communication

At last -- local community activists' good work doing public education that made the decision process open and transparent was successful.  Here is the article from the Globe in part. 

After more than 12 years of planning, Concord and Carlisle may have a new high school in 2015.

Residents in the two towns voted yesterday to support a tax increase to pay for a new $92.5 million Concord-Carlisle Regional High School.

In both towns, 84 percent of the voters supported the Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion, while 16 percent were opposed. In Concord, the vote was 3,571 to 659 in favor, while Carlisle voted 965 to 184.

“On behalf of all the building committee and School Committee members over the past 12 years, I would like to thank the citizens of Concord and Carlisle for their overwhelming support of education,’’ said Jerry Wedge, a member of the Concord-Carlisle Regional School Committee and the high school building committee.

Judy Meredith and Lew Finfer are pooling their collective organizing, advocacy, and leadership experiences to form the Massachusetts Policy and Organizing Leadership Training Academy.  There's a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the next group of organizers and advocates and the current group of aspiring leaders.

State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry said the pair’s new focus on educating future activists comes at a critical time as non-profits struggle through a sluggish economy and new ethics reforms which she said has left many organizations scrambling to adjust...“I think it’s great what they’re doing,” Forry said. “There are a lot of non-profits that feel they don’t have the skills to address legislators. They find themselves paying out for a lobbyist when they could be doing much of the work themselves.”  [Full Article: Dorchester Reporter]

As you know, our nation now faces one of the most devastating economic times since the Great Depression. In Massachusetts, 9C cuts in FY 09 and impending cuts in the FY 10 budget have exacerbated the crisis.

These funding cuts put at risk the public structures that we all rely on and value, the public structures that make us a competitive state - attracting and keeping businesses and residents. We need to learn how to talk about these budget and revenue decisions in a way that is understandable to all, and to start seeking ways to address them as a group.

How we talk about these issues, and about government itself, can dramatically change our  conversations and help to rebuild people's confidence in what we can accomplish together.

At our next Insider Budget Briefing, Patrick Bresette will help us explore ways to communicate more effectively about public policy issues, to better engage our communities, and to move our friends and neighbors to create positive social and economic change.

Join us on Thursday, January 22nd at 5:30pm in the 9th floor conference room at 30 Winter Street.