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It's night Side with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's new video. There's a huge

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fight going on in Milton, Massachusetts. For those of you who know Milton,

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it's one of the nicest suburbs of Boston, directly south of Boston on

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the South Shore. It is a community that is a very diverse community.

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It has folks from just about every background in there. And the state of

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Massachusetts is kind of coming down pretty hard on the Milton homeowners and members of

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the Milton community. And with us now is Denise. She likes to go

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by the name Denny Swinson. Denny Swinson, Welcome to Nightside. How are

0:47

you very good? Thank you for having me, Dan, Well, thanks

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so much for being here. Many people in Massachusetts are impacted by this because

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I think somewhere in the vicinity of a one hundred and fifty town cities and

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towns that the state is trying to put under this mandate, and Milton is

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one community that has kind of stood up and said no, well, we'll

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deal with our own issues. And I know it's a little complicated, but

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I hope that you can explain it to my audience. There was, let's

1:25

start with, there was a piece of legislation passed late in a legislative session

1:30

which linked service from the MBTA to a community, even what I would call

1:38

attenuated service, to an obligation to build more multi family housing in those communities,

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irrespective of what the type of community it was in terms of whether it

1:53

was a Milton or a Summerville or a Chelsea or whatever. Put it in

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your own words as someone who has been involved in this fight now for some

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time, well, it's an effort by the state to tell you what to

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do and how to live your lives in relation to because of a very slight

2:20

impact or relationship with the MBTA. Why don't you set it up because I'm

2:24

sure you can do a much better job than I can. Well, sure,

2:29

Dan, no, you did a very nice job. Basically, a

2:32

by law came forward to town meeting, and the by law was based on

2:38

a classification of our town that we feel is inaccurate. Milton was classified as

2:45

a rapid transit town, which meant that we needed to come up with twenty

2:50

five percent or twenty five hundred new zoned units based on that classification of rapid

2:57

transit. The problem is that our transit comes down to an ancient trolley that

3:04

seats thirty eight passengers. So the idea that that the that the that we

3:09

could somehow, you know, manage the transportation needs of roughly seventeen hundred new

3:20

families with this level of transit thirty eight passengers. We don't have any parking

3:27

areas along the trolley tracks. We already have neighborhoods built, so we had

3:31

nowhere to park them. And because there wasn't enough room along the trolley tracks,

3:37

they said, well, we'll put it. We'll put eleven hundred of those units in East Milton because as a crow frat lies, that's a half

3:44

a mile away. But the buildings that they wanted to put in East Milton,

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in order to walk to the trolley, you'd have to across the on

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ramp of a highway, the off ramp of a highway, and then you

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can't walk as the crow flies over private property and private businesses. You'd have

4:00

to go along the roadways that don't even have enough sidewalks, and so you

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couldn't walk to the trolley that had no parking, so you would have to

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drive in Ferry. So you have eleven hundred new families car in cars,

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driving to the trolley. That's not that defeats the whole purpose of transit oriented

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taking cars off the road. I could go on and on. No,

4:27

that's a good explanation. So what happened was, I guess you guys were

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you folks were looking at the deadline of December thirty first, the last December

4:39

thirty first, twenty twenty three, three months ago, and there was a

4:45

meeting and special town meeting in December, which the town meeting agreed to go

4:51

along with the mandate from the state. Now, again, just to put

4:56

it in some perspective, Milton has about ten thousand residential units and they wanted

5:02

you to increase that by twenty five percent. So they're changing dramatically just the

5:11

whole character of the town because there's a trolley that kind of slides by the

5:19

edge of your town. Right, it's almost laughable, It wasn't so funny

5:26

because of that great convenience that the MBTA is providing to your town. You

5:30

guys have to basically totally change the character of your community. And so what

5:40

did you do? You decided, and I guess with others you kind of

5:43

led the charge, but there are others who helped you you had to get

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what was the eleven hundred signatures to get this on a special election in Milton.

5:53

That's right, that's right. So during town meeting we realized we weren't

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going to be able to make any tweak or changes or improvements. We put

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a couple forward, but nothing, Nothing was working. And as the speakers

6:06

were speaking, I think we debated over two nights, over six hours.

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The more speakers that spoke, we realized that there were more issues than any

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one of us realized. And I had I put some feelers out because there

6:21

was a break in between the meetings. I think we had a week in

6:25

between, and I had put some feelers out asking people what they thought if

6:29

we should look into this charter. And during town meeting I got hundreds of

6:33

people texting me saying add me to that list, add me to that list.

