I wish to offer my sympathy, concern and support for all members of Acton-Boxborough’s Asian American community. If any member of the Asian American community has safety and security concerns please do not hesitate to bring those concerns to the attention of the Town.

As a community we can always do better. With the moderators’ consent, let’s devote a portion of this evening’s Meet and Greet to a back and forth on Asian American experiences in Acton and issues and concerns I can take back to the Board of Selectmen and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Commission.

Violence, harm and hurtful comments are never right. We must treat each other the way we want to be treated—with respect, compassion and understanding.

Statement on Race and Diversity

January 10, 2021

George Floyd’s death in police custody in May forced America to confront the long-simmering issue of race. Race is a sensitive and complex topic of discussion. Shrill and accusatory social media posts weaponizing the word “racist” are not helpful. For those currently seeking elective office in Acton, I ask you to publicly share your life experiences on race and your specific ideas for improving the racial climate in Acton.

Here are mine.

I grew up in Jamaica, Queens, New York. My father was a dentist. I had advantages. At Jamaica High School, where I served as student government president, our student body was approximately 80% white and 20% Black (4,200 students’ grades 10-12 with a very small 9th grade class). It was competitive academically at the top with most of us leveled into average classes. Discipline was imposed across the board. Black and white students came together around the basketball team, student government and individual friendships were made. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed during my sophomore and junior years.

Student government was my activity. Election campaigns for the five elective offices were highly visible, competitive and exciting. There were two political parties—Red & Blue and IND. Managing the IND party in my junior year, I organized a “pin meeting” where campaign signs and pins were made at the home of a fellow student in South Jamaica, a Black residential neighborhood, a true first for the time. The five person ticket I headed in my senior year included two Black classmates, another first. IND swept both elections.

I graduated in 1966 during the height of the Vietnam War build-up. All young men at age 18 had to register for the draft. Local draft boards had their monthly quotas to meet. Race and class distinctions conferred advantages, most notably student deferments for those like me who were going to college. One Black classmate, whom I knew, was drafted immediately following our graduation. Richie was killed in Vietnam a year later. The following year, 1968, Donald Trump famously received a deferment for “heel spurs” from the same draft board.

After taking a year off following college to work on a political campaign and spend time in Boston, I enrolled at Howard University School of Law in Washington D.C. in 1971. Howard University is the nation’s pre-eminent Black university and the best law school that admitted me. Our first year class of 200 included 30 white men and woman. Approximately half of my white classmates dropped out or transferred over the first two years.

The environment was by no means hostile, but I clearly saw myself as a somewhat out-of-place minority student. My Black classmates were of varied geographic, socio and economic backgrounds. Most were older, quite a few worked in anti-poverty programs, were married and had families. Student discussions about the social and political issues of the day (Black Power, Watergate) generated a broad range of opinions. It was during the exchanges about race-related concerns that I came to understand that white people should not presume to tell whites and Blacks what the needs and concerns of Black people were. That’s a recurring sentiment expressed today by Al Sharpton and other Black leaders.

By our third year, comfort levels were had and in-school relationships were made. Familiarity had a lot to do with it. Bullets, Knicks, Celtics and Atlantic Coast Conference basketball played a good part. At the time and looking back, my experience was positive.

In 1994 my law partner and I hired a 19 year old Black high school and Katherine Gibbs School graduate as a filing clerk, word processor and receptionist. Over the next sixteen years, Steve became our office manager, resolving all manner of problems, from computers to working with clients, becoming the face of the firm in the Probate & Family Court system in which we worked and a trusted friend to all of us. Steve’s success was the result of good common sense, an uncanny ability to solve problems before we knew there were problems combined with a winning personality. Steve was with us until the day we closed on my partner’s retirement at the end of 2010. Through the relationships he made and our strong support, Steve was hired by a prominent New England regional law firm where he is the director of operations in the firm’s Boston office.

Turning to my family, our daughter-in-law Ashley, who met our older son, Ward (A-B 2003) in law school, is a woman of Jamaican ancestry. Their child and our first grandchild, Naomi, was born last March.

I sincerely believe much has improved with regard to race in the United States during my lifetime. There was landmark legislation in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act. As the Black writer and life coach Rodney Stevens recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal “(T)here are countless successful black Americans today—doctors and lawyers, entrepreneurs and academics, journalists and artists, compassionate politicians and famous Hollywood actors.” Americans elected a Black man president in 2008 and re-elected him in 2012 by overwhelming Electoral College majorities.

