Here is the recent debate for the office of Library Trustee hosted by the Milton League of Women Voters.

Here is the 2009 Milton Election Treasurer Debate on Milton Speaks

Here is the recent debate for the office of Treasurer hosted by the Milton League of Women Voters.

Boston Magazine has included Milton in its round up of Best Places to Live 2009.  It it listed along with Hopkinton, Newton, and Duxbury as one of the “Teflon Ten.”  These are towns whose real estate values are holding steady.

The median home price in Milton is $456,000. You can find the list here.

There are 6 candidates running for 3 Library Trustee openings They are:

You can find summaries of the candidates here.

from Patriot Ledger

8 Finalists chosen for business administrator

A 15-member screening committee is interviewing eight finalists for the job of school business administrator in Milton.

School Superintendent Mary Gormley told the school committee Tuesday night that 25 people applied for the job. The screening committee reviewed the applications and selected eight for interviews. (read full story here.)

The School Committee met last night and among the issues and items discussed were:

Meeting with recent Boston Globe Scholastic Art winners who attended the meeting the Art teacher Patricia Turner from the Pierce Middle School.

Luke Pastore gave perhaps the most refreshing description of his work when he said, “This guy was a failed project.”  Clay Baker riffed on some portrait of Ronald Reagan titled, “Would You Buy a Car From This Man,” and Ken Lee Mercury redefined a checkerboard that had Classical vs Rock music. It was all rather wild and wonderful. And they were selected from ~12,000 (that’s TWELVE THOUSAND) entries. It is highly competitive and a fantastic achievement. In addition Milton students Philip Wikina and Elizabeth Hiss from Pierce and Linda Li and Elizabeth O’Connor from the high school also won awards.

The work will be included in an art exhibit of ACE work  on June 1rst at the Pierce Middle School.

Sean Walsh previewed the new Milton Public School web site. What an improvement! The staff worked with local design firm Jackrabbit Design to evelop a more intuitive and user friendly site that made information “1 click away.”

The site will launch Monday at http://www.miltonps.org. Edline will still be available.

Glen Pavlicek gave an update from the finance subcommittee. He focused principally on stimulus funds. There are two awards in play; one for special ed and one general education. He had two cautions in terms of how they viewed the money: 1) both awards require that a significant portion (50% in case of spec ed) go to new programs and 2) it is at best 2 time money (i.e. it is not an ongoing source of funding but a one or two time payout that will dry up in next year or two).  Consequently, it will not prevent layoffs only delay them. Mr. Pavlicek stated that, “It is a moving target. . . very fuzzy. . .  the stimulus is saving us from anything.”

April 28th Milton voters will go to the polls to elect candidates to the following town wide offices:  Town Treasurer,  Assessor, Park Commissioner, Housing Authority, and Library Trustee. Each of the eleven town precincts will also be voting for town meeting members as appropriate.

There is now a page “Election 2009” posted here that will be a clearinghouse for information on the election. It is available from menu bar at the top of the page.  Currently, there are candidate summaries for the office of PARK COMMISSIONER and TOWN TREASURER. Summaries for the other town wide offices will be added shortly.

Here is coverage from Wicked Local of last night’s debate hosted by The Women’s League of Voters:

Milton candidates pitch their experience:

All three candidates for Milton town  treasurer in the April 28 town election said their background makes them the best choice for the job. The treasurer candidates addressed about 50 people Monday night during a candidates’ forum at Fuller Village. Sponsored by the Milton League of Women Voters, it also included candidates for library trustee and park commission. (read full story here.)

Check back early and often and don’t forget to vote!

from The Patriot Ledger

The newly expanded and renovated main branch of the Milton Public Library is already a hit.

“It really seemed like half the town came through here,” Director Philip McNulty said after Sunday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. (read the full story here.)

A weekly recap of key events and items of interest to the Milton community:

A Family’s Grief

An incomprehensible tragedy befell the Revelus family last Saturday. The story, which received national attention, is well known to all. Following are comments made during the course of this sad ordeal:

“The fact that they decided to force their way in saved the life of this young girl. It’s pretty heroic.  . . . I still see the sadness in their eyes.” — Milton Police Chief Wells speaking about the officers who arrived on the scene

“The mother understands this was a tragic incident, as bad as it could be, but she is the mother of all three . . . They are all going to be remembered as loving children. What happened, how it happened, we may never know,” — Ernst Guerrier, lawyer and spokesman for the Revelus family

“I’m still going to cry,” she said. “I don’t think anybody’s going to be able to fully get over it.” —  Tashayla Martin, a 15-year-old freshman at Milton High School

“Please do come to the wake, to the funeral . . .it is your [the community’s] spirit that has helped them this far.” — Ernst Guerrier, lawyer and spokesman for the Revelus family

“The outpouring of support is not going away.” — Josh Brogadir, NECN correspondent

A Community’s Strength

At one point in last weeks conversation with Kevin Sorgi, the outgoing Town Treasurer, he hypothetically asked; “What is the town?” He was not referring to a specific geographic place; but a more abstract sense of community that he believes is so special about Milton, the community’s strength of character. (View Sorgi post here.)

It was on display this week. As the correspondent Josh Boradir noted, the outpouring of support in Milton for the Revelus family is not going away. A fund has been set up at Citizens Bank to assist the family (visit any branch to make a contribution to the Revelus Family Trust). Over 1500 people from Milton, Mattapan, and the Haitian Amercian community attended the wake for the Revelus children.

This community strength was also on display Friday night at the IBEW union hall in Dorchester where, by organizers estimates, over 700 people attended a benefit for Mike Madden, Milton resident and soccer coach. Town residents, members of the greater south shore soccer community, and his Verizon colleagues and co-workers were all present. Coach Madden is recovering from complications of back surgery which have left him with limited use of his legs. You can learn more at the Friends of Mike Madden web site here.

A Beautiful Library

The scene played out over and over again this past week end. People would enter the library alone, with families or in small groups and pause to gaze around. And then inevitably, they would break out in broad smiles’ asking each other, “Isn’t is just great?” Well, it is just great!

If you haven’t been already, Go! Tomorrow night, April 7th at 7:30there will be an evening of music featuring Marjorie Jeffries, longtime Trustee and advocate for the public library.