6:38

I had about five hundred during town meeting. So we got out of

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town meeting and I asked everybody if they wanted to do this. We did.

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We only had seven days to get I think it was eleven hundred signatures.

6:50

We got over three thousand and about five days, so we knew the

6:57

special election got scheduled and six, six weeks away and there was a forty

7:04

five voter turnout, which is a tremendous voter turnout in any community for a

7:10

regular for presidential election, never mind a special election. And you prevailed vote

7:15

No veiled fifty four to forty six. Yeah, it was. It was

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an incredible turnout. I've never seen anything like that. People were lined up

7:26

at the polls and you know, all through the day, all through the

7:30

night. I've never seen anything like it. It was double the numbers.

7:33

So that's what democracy is all about. There's been a lot of conversation about

7:39

democracy, and when the results came out, the governor and the Attorney General,

7:46

well, I guess I'm not quite the fans of democracy when it comes

7:48

to this issue. Decided, well, that vote is irrelevant. We're going

7:55

to sue the city of the Town of Milton, We're going to take away

8:01

some grants, We're going to do whatever we can to overturn the will of

8:05

the people. Is what it sounds like to me, Am I is that

8:07

an unfair characteristic characterization. Yeah, it did feel pretty awful. I mean,

8:13

we had worked so hard just to be heard, and the comments that

8:18

were coming back were, oh, it's just a small group in Milton,

8:22

and I don't know, it's very minimizing. And I had one moment where

8:30

I thought, you know, the day after, you know, let's say Andrea Campbell won for her seat, I'm sure not all the people in all

8:37

the towns voted for her, and nobody questioned or it said, oh,

8:41

well, she only won by you know whatever. You know, it's you

8:45

win, you win, it's democracy, and it was it was not.

8:48

We still felt, you know, we were disappointed because we wanted some recognition

8:54

for the fact that we the citizens came out and drove, wanted to be

9:00

heard. Well, you know, it's funny because if there was a major

9:03

election, that's say, a presidential election, and either of the candidates for

9:09

president in this day and age, in such a shoply divided country, they

9:13

were to get fifty four percent of the vote and win, that would be

9:18

considered a modern day landslide. So you you won by a very comfortable margin.

9:24

But democracy has not been recognized. And as a consequence, you guys,

9:31

the people of Milton now are facing a battle in the state Supreme Court

9:39

come October. And you have a number of concerns and questions and I want

9:46

to get into some of those so people understand what your concerns and questions are.

9:50

And I also want to open up phone lines and give people a chance

9:52

to weigh in on this. If you're from Milton, will give you a little bit of priority. Six one, seven, two, five, four,

9:58

ten thirty. We also have a number six one, seven, nine,

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three ten thirty. A couple of lines there. Let's fill these lines

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up. Going to continue to talk with my guest, Denny Swinson. She

10:09

is a I would say, longtime Milton resident for some time, did not

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grow up in Milton, but has been there a long time and was really

10:18

the leader of the vote no campaign and democracy prevailed. Her side won.

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But now the leadership here in Massachusetts doesn't seem to like democracy on this issue

10:35

as much as they proclaim to like democracy on other issues. So we will

10:39

will talk about some of the legal issues now that the residents of Milton and

10:43

the town of Milton will have to fight at the State Supreme Court. We'll

10:48

be back on Night's side talking about I think a really important issue because it

10:52

impacts Milton, and it impacts a lot of other cities and towns, some

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of which are even further removed from the MBTA in any service from the MBTA,

11:03

like Holden, which I don't think is even close to the MBTA.

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They're in a similar situation as well. We'll be back on Nightside right after

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this. You're on night Side with Dan Ray. I'm w Boston's News Radio

11:20

back with my guest Denny Swinson. She has led the vote No campaign in

11:24

Milton, and now, of course Milton is facing a lawsuit in the Massachusetts

11:31

State Supreme Court to be argued. I guess next October what sort of penalties

11:37

has the state already imposed on Milton for you folks actually having an election and

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hoping that the results of that election would be respected and by the state of

11:50

Massachusetts. Sure. Well, while we were gearing them for the election,

11:56

some threats started rolling in that they might withdraw a potential fund I think it

12:01

was one hundred and forty thousand dollars for some work on a wall by a

12:07

sea wall. Yep, no seawall, yeah, ok. Yeah. But

12:13

also during the election process they were they were threatening lists and lists of things

