As the dust clears from the city councils vote to override the Mayor’s veto of the of the overlay district, it is time to look back and reflect on what happened. Did the council once more sell out to the developers, or do they know more than the rest of residents of Waltham? Only time will answer that question.
What bothers me most about what happened is not the final vote but the way it came about. With the exception of the city council, everywhere that this ordinance was discussed, there were more questions than answers. These questions came from the Mayor who vetoed the ordinance. They came from the city’s Engineering and Law Departments as well as The Board of Survey and Planning that voted it down. Letters to the editor in the Tribune by a host of concerned citizens asked questions that remain unanswered. Even the editorial page of the Tribune said the override should stand. I did not see even one letter from anyone explaining why this change was good for the residents of Waltham. Maybe if one of the proponents had publicly attempted to answer some of the questions that were raised I would not be left with such a bad taste in my mouth.
The excuse the council gave for the quick vote was that they are required by law to vote on all proposed zoning issues within a certain number of days. This may be true. The problem is that the council didn’t bother to get input from the community before the ordinance was proposed. This was, however, a great maneuver on their part to limit the amount of debate on the issue. Why were no public hearings held before the issue was brought before the council? This would have allowed a full and comprehensive debate on all the issues. One only stifles debate when they know that it is not in their best interest for it to be heard.
I sent emails to Councillors Brasco, Marcou, Stanley, OBrien, Kelley, Marchese, as well as my ward Coucillor Tarallo with my concerns on this issue. Only Councillor OBrien bothered to write back. Again, what is wrong with debate? Why are so many of our elected representatives so unwilling to share their reasons for supporting this bill with the residents of Waltham.