That said, our society is far from being “post-racial” and there still is a lot of room for improvement. Racism and other bigotry persist, including in Acton. It saddens and disappoints me that despite our increasingly diverse society and very diverse town, the racial and ethnic stereotyping I grew up with still exists and is passed down from generation to generation. It must stop.

To start, it is incumbent on all of us locally--the Board of Selectmen, Local Government, individuals, parents, our schools, our houses of worship and our businesses to impress upon our children--pre-school through high school--that negative racial and ethnic stereotyping has no place in Acton and the larger society. What happened on two recent occasions to Acton resident Kyra Wilson Cook and Boxborough resident Evelyn Abayaah-Issah, who were the victims of vulgar and hateful racist messages during a meeting of the School Committee of which they are elected members, cannot happen again.

But we as a community need to do more if Acton is to be a truly welcoming, inclusive place that many of us believe and want it to be. Anti-racism statements and policies are a good first step but we need to move beyond symbolic gestures. For example, we need to identify and remove obstacles that make it difficult for non-whites to move into our community. That’s the real test. Concerns over “right size”, “residential character”, parking and density need to be walked back. In his recent New York Times column, conservative columnist David Brooks contends that it is “permanent physical integration, not training,” whether in teams, neighborhoods or the workplace that will achieve diversity, equity and inclusion.

The work to make Acton a better place will require lots of discussion, and keeping open minds as we share diverse perspectives and opinions. Members of the community should not be afraid to speak up and there should be no fear of retribution or social media shaming. In his writings, Rodney Stevens emphasized that discussions about race must be “gracious and respectful” and “shouldn’t be antagonistic.” That’s good advice for a community to take to heart and follow as we work together to make Acton a better place.

A final comment about a local and very successful program that could play a role in our effort to educate our youth about racism. Communities for Restorative Justice (C4RJ), a program we should all support, is designed for minors as an alternative to court proceedings. In a confidential facilitated meeting between victim and responsible party, the focus is on the harm done to the victim and the values of the community and the aim is to make the victim whole in a way the victim feels is just. With respect to hate crimes, the resolution may appropriately include a discussion of why a word or symbol is hurtful and the history it carries. For 20 years Communities for Restorative Justice has helped “to build stronger communities and lower crime rates by reducing recidivism.” C4RJ should be fully-employed here in Acton.

Jon Benson

January 9, 2021

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Acton Board of Selectmen Condemns Racist Harassment Incidents

The following statement, drafted by BOS Chair Jon Benson, was voted unanimously by the Acton's Board of Selectmen.

This statement by the board was released on January 11, 2021 condemning the racist hate speech used to target two Black School Committee members at School Committee Meetings on December 17 and Jan. 7. The Selectmen directed the Town Manager on December 18, 2020 to have the Acton police investigate the incident as a potential hate crime.

Statement by the Board of Selectmen on January 11, 2021

Harassment and dehumanization of elected public officials is unacceptable in the Town of Acton and will not be tolerated. On behalf of the Town of Acton, the Board of Selectmen unanimously condemns the hateful, racist language that School Committee members Kyra Wilson Cook of Acton and Evelyn Abayaah-Issah of Boxborough, have been subjected to during a School Committee meeting for the second time in three weeks. The attack on Kyra and Evelyn is an attack against the community, including all elected members of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee as well as the 250 community members who serve on Acton’s nearly 50 boards, committees and commissions. Together with Town Meeting we are part of the oldest, continuous form of local government in the world. We stand together.

The Board of Selectmen pledges to make available the necessary financial resources to the Acton Police Department so that the police may pursue and complete their investigations of the December 17 and January 7 racist incidents.

It is sad and disappointing that despite our increasingly diverse society and very diverse town, racial and ethnic stereotyping persists. It is incumbent on all of us locally—the Board of Selectmen, Local Government, individuals, parents, our schools, our houses of worship and our businesses to impress upon our children and adult neighbors and friends that racism and racist acts have no place in Acton. It must stop.

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Request to Superintendent of Schools, Peter Light

December 17 and January 7 Hate Incidents

January 14, 2021

Peter, today or tomorrow at the latest and ahead of the Martin Luther King Day Observance, it is incumbent on you as our Superintendent of Schools to inform the faculty, staff and students at the high school and junior high school of Chief Burrows’ report of the Acton Police Department’s investigation of the December 17 and January 7 Hate Incidents. Specifically, that the suspect of the Zoom bombings has been identified as a juvenile male living in Arizona and has no apparent connection to the Acton-Boxborough community.

