken and said that property rights trump any "visions" or plans that others may have. At least, that is how people feel today.  But, property rights do not trump free speech; which cannot be taken away by a vote.   

It’s great to see so many new faces turning up for meetings, but while we all need critics to help us improve, without positive feedback and support, we will wind up with no one willing to expose themselves to volunteering or running for office in this town.

That is all I have to say.  Thank you.

April Fools Meeting

It's really not a joke.  There's an important meeting in Rindge on Tuesday night.  I am putting out a plea for people to attend Tuesday night's Public Hearing on whether to remove the Charrette from the Master Plan. I think if we are going to kill the work product of volunteers and employees paid by tax dollars, we should have an audience of people who understand they are witnessing the rewriting of history. Will we be removing books from the library next? We are also told that we can't be communicating with Regional Planning Commissions because they are unelected bureaucrats who are pawns of our Federal Government. That's like saying you should only get surgery performed by a politician. Of course they're NOT elected! Do you think that's what engineers and scientists are trained for; to push a political agenda? So, okay, I think Free Speech trumps any "will" of the People. Laws and rules that get passed to abridge Free Speech are bad laws and rules. If I have to stand alone, I plan to challenge the right of the people to throw out our work, remove the things we described about "our vision" of Rindge's future, or keep us from talking to recognized experts on the many aspects of planning and conservation. If someone else wants to speak, I am happy to yield, but at least people should come to witness the death of Free Speech in Rindge. 
I never campaigned for or against the zoning ordinances.  I have always felt people had a perfect right to object to and vote down zoning changes.  But what happened this year was something different altogether.  I have shared the kind of emails and comments I've gotten from SOT with my friends and family.  I've described their attack on a PB alternate... I anticipate similar attacks on me.  My loving family has begged me to back off and give it up before I get hurt.  So, this is my last public stand. 
I also tip my hat to Roberta Oeser with whom I often disagree, but respect her dedication, intelligence, and courage.  She stood up several times against a mob pushing lies and propaganda.  She has been very level headed and brave.
EVERYTHING that was done with the Charrette was done lawfully and with full openness and invitation to the public to participate. People who CHOSE not to participate now want to tear up everything that was done and not allow us to talk about the future at all. "They" have already announced that they will be ready to kill any future plans. Great. 
Wear black or black armbands. Put tape over your mouth. 
Tuesday night, "April Fools," at 7 PM at the Town Offices. Get there early and dress in mourning...we are witnessing a death. I hope I won't be alone.

Reverse Citizens United

Dear Editor,

On Tuesday, March 11, Rindge voters have an opportunity to voice their opposition to the US Supreme Court's landmark “Citizens United” decision that corporations are people and their campaign contributions constitute free speech.  I urge Rindge voters to vote "yes" on Warrant Article #32, 

This issue deserves to be on the ballot since every national election has local implications. When our legislators have been “bought” by corporations who help them get elected, they are beholden to them -- not to us, the voters.

  

Under the Citizens United ruling only millionaires or those backed by millionaires are able to compete on the national stage.  Rep Ann Mclane Kuster spent over $3 Million to get elected as the NH-2 US Congressional Representative in 2012.    Once elected, Rep Kuster like all others elected under Citizens United, have to get on the campaign funding treadmill to raise at least $4000 per day to prepare for the next election cycle.  How much attention do our representatives have left for us, their constituents? 

Some have suggested that by voting against Citizens United we are “demonizing corporations."  How is preventing corporations from secretly buying our elections "demonizing" them?  Donations by corporations to candidates is legalized bribery which we all end up paying for in both additional product costs and less responsive representation.

If, like me, you are tired of wasteful advertising paid for by special interests vote "Yes" on Article 32.  

This is a bipartisan issue, vote "Yes" on Article 32 and then commit to asking every candidate what he or she will do to reform our bloated and corrupt system of campaign finance. 

Sincerely,

Patricia Martin

It's not the GWB...

