Longmeadow is coming together

The affirmation of our collective interest and values on display at the Special Town Meeting was heartening. Holding communities together is always difficult work, but when a small loud minority constantly seeks to divide residents into special interest pleaders competing for town resources, its even more difficult.

The effort to upgrade our high school has served (and is serving) some very important purposes. Not only is it leading us into the future with our priorities in tact, it has also provided our town with a vivid example of effective public sector economic planning. Calls for prioritization of town services are not new. During my brief sojourn into elective politics it was practically my mantra. The School Building Committee has shown us the way to plan and organize; the way to include the entire community in big decisions, and the way to work with the state government as partners, not adversaries.

Unfortunately, there is an under current of division in our town fueled by those who don't like the fact that Longmeadow was built on its public schools. This small but Hardy band of residents prefers to see themselves as customers of the town, which is merely a discount service provider to them. To them, every dollar going to the schools is a dollar that they don't benefit from, leading them to cry "foul" and ask where their share is. Though these folks are VERY SMALL in number (apparently around 211), they have had limited success in scaring other residents into voting their way in the past.

This small group of anti-school, anti-community residents rely on demagoguery and misinformation in their efforts to frighten struggling Longmeadow families into voting against their long term self-interests. By exaggerating and de-contextualizing property tax trends and government debt obligations, these folks, who create ironically named organizations like "A Better Longmeadow" and "Citizens for Responsible Government," hope to scare the many families in town who don't have the enormous property wealth that they do and who rely on their salaries to get by. These are the soft targets for the anti-school demagogues, not the elderly, who are as a group the wealthiest people in the wealthiest town in Western Massachusetts.

The vast majority of Longmeadow retirees are neither selfish nor cheap. They are proud of their success and their ability to make good on the generational bargain that has made our town great. They are appalled and ashamed of the few among them who seem intent on reneging on the deal that got their kids a top notch education and provided them with $250,000 to $1 million dollars of home equity. The teacher who spoke at the Special Town Meeting who mentioned the 15 Ph.D.'s on the high school faculty in the 1970 and 80s was speaking to that NO voter with her fingers in her ears because her kids got Ph.D.'s and high quality facilities but she wants our kids to live with "structural failures" and classrooms that don't even meet accreditation standards.

Maintaining high quality services and high standards of achievement in Longmeadow will not be easy. Residents have to believe in each other and in the community the way we do our families. We will have to appreciate both the costs and benefits of maintaining higher standards than neighboring communities. If you think of taxes as merely a drain on your family budget, rather than a crucial item within it, you are setting yourself and our town up for failure. Your property taxes are quite different from your income taxes, or even the taxes you pay at retail stores. Property taxes STAY AT HOME in our town, which we need to see as OUR PROPERTY from which we all get tremendous benefits.

The quality of life we have built in Longmeadow doesn't come cheap, and we have to face the financial costs with open eyes; with eyes that see the BENEFITS as clearly as the costs. Nobody like paying taxes, but local taxes that stay in the community really need to be understood differently. These are direct investments that pay for all the amenities and high quality services we all enjoy. If you think of Longmeadow as your home, which we all should, then we should invest in it with the same sense of importance, enthusiasm and sacrifice as we do our houses and yards.

The average property tax payer in Longmeadow pays less than 2% of annual income in property taxes and yet it is these taxes that protects the value of our homes, provides all of us with front line public health and safety, infrastructure, education, and quality of life services. If you tried to get even one of these services in the private marketplace the cost would far exceed your property tax bill.

I've lived in six states and the District of Columbia. I've lived in urban, rural, and suburban areas. Longmeadow is an incredibly beautiful town with wonderful people who have their priorities straight. We are a town that has succeeded because we have understood that each generation stands on the shoulders of the previous generation and we have made sure that the children of Longmeadow can see it all; and go as far as their courage, determination, and talent will take them.

If you don't value Longmeadow's high standards and high quality services, then why are you here? If you are looking for the "best deal" in terms of price, then Longmeadow isn't for you. If you're looking for the best community with the best schools, the best parks, the cleanest and safest streets and homes, then join in and help those of us who want to truly "save our town." If some of us are truly in danger of losing ground due to the cost of maintaining our town's standards, then we need to collectively help keep us all afloat, not agree to slow progress and decrease our quality of life just to save money. It's going to cost a lot of money, and require plenty of sacrifice of time and energy, but at the end of the day we'll enjoy tremendous peace of mind, pride of place, and the eternal gratitude of our children and grand children.

Lets truly "save our town." The next crucial step is to vote YES on June 8th.