By Barbara Smith,
Blogger and Social Justice Activist,
https://www.facebook.com/HWdemocrats/
I’m no scientist, nor a policy wonk….
That’s why I was so grateful to have Darcy Dale, a scientist and Rosemary Kennedy a lawyer looking out for the town of Hamilton’s best interests. This was especially important in the governmental areas impacting affordable housing and the environment. These are very much related since open space, development density and all environmental science concerns should be considered when creating housing development policy. The residents of Hamilton should be kept informed and allowed to voice their thoughts without fear of being called a “racist”, “bigot” or “classist as Anna Siedzik has done…. Just watch the video to witness this behavior.
I‘m no scientist, but it is dangerously hot and greenery cools the planet.
Affordable housing policy must consider the heating planet and resultant droughts all around the nation, such as in Arizona and right here at home.
Affordable Housing Development should focus on ….
solutions that do not destroy open space and water supplies and increase density and traffic on rural roads. Instead, the scientists and policy wonks need to find solutions such as promoting more inlaw- type apartment situations, renovating existing housing stock and building multifamily housing in downtown Hamilton since that would not destroy open space and the new residents would have accessible services. But, like I said, these decisions should be made by experts that have the best interest of Hamilton residents in mind.
Conflict of Interest
Anna Siedzik sells housing units for her employer Harborlight Community Partners. She is not a scientist, nor an expert on housing, development policy. Her only goal is to make money and develop rural communities such as Hamilton because she has a vision of racial diversity and that is all that counts to her. She also earns income from selling housing development (both affordable or the regular overpriced type). She is not concerned with the elderly, mostly White, long-term resident who can’t afford $500 to over $1,000 a month in real estate taxes because those people won’t promote her vision of school racial diversity. Anna serves the agenda of the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition and the followers who sign or give verbal pledges to obey her mandates.
Here are the Facts….
Anna Siedzik uses her position as a School Board member to promote her agenda because she has the ear of ALL the parents in Hamilton and Wenham. She gets them on board by convincing them that the Coalition, a 501 (c) (4) political lobby is fighting hate. The many good, human rights loving new comers get sold that Anna has all the answers. The truth is that Anna spreads hate by bullying all who do not obey her command.
She endorsed candidate Jamie Belsito for state representative because Belsito will vote on any issue the way Anna requests to promote housing development regardless of environmental impact, density, water shortage and common sense strategies such as building in downtown Hamilton rather than placing low income people on rural roads with no sidewalks or public transit. Hamilton is NO Newburyport (please read the above Housing and Development blog post and Hamilton should never be forced to fulfill Anna’s holy vision,
Anna shuts down all voices of dissent by calling them (people like me) “racists”, “bigots”, “classists”, and worse. Just watch the video and see what she calls people who who do not embrace her agenda.
Some members of the Hamilton Affordable Housing Board are the same people that follow Anna’s demands via the Coalition and the Hamilton town human rights Commission. This creates a conflict of interest when they serve the Coalition rather than the best interests of the people of Hamilton.
The president of the North Shore NAACP is a hired consultant to do publicity/community outreach on Affordable Housing to push Anna’s agenda.
Anna is hired by Harborlight and the owner of Harborlight is a long time buddy of Hamilton select board member Jamie Knudson. They attended or are associated with the Christian, LGBTQI discriminating Gordon College together ( I think I read that they were roommates) and share a faith based bias that does not put the residents of Hamilton or Wenham first in housing policy. They answer to their god.
The Hamilton Wenham Schools have gone way down in rankings and many families are pulling their children out of the district because of the recent focus on indoctrination rather than academics. This lowers house values. Maybe that is a good thing for home buyers but not for the town’s overall financial well being. Here are the top 50 schools in Massachusetts. Not long ago, Hamilton Wenham Schools were on this list…..
- Massachusetts Academy for Math and Science (Worcester)
- Lexington High School
- Boston Latin School
- Weston High School
- Brookline High School
- Newton North High School
- Hopkinton High School
- Belmont High School
- Dover-Sherborn Regional High School
- Sharon High School
- Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter School (Marlborough)
- Newton South High School
- Wellesley Senior High School
- Acton-Boxborough Regional High School
- Wayland High School
- Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School
- Westborough High School
- Westwood High School
- The Bromfield School (Harvard)
- Westford Academy
- Concord-Carlisle High School
- Needham High School
- Winchester High School
- Medfield Senior High School
- Shrewsbury Senior High School
- Algonquin Regional High School (Northborough)
- Amherst Regional High School
- Cambridge Rindge & Latin School
- Bedford High School
- Pioneer Charter School of Science II (Saugus)
- Natick High School
- Hingham High School
- Duxbury High School
- Sturgis Charter Public School (Hyannis)
- Marblehead High School
- Milton High School
- Longmeadow High School
- Groton-Dunstable Regional High School
- Norwell High School
- Nauset Regional High School
- Boston Latin Academy
- Lynnfield High School
- Arlington High School
- Northampton High School
- Andover High School
- Manchester-Essex Regional High School
- Nipmuc Regional High School (Mendon)
- Nashba Regional High School
- Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School (Hadley)
- Canton High School
School Board Members should focus on Academics, not selling housing units….
All 3 of Anna’s chosen Coalition cult School Board candidates won the contentious election this past April. Both of her Coalition approved Select Board candidates won , replacing 2 highly skilled women who were defamed by the Coalition, called racists, bigots and classists and TERF’s because they refused to approve human rights policy that did not include women and atheists. Now the Select Board is on the verge of approving flying a Christian flag on town property.
This Coalition agenda will not create affordable housing, will not improve the school’s academics and will not improve diversity in Hamilton. Why would people of color choose to live in a town that has school rankings moving down rather than up? Its an insult to assume that people of color cannot afford to live in Hamilton or want to live here to help the coalition increase diversity. Its also an insult to assume that people of color don’t care about the environment! Maybe they seek a safe community with open space and access to clean water and air, just like White people do. Lack of affordability affects people all over Massachusetts and the nation and the state needs to address this with policy based on statistics, evidence, science, environmental studies and the many other factors that go into making policy. Anna Siedzik is NOT that expert.
Hamilton Development Policy should be determined by
leaders who put the resident’s best interests first…… It’s pretty simple, isn’t it?