On tomorrow’s Board of Selectmen agenda, the BOS will revisit a vote concerning the Stoneham Arena (SA). Under the topic of ‘Miscellaneous’ one Selectman brought up the fact that the SA had just replaced long term tenant, Matignon, with Melrose High. You can watch the meeting segment here:
http://youtu.be/IZJczqKaDdg
A quick discussion ensued around the fact that it was wrong to kick a 40 year tenant out in favor of another, and that this should not be allowed. Despite the fact that the discussion was approximately five minutes in length and that other Selectmen voiced the fact they did not have enough information to make an informed decision, the vote was forced and the decision to retain Matignon as a tenant stood 3-2.
There are several reasons for revisiting this decision. The primary one is that we need to end the practice of making uninformed decisions on public matters in which the public has no opportunity to discuss assets supported by tax payer money. All agenda items need to be posted to the agenda 72 hours in advance of the meeting or it is not allowed. This gives Stoneham Residents an opportunity to receive notice and be prepared to attend the BOS meeting, listen and possibly comment on important issues. If vote-worthy issues are brought up under “miscellaneous,” can you imagine the issues that can be altered without citizen approval?
Second, we need to stop the practice of voting on important matters without ample preparation, knowledge or the understanding it takes to make an intelligent decision. It was expressed multiple times that the information to make a decision was not available, yet the vote was forced anyway. This is a dangerous precedence to set. The Stoneham Arena is a major town asset and the envy of the Middlesex league. One would have to ponder that there was a reason a long term tenant would be released in favor of another, yet there was nobody present to explain. Rents, ice availability or how this decision might impact our local athletes were never mentioned. The manager of the rink was not invited to present a statement, pros or cons. Nobody could answer any questions presented but could only express the unfairness of this move without any additional facts or alternatives. The main reason was in support of a private entity. The BOS is voted in to represent the citizens of Stoneham and that’s where their fiduciary responsibility lies. We are not voted in to protect the interests of a private school that does not even reside in this town.
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Most important, there was no discussion surrounding the advantage to our school or our athletics to make a change in decision. Matignon has been a tenant for years, and as such they fly their flag proudly over the rink subliminally encouraging our youth feeder program to skate for another school. Each child that leaves our public school system takes valuable Chapter 70 money with them. Private schools lure our athletes away leaving our sports teams less desirable and we lay out the red carpet for this to happen. There are presently only five local families in this particular school, but there are hundreds of students in our public school. By renting the ice to teams that compete against Stoneham High School, we give our kids the home town advantage and we save on bus money for transportation. School sports already costs each kid $300 per season so any savings is a welcome relief.
Finally, we encourage our athletes to stay in town to rebuild our athletic programs and retain Chapter 70 funding. You often hear Selectmen lament the fact that Stoneham does not receive its fair share from the statement and that is true. However, we have some responsibility to make the decision to stay more compelling and do a little more to keep our fair share of an unfair formula.
