Support Override and Keep Reading A Special Place To Live

A Letter to the Editor from Mary Grimm:

All of us have a stake in this override’s success. Whether or not we have children in the Reading Public Schools. Whether or not we are frequent library users or 911 callers. Whether or not we receive elder
services or use the public tennis courts and playgrounds.

I believe that we all have a significant stake in this override’s success not just because our property values will diminish if the schools here are deemed to be relatively weak, or if our police and fire departments remain comparatively understaffed. Not just because we will be failing cohorts of students who might be less well equipped to serve our community, and our society at large, if they are not provided with an education that allows them to achieve their highest potential and best outcomes. I believe we all have a stake in the success of this override because the quality of the Reading Public schools, and the protections and services provided to us by the Town of Reading, impact our daily lives so directly in an even more fundamental way.

The quality of our Town and Schools dictates not only the quality of our neighborhoods, but also the quality of our neighbors – the people who will choose to move here and to stay here. I believe that what makes
Reading a great place to live is that it attracts families who want to live here and to make a life here. This is not a transient community characterized by people who feel that they are settling for something less when they buy a house in Reading, and who are really interested in trying to move up and move out. This is a community of residents who sought out this destination and remain in this Town not only because of
what Reading has to offer, but also because of the personal connections that they establish once here. This is, in my very fortunate experience, a community of good neighbors. Neighbors who bring meals to one another when illness or some other crisis strikes. Neighbors who walk my dog and feed my fish when I go away. Neighbors whose teenage children baby sat my kids when they were younger, and neighbors whose children my kids now baby sit. My neighbors and my friends in Reading are families who I want living around me, who I enjoy seeing as part of my daily life, and who I trust. These connections are what make Reading not just a nice place to own a house, but what make it a very special place to have as a home.

I think this situation is priceless. But while it is priceless, it is not free. Our structural operating budget deficit is a reality – one that many of our peer towns have encountered within the past 15 years and have
addressed though successful overrides. The long-overdue override that our Town Leaders are now proposing is necessary and justified, and I hope that you agree that there is a lot more at stake in this vote besides the specific budgetary line items that will be cut in the absence of a successful override. I will vote YES on April 3rd because living in the Town of Reading has given me and my family a lot to be thankful for. I will vote YES in order to protect my home. And I hope that my fellow community members and neighbors will join me in voting YES for Reading on April 3rd.

Mary Grimm, Prospect Street