Letter to the Editor: Environmental Concern Prompts Support for Rogers

To the editor:

I am writing in support of Dave Rogers as the Democratic candidate for State Representative of the 24th Middlesex District. I encourage your readers to join me in going to the polls Thursday to vote for the candidate who I believe will best represent the interests of our district, particularly those of the areas surrounding the low-lying Alewife area in Belmont, Cambridge and Arlington.  

I am impressed by Dave's experience at the Environmental Protection Agency, by his passion for protecting the environment, and by his dogged hard work researching issues and meeting stakeholders. With regard to the Uplands and the Alewife Brook region, Dave has been willing to dig in and understand the complex legal requirements, the historical and projected traffic and flooding issues, the public and private financial trade-offs and the political realities of this region. I was taken by his willingness to join me for a tour of the Little River so he could see with his own eyes the ecological sensitivity of the area. When I asked Dave what he would do on a nuts-and-bolts level, he was struck by his candor when he prefaced his remarks by saying he was not against development in general, but that it has to be done intelligently and not in such a sensitive area. In any negotiations with developers/landowners, Dave plans to use his experience negotiating sophisticated transactions as a business lawyer and his skills as a trained mediator to bring developers and community environmental activists to the same table to reach a sensible consensus.

If we don’t elect a representative with Dave’s level of commitment to these issues and the skill set to address them, this natural beauty may never be the same. There are many great reasons to vote for Dave, but the one that speaks to me most is his commitment to the environment. Please consider voting for Dave Rogers with me this Thursday.

Anne-Marie Lambert

Belmont Town Meeting Member, Precinct 8