Okay.  The bullying I experienced doesn't rise to the level of the George Washington Bridge scandal.  It looks like "small stuff" to everyone but me.
I take my moral compass from the things I learned in the New Hampshire Leadership Series program.  One of the things that really stuck with me was the testimony of a woman with profound physical and sensory disabilities.  She said, "I can live without arms and legs.  I can live without vision or hearing.  I can't live without friends."  To me, that is the final test in life.  Who will run to your side when you are in trouble?  Who will change your day from going through the motions of being merely alive to living an adventure?  Who will hug you and love you when you are old?
Someone spread a lie about me.  It was published in the local paper.  Some people recognized the lie for what it was, but others don't know me well or the accusation struck them with fear.  Someone wrote a letter to the editor that insisted I wanted Rindge to become like a city in Massachusetts.  It wasn't based on anything I said or wrote.  It was fabricated from thin air and it was designed to hurt me and my reputation.  To a "reasonable person" accusing me of wanting Rindge to become an urban area full of business, traffic and activity probably doesn't seem like a case of libel.  What is the harm? 
But, it HAS hurt me.  Friends have looked at me with sad eyes to say how much they love Rindge's small town feel.  As if I don't!!! 
Another person wrote a letter to the editor decrying that treatment of "transplants" as he referred to people who weren't born in Rindge.  It was very nice, but it really didn't answer the question of my rights being trampled.
I will admit that I put myself in the public eye to speak out against the involvement of the John Birch Society in the local politics of our town.  We are discussing the question of whether we want to create a new town center that ties to Franklin Pierce University and revitalizes West Rindge Village.  Several of the people who live in West Rindge Village are against this idea.  They have fair arguments.  The problem is that they involved the John Birch Society in the debate.  This has shifted the debate from a local issue to a "tin-foil hat conspiracy theory" about UN Agenda 21.
It is beyond ridiculous, but there are people buying it. 
Their moment of victory came when the same person who wrote the libelous letter about me, proclaimed in an interview that people will vote with him on several petition articles (that will hurt our town) because he's been to several meetings of 50 to 60 people where no one spoke up for the Charrette plan.
I dared to speak up because I don't own a business that might be boycotted if I gave my reasons for supporting the idea.  I spoke up because I am not paid by taxpayers and speaking up might risk my position.  I am just a little old retired lady whose life is about contributing to the life of the community and spending time with my friends. 
We moved to Rindge in 1999.  I admit that when we first moved here, I was drawn to the converted cottage because of the shared beach front on Lake Monomonac.  I was living in Groton, MA when my parents passed away in 1997 and 1998.  It seemed the only place I could find solace was out on the water in my kayak.  The place on the lake helped me get through the next few years of missing them.  I also joined the Rindge Woman's Club and the Rindge Veteran's Association.  I was working full time and going to grad school at night, so my interactions with the town were limited, but I loved every minute I spent on town projects.  I also volunteered time helping to assemble the "Rindge Connection" newsletter that went out each month. 
In 2003, we decided the converted cottage was just too much work for us (after my husband's second heart attack) and we were on the market for a place that would be easier to maintain.  We only looked in Rindge.  I felt my heart and my roots were here. 
My involvement with the town deepened.  I helped establish our Energy Commission and wrote grants that secured over $50,000 in federal funding for energy audits and projects to save energy at municipal buildings.  Rindge is my home and I give it my all.
I kayak on our lakes, I'm a member of the Historical Society and relish stories about the history of Rindge.  I'm a proud owner of Stearns.  I snowshoe and x-c ski at Converseville and ice skate at Wellington.  I helped organize Memorial Day for several years.
And, heck, even if I was born in Massachusetts, I served from 1975 to 1979 in the New Hampshire Air National Guard!  I'm also a graduate of UNH.
I was "at home" in the quiet peacefulness of our woods, lakes and small celebrations of community.  I feel that hateful letter ripped this peace and feeling of acceptance from my very being.  I am no longer invited to parties I used to attend.  People don't volunteer to be on committees I chair.  The silver lining is that true friends have stood by my side through this, but I can see that, even in them, there's the suspicion that "where there's smoke, there's fire" lurking just below the surface.
So there's probably no lawyer who will take my case because you can't put a monetary value on friendships.  And, I suppose, I made a target of myself by speaking out and writing a "Viewpoint" article to refute their claims about HUD.  I just think that making an example of me this way is a form of bullying and has a chilling effect on free speech.   

