Legislation to revise the law of non-competition agreements took a step forward this week. The Committee on Labor and Human Resources reported out a bill with a favorable recommendation.
State employee payroll totals
The spreadsheet below compares census data on state payroll as of March 2008 with March 2000, responding to comments on this post. Most areas other than higher education, which is not funded primarily on the state budget, show cuts. The increase in higher education more than accounts for the growth in state employment — without …
First reflections on the Flood of 2010
I was disappointed by how our regional infrastructure performed during the most recent flooding event. We had both severe sewer backups and severe stormwater flooding in many neighborhoods in my district. While we have made progress over the last few years, it is clear that we have to keep at our efforts.
Field Observations of the Flood of 2010
For those who focus on the details of flood events, here is a collection of data points from my travels around the Alewife and Mystic from Sunday into Tuesday. It is important now that we assemble observations from this event and learn as much as possible. Clarissa Rowe will be convening a meeting of the Arlington-Belmont-Cambridge Stormwater Flooding Board for that purpose.
National Popular Vote
After the electoral mess of 2000, which came close to being repeated in 2004, many of us believed that the time had come for electoral college reform at the national level. While a constitutional amendment seemed out of reach, one proposal, the National Popular Vote compact, seems to be a workable solution. Under the National …
Cell tower proposal — are there alternatives?
Regarding Verizon’s proposal to site a tall cell tower in Belmont on Rte. 2 (http://www.wickedlocal.com/belmont/features/x1520846849/Residents-object-to-Verizon-cell-tower-proposal), are there feasible solutions that would improve our cell coverage but which would use less visible antennae? What are the trade-offs?