In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Monday, January 21, the nation will honor and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Town Hall and other facilities of the Winchester’s town government will be closed on this holiday.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an inspirational leader for my generation and the face of the civil rights movement that has transformed America. As a youngster, I will never forget the startling news announcement on television of his murder.

On Monday from 3:00-5:00 PM at Metcalf Hall in the Winchester Unitarian Church, the community is invited to celebrate Dr. King’s life with a music and storytelling program by renowned artist Valerie Stephens. The event is free compliments of the EnKa Society.

MMA Annual Meeting

I represented the Town of Winchester at last week’s annual meeting of the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) in Boston. The MMA is an organization that represents the interests of local government. In attendance were local officials from throughout the state, including town managers, selectmen, mayors, councilors and finance committee members.

Within the annual meeting, local officials were addressed by Mayor Menino of Boston, Governor Deval Patrick, United States Senator John Kerry and Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. A number of workshops are provided on a variety of issues facing local government and there is a trade show featuring vendors of services and equipment.

The MMA annual meeting comes at a critical time as I am finalizing my budget submission for the next fiscal year. The meeting is a great opportunity to review budget assumptions and to secure financial and political information necessary to plan for the upcoming year.

Updates

When I was reminded that I had not updated this Blog since the Red Sox won the World Series, I realized what a long time it has been. Perhaps I felt nothing could top the Red Sox winning their second championship in four years?

It’s not like things haven’t been going on for the last several months. It has been a busy time for Winchester’s town government and the community; and for me as well.

I’ll try to keep the Blog more up to date.