12:18

that were never listed in the statute. The statute listed four funds. In

12:24

other words, the statute was written as if it was an opt in or

12:28

opt out. In other words, if you opt out, then you you

12:31

may not get these discretionary funds. Well, three out of four of those

12:35

discretionary funds we hadn't received in ten years anyway, and the fourth fund was

12:39

for thirty five or forty five thousand dollars. So at that point it seems

12:45

very reasonable to hit pause and try to fix the flawed by law. And

12:48

even if you could lose the forty five thousand dollars, it's better than all

12:52

of these costs of twenty five hundred new units that we somehow have to figure

12:56

out how to pay for. So at the time that's what we were looking

12:58

app But then during the election cycle, you know, these roles of you

13:03

know, on lists and lists of potential threats. So that is a legal

13:07

question that I think is going to have to be sorted out in October.

13:13

That the punishments are not authorized by the statute. You know, the threats,

13:18

you know, saying now we're going to take away money from the schools

13:22

when it's really a housing issue. So that's one of the that's one of

13:26

the issues. So what what would it mean to a town like Milton if

13:31

all of a sudden, your residency base has to increase by twenty five percent

13:39

with twenty five hundred the arrival of twenty five hundred multi family units. What

13:43

sort of an impact would that have on well, the school system, for

13:48

example, of traffic, et cetera. It would it would change. I

13:52

assume the what Milton is today. I mean, it's quiet, tree lined

14:00

town for the most part. I mean there's some poorer areas, there's some

14:03

more wealthy areas, but there's there's diversity, you know, economic diversity,

14:07

ethnic diversity, I think, in diversity in housing stock too. We have

14:13

a lot of diversity in housing stock, which we which is a good thing

14:16

for all communities. Yeah, well, that's what's interesting. During this process,

14:22

there was no acknowledgment of the increases in town costs, like you mentioned

14:26

fire, police infrastructure, I mean, sewage, things like that. When

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you put in five story buildings, you're going to have to redo all those

14:35

systems. And then they did. They weren't including capital costs. You know,

14:39

if you increase the town's population by twenty five percent or even seventeen percent,

14:46

you're going to need to increase the police force by that much. And

14:50

it's not just the people. Then there's all the benefits, and then there's

14:54

you know, you're going to need more police vehicles or fire trucks or all

14:58

of the those things, and then everybody needs benefits, and you know,

15:01

it keeps going and going going, you know, when you get into these

15:05

budgets. And so that was a big part of our campaign, is that

15:11

we don't even know how we're going to pay for this. So do you

15:16

have any idea who's pushing this? Obviously the governor and the Attorney General have

15:20

decided to put the weight of their offices behind it because I think that if

15:24

Milton succeeds in saying, hey, thanks, but no thing. So we

15:30

really, you know, would prefer to have our own zoning laws determined by

15:37

our community. It's not as if someone's saying, oh, these people have

15:41

zoning which is keeping certain people out of there. That this is not a

15:45

constitutional question. This is just a kind of a judgment question, if you

15:50

will, a land planning question. Is it developers who who's pushed? There

15:58

has to be some money behind this. Where Where's where's the push for this

16:02

coming from? Well, I think there's there's probably a number of things.

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I sat on the planning board for five years. I was chaired for one

16:10

of those years, and we used to refer to Milton sort of as a

16:15

donut, and Milton was in the whole of the donut. And if you

16:18

did an aerial view of the communities around us, we were green. We're

16:22

a true suburb near Boston, but not Boston, and we do have a

16:27

lot of green space. We have the Blue Hills, we have a lot

16:30

of conservation land. We have you know, Milton Academy has a lot of

16:36

green space, Curry College, we have churches. All those things can't be

16:41

built, so we're built out, but we have these things sprinkled throughout our

16:45

town which are benefits to our you know, climate, sustainability and our green

16:51

space. And so you know, as I sat on that planning board,

16:55

I learned pretty quick developers are very eager to get in here because it's highly

17:00

sought after. Like I said, the location being so close to Boston yet

17:07

being suburban like is just an ideal situation. So developers do really want to

17:15

get in here. And when I looked at the the percentage of affordable would

17:21

be ten percent in the larger developments, but the small developments under ten were

17:25

zero percent affordable. So it's market rate. Now, if I'm a developer

17:30

in Boston and I'm used to developing in Boston, at seventeen percent affordable,

17:34

Milton is going to look like a great place to develop if this learning had

17:38

gone through. So it was a developer's dream. Market rate as of right.

