Muni Matters reports on key issues and breaking news affecting cities and towns in Massachusetts
- Plastic Bottle Bans Taking Hold on Martha’s Vineyard
- Free Menstrual Products Could Be Coming to Framingham
- Research Shows Double Whammy of Hiring Struggle, Retirement Boom
- Districts Recognize Boston’s Vietnamese Community, Bedford’s Revolutionary Ties
Plastic Bottle Bans Taking Hold on Martha’s Vineyard
Future visitors to Martha’s Vineyard might want to keep their reusable water bottles handy. Voters in Oak Bluffs approved a bylaw at their annual Town Meeting Saturday that prohibits the sale and distribution of disposable plastic water and soda bottles under 34 ounces. Violations of the ban will result in a written warning for the first offense, a $50 fine for the second offense and a $100 fine for the third, according to the town warrant. According to the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette,
Oak Bluffs is the fifth community on the island to adopt the bylaw, which has been promoted by a local student activist group called Plastic Free MV. Local business owners pushed back on the ban and proposed instead the creation of a local committee focused on reducing plastics, the Gazette reported. Voters also approved that proposal Saturday, along with a resolution to voluntarily ban polystyrene. The plastic bottle ban is already in place in Tisbury, West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah, while Edgartown will vote on the measure May 22 after it was postponed at last year’s Town Meeting. The Oak Bluffs bylaw goes into effect in May 2022, according to the town warrant. – Meg McIntyre/SHNS
Free Menstrual Products Could Be Coming to Framingham
In an effort to reduce period poverty, a subcommittee of the Framingham City Council is set to discuss a proposed ordinance Thursday night that would require restrooms in the city’s public buildings to offer free menstrual products. Chair Isabella Petroni said at a March 30 council meeting that this is the first ordinance drafted by the City’s Youth Council, which was established in 2019.
“The promise of the future with the people in this group and the people who work with the Youth Council — it’s bright,” Councilor Robert Case said at the meeting. This is not the first time Bay State youth have advocated for access to menstrual products. In 2019, Brookline became the first municipality in the United States to offer free menstrual products in all public restrooms after local students advocated for the initiative. That year, Medway High School student Caroline Williams also worked with Rep. Jeffrey Roy on a bill to require Massachusetts public schools to make these products available in their restrooms for free. A refiled version (H 690) is up for an Education Committee hearing Thursday at noon. Another bill (S 1445), before the Public Health Committee, would require correctional facilities, temporary housing shelters and public schools to offer period products free of charge. At an April 28 meeting of the Framingham council’s subcommittee on ordinances and rules, Councilor John Stefanini said the Framingham School Committee is also working on an initiative to stock bathrooms in the city’s public schools with free menstrual supplies. During that meeting, Stefanini told subcommittee members that the city’s solicitor is reviewing the ordinance to hash out any questions about implementation before forwarding the measure to the full council. Thursday’s subcommittee meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be held remotely. – Meg McIntyre/SHNS
Research Shows Double Whammy of Hiring Struggle, Retirement Boom
State and local governments are having a hard time recruiting and retaining people to take jobs in health care and corrections and policing, and more retirement age workers are accelerating their retirement plans than any year since 2009, new research from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence found. Of the state and local government human resources offices that responded to a survey, 75 percent said it has been hard to fill nursing positions at boards of health, state or local hospitals and schools, and 64 percent said it has been hard to fill jobs in policing and corrections. And while governments struggle to hire new workers, the workers they already have are, in many cases, preparing to retire.
The Center for State and Local Government Excellence report found that 38 percent of governments said their retirement-age workers were accelerating their retirement timelines while 22 percent of governments said their retirement-eligible workers were postponing their departures. It was the first time since the survey began in 2009 that retirement accelerations outpaced postponements, the center said. “Clearly, the pandemic is having a tremendous impact on the state and local workforce, which was already facing long-term challenges,” lead researcher Gerald Young said. “Overall, the data shows that recruiting and retaining workers is only getting harder at a time when the pandemic is accelerating retirement. On the upside, we are seeing increased telework and other flexible scheduling arrangements. This can help with employee recruitment and retention for employers who cannot offer higher salaries.” The report is based on the results of a survey conducted online from Feb. 25 through April 6. Human resource professionals from 288 public jurisdictions that belong to the International Public Management Association for Human Resources and the National Association of State Personnel Executives provided the responses. – Colin A. Young/SHNS
Districts Recognize Boston’s Vietnamese Community, Bedford’s Revolutionary Ties
Two newly designated state cultural districts are home to the oldest known flag in the United States and the country’s first Vietnamese American Community Center. The Massachusetts Cultural Council’s governing board on Tuesday unanimously approved the designation of the Bedford Cultural District and the Boston Little Saigon Cultural District, located in Dorchester’s Fields Corner neighborhood, bringing the state’s total number of cultural districts up to 51. According to the Council, Boston is home to the largest population of Vietnamese Americans in the Northeast, 75 percent of whom live in the new district. “We hope to bring more awareness to Vietnamese arts and culture passed onto us by our elders and welcome new ideas from our younger generation,” Boston Little Saigon Board President Annie Le said. “We look forward to working with community members, neighbors, and business owners to create more opportunities and build more support for the arts and for small businesses in the Fields Corner area.”
The Bedford Cultural District’s boundaries “showcase its ties to the American Revolution, a rich bicycling tradition, and a town hall campus that serves as a community gathering space,” according to the Cultural Council. The Town Center campus, among other municipal buildings, houses a library where the public can view the original Bedford Flag. “The designation of the Bedford Cultural District is important to economic development and tourism in our region, especially as the economy recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rep. Ken Gordon said in a statement. “Bedford played a pivotal role in the birth of our nation and this honor is an important acknowledgement of the area’s cultural value.” – Katie Lannan/SHNS
