What I believe

By William C. Shelton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

I believe that we all have the capacity to be honest, but none of us has the capacity to be objective. To sustain effective promises, relationships, institutions and commerce, we need to be truthful with each other. But our understanding of what is true can be sincerely different from that of others. To do our best to be truthful, we can acknowledge all the available evidence on a matter and not exclude any that challenges our beliefs. 

In forming those often largely unconscious beliefs, we simultaneously form blind spots. Recognizing this, we can make conscious and disclose those beliefs, allowing others to evaluate what else we have to say by measuring our beliefs against the truth of their own experiences. The following are some things that I believe, which affect how I see and write about the world.

I believe that God created the universe, and righteous men wrote, copied, translated and past down the scriptures. The only means available to them to transmit their truths to their audiences were to use, in new ways, the historically culture-bound and language-bound communication tools available to them. Some who heard got it and were enlightened. Others turned these truths into dogma. If there is a contradiction between the evidence of God’s universe and literal assertions in the scriptures as they have reached us today, then the universe is probably truer. 

I believe that fundamentalisms have much less to do with spiritual truth than with religious hierarchies. They are inevitably intolerant and disrespectful of other fundamentalisms and of all who seek their own truth. They have justified some of the worst atrocities in human history.

I believe that the human capacity for empathy forms the basis of conscience. Its expression is the Golden Rule, as stated independently by Jesus, Hillel, Muhammad, Confucius and the Mahabharata. That rule is the basis of all just law.

I believe that we tend to do to others what has been done to us. We’re all mostly doing the best that we know how in the immediate moment. When people are hurtful or behaving badly, they are usually unwarily acting out how they themselves were hurt. This does not mean that we should ever tolerate such behavior, but it offers us insight into how to manage it.

I believe that every human being is worthy of respect. An operational definition of respect would be that the other’s experiences are as authentic as our own, and that we always have something to learn from them.

I believe that what our ancestors survived to become human, selected for the capacity to kill ruthlessly as well as to cooperate selflessly with others for the greater good. Different institutional arrangements require differing behaviors and attitudes for their inhabitants to live successfully within them. In so doing, they will give greater emphasis to the development of potentials for domination versus cooperation. We should create institutions that emphasize cooperation and mutual respect and develop in their people the ability to distinguish between which response will yield the best long-term outcome for all.

I believe that every human being has the capacity to be productive. If someone cannot be productive, then we should help him or her to become so, but not help or encourage him to remain unproductive. Society should ensure that all who are willing to be productive can earn a living. If it does not, the moral stigma is on the society rather than on those who are impoverished.

I believe that the emergence of capitalist institutions created the material basis for a human existence for all and the cultural basis for flowering of the extraordinary potential and subjectivity possessed by every human being. I believe that the system that we now live in is socialism for the wealthy, a limited welfare state for the poor and a fairly harsh capitalist economy for working people, including most small business owners. I do not dismiss business as somehow inferior to other vocations, since business now creates the value that supports every other vocation.

I believe that government should not spend more than it takes in, except in rare instances of war and recession. In prosperous times, we should pay down our debt. Our national debt is an expression of moral cowardice and is giving our sovereignty away to debt holders.

I believe that within our current political and economic systems, every unit of capital must either expand or die, and at the end of every round of competition, there are fewer players, who have disproportionately greater power to shape others’ lives. If we don’t find a better way, these dynamics will ultimately undermine the social basis for civilization and the environmental basis for human existence. I don’t know what that better way is.

Comments

[observer]

Honestly, Bill who cares ... besides you mother

[objective]

Bill, I like your articles, usually. This is the lamest of all. Precisely, other than your relatives and close friends, who cares what you believe? I believe that Satan created the Universe and that God was a sissy who was thrown out.

[unkle buc]

I believe that the author of this article is a pompous moron who can't deal with his pathetic existence and his life is pointless and irrelevant.

[Empathy]

Bill,

You wrote: "I believe that the human capacity for empathy forms the basis of conscience"

So tell me Bill where was your empathy for that little old lady that lived in that pigsty in your first floor apartment? What kind of empathy did you show her?

[Bill Shelton]

Empathy,

If you really want to know, why don't you ask her daughter, Francine, 508 947-0423?

[Bill Shelton]

Empathy,

If you really want to know, why don't you ask her daughter, Francine, 508 947-0423?

[HL Menken]

"When people are hurtful or behaving badly, they are usually unwarily acting out how they themselves were hurt."

Interesting. That probably explains what's behind what a lot of people post here. Hearing about how they were hurt would probably be a lot more interesting than the drivel that it makes them say.