In addition, Peter, to the faculty, staff, students, their families and the wider community you must rectify the rush to judgment and the impact it has had on those members of the community falsely linked to the Zoom bombing and start our community on a path of healing.

Our community stands for racial justice and Black Lives Matter and is stronger as a whole.

January 26, 2021

During my four decades in our community, I have come to understand the importance of having a diversity of housing. When I moved to Acton in 1981, the housing profile of the town was very different than it is now. At that time there were NO affordable deed restricted units for low income households. In 1969, MA adopted the MA Comprehensive Permit Act, known as Chapter 40B. Chapter 40B sets a minimum goal for all cities and towns of 10% affordable units, serving low and moderate-income residents. The Town was at 0% when I arrived and today, under my watch as Chair of the Board of Selectmen, we are at 10%! Acton currently has 10.55% (or 894 units) on the state’s Subsidized Housing Inventory. The attainment of the 10% minimum, known as “safe harbor,” affords the Town more discretion and leverage under 40B, enabling it to be more selective in considering and permitting 40B projects.

Since 2018 the Town has invested significant time and effort on evaluating its housing needs and ways to address them. Acton was designated a Housing Choice Community by Governor Baker which made us eligible for grants for housing-related projects. In 2020, the Town also adopted a new Housing Production Plan and I was the Selectmen’s representative on the HPP Steering committee. I became a member of a new housing advocacy group, Housing for All.

I credit the Acton Community Housing Corporation, the Town’s affordable housing board, for educating me and the community about affordable housing and the need for a diversity of housing. I have attended most of the ACHC’s meetings as the Selectmen’s liaison the past 3 years and look forward to learning more in my second term on the Board. Among the important housing-related trends in Acton to understand:

• Our population has grown significantly over the last 20 years
• Our population is aging
• Our school population is declining
• Most of our housing is single family units
• The cost of housing is prohibitively expensive for people earning a “normal” wage
• There are insufficient options for seniors, whether long-time residents hoping to age in place or seniors on limited, fixed incomes

What do these facts mean for our future?

• As this town’s population grows, housing needs will continue to change.
• Moderate-cost housing is not available, so younger people can’t or don’t want to move in and long-term residents who are seniors on fixed incomes have difficulty staying.
• In the absence of measures to address these issues, long-term residents and seniors are becoming the primary source of tax revenue. This is not sustainable.

The town must pursue housing strategies to provide the kind of housing that both young people and down-sizing adults want. For example, higher density housing in town centers, in walkable locations, convenient to transit and other amenities.

The Town also must also act to support racial equity and inclusion, through the provision of diverse housing options that are affordable for individuals in a broad range of incomes. I strongly agree with this statement of ACHC member Bob Van Meter:

“While there are other steps that Acton can take as a municipality in support of racial justice and inclusion, I believe the single most powerful thing that Acton can do as a local community is to support housing that is open to a broad range of income categories and thus necessarily to many more people of color than currently are able to live in Acton.”

Excerpt from Racial Justice for Suburban Communities, Bob Van Meter (2017)

In 2020, as I mentioned, the Town adopted a new Housing Production Plan with well over 800 residents participating and sharing their opinions on housing goals. Acton residents affirmed the need for different housing types that provide options for people at different stages of life, from young families with children to retirees looking to downsize.

Acton will build on its history of diligent efforts to provide affordable housing with the goals and strategies laid out in the Housing Production Plan. I am committed to this Plan and the implementation of its objectives to make Acton a community with a diverse array of housing that is affordable for all.

“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” -- John Muir

My experience as part of the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) has given me a deep understanding of what is required to preserve Open Space. Being proactive with land owners, and working with a coalition of constituents can make the difference between losing land to development or saving the priority parcels. Parcels adjacent to existing conservation land such as Great Hill, increases the opportunity for our residents to enjoy the feeling of being totally surrounded by nature. Saving farmland leads to more opportunities for local agriculture and maintaining historic vistas, such as the Stonefield Farm that can be seen along the Assabet River Rail Trail. My past work in helping to negotiate ways to purchase these properties at as little expense to the local tax base as possible, will ensure that these natural landscapes are preserved far into the future. If I am re-elected I will be able to continue being proactive to save the parcels of land which have been identified in Acton’s Open Space and Recreation Plans.