By Barbara Smith,
Blogger and Social Justice Activist,
https://www.facebook.com/HWdemocrats/
Anna Siezik, a member of
the Hamilton Wenham School Board and president of the faith-based, political lobby misnamed “the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition” (HWHRC) has a special, cozy, relationship with local Evangelical colleges (Gordon Conwell Seminary in Hamilton and Gordon College in Wenham). Below is one of the thousands of emails legally retrieved from the Hamilton government email server- used by Ms. Siedzik to further her religious and personal financial agendas. It is illegal for her to solicit on public property (i.e. town email servers) for one’s personal gain. Town manager, Joe Domelowicz should know better…
Tim Morris, outreach coordinator at the Hamilton Counsel on Aging (COA) was seeking speakers to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2022. Apparently, Ms. Ssiedzik did not end up being a speaker. However……
Dr. Gina Zurlo of the Gordon College Theological Seminary recommended Ms. Siedzik as speaker…..
It is well known on the Gordon College Campus that Anna Siedzik shares a faith-based agenda and that is why she was contacted as a possible choice to speak at this event….Gordon College knows that Ms. Siezik is a woman who would never mention the Christian Nationalist attacks on women’s bodily autonomy. Ms. Siedzik is also a speaker who will never reveal the ongoing lawsuits against Gordon College for discriminating against people who happen to be part of the LGBTQIA Community.
Oddly, Anna Siedzik claims that she is an atheist!
When Ms. Siedzik first contacted me in summer 2020 to share information about the creation of a HW human rights coalition, I immediately told her that I had concerns about the treatment toward atheists. When I moved here 25 years ago and attended my first All Town Meeting- there was clergy on stage leading a prayer. I wrote a letter of complaint to the Select Board which was summarily dismissed as “praying was just the way Hamilton does business” . I heard that prayer was eventually removed from government meetings, but I still remained upset at this blatant discrimination, anti-Constitutional and most unwelcoming behavior of my new community.
After I told Anna that I was an ‘atheist”, she immediately, reflexively stated ” I’m an atheist, too”. I believed her, hey, why not?
But, why lie about being an atheist?
Here is another screen shot where Ms. Siedzik aggressively pushes Hamilton officials to approve a Seminary student, living on campus at an Evangelical Institution, to be on the Hamilton Affordable Housing Trust. Naturally, there is a conflict of interest when Christian Nationalists on the Select Board- such as Jamie Knudsen push his religious breadthen on a town Trust.
Friendly reminder: Ms. Siedzik earns income when selling housing units for Harborlight Community Partners. When these units sell, Hamilton receives no real estate taxes and therefore, it is NOT in the best interest of current and future tax paying Hamilton residents.
This is a classic CONFLICT OF INTEREST and I am not a “racist” for having this point of view. I simply want the state and nation to address inequities through broad based policies, not Ms. Siedzik’s religious and self-serving financial agenda.
Its irrelevant whether or not Ms. Siedzik is an atheist …
However, what is relevant is that she routinely LIES to further her religious and financial agenda. She reflexively, used the “I am an atheist” response as an automatic, strategic response. I have seen this strategy used by other HWHRC cult members.
Truth Matters…..
“HCP is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit affordable housing providers on the North Shore of Massachusetts, founded by the First Baptist Church in Beverly in the 1960s. Church members created “Harborlight House,” driven by the belief that their elder neighbors deserved an affordable place to live with dignity. They then went on to build Beverly’s Turtle Creek and Turtle Woods — all affordable, and for seniors. As the need for housing continued, HCP was formed (2009) through the merger of several smaller housing organizations to propel this effort further.”
Why does Anna Siedzik lie about being an Atheist?
There is nothing wrong or shameful about being an atheist. Ms. Siedzik should be loud and proud to be one, as I am. However, she is a liar, no different from Donald Trump claiming that the election was stolen ….
Truth and Transparency Count….
Since I realized that Hamilton government is under the grip of an evangelical, political lobby…. I have written extensively about the Siedzik/Coalition controlled Hamilton Select Board wasting taxpayer funded time discussing flying Christian flags on town property.
I have shared facts on Anna Siedzik soliciting town manager, Joe Domelowicz, to illegally and unethically remove Covid Test Kits from Hamilton Town Hall behind the backs of the SB members to give to faith based organizations to distribute with absolutely no accountability.
I have written about the Conflict of Interest of Ms. Siedzik selling housing units for her employer at the 7 Church Consortium owned non-profit called Harborlight Community Partners.
I have also written about how I decided to end my relationship with the North Shore NAACP because of their increasing involvement with religious organizations. There is nothing wrong with the NAACP being involved with religious groups in working for social justice, but that is simply not a situation I can personally tolerate. Therefore, I ended my membership.
The relationship between Anna Siedzik, president of the the HWHRC, A 501 (c) (4) POLITICAL LOBBY and the NSNAACP continues to be a conflict of interest that can easily be corrected.
Fact: I was called a “racist”
because I supported the 2 Select Board members who refused to rubber stamp Anna Siedzik’s demands to exclude women and atheists as protected classes in the Hamilton human rights policy. Since then- the policy has been written to be non-specific- as the 2 women on the Board originally requested.
Fact 2: There is a special relationship between Anna Siedzik and the North Shore naacp
In fact, Ms. Siedzik’s employer is married to the new president of the North Shore Chapter. As I have frequently written, the NAACP is a wonderful organization, despite Natalie Bowers attacks on me when I publicize the financial and political conflicts of interest. I believe that Natalie has done great work and so has the new president, Kenann. But that does not change the situation….
Both the current and former NAACP presidents think that it is OK that a faith-based, political lobbyist can attack paying members (myself, now a former member) of the North Shore chapter. They think that it is OK that Ms. Siedzik bullies all who do not obey her demands… i.e. me- an atheist who refuses to be silenced.
Readers, please, do the right thing….
Ask Anna Siedzik to stop lying to hide her radical religious movement agenda and resign from the School Board so that she cannot exploit her influential position to solicit, self deal/indoctrinate/lobby the schools, Hamilton Select Board and the Health Board members all for her personal political and financial advantage and at the expense of the people of Hamilton…
Cults think that it is OK to Lie and Brainwash in order to further their god-driven agenda…
Cults Believe that they are right and everyone else is wrong so Build, build build….
Cults do not belong in our Government pushing their god agenda….
Cults harm Democracy by impacting Elections.
Elections are impacted when the faith based, political lobby called the Hamilton Wenham Human Rights Coalition, AND the tax funded Hamilton Human Rights Commission and our town officials and the Hamilton Democratic Town Committee (HDTC) consist of the same anti-women, anti-choice, anti-Democracy pro Christian Nationalist individuals- This harms WOMEN and bodily autonomy..
School Board Members should not declare that they hate the Constitution….
that sends a bad message to students, parents and the community about Democracy and the role of elected leaders to improve our imperfect union….
It is harmful and unethical to attack Atheists and other individuals that Ms. Siedzik disapproves of ….
I was called “anti-human rights”, “classist”, a “bigot” and a “TERF” because I disagree with the leaders of the faith based, political lobby. This is no way to promote human rights or social justice.