[Citizen]

Observer/Empathy,

Your posts upset me in a way that no one else who posts here does. It’s because they are so hateful and your only purpose seems to be to do harm to Mr. Shelton.

You have aimed ugly charges at him in the past, and he has offered to meet with you and discuss your differences. You rejected this offer. If I remember correctly, you said that you weren’t interested in what he thought. But you keep reading his column. You made a series of charges that he and members of the Mystic Valley Task Force had done permanent damage to the city’s hopes for Assembly Square. He offered to meet with you at any public forum where you could both present you evidence. You didn’t answer him.

Now you are starting, or repeating, some ugly rumor. Will you make any effort to find out the whole truth? I don’t think that you will, because that small and fearful place that is your mind is more interested in feeding your hatred than looking for the truth. You won’t even reveal your identity, while Mr. Shelton wrote this column to give readers a basis for evaluating whether what he has to say on other subjects is truthful for them as well.

In response to the ugliness that you write, he has been honest and courageous. I don’t really know you, but the things that you write here are the actions of a coward. I’m hoping that you are not really a bad person, and that you don’t understand what you sound like.

[Solh Zendeh]

Wow, Citizen - you've put into words what I couldn't. I feel exactly the same way about those kind of posts. I know that since they are cowardly they shouldn't affect me, but the truth is that I feel depressed every time I read them on this site.

I'm not against anonymous posting per se, but the utter lack of perspective, empathy, and courage displayed by some of these anonymous posters just gets to me.

[observer]

Well let me defend my comments.

I have not made any accusations against Billy. My most recent comments where simply- who cares what you believe besides your mother?

In reality I simply believe he like many members of the Mystic view have set the city of Somerville back by at least a decade if not permanently through delaying development opportunities that have now dissapeared. The cost is easily $5 million per year in taxes plus some good jobs.

The facts are surrounding cities took advantage of the commercial boom that is now done. Mystic View tied up the golden goose in court for 5 years and now we have the same old Assembly Square- big box, trailer parking, and criminal elements.

I do hold Mystic View accountable- because why they wanted things there way- they did not have any financial backing to produce it- and refused to be reasonable and work with decent developers who would have helped bring Somerville to the next level economically. Frankly, I see most if not all of them as more interested in trying to prove they where smarter than the townies than what the cost to the city was.

Anyone can propose a a percieved panacea of development- but if you have no financial backing- its just what it ended up to be a pile of crap.

As for meeting with Billy- as I've said I would not waste my time. I have posed a lot of honest questions here that he ignored or refused to answer.

Frankly, as long as he continues his ramblings, I reserve my right to continue to poke fun at him- because I think he is a self aggrandizing pompous ass..

[Imux]

Observer, quit holding back - tell us how you really think! I think Bill's - and Mystic Valley - intentions were good (to get the best development - not the fastest), but it did turn out lousy now for us as Assembly Square is still a dump. I just don't see that changing in the near future - just more words for now from the city.

[Truth Fan]

Imux, I believe that many of us, in hindsight, agree with the good intentions that you mention. And many of us agree that it is still a dump. But those who have been carefully following this also know the facts, while "Observer" does not. Or at least I hope that he or she does not, instead of simply trying to deceive.

The $5 million dollar figure that Observer recites came from a 2003 campaign piece by Joe Curtatone. He took it out of context from a projection that Assessor Dick Brescia did, that assumed virtually all of Assembly Square's developable land was immediately developed and paying taxes. (And at a fairly low level of development.)

When Observer has made these charges in the past, Bill and others have asked him or her to identify exactly what developments that Mystic View prevented, what the value of their new tax revenues would be, and what it would cost the city to provide them services. Observer has been unable or unwilling to do so.

Like Citizen, I don't know Observer, but if I were to guess, I would say that he or she feels some personal bitterness toward Bill, and the Assembly Square history is a convenient cudgel. Why would Observer not make the facts that he believes to be true available for verification, unless she either didn't know them, or didn't like them?

[Bigelow]

Francine?????? Are you kidding me? She ignored her as much as you did!
The neighbors know what went on.

[observer]

Truth Fan

Facts? How about the fact Mystic View went to court to hold up, delay, and stop development for 5 years? If there where not developers with specifica plans what where you doing in court for 5 years?

How about this was done during a time when there was a commercial boom going on in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, and other surrounding areas.

How about the fact that subsquently developers have walked away from the City both at Assembly Square and other places- because its not worth the hassle of dealing with ball busters who would rather make a point than think about the city.

