Hey Neighbors, Any Thoughts On Our Override?

Drive down most streets in town and there's little doubt it's election season. Yes, No, Arena, Alvarado, Webb, Williams, Liberman, and Vanden Akker. There's a sign for all.

But I live on Gleason, where 26 homes have only two signs, one in support of the override, one supporting Vanessa Alvarado. Until recently the Alvarado sign had been buried under snow, leaving Gleason almost devoid of town politics. But knock on a few doors and you learn politics isn't always about lawn signs.

Anti-overrides, but voting yes

Bob Cummings is a senior on a fixed income, hates overrides, and is going to vote yes on April 3. Confused?

Cummings, 87, has lived on Gleason Road with his wife Jane, since 1965. He was a managing partner at a Boston law firm and retired in the late '90s. He and Jane have been married 64 years, and have four children, all of whom were RMHS graduates. Two still live in town. Cummings doesn't know how much his taxes will go up if the override passes, and he doesn't know how the $4.15 million is being divided up. And he says, "I don't care."

Cummings love/hate relationship with overrides stems from his nine years as a Reading Selectmen, four years spent on the Finance Committee, and time as a Town Meeting member. If he had the power today he'd do away with Prop 2 1/2 and let the towns set their tax rate. "I never thought that Anderson woman was doing us any favors," said Cummings of Barbara Anderson, one of the authors of the 1980 Massachusetts tax law.

His faith in Reading town officials is total and if the selectmen say we need an override then that's good enough for him. Prop 2 1/2 should be the object of your wrath. Not Reading selectmen. "I'm philosophically opposed to overrides. I'm opposed to the concept completely."

But he's voting yes.

Mowing the dirt

There isn't one reason Liz Krugman voted no on the 2016 override, just a collection of little things that added up. But it definitely started with the town DPW workers mowing the dirt.

"The main reason I voted no is because I didn't think money was being allocated appropriately in this town by the government," said Krugman, 56, and a 23-year Gleason resident with her husband Jon. "This seems silly, but I play tennis in the summer up at the high school, sometimes four-five times a week. Two summers ago when we had the drought and everything was dirt, I'd be up there and every day the DPW would be up there mowing the lawn. Every day. It became a running joke. And in the winter, I would drive by (the rink at Sturgis) the day before a snowstorm and they'd be out there snowblowing the rink. To me that says, they have too many people working there because they're trying to find something to do with themselves.

"And then it snows, and we have the worst plowed roads ... you go from here to Wakefield, here to Woburn, here to anywhere and the roads are plowed better than they are in Reading. Meanwhile, they seem to have enough people to mow the lawn every day when there's no lawn."

Krugman is more supportive of this override, although with less than a week before the election she's still undecided. One thing pulling her to vote yes is her position as president of the Friends of the Reading Library. Part of the override's $4.15 million will go to Sunday hours at the library. The library is just one area she's been involved in, a list that includes the PTO, Young Women's League, and the Garden Club.

As for the schools, despite two boys who graduated from RMHS, don't try to tell her to vote yes to save the middle school language program.

"I don't see any need for language in middle schools. If you're going to do language you should start in kindergarten," said Krugman. "To throw a bunch of kids who really don't care into a language in sixth or seventh grade, I think it's a waste. Losing language really wasn't an issue with me."

She's also not a big supporter of those running the town.

"I've never been a huge fan of the school committee. The selectmen ... I have my issues as I think a lot of people do. Why did it take seven years for Perfecto's to open? How come Wakefield got a great new restaurant (Public Kitchen) and it took us seven years just to open a bagel place?"

Krugman isn't sure if she filled out the Selectmen's override survey, the landing place for many resident's frustrations, but she's pretty sure what she would have said.

"I might have said the DPW is driving me bananas."

Anything else?

"Main Street, I won't even drive down Main Street," said Krugman of the pothole-filled road. "It's amazing what I'll do to avoid driving down Main Street."

Despite the issues, Krugman feels the override will pass this time.

"This override, I honestly think it's going to pass. I think a lot of people didn't know about the first one. They didn't vote. They didn't realize. I'd be really surprised if it didn't pass. I just think that like any government, I think there are a lot of things that can be tightened up."

It's all about the schools

Kathy Plano, 54, was a school psychologist for more than 20 years and her sister is a teacher. To the 18-year Gleason Road resident the override may include police, fire, and the library, but it's really just about the Reading schools. "I'm going to vote yes. I think it's important that we invest in our own community."

She and her husband Matt have three boys with two in college and one a sophomore at the high school. Despite her limited time left with the Reading public schools, she's willing to pay for something she soon won't be using.

"We pay it forward. We voted yes many years ago, when our kids were right in that age where we benefited. I think it's important to pay it forward, that even though my kids will no longer benefit, I think we benefit as a town when we take care of our school system."

For the former school psychologist, the Florida school shooting hits home and is another reason to support Reading's school system.

"It definitely does. We have to pay attention to this kind of stuff. Our kid's safety is the cornerstone of our community."

Are Reading schools run well and worth the money?

"Oh God yes. I think Reading's public schools did great for my kids and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm a public school kind of person."

Which is why the override is primarily about one thing to her.

"It's mostly about schools. It's a school thing. It's mostly about making sure we have foreign languages in the middle school, making sure we have great teachers at the high school and continue to work with the elementary schools."

So that's two yes votes, one still undecided. As for the rest of Gleason ... guess we'll have to wait until April 3.