17:45

As of right means they can. They have very little limitations. You

17:51

can't, they know, for a lot of different reasons. We generally have

17:55

special permit in Milton, and it has served us very well in keep keeping

18:00

and caring for the historic, you know, structures in our town and also

18:07

the topography and the landscape and the you know, the the idiosyncrasies of every

18:14

special neighborhood. Every neighborhood in Milton is a little bit different and it's special

18:18

in its own right, and we've been able to work within that neighborhood to

18:23

honor the special features of it because of special permit. And if you strip

18:30

our zoning, if you just strip that out of our zoning, you know,

18:33

you have a beautiful neighborhood. And now a building pops up, it's

18:37

just a it changes everything. And it does have a huge impact on the

18:41

climate, huge, huge and huge economic impacts as well. My guest is

18:45

that Denny Swinson. She has led along with others, but she really is

18:49

the leader of the Vote No campaign in Milton. They are standing up to

18:53

the state. I mean, the governor and the Attorney General jumped on you

18:59

guys the next day. I mean it was like whoof. I've never seen

19:03

them act so quickly. And by the way, I think you mentioned today

19:07

that you guys don't have a fight. I think that probably the Attorney General

19:12

and the governor, if I'm not mistaken, carried the town of Milton during

19:17

the elections in twenty twenty two, and probably carried it quite comfortably. I

19:21

should have checked those numbers, but I assume that they both did very well

19:25

in Milton. Oh yes, I'm sure they did. In fact, I

19:30

voted for both of them. All right, let's take a break, get

19:37

a newscast, catch your breath, get a glass of water, and the

19:41

only lines that are open right now if you'd like to get through and talk

19:44

with my guest, Denny Swanson, of the Vote No campaign in Milton six

19:49

one, seven, nine, three, one, ten thirty. I say

19:53

that towns should be able, you know, as long as They're not violating

19:57

constitutional rights of any class of people as long as they show that their community

20:04

genuinely welcomes people. And just by putting up a sign. In some of

20:10

these towns they put up a sign that say we welcome people. Well, they may say that, but go look at how diverse the town is.

20:17

Go look at Milton's diversity. And Milton is a very diverse community. So

20:22

this is not a question of trying to keep a group of people out.

20:26

This is a question, in my opinion of Newton, trying to maintain the

20:30

character the characteristics of a historic community, the birthplace by the way of George

20:37

Herbert Walker Bush back in nineteen twenty five, I believe, was when the

20:41

former president of the forty first president was born. So we'll get to phone

20:45

calls, feel free to join the conversation, and all I ask you,

20:49

we'd be polite. It's as simple as that. I think that the question

20:55

is important one because there are implications for a lot of other communities beyond Milton.

20:59

Back on nights Side, you're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w

21:04

b Z, Boston's news radio. We're talking with Denny Swinson. She is

21:11

one of the leaders some would say, the leader of the Vote No campaign

21:15

in Milton, and we're just going to go to phone calls again. I

21:18

asked, whether you agree or disagree with Denny Swinson. We can have a

21:23

polite conversation. We don't have to try to force anyone to accept any point

21:30

of view, but whatever points you'd like to make feel free. Let's go

21:33

first to John in Milton. John, welcome your first tonight on Nightside with

21:38

Denny Swinson. Go right ahead, John. Hi Dan, My name is

21:44

Sean Cohayne. I worked and Hi Denny. I work closely with Denny on

21:48

the campaign. Well, welcome John. You I believe were located in the

21:56

area of the community that was going to be most impacted by this, correct,

22:00

yeah, East Milton. Yess Milton. Can you give us a little

22:04

bit of a description of why you got involved in what it would have meant?

22:08

I think most people have driven by East Milton, if not, they've

22:12

driven through East Milton. It's a it's very close to the to the Southeast

22:18

Expressway, correct it is. The Southeast Expressway cuts right through it. And

22:26

and uh, how did I get involved? I guess that it wasn't so

22:33

much just East Milton. It was to me that the plan wasn't working.