How about the fact Assembly Square is an embarrasement and a haven for crime and will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future due to the actions of Bill Shelton and other members of the Mystic View Farce Force.

As for Billy. I have never met the man. I just resent his being a lecturer on this site about what the city should or should not do. Other than that I have no personal agenda or dealing with him.

I do hold him and other members of the Mystic View Farce Force responsible for the lack of development at Assembly Square and other areas of the city. Thats my opinion- and I think its shared by many other with insided knowledge and insight.

Its also my opinion that most of the the Mystic Farce Force are relative newcomers to Somerville- who thought they where a lot smarter than us folk who had grown up here. But in the end the group is really just a bunch of self righteous asses who have cost the City millions each and every year.

Is the number $5 million overstated? Perhaps... but slice that in half and then multiply that by 10 years .... and you can begin to understand this may have been the largest blown opportunity in the history of Somerville...

Neither you nor I are Assessors... the $5 million is a reasonable estimate..

[Ron Newman]

Before Mystic View got involved, wasn't the original proposal 100% big-box retail stores? How would that have helped our city?

[What did we get?]

Ron,
I agree with it was going to be largely big-box stores. Look at the motley collection of stores they put there, however. Christmas Tree Shops and TJ MAxx to go along with K-Mart. Not exactly the Natick Collection. There is is no high class clientele trying to go there and shop now.

[Ron Newman]

With the modified plan that was worked out with Mystic View, we will have residential and office development to balance the retail. Isn't that a better deal for Somerville in the long run?

[Citizen]

Observer,

I already knew what “ass” meant, but I wanted to be sure that I understood “pompous.” My dictionary says that it is 1. excessively elevated or ornate; 2. having or exhibiting self importance.

Mr. Shelton’s columns are well written, but they are not ornate. And what they emphasize as “important” is trying to understand the truth. To do that, he mentions his own flaws as a means to illustrate his point. He puts himself out there in a vulnerable way most than most people I read or see on TV. To me that’s the opposite of pompous.

He doesn’t demean people by calling them names. He doesn’t make a charge unless he shows what his evidence is. And when he is shown better evidence, he acknowledges that he is wrong.

That’s how I would like my kids to grow up, although it’s not something that I can control. As this column says, “we tend to do to others what has been done to us. We’re all mostly doing the best that we know how in the immediate moment.” I believe that. It’s why I believe that you can be sincerely mistaken instead of essentially malicious.

[What did we get?]

Honestly Ron, I don't know. We have one of the most densely populated cities in the country. Do we really need more residential properties? Combine that with Joe Lynch's contention that citizens are not satisfied with services at this time, won't it be worse with a greater number of people.

Personally, I would like to see a larger commercial tax base. The Mayor argues that commercial taxes bring in far more revenue that residential taxes. I know I could use the tax relief!

[Truth Fan]

Observer,

You provide no evidence because all of the “facts” that you state are false. In 1998, Mystic View shoed the mayor and aldermen that Assembly Square was the best development site left in greater Boston for offices, and that only office development would raise the net taxes that the city needs. There was a boom then in office development. By 2001, the boom was over. Again, I don’t want to run afoul of JN’s rules, but you can get hard data on these trends from websites like Meredith and Grew, Grub and Ellis, and Banker and Tradesman.

The only thing that the “developers” initially proposed was a giant Home Depot. Mystic View didn’t file a lawsuit until 2002. By then there was no demand for office space. But they knew, that it takes 5 years or so to develop a large office building to the point of occupancy. If the developers started then, or the city had enforce the law, they could have hit the next boom. Instead, the Planning Board illegally approved the Home Depot.

You say that Mystic View “held up development” for five years. Courts “give deference” to any decision made by a municipality, unless there is a serious violation. Yet Mystic View kept winning its legal actions. At any time, city officials could have followed the law and insisted that their favored developers build what the city needs. So who is responsible for the hold up?

“What did we get” is exactly right in stating that what we need is a larger commercial tax base and not residential, or for that matter, stores. That is exactly what Mystic View fought for. As Bill wrote in a blog that is still on this site: “fiscal analyses conducted independently in other locations end up showing that big-box retail loses money for cities, except where municipalities are able to collect sales taxes. For example, a study of Delaware, Ohio found that retail stores cost that city $630 more that they produce in revenue, per thousand square feet of space (City of Delaware/Tischler Associates, 2002). In Stow Ohio,the number was -$2,489 (Randall Gross/Development Economics, 2001) In Barnstable, Massachusetts, the number was -$468 per thousand square feet of big-box retail (Barnstable, Land Use Fiscal Analysis Study, 2002).” Similar studies show that housing loses more money. Those are verifiable facts. Where are yours?

