rroche's blog

A quick note on the notion of expanding the current bottle deposit law: If anything, we should be repealing the current law and putting all the bottles back into the curbside recycling stream to keep it viable. The main motivation behind expansion of the current law is the state budget crisis. The governor and several legislators want to increase the revenue produced by the unclaimed deposits. In other words, they are counting on people NOT returning bottles at a pretty high rate. Anyone really committed to the environment and "green" initiatives should be opposed to the bottle deposit law, as it actually is counterproductive to true recycling efforts.

Thank you to all who took the time to come and vote at the Special Town Meeting, especially thanks for helping pass Article 1.      I also want to thank Dave Atkins for providing a forum for some discussion and debate prior to the meeting, as well as being a consistent voice of reason on this site. --RR

Dear Fellow Citizens of Westwood:

I am writing this letter to openly thank the members of both the Westwood Board of Selectmen and the Finance Commission for unanimously supporting passage of Article One on the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting scheduled for October 21, 2008 at 7:30 PM in the High School Auditorium.

I’d like to take this opportunity to explain why a vote in favor of Article One is good for all parties involved in this issue, good for the forward progress of Westwood Station, and good for fellow residents and neighbors in Westwood. I’d also like to briefly explain what brought about the need for this Special Town Meeting.

Though the vote did not go as I had hoped, I do want to thank all those who took the time to make the effort to be there, and especially those who spoke on our behalf.

Also, I would like to acknowledge David Atkins for doing a nice job providing access to this forum, and trying his best to keep things fair and balanced.

Rick Roche