22:41

You know, it was. It's a great idea. I think creating climate

22:44

firmly affordable housing is a good idea and it's what we want, and it's

22:49

it's been so frustrating to not be listened to. You know, we've been

22:55

portrayed as anti affordable, nimby, even racist, and when in fact we're

23:03

really I know, I am and groups have all kinds of people, I'll

23:07

admit that, but I'm in a big part of the group are in favor

23:11

of higher affordability requirements actually than the plan calls for, and for all units,

23:18

not just over ten units, and keeping them climate friendly by keeping them

23:23

inside the half a mile requirement of the Acts. And we just haven't been

23:29

listened to. Let me just say this, I think when someone you know,

23:34

there are genuine people who were motivated by racism in this country, Okay,

23:40

we've all seen that, Okay, and we most of us can identify

23:42

it pretty easily. But in a situation like this, which deals with much

23:48

more sophisticated issues, when your opponents start to invoke the allegation of racism,

23:52

you know that they've lost the argument, John, because at that point all

23:56

they're trying to do is make you a bad and and I just think it's

24:02

despicable. It's it's the McCarthyism of the nineteen fifties, you know, now

24:07

utilized by another group of people who want to impose their viewpoints and anyone who

24:14

who stands up against them and says, hey, maybe we can do it better, or maybe we can do this, or that this is what happens

24:19

to you. So, you know, thanks for having the courage to step

24:23

out on that. So just give me a sense of what it would have

24:26

meant to East Milton, or give me a sense if this goes through?

24:30

Does it? You know, it's it's not a Nimby issue. I know

24:33

it's not. It's not in my backyard. That's what nimbi means. But

24:37

what would it mean to you? You're part of Milton. It's it's it's

24:42

funny, Dan, because every meeting that I went to at the town level

24:49

constantly stated oh, this area will never get built, and this will never

24:53

get built because of this reason, and this will never get built because of

24:56

this reason. And I just I was left saying, well, then what

25:00

is this? Do it? What do we do it? You know,

25:03

we were proposing all these things like that. Even here in East Milton,

25:07

we're proposing an area that's the state d BWI. We don't even own it,

25:14

and we were proposing an area that it's in the flood zone. It's

25:18

It was just, I just it was more than just what it would do

25:22

to us. It was what it wouldn't do, and that was provide affordable

25:26

housing. I just we weren't. I just wish the state would listen to

25:32

us because I think, why, why do you think the governor seems to

25:36

tap her to death air? I mean the attorney general. You know,

25:38

whatever she wants to file a lawsuit, that's her her decision. But but

25:44

why has the governor not said, look, you know, Milton is a

25:47

community that I think it represents what's best about the comwealth of Massachusetts. You

25:53

know, it's a diverse community. Uh, it has great schools, it

25:57

has it has maintained and its integrity over the years, has green spaces.

26:03

Why would the governor not recognize that and uh and say let me sit down

26:07

with these people and see what sort of a compromise can be worked out,

26:11

or as opposed to, we're going to roll over. You just get out

26:15

of the road. I can't put I can't figure out. It's stubbornness.

26:21

I just it would have been so easy Dan in the beginning to just reclassify

26:26

us and then put a plan forward and then all this, you know,

26:30

the rest of these communities that are now following our lead, and we're actually

26:36

not the leader on the let's kill this plan. It's fueling all of that.

26:41

It would have been. I don't know, just I really don't.

26:44

I would love to talk to somebody because I can't figure it out for the

26:47

life of Well, maybe maybe the governor some of the governor's people are hearing

26:49

you tonight. Again. I know that she has a lot on her desk

26:55

at any given time, but I think this is an important and important issue.

26:57

John, Thanks so much for calling, Thanks so much for getting involved

27:00

in this, and uh, you know, don't back down. Don't allow

27:06

yourself to be bullied. Okay, as a matter of fact, as a

27:10

matter of fact, it's it's caused me to run the select board, something

27:14

I haven't done. So when is that election, John, When is that

27:18

election? That's April thirtieth of this of this coming month. Yeah, yeah,

27:26

Well, okay, I'm gonna follow I'm going to follow that race.

27:30

Anyone who's listening and has friends in Milton, it's how do you spell your

27:34

last name? John a e o a e o h a a any okay,

27:47

and you pronounced it cohona Kahan cohenes Cohen Cohen. All right, all

27:53

right, well, best of luck. I'll endorse you or your opponent,

27:57

whichever helps you more. Okay, that's a joke. Thanks, Thanks,

28:03

be well, we'll be back at touch. Thanks, let's keep rolling here,

28:10

point can a point to I just wanted to follow up with your question.

