[Massplanners] Upcoming legislative hearing

[Edgartown Planning Board]

Greetings -

I for one would be interested to get some feedback from town employees
about this.  I'm personally of mixed feelings:

On the one hand:  It's hard to get volunteers to step-up, collect
signatures, run for office, and stay committeed for a 3 to 5 year period of
time.  Adding the additional burden of training requirements - even if free
- might be the feather to tip the scales for some.

On the other hand, I've seen my share of really (putting it nicely)
uninformed folks, who don't understand the essential responsibilities of
the board.  The issue isn't those who are less educated, or even folks with
an axe to grind, bur rather... well, you know the old saying: if all you
have in the toolbox is a hammer, all the world looks like a nail.
Attorneys will spend half the meeting arguing about the language; builders
will spend half the meeting arguing about methods and materials of
construction; realtors will spend half the meeting arguing in favor of
'improved real-estate values' and so on.  Having basic education in their
responsibilities as a board would be at least a step towards reining this
in.

- Doug.
   Westhampton nee Edgartown.

On Wed, Jun 4, 2025 at 6:46 AM Ralph Willmer via MassPlanners <
massplanners at masscptc.org> wrote:

> Hello -
>
> I wanted to alert everyone that on June 10th, the Municipalities and
> Regional Government Committee will be holding a hearing at 1 pm (Room B-1
> and virtual) on some legislation of interest to planners. Among the bills
> to be heard is H. 2299 regarding mandatory training for planning and zoning
> boards and H. 2300 regarding associate members to planning boards. Written
> testimony will be accepted until June 24th.
>
> You can find details about the hearing and each of the bills at
> https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/5212.
>
> Ralph Willmer, FAICP
> MA Chapter Legislative & Policy Officer
> Chair, Citizen Planner Training Collaborative
> --
> MassPlanners mailing list
> MassPlanners at masscptc.org
> http://masscptc.org/mailman/listinfo/massplanners_masscptc.org
>


-- 
The Edgartown Planning Board
PO Box 5130
Edgartown, MA 01027
413-627-6170
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