<html><head></head><body><div class="ydp9cf86cf8yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-size: 16px; font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"><div id="ydp9cf86cf8yiv2477927397" style=""><div style="font-size: 16px;" class="ydp9cf86cf8yiv2477927397ydp731befb5yahoo-style-wrap"><div style=""><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false" style=""><div style=""><p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black">Dear Mariah:</span></p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black">Let
me start with the good news: things will go wrong, it’s perhaps the one
certainty we can take comfort in. And Gawd bless the Town of Erving, pop
1,665 for having the gumption to hire a planner especially one who appears
to have so much gumption. You do have a bit of a disadvantage given that the Town
of </span>Erving has the distinction of being the last Franklin
County Town to be incorporated, which occurred in 1838 (acc to your website) and
you’re newish to the biz.</p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black">I am of the school of thought
that people are good except for all those people who aren’t. We also know that it’s
the good people who are less likely to show up at a meeting with torches held
perilously close to a highly flammable foam core board. </span></p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I typically tell the
folks that I’ve worked with that the people who are good at their jobs can leave
at 4:29 which is why one dayish a week I stay a bit late. Leaving a little, and
arriving same, also allows our neighbours to get to where they are going at
peak times without our single occupancy vehicle/bicycle/Onewheel® in their way. I
also usually spend a little quality time in the office after a meeting
buttoning up a few things because I know I’m not going to go to sleep right
away when I get home. The time spent sort of decompressing before leaving for
home also cuts into the time available to pour an additional artisan distilled
spirit or local craft brewed beer/kombucha (I’ve also heard they have gummies here in
the Commonwealth) so one can self-medicate as necessary for the long run and
not burst into flames.</span></p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;" dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We don’t get into this
gig for the money but because we feel we have a skill, a talent and a sense of
mission to make the world, or maybe just a pocket park, a better place. Our job
is to work with the community and provide accurate information is a timely
matter with the hope that that information will permit decision makers to make
an informed decision. If they don’t, we have fulfilled our role to the best of
typically well stretched capacity. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Luckily your Select
Board (and some kind-hearted, informed residents) have been supportive in assessing
the capacity of the planning function. Pro tip there’s always more to do than we can
do. </span></p><p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I often time think of
Jules Winnfield, played by Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction who seemingly very
efficiently was able to leave his work at the office.</span></p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><i><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:#211F1F;background:whitesmoke">“The path of the righteous <s>man</s> <b>planner</b> is beset on all sides by the
iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in
the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds the weak through the valley of
darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper, and the finder of lost
children. </span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> The quote from his Ezekiel 25:17 speech</span>
gets all Old Testament after that but as they tell old people like me “walk to
the light” in your case at the end of the tunnel to your public art project set
to be installed in July. </p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lots
of us work in one horse/planner towns that don’t have someone to bounce stuff
off of so use your resources like the Listserve, sign up for MAPD (its one of
the best deals on the planet) and don’t be shy about reaching out like you’ve
done. Yours peers are for the most part decent human beings (see above). I’ll talk it up with some of the planner apparatchiks
about crossing the French King Bridge for a Planner’s Therapy session so people
will be familiar with the neighbourhood when they come out in July for the
public art reveal.</span></p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black">Thanks
for signing up for the gig, Take care of yourself. We need people like you for
the long run.</span></p>
<p class="ydpa9062db1MsoNormal" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:Times New Roman,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:Times New Roman;color:black">TBott</span></p></div></div><div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"><br clear="none"></div><div class="ydp9cf86cf8yiv2477927397ydp731befb5signature" style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif;"><div style="font-family:new times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div>Thomas Bott, Interim Carver Town Planner</div><div><br clear="none"></div><div><i id="ydp9cf86cf8yiv2477927397ydpfb687fb8yiv6753380931yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1519652102965_53159" style="background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font id="ydp9cf86cf8yiv2477927397ydpfb687fb8yiv6753380931yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1519652102965_53160" color="#4c76a2">You too could follow me on Twitter @TBottPlimoth but it clearly isn’t necessary</font></i></div></div></div></div>
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On Friday, March 4, 2022, 10:18:38 AM EST, Mariah Kurtz via MassPlanners <massplanners@masscptc.org> wrote:
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Happy Friday y'all.</div>
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This is a much less technical question than most here, but it's what our little Town is struggling with at this moment.</div>
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I write this 24 hours away from a Special Town Meeting where two zoning articles will be voted on. The situation has devolved into widespread misinformation and personal attacks on public officials over this. <span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;">I
have my slideshow, jumbo foam-core map, and beloved anxiety meds prepared, but more conceptually, how do you stay motivated when things like this happen and keep yourself from totally burning out?</span></div>
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I'm a relatively young planner and I understand that the nature of public work means not everything I work on will move forward, but our team here is exhausted. Several of us have been teetering on the edge of burn out for months. Luckily our Select Board (and
some kind-hearted, informed residents) have been supportive of us taking a step back to evaluate our capacity for new projects. I've created a master project list which plans out 3-5 years. We're deciding which grants to apply for a year ahead to prepare ourselves.
But it seems like every time we plan to take a breather something new happens: a flood washes out a bridge and three roads, construction can't be finished due to supply chain issues, a new wave of COVID hits, or we only have one plow driver available during
a snow storm. I was only a Planner for 6 months before the pandemic hit so I feel like I've jumped into this career on hard mode. My light at the end of the tunnel is a public art project set to be installed in July and I'm hesitant to even look forward to
that because I feel like something will go wrong.</div>
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I imagine that all of us are dealing with these struggles in some fashion, so what tools do you and your team use to cope with these hurdles short term and prevent burn out long term?</div>
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<div><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;">Mariah Kurtz (she/her)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size:11pt;"></span><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;">Assistant Town</span><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;"><i>
</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11pt;">Planner</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:11pt;"></span><b><span style="font-family:New serif;font-size:11pt;"> </span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:New serif;">Town <i>of</i> Erving</span></b><span style="font-family:New serif;"></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;">
12 East Main Street</p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;">
Erving, Massachusetts 01344</p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;">
Phone: (413) 422-2800 ext. 1108 | Online: <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://www.erving-ma.gov/"><span style="color:blue;">www.Erving-Ma.gov</span></a> | Facebook:
<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/townoferving"><span style="color:blue;">Town of Erving</span></a></p>
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When writing or responding, please remember that the Secretary of State has determined that email is a public record, is subject to the Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66, § 10, and covered by Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521. This
communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or believe that you have received the communication in error, you are strictly prohibited from printing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or
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