“What did we get” is mistaken in saying that the big boxes proposed earlier would have been better for us. Before Mystic View, the only proposals were to build a giant Home Depot where the mall is, turn the existing Home Depot into a Home Expo, and build an IKEA. All of those would have cost the city more in terms of net taxes and traffic than the Assembly Square market place.

You are free to call Bill whatever names that you want, but a falsehood does not become a fact by your repeating it over and over.

[Fool on the Hill]

Truth Fan is right that Assembly Square Market Place is better than a larger Home Depot. And “What did we get” is right that the Market Place is no great shakes.

The former Mall owners were able to build the market place only because Mayor Curtatone bullied the Aldermen into down-zoning Assembly Square. Even then, it was illegal, but, as Truth Fan said, courts give deference to cities. So the Land Court didn’t block the Marketplace development, although it did eventually find that the rezoning on which it was based violated state law.

By then, the Mayor’s friends had sold out to Federal Realty and left town with $30 million. The future of the marketplace was unclear, and Federal was left holding the bag.

Unlike the bandits, Federal seems to be both honest and competent. So, they agreed to negotiate with Mystic View. Two mayors and their developer friends had refused to negotiate all of those years. That's why there was no development, although I agree with Imux that no development is better than development that hurts the city.

The rest of us have to live with the consequences, which are neither as good as we could have gotten with Mystic View’s plan, nor as bad as what we’d have if certain city officials and their developer friends had prevailed.

[What did we get?]

Truth Fan,
I didn't say, nor did I mean to imply, that the other proposed Big Box stores would be better for us. I don't even know which stores were proposed.

What I was saying is that we were promised that we wouldn't get a strip mall, but that's exactly what we have, anchored by three low income sellers that only add to the City's apst reputation and do nothing to attract new people to the area.

I'm looking for something there that will ease my tax burden without further taxing city services.

[Truth Fan]

What did we get,

You've said it far better and more succinctly than us long-winded types: "I'm looking for something there that will ease my tax burden without further taxing city services." I couldn't agree more.

[What did we get?]

Thanks Truth. I know most people here have the best interests of the city at heart. I want something that's going to work for all of us.

[Fool on the Hill]

And another thing.

Observer says that “if you have no financial backing- its just what it ended up to be a pile of crap.” No community group that I’ve ever known of “has the backing. ” But more than any community group I know of, Mystic View took responsibility for making what they advocated real. One example ultimately was made public.

Forest City was one of the developers that Mystic View brought to meet with Mayor Gay. They wanted to build pretty much what Mystic View advocated. (Forest City is easy to find on the web.) When they went to Mayor Gay, she turned them away. By the time she realized that the mall owners were leading her on, her Redevelopment Authority had already given them control of Yard 21.

When Mayor Curtatone was trying to get the zoning changed so the mall owners could build the “crap” they wanted to, Forest City was negotiating to buy them out. As reported on the front page of the farm team paper, Bill White asked the Board of Aldermen to hold off on rezoning until Forest City could complete the negotiations. They obeyed the mayor instead. There are other examples.

[observer]

It's hard to argue with people who want to re-write history and maintain a vision that had and still has no financial support.

These are the facts:

1.) There was a solid group of developers who would have put up some big boxes, luxury condos, restaraunts, a book store, and office space...

2.) Mystic View Farce Group encouraged a woman who lived on McGrath Highway to file a lawsuit based on being an abutter and this put a very solid start to Assembly Square on hold for over 5 years and ultimately killed it off entirely. While the courts had to take this seriously- most reasonable people realized this was a frivilous waste of the court system

3.) Mystic View Farce Group in my opinion killed Somerville's Golden Goose and have done an excellent job discouraging other large investors from coming to town. The Group in historical terms will in my opinion be remembered as the group that could not shoot straight and cost Somerville an opportunity to move up several notches economically.

4.) The facts are that the surrounding cities had development booms over the past 5 years... Boston has its largest commercial development in history coming on line...

5.) The end result of the Mystic View Farce Group efforts was Assembly Square remains a dump... and Somerville has lost many millions each year in tax revenue.

You can cite any other rumors, half truths, etc. you like... but the proof my friends is Assembly Square as it stands today... and the lack of interest by good investors to do business in Somerville ...thanks largely to the MVFG

[City Hall Veteran]

I can talk about another of the “examples” that Fool mentions. I worked at City Hall during the Gay administration. I believe that Steve Post agreed with what Mystic View was trying to accomplish. He was the head of Housing and Community Development and the top person responsible for Assembly Square redevelopment.