28:18

It would be so much more constructive if if the governor or the Attorney

28:23

general or whoever they their people are would sit down with us. They've never

28:29

sat down with us, They've never heard us out or even taken the time

28:33

to think through a constructive approach, like John said, reclassification and that would

28:41

you know, just looking for a compromise. If if we reclassified the adjacent

28:45

community, they get nine hundred multi family units, and then we might actually

28:49

be able to live up to some of the legislative goals, you know,

28:52

the traffic mitigation, climate sustainability change, the affordable housing percentage, and we

28:57

could work through this. But We've never had the opportunity even though they they

29:02

put out the press release we're working with you, and then they see us and then the next day. So being thrown under the bush, let me

29:08

go to Mark and Milton. Mark want to get you in here before the

29:11

break. You've been waiting long enough, go ahead, Mark. Oh sure,

29:14

Thank you so much. Dan. This has been really refreshing to have

29:18

this dialogue. And you understand Milton and obviously have driven through here and know

29:22

the town and its diversity and what a wonderful place it is. I'm actually

29:26

I grew up in Readville, Mark, so I know Milton. It was always we always looked up the Blue Hills and said, wow, that's where

29:32

the rich people live. Not so let's look ahead that side. But yeah,

29:36

I'm an East Milton. I'm a neighbor of John, who I met through this whole thing and we're friends now. And that was actually one of

29:41

Denny's foot soldiers. So so I made some great new friends through this,

29:45

and and our hearts were all in the right place. I live in the

29:48

you know, Dan, then I live in East Milton, which nestled right.

29:51

I'm on the Quinsy line, but it's this little neighborhood of these really

29:53

tiny kind of lots and houses kind of like leave it to beaverish you can

29:57

know what your neighbor's making for dinner, right and absolutely the beaver Yeah,

30:03

go ahead, it's great. But what you know, this is not an

30:06

affluent, gilded area. We're not, you know, struggling, but it's

30:10

certainly not what they're trying to betray us as. But full disclosure, I

30:14

voted for Governor Healy. I won't be doing that again. Full disclosure there

30:18

too, But I'm just so disappointed and in the tactics they've been using.

30:25

Okay, first of all, in almost any media story that I've heard,

30:29

or any media person that's interviewed people except for yourself. Thankfully, they've teed

30:33

this up as an affordable housing play. The law and legislation as it's written,

30:38

has no requirement of affordability. That is a red herring. There's no

30:42

affordability written into this law, okay, is that is a an options the

30:48

town can make up to ten percent at their own discretion. But what's happening

30:52

And you nailed it a moment ago when you said, instead of having a

30:56

dialogue with us or listening to us as soon as we started to say,

30:59

well, there's way too much traffic in East Milton right now, we're a

31:02

cut through area, or the schools are overburdened right now, how are we

31:06

gonna do this? What's the infrastructure gonna do with this? Instead of even

31:10

addressing us or having that dialogue, and this goes for people who were voting

31:15

yes, and it kind of divided the town, this whole thing, unfortunately.

31:17

But instead of having that immediately, they said, oh, well,

31:19

you're against affordable housing, so you're all genophobic racists who don't want new people

31:25

in your town. And as you alluded to it, am I saying that

31:27

they think they have won the argument intellectually, by the way, And it's

31:33

it's it's despicable. And I mean I raised two boys here who are both

31:37

moved out and live in Boston, you know, and went to Milton Public

31:41

schools, and like it was so refreshing to live in a community. And

31:44

I'm not saying this to just like you know, window addresses. Like it

31:47

was super diverse, Like in high school you saw people of all different races

31:51

getting together and playing sports together and all that. And I mean, this

31:55

is a very diverse community, and they try to paint Milton like this gilded

32:00

kind of place that's not letting anybody in. And the minute we say like,

32:02

well what are we going to do about the sewage? Oh well you

32:06

must be racist because you don't want affordable housing. Well it's not affordable housing,

32:08

but can we have a discussion. And you know, they've kind of

32:12

cast this And I'll close with this, like Lydia Edwards, who is the

32:15

state the committee, you know, she runs the housing committee on the State

32:17

House. I don't know if you saw the quote in the Globe she said,

32:21

you know, the day after so we had our vote, she said, and I quote the state must crush Milton. Mean legislators. These are

32:30

legislators, I mean are they? Are we their constituents of their enemies I

32:34

mean Attorney General Campbell, the governor. I mean, they've treated us not

32:37

as constituents, but is law breaking enemies. And it's just it's so disappointing.