LinkedIn Faux Pas

I pride myself on being somewhat computer savvy.  So, it's particularly embarrassing and distressing when I mess up.
It all started with my wanting to add someone to my LinkedIn network so that I could introduce her to a former employer.  Well, that's what it's for, right?
Unfortunately, I found myself in a confusing set of screens in which I made an uncharacteristic choice of allowing LinkedIn to import my Yahoo account information.
I have hundreds of contacts since 2003...many of whom are no longer in my life.  People from two or three jobs ago and people I knew for just one project.  ALL of those people received a LinkedIn invitation from me last night.
Of course, I've gotten those invitations from people that I know they never meant to send me.  I just ignore them.  I figure if they really want me to join the network, I'll get a message from them.  I can only hope that LinkedIn doesn't fake a message.  I know from experience with those mistaken invitations that they will also get a reminder.  Gah!
The worst part is that after inviting all those people, I can't dis-invite them...even though my network is now so full that it becomes meaningless.  I will be connected with dance friends, engineering friends, political friends, energy conservation, and disability rights friends.  In other words, it will become a lovely, but mushy swamp of ideas...just like me.  Ha ha!
So, dear friends, I am sorry if I have bugged you with a LinkedIn invitation over the last day or two.  You can ignore it.  I'm not looking for a job and am already too busy for the commitments I've made as a volunteer. 
My apologies!

Raising the Minimum Wage

My friends and I have been debating raising the minimum wage to a living wage.  They think it will cause inflation and make those in skilled or professional jobs lose ground in the economy.
Some of them talk about how unfair it seems to artificially reward people who made "bad choices" and didn't go to college or pursue post graduate studies in technology, trades, or the arts.
What about the idea of a "rising tide lifts all boats?"
You would think that the bad job market means that our economy is bad overall and that productivity is down.  Not so.  You might suppose that the poor "job creators" simply can't afford to pay their workers better.  Again, not so.  The pie has gotten bigger, but the piece for more than 80% of us has shrunk.  Please check this graphic from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/sunday-review/americas-productivity-climbs-but-wages-stagnate.html?_r=0 



