Dan Dunn’s Podium

Black text is mostly objective, red text is mostly subjective in nature.
Our meeting for 2/10 was canceled by the snow-storm-that-missed-us.  Today was mostly about the Town Meeting warrant articles, with a few extras.
Our first hearing was the Vision 2020 (Jane Howard et al) and the DPW (Teresa DeBenedictis) asking for $15,000 for treatment for water [...]

Black text is mostly objective, red text is mostly subjective in nature.
Monday was the Arlington Budget and Revenue Task Force meeting; tonight was the first Finance Committee of the year. I have a notes from both here.
At Monday’s meeting, it started with better-than-usual news that the Governor’s proposed budget had more money for Arlington [...]

For the last several years I’ve been pushing to change the way budgeting is done in Arlington. I’d like to explain my proposal, argue why it is a better process than the one we have today, and make some points about why now is a very good time to make the change.  (This is [...]

Black text is mostly objective, red text is mostly subjective in nature.
Tonight was the annual organizational meeting of the Finance Committee.  It’s often an interesting meeting because you get to hear updates on everything that has happened since Town Meeting – a digest of the last 4 or 5 months.
Town Manager Brian Sullivan [...]

For the last four months I’ve been fostering a very nice dog named Bailey.  Bailey’s owner died suddenly this spring; a work colleague was looking for a home for Bailey and I volunteered on a temporary basis.  If she ends up at a home close to Arlington, she comes with free dog sitting services.  I [...]

Today former Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi was indicted for “conspiracy, honest services mail fraud, aiding and abetting, and honest services wire fraud” related to the awarding of a multi-million dollar contract to Cognos software. For most of us, this isn’t a shock.  The Globe has been writing investigative stories about this for a year [...]

Dear Voters,
I’m running for re-election to Town Meeting from Precinct 21. I’m asking for your vote on Saturday. If you don’t live in Precinct 21, but you know someone who does, please let them know that I’m on the ballot. (precinct map)
I moved to Arlington ten years ago. Last fall I bought [...]

I got an email from a fellow Arlingtonian with some video of Alewife in the rain; he’d seen my post about Alewife leaking. It’s a cell phone video so the quality isn’t that great, but the subject matter is pretty clear.
Is that column supposed to be spurting water? I can just hear Dan [...]

Our schools are not on fire or radioactive.  They are not on a bus with a bomb that will go off if the bus slows down below 50mph.  In fact, they are not even “in turmoil,” as much as the Globe would like you to think so. Our superintendent resigned.  That’s it.  School Committee member [...]

I like extreme weather. I prefer a blizzard to a thunderstorm, but in June you take what you can get. Check out the last two days.

Less than 20 minute shower! More than the drains could handle.
See my Tabblo

The clouds were clear, as was the radar. There was a storm coming.
When it came, [...]