32:42

So I'll end with that Beginna. Don't you very unifying? That sort

32:45

of language, jeez, so believable. I mean that's from an elected official,

32:52

supposedly an elected official. It's grotesque, But I thank you so much

32:57

for having this form and actually listening to us, because as you can tell,

33:00

we're all pent up because nobody's ever listened to us. Well, thank

33:02

you. We're here and we'll be here for you whenever you need us.

33:05

Okay, thanks Mark so much. Have a great day. All right,

33:08

Danny, let me take a quick break. We got a bunch of calls

33:10

from Milton. We're going to get to them. All the folks in Milton

33:14

are going to get priority, but we're gonna have to wrap it by ten

33:16

o'clock because we have another guest. We're going to be talking about attention deficit

33:22

and hyperactivity disorder. But we'll be right back on nights. We'll try to

33:27

get everyone in if possible, coming back with my guest, Denny Swintzon night

33:32

side Dan Ray on Boston's News Radio. I am giving priority to Milton callers,

33:42

and I apologize to a couple of folks who again, if we get

33:46

through Milton calls, we get the other callers as well. Let me go

33:49

to Kevin and Milton. Kevin next on nights, I'd like you to try

33:51

to be as direct as you can. We're kind of getting a little tight

33:54

on time. Want to accommodate everyone. Go ahead, Kevin, sure,

33:58

I'll be brief. Good evening, Dan, and good evening Denny. Now

34:00

this is Kevin chrism Junior from Milton and from the Courtland Circle neighborhood. When

34:05

I first off, thank Denny Swinson and all the folks on behalf of our

34:07

small neighborhood on Courtland Circle. Our neighborhood is directly abutting what was to be

34:14

possibly developed into the units across from our neighborhood. And if anyone knows Granted

34:19

Avenue, Dan, if you sit in there going into traffic going on to

34:22

ninety three every morning many times. I don't know how many times the Governor's

34:27

been there, oh the Attorney General, but I know how many times were

34:30

down there. We would we would encourage the governor and kindly invite her to

34:32

experience that because it's not fun and adding units across from our residential neighborhood would

34:38

have been a disaster. So I just want to say, on behalf of

34:40

the five thousand plus no voters, thank all the folks who came out on

34:45

a bath of our neighborhood. And Dan, just one thing quickly. You

34:47

know when in society today everything is so politicized. This was not a political

34:52

issue. This is Republicans, Democrats, independents coming together and saying enough is

34:58

enough. And we stood up in said no. And I believe we have some good candidates running in April, as John Cohaine is one of them leading

35:04

our ticket, and we're seeing a definite change here. I saw people my

35:08

neighbors coming after vote that I don't think i've seen vote in a long time.

35:12

People have had enough and I want to thank Denny and the whole team

35:15

about our neighborhood and so many of our great neighborhoods, not just in East

35:19

Milton, but throughout the town for what they did. It was an incredible

35:22

effort. These folks were out door knocking, making phone calls, putting the

35:25

time in. So we want to thank them. And it's a new day

35:29

in Milton, that is for sure. Kevin, congratulations, appreciate you taking

35:32

the time to call tonight. Tonight's I keep listening. Well, we'll periodically

35:37

come back to this and Denny's going to be Denny Swinson will be my contact.

35:39

She makes a great presentation as you did as well. Thanks Kevin,

35:43

Thanks Dan, and thanks Denny. Take care you're welcome. Let me get to Kerry in Milton. Kerry you in next on nightside, Go right ahead,

35:50

Hi, Dan, thanks for taking my call. You're welcome. You ahead, Yeah, thank you, Denny. Thank you for your leadership.

35:59

Dan. As you know and your listeners know, this is indeed a very

36:02

complicated issue, and it's not just going to impact Milton, and impacts so

36:07

many towns and cities in our commonwealth. And as a young man from Reville,

36:12

you know the topography of our town and there are many parcels in our

36:17

town that are closer to the reval area that in fact would be more appropriate

36:22

for the kind of high density zoning that was being envisioned, let's say,

36:29

for the neighborhood that mister Cohane and mister christm just mentioned down there on Granite

36:34

asth But I think it's just like to underscore something that mister Christon just said,

36:39

zoning, while it is complicated, it's not a liberal, moderate or

36:44

conservative issue. It's a quality of life issue and that will impact every resident

36:49

of this town, whether or not they're homeowners, you know. But it

36:53

was also you know, New England has a very strong tradition of communities making

37:01

decisions for themselves town meeting and all of that, and on town elections,

37:06

and I just think that, look, there was a vote democracy. Everybody's

37:13

talking about what we're concerned about. Democracy is going to die. Democracy is

37:15

going to die. Well, this shows democracy lives, at least in Milton.