You can see that productivity has grown over 38% between 1995 and 2011.  As stated in the article, "Emmanuel Saez, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley, found that the top 1 percent of households garnered 65 percent of all the nation’s income growth from 2002 to 2007, when the recession hit. Another study found that one-third of the overall increase in income going to the richest 1 percent has resulted from the surge in corporate profits."
Some of that productivity comes from automation and some comes from off shoring of jobs.  In both cases it means that the job market for the average worker has become more competitive.  Some skills are no longer relevant in today's US market.
People talk about bringing back "good paying jobs" like those in manufacturing.  Exactly what is it that a factory worker does that is more "skilled" than people in retail or food services?  While there may be some programmable machine operators who deserve to be paid better than assemblers, the jobs are generally repetitive and not very pleasant. 
Why do we feel comfortable paying a factory worker $15 or $25/hour (a wage that is quickly dropping, btw), but judge that someone assembling a cheeseburger at McDonald's is only entitled to minimum wage?   Why do we pay our 70K computer engineers a median $47.50/hour http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/computer-hardware-engineers.htm with a Bachelor's degree, but our 650K Social Workers earn only $20.42 per hour http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Community-and-Social-Service/Social-workers.htm and generally require at least an MS for the higher paying clinical positions?
Our 420K licensed plumbers can expect to earn $22.43/hr http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Construction-and-Extraction/Plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters.htm, while one of the 1.5 Million Certified Nurses Aide can expect to earn only $11.54 per hour http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nursing-assistants.htm.
Does that mean that the more people we have in a profession, the lower the salary?  No, because the 2.7 Million Registered Nurses earn a median of $33.23/hour http://www.bls.gov/oes/2011/may/oes291111.htm.  (Still quite a bit less than a computer engineer, though!)
So, sometimes the "bad choices" we make are to do work that is meaningful to us and very much needed, but not valued monetarily.  The theme that emerges for me is that jobs that were traditionally filled by women (snacks/meals prior to fast food, daycare, healthcare aides, social work, teaching) tend to pay poorly or not at all, no matter how much education is required. 
The difference for the nurses and teachers has been the unions and the fact that, for the most part, these jobs can't be easily "off-shored." 
I don't think of the corporations as "evil" for shipping jobs overseas or for suppressing wages or for not sharing the gains in productivity with their workers.  I think of them as fighting for competitive advantage and reveling in the profits to their shareholders.  If we change the playing field for EVERYONE, prices might go up, and dividends might go down, but taxes for welfare (SNAP, Fuel Assistance, School Lunch, etc) programs will go down too.  The big corporations are paying the lowest effective taxes (not the tax rate, but the actual taxes paid after all the loopholes they've written into the tax code) since the days of the Robber Barons.  They don't want to pay their workers more because they have to remain competitive with others in the industry. They are not evil, they are amoral.  If we raise the minimum wage (perhaps using the Australian model that has exceptions for teenage workers http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/19/the-u-s-has-a-7-25-minimum-wage-australias-is-16-88/) for everyone, the playing field stays level and the corporations will adjust.  Offering tax credits to small business owners to help reduce the sting of increased business expense makes more sense to me than offering subsidies to factory farms and oil companies.   
So, what would that mean for people in higher paying occupations?  Will their relative income advantage disappear?  No.  Chances are, their incomes will also increase. 
This is anecdotal, but serves to make a point.  When I was an engineering manager, I helped recruit two PhDs from MIT.  If I wanted to hire them I had to offer a higher salary than I was earning as their manager.  I did it anyway, without any resentment, because I gambled that doing it to attract the right talent would impress my bosses more than my thinking "small" and offering them less than I was making.  I was right.  I got a $10K pay increase that year.  In effect, the highest pay of my new hire acted as a "minimum wage" for me.  The new minimum wage can be a springboard for a discussion about increases because of skills and education. 
Can we afford it?  Won't it just cause spiraling inflation?   Again, no.  Australia has an inflation rate of 2.2%, while the US inflation rate is 1.2%.
Let's talk about inflation.  Food, housing, and clothing prices are somewhat stable...for the moment.  As energy prices increase, everything will become more expensive.  Education and healthcare costs have skyrocketed.   Education has priced itself to the point where some degrees will never pay you back, at least monetarily, for your investment.
A lot of those increases can be tied back to "privatization" and "for profit" healthcare and educational institutions.  For instance, there are staffing organizations out there who provide home healthcare and CNAs.  The agencies charge Medicaid/hospitals/ longterm care facilities $20 to $25 for workers they pay only $10 to $15 per hour with NO or few benefits.  
And, here's a reality; we don't all start out on a level playing field.  I'm not just talking about good schools, parenting, healthcare and opportunities.  It's a fact that half of us have IQs less than 100.  You can be as ambitious as you want, but if you don't have the capacity to get high scores on admissions or licensing exams, no matter how hard you work, you may truly be limited to offering burgers with those fries.  Should that condemn you to a life of poverty?  Where is the justice in that? 

I am SO thankful that I was gifted with a good mind.  It isn't just that I can earn more money.  I have also been able to pick and choose how I want to spend my time working.  The best job I ever had paid more than $50 per hour and all I had to do for it was solve logic puzzles and lead product teams.  It was pure heaven for me...most of the time, anyway.  Even if I were paid just a "living wage," I would still count myself lucky not to be putting the same parts together over and over again. 
I did not leave engineering willingly.  I was forced out as manufacturing jobs went overseas and the engineering jobs followed.  I did everything right.  I was a good contributor.  I earned patents for my company.  I pursued post graduate studies.  I was 41 years old when the bottom fell out of high tech back in 1991.
For my second act, I focused on finding a career that would offer a sense of purpose and allow me to make a real contribution to society.  I went back to school to study nursing.
The hardest job I ever had was working as a CNA in a long term care facility for $8.00/hr while I was in nursing school in my 40s.  Even though I knew I was doing valuable and necessary work, the conditions were brutal and it took a toll on me physically and psychologically. 
And while my first nursing job paid over $20 per hour, it was still a much more demanding and responsible job than engineering ever was! 
This essay is getting to be much too long.  I need to subject it to a major rewrite and sum it all up. 
For now, I will just say that I think we can do better for our workers.  The contributions of workers is just as important as capital.  The balance has shifted too much in favor of capital.  It is up to us to move it back.  It starts with a living wage for all workers.