10/14/2023
Braintree has been home to three generations of my family. I convinced my husband (and later my in-laws) to transplant themselves out of Dorchester to raise our family here. I never envied our family members that lived in other towns and had to worry about private school exams, charter lotteries and tuition bills for K-12. We were so fortunate to live in Braintree, where the school system was a priority, and FREE to residents. (I mean yeah, Highlands gym roof leaked for the last 30 years or so – but I heard we finally got a handle on that).
Here in Braintree we have the luxury of a small town feel with close proximity to Boston, a commuter’s dream! We are on the Red Line and Commuter Rail. We are a town of working class families. Our geographic location and school system’s reputation has made Braintree a town that many families leaving the city put at the top of their list to move to. Braintree hasn’t evolved on par with the surrounding areas. My kids are just now reaching the age of “travel teams” and every other town we play in has better greenspaces, facilities and schools than we do. EVERY SINGLE ONE. It’s a joke amongst the team moms about how embarrassed we will be to host these towns at home - What are those old bleachers doing in the BHS parking lot greeting every opposing team coming to play us? Is anyone even considering enforcing the Blight Rule, and fining these abandoned properties, because I’m disgusted getting off the rotary exit for the last 5 years and seeing the litter and remnants of a boarded up dilapidated Bickford’s welcoming me home.
We are in a crisis financially. We need someone steering the ship that can help lay the groundwork for a revitalized infrastructure to support our school system and grow our business community. We have grown accustomed to slashing services, and amenities and dollars from our town budget year after year. We drag our feet on renewing fair contracts for those that devote the most of themselves to this town (our teachers, police and firemen). I’m over it. Why aren’t we thriving? Look around, other communities are doing more with less. For the first time ever, I am including other towns in my real estate searches and looking into private and votech schools rather than BHS for my kids. Are you? I don’t want to admit that fact, I don’t feel good about that.
Young educators are not even considering filling the vacancies in our school system because surrounding towns pay significantly more. Paras can make 30 percent more by traveling 1-2 towns away. How did we get here? We need someone like Erin to assess our weaknesses, and build on our assets. Who better than a mom to plant seeds of change to improve on what we have? It takes a special person to put their name in the ballot and say “ I think I can help do better, our kids deserve better”. Erin puts in the work. She’s sat on boards, PTOs, all sorts of town committees – more so than I have in the last few decades of living here. She’s a business owner with a transferable skill set that can help Braintree get to where we need to be. Let’s solve the solvable problems.
Erin is the type of leader that even if I were to disagree with her on a specific issue, I would respect her stance because I know she’s researched the topic and will make the decisions that are right for Braintree. We need a mayor that can identify areas we can improve upon, and make the changes needed to help us grow into a town where our children will want to raise their families.
This Braintree mom is voting for that Braintree mom.
This election is critical. Please remember to vote Nov. 7.