37:20

And I would hope that the Governor of the Attorney General will reconsider this

37:22

situation and sit down with you folks and try to work out something that they

37:27

will please a majority of people. That's all I hope so too, Dan,

37:31

And I think you say, you know such important words when you think

37:35

about the history of Milton. We are indeed a very historic town. And

37:37

that's not just about the structures. As Danny highlighted, there are some really

37:42

beautiful, beautiful homes throughout the town. But you know, just as the

37:45

British were determined to assert its authority of rule over for America through the entire

37:51

tolerable Acts, Governor Heally, she seems pretty determined to assert her authority over

37:57

the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the communities and sounds like Milton's. And you asked

38:01

a great question before, what's in it? You know, because something doesn't

38:05

pass Smith's death right there's something at play here that we'll try to we'll try

38:10

to get to I got one more caller from Milton carry Thanks for calling.

38:16

Keep fighting, okay, because you're fighting not only for Milton, You're fighting

38:20

for for every community that wants to have UH an impact on how they self.

38:25

Government is important. You know, if people's rights are being denied constitutionally,

38:30

that's when the government moves in. You know, when when the governor

38:34

of Alabama stands in the doorway and says segregation, now, segregate, that's

38:37

when the government has to move in. But this is not that and and

38:40

I don't want it to be characterized that way either. Thank you. I

38:44

agree, Thank you, Dan, Thank you. Let me get to Scott

38:46

and Milton. Scott, we got a little over a minute left for you.

38:49

You're the last caller of this of the section of the segment. Go

38:52

right ahead. You're on with my guest, I'm Denny Swinson. Go ahead,

38:55

God, good evening. I think that Dan, you asked a great

39:00

question about why are they doing this? All you have to do is follow

39:06

the money it is. This is not about housing. This is about it

39:10

and it ties into believe it or not, illegal immigration. They have a

39:15

prev problem that they have a ton of people that need housing. The governor

39:20

declares it a thanks to our state, and then she goes on the air

39:22

after she starts how dare the Texans who are paying four billion dollars a year

39:28

to educate illegal children down there out of their own pockets? She then says,

39:32

we have too many, We can't take anymore. So they need housing.

39:36

So what do they do? They the state House is loaded with real

39:39

estate lawyers and they're they're all pro this because they're all gonna make money off

39:46

of all this development, on all this illegal immigration, because they're all gonna

39:50

need housing. And I really think that that's really how all of these policies

39:55

that have gone awry, that are shortsighted, and fairness to the governor,

40:00

because I want to be fair. In fairness to the governor, she inherited

40:04

the nineteen eighty three law dealing with the right to shelter. But again,

40:07

when you say follow the money, there's some there an agenda here that we

40:13

have yet to see, and hopefully we can we can basically get it out

40:16

on the table and then we can have an honest discussion. Great point,

40:20

Scott, I'm flat out of time. I thank everyone from Milton who called,

40:23

including you, and I bet I got to wrap the hour, and

40:28

I want to thank Denny Swanson. Swanson who is Swinson, I should say,

40:32

excuse me, Denny, you have done a fabulous job. You have

40:36

a lot of support in your community. If there's anything that you got anytime,

40:39

you guys need some some oxes you're on this issue, please let me

40:44

know. You have my number. Thank you. Can I just say one

40:46

point, and that is that by and large, Milton does want to be

40:50

compliant, and in order to get there, we need to be classified properly.

40:54

You know, we've been classified wrongfully and it seems arbitrary, and it

40:59

seems punitive. And you know, the citizens took a vote which is allowed

41:02

under our democratic process. And to continually threaten to punish the citizens for having

41:07

a different viewed than the governor is only, you know, hurting the chances

41:13

of coming to a solution, and it's also very undemocratic. Thank you so

41:22

much, Danny. Unfortunately I am flat out of time the callers from Milton

41:25

mcgrat but I got to leave it there for now. We'll talk again.

41:29

Thank you so much, Thank you, thank you so much you're welcome here,

41:32

comes to TENS. Will be back right after