Tuesday, Oct. 19: Breaking Down the Ballot

Greg commented on The Emily Rooney Show on 10.22.10
40B is a "pig fest" and "represents one of the biggest abuses in state history", as stated by the Massachusetts Inspector General! Our dream house has turned into a nightmare as a result of a so called “Friendly” 40B. The town boards and elected officials have put their own self interest ahead of a small contingent of abutters by creating a 3 story, 37 unit complex, as to get closer to the required 10 affordable housing stock. 40B will enable the unit to be built on a small parcel of land less than 100 feet from abutting residential properties. Since the town has no public water or sewage the massive septic system for this complex will compromise surrounding properties private well water. 40B is a corrupt law and directly impacts the safety and wellbeing of Massachusetts tax payers. If you listen carefully to what John Belskis had to say, you will understand that Chapter 40B is a complete failure! On average 40B has added 1,162 units per year over 37 years or .05 per year. These numbers are an embarrassment to anyone interested in developing affordable housing for the residents in Massachusetts. The conclusion that one reaches from these statistics is that 40B has not been an effective tool to develop affordable housing in Massachusetts and that we need a new approach. Please Vote Yes on Question 2 and repeal this corrupt law!

melissa commented on The Emily Rooney Show on 10.21.10
Interesting segment. Mr. Jones did a good job of explaining that the law is responsible for building many homes that would never have been built without it. Nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity depend on the affordable housing law to carry out their missions of making Massachusetts a more affordable place to live. We need this law to build nice homes for our working families and seniors. Please vote NO on #2.

Martin commented on The Emily Rooney Show on 10.20.10
I am a faithful watcher of Beat the Press but not so much the nightly show. However, I listened to the 40B broadcast via the web and have to say that I was very impressed with its fairness. This question typically gets the short end from moderators because ‘who can be against affordable housing?’ Emily understood that the question is far bigger than that and asked tough questions of both sides and, more importantly, allowed them to respond. As someone whose life has been turned upside down by a monstrously large 40B, and its parking lot literally going up in my back yard, I have become an activist on this question and strongly feel it needs to be repealed in order to be reformulated.