LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Resident Urges "No" Vote; Foundation Seeks Support

Resident Urges All to Attend City Council Meeting Tonight

Dear Mr. Mayor, City Council members and School Committee members:

You are playing Russian Roulette with my tax dollars!  Monday evening, I learned just how much this lease of the Clapp School to a third party could cost the taxpayers of this city.  The Clapp School is not ADA compliant.  It is not even close to being compliant.  The third party that these elected officials want to rent the Clapp School to is the SEEM Collaborative.  Some of these children are severely handicapped.  All it would take is one complaint, one parent of one of these children to speak up, to go to the federal level and the U.S. government would come to Woburn and force the city to make everything ADA compliant.  Everything!  Not just the Clapp School.  Every public building and area. City Hall, the Library, every school, every fire station, every public park!  And they would make us do it on their timetable.  And they don’t care how much it would cost.  It would cost the taxpayers of this city millions of dollars!  Kiss your low tax rate goodbye.  Kiss Prop 2 1/2 goodbye. 

Never happen, you say?  It is happening.  It is happening right here in Massachusetts.  It is happening in Swansea, MA.  And they are not the only municipality in this country it is happening to.  The city officials are taking a huge risk.  They are playing Russian Roulette with my money!  With your money!  This no longer effects just the Clapp School district.  This quick money could put the entire financial well-being of this city in jeopardy for decades!

Come to City Hall this evening (Tuesday) at 7:30pm and tell them no! 

Gerry Kehoe, Water Street

Woburn, MA

Support the Shannon Lee Meara Foundation 

Dear Friends and Community Members,

The third annual fundraiser for the Shannon Lee Meara Foundation will take place at the Sons of Italy in Woburn on March 26, 2011. This foundation is a non-profit organization that was established in memory of Woburn resident Shannon Lee Meara, a 24-year-old law student who was murdered on Jan. 18, 2008 as a result of dating violence. An ex-boyfriend of only a few months has been convicted of her murder.

The past fundraisers have been supported by family, friends and many of our community's generous merchants. Funds raised by the Foundation financially support a program that has been implemented at Woburn Memorial High School to educate students on dating and domestic violence. This program is presented by the REACH Beyond Domestic Violence organization to WMHS students in the Health and Development classes. As part of the program, high school staff and students are trained as dating/domestic resource representatives. An annual scholarship will also be awarded again this year to a deserving graduating senior who has had an impact on dating violence awareness. The Teen Dating Violence Handbook, made available to all WMHS students, is also funded by the Shannon Lee Meara Foundation.

Our goal is to raise awareness of these senseless and preventable acts. We believe that together, as people and as a community, we can make a difference. By making a pledge on Shannon's behalf, you will help in supporting local programs that offer much needed interventional services for dating/domestic violence prevention. Your pledge will help us continue to make a difference. You may either mail your donation to P.O. Box 136, Woburn, MA or bring it with you to the fundraiser, where we would be honored to meet you. Donated items for our annual raffle are also appreciated. An annual update of our accomplishments made possible by this year's fundraiser will be sent to all of our sponsors. 

Please call 781-933-1775 if you have any questions or comments. Thank you in advance for your support. 

Sincerely,

The Shannon Lee Meara Foundation