I participated as a registered voter at the 2012 Lenox Town Meeting on May 3 at 7pm.  My votes on the twenty-nine articles are recorded below with annotation.  

It is important, in my opinion, for voters to know the voting records of candidates for office.  In 2010 when I ran for office I also made my 2010 town meeting votes public.

I submitted testimony to the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Public Health today as part of the process being undertaken for the Commonwealth to set appropriate siting standards for wind turbines.  The public comment period closes on March 19, 2012.

Please join me in calling for reparations if health impacts are confirmed.  It is clear that some wind turbines have been sited too close to peoples’ homes.

The work that an independent panel conducted for DEP/DPH is incomplete.

ASKING OUR TOWNS TO AFFIRM THAT LOCAL ENERGY POLICIES WILL SHAPE THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CRISIS:  THESE POLICIES SHOULD INCLUDE SEEKING MEANINGFUL MEASURABLE ACTIONS TO DEVELOP ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES OF CONSERVATION, SOLAR, AND WIND, FOCUSING ON COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP.

Following the issuance of the Lenox Wind Energy Research Panel’s final report, the Board of Selectmen held a public hearing on February 27 and then voted 4-0 on February 29 not to pursue the project as it was outlined in a feasibility study it had received from Weston Solutions.

Lenox will continue to develop solar projects and conservation programs.  I will continue to argue that wind energy development should not be taken off the table, even while acknowledging that the feasibility study for wind energy that was prepared by Weston Solutions was not thorough enough for any actionable proposal to be voted upon.

I submitted the following statement to the Lenox Board of Selectment on February 28, 2012.  It includes a call to affirm the town’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions through a town meeting vote and by incorporating such an affirmation into the charge of an Energy Committee.

The Green-Rainbow Party offers the example in Massachusett politics of not accepting corporate financial influence.  As I noted ten days ago, Beacon Hill’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary is holding a public hearing tomorrow, for which I submitted the following testimony today, in support of an effort to amend the US Constitution.

The Citizens United decision worsened an already terrible situation of big-money influence in democracy.  I support amending the US constitution to remedy the situation.

Such amendments require proactive purposeful resolve by individual state representatives, whose legislative bodies must ultimately ratify what Congress passes.

Please join me in preparing testimony in support of a piece of legislation currently on Beacon Hill for a public hearing later this month.  Read on for details…

When elected to Beacon Hill I will lead in that resolve by example, advocacy, and action.

In response to a question from a Lenox voter that was posted on the wall of my campaign’s Facebook page about my position on ‘industrial wind in the Berkshires,’ I submitted the following text.

I am a user and an advocate of the public transportation system in Berkshire County.  I have posted on this subject in a prior blog, too.

The board of the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority consists of appointees from the towns and cities in the network.  I represent the town of Lenox and have provided the following report to the Board of Selectmen and citizens.  It will be incorporated into the Town of Lenox 2011 report, published prior to town meeting and town elections.

The number one request of both employers and users is that the system operate later into the evenings and on Sundays.  The legislature currently does not provide the funding that would allow a public transportation service that would better serve the local economy.  I will work hard to change budget priorities to that the funding is there.

The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy was in the news last week on three bills that I am following:  the Expanded Bottle Bill, the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act, and the Muni Choice bill for municipal power choice.

My second testimony in 2011 to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing takes place December 15 at the public hearing on the Medicare For All bill.

It has been proven throughout the world that that comprehensive health insurance will cost less and be of better quality when it is financed through public progressive taxes rather than through private regressive premiums.

…the barriers to implementing Medicare For All in Massachusetts are not based on economics, on health & medicine, or in public support.  The hurdles are political.

There has been a decrease in the number of co-sponsors of the bill … and lackluster advocacy for Medicare For All.

Beacon Hill will respond more favorably when confronted with an occupation against big-money business as usual.

The complete testimony follows.

The Select Board in Lenox is feeling the heat from some dedicated wind opponents, just as the Select Board in Amherst has been feeling some solar heat.

My letter to the Berkshire Eagle below suggests allowing the town meeting process to play out in Lenox next year, as happened this year in Amherst, where the town didn’t appear to be as divided as the solar opponents had claimed.

No one is suggesting a massive industrial wind farm.  The site that was tested can support one or two turbines, which would provide the town and possibly residents and others with clean energy options.  If Lenox has the capacity to develop both wind and solar it should pursue both options and present them to voters.