Falmouth Democratic Committee meeting review

I was writing my review for the Great Harbors meeting when I realized that I had failed to publish this entry...

On Wednesday, April 25, I attended the Falmouth Democratic Committee meeting at the Gus Canty Community Center for their candidates' forum. It was well attended, and I think it's safe to say that everyone was a bit more relaxed than during the Falmouth First FCTV show.

Candidates had five minutes to answer the question, "What is the greatest challenge facing Falmouth and what would you do about it?"

The following comes from the Falmouth Democratic Committee newsletter...

"Brent Putnam is a member of the Conservation Commission, a Town Meeting member, and he president of the Old Barnstable/John Parker Neighborhood Association. He sees affordable housing as the greatest challenge for Falmouth for a number of reasons. The lack of affordable housing has contributed to the loss of our young adult population (ages 25-44). Over a time span when the population of Cape Cod increased by 20 percent, the Cape lost 5 percent of this age group. The lack of affordable housing is at the root of the proliferation of 40B housing projects, which in turn adds more nitrogen to our already stressed salt ponds and contributes to other issues such as traffic. To address this issue, Brent noted that we need funding, and suggested using both the 10 percent of the Community Preservation Act that must be set aside for affordable housing plus most or all of the 70 percent that is unrestricted. Until Falmouth can show that 10 percent of our housing units are affordable, we will not be able to get a grip on the 40B issue, the loss of our young adults and the environmental issues (nitrogen, traffic, etc.) that accompany uncontrolled growth.

During the question and answer session, the candidates were asked about affordable housing, the role of the Cape Cod Commission, town financing, the need for a town open space manager, public transportation, and the proposed ice rink and pool. The candidates had clearly done their homework. Everyone had thoughtful responses about all of the issues raised, and many interesting ideas were raised. At the end of the hour-long Q and A session, the audience expressed their appreciation of the candidates with a well-deserved round of applause."