In the late Fall of 2000, Mystic View got in touch with Steve and asked if he would set up a meeting between the mayor and an institutional investor. This investor had the financial strength to buy up all of Assembly Square, and a track record of partnering with developers to do the kind of projects that Mystic View was asking for. They called them “land transformations,” and the Board of Aldermen had endorsed that approach.

The afternoon that the meeting was scheduled, Mayor Gay told Steve that she would not take the meeting. Steve looked upset, disappointed, and embarrassed. About a week or so later, the mayor signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the developers, who were called ASLP. Bill Roche and other aldermen were upset, because she had promised to consult with the Board before making a commitment. But Alderman Curtatone expressed approval.

Observer is either like someone speaking to a foreigner who keeps getting louder when he isn’t understood. Or he’s like Herman Goebbles who repeated lies so much that they were believed. In response to challenges, he just keeps repeating the same allegations and insisting that anyone who offer proof to the contrary is putting out “rumors, half truths, etc,” I saw the facts up close.

[Born Here]

as everyone points fingers and passes the blame around, Ass'y Sq. remains a dead zone. We missed the boat.....again. So, looks like Union Sq., Public Safety building, Homans bldng., Powerhouse and Cummings schools, etc...The list goes on and on and on. All the bull associated with this City and its many greedy, hack infested departments dont have a clue on getting things done.

[Ron Newman]

Development doesn't happen in a day. What makes you think we 'missed the boat' and that it won't be built?

[observer]

City Hall Veteran,

LOL :)

And where did this institutional investor disappear to- the fence behind the grass knoll?

you guys just cannot handle the truth.

Your crew f--- up Somerville with your agendas and egos by killing the golden goose. And now try to blame others for your irresponsible actions and behavior.

[Bill Shelton]

Observer,

I get that you are extremely frustrated, because you keep stating “facts” that you believe should be obvious to all, and yet a lot of us don’t believe them. Let me see if I can explain why, taking the five points that you made.

1. Who was this “solid group of developers,” and what exactly did they promise to do? Assembly Square Limited Partners said that they would build a big new Home Depot, and at some unspecified future time, a small office building. IKEA said that they would build a big box, and at some future time, two small office buildings. The Redevelopment Authority gave ASLP control of Yard 21 instead of to a developer who promised to pay twice a much and immediately start building what we would all like to see. It’s still owned by the city. ASLP had promised to build dense mixed use, but they didn’t. They never intended to. They told their investors that they went after Yard 21 to improve the value of their A.S. portfolio so they could sell it and get out. That’s exactly what they did. You say that because of the lawsuits, the city missed out on a 5-year building boom. Well, ASLP could have begun building the dense mixed use they promised at any time during that period. THERE WAS NO LAWSUIT AGAINST IT. It was always a con job. Planning Board, Redevelopment Authority, and Adermanic minutes and filings, along with press coverage at the time, are all unequivocal on this points. That is evidence

2. No one disputes that a woman who was a member of Mystic View appealed the Planning Board decision on the Home Depot. What you haven’t explained is why blocking an illegal Home Depot prevented the promised dense mixed use development. Or why you believe that the city should violate its own laws to build a Home Depot. Or why, given all the demand for good development that you say was out there, the city changed the zoning to allow low-end development instead of demanding the development that makes the most of Assembly Square. Again, the court orders, aldermanic proceedings, and press overage are unequivocal. That is evidence.

3. Cathartes, the competing Yard 21 developer, Forest City, and many other developers who expressed interest in Assembly Square have stated publicly why they did not follow through. It was not because of Mystic View. It was because they were rebuffed by city officials who favored ASLP. J. Keilly, of Somerville, worked for Forest City at the time, and was quoted to this effect in the Boston Globe. Maybe you know him and can ask him. Or you could ask another Somervillian, Peter Miller, who was a partner in the Cathartes deal. That’s evidence.

4. Let’s accept your vague statements about a boom in surrounding cities at face value. Please explain how we could have enjoyed that here when the city downgrades zoning to accommodate developers who will build nothing but what you so accurately describe as “crap.”

5. Once again, you assert that Somerville has lost millions in revenue. What amounts in taxes from exactly what projects? And what new costs would thy produce? Even the report by the city’s own fiscal analyst dismissed this nonsense, and that’s evidence.

I encourage you to contradict any of the points that I’ve made with real evidence of your own. If you don’t have any, please don’t accuse people who do of “rewriting history,” or spreading “rumors” and “half truths.”

[City Hall Veteran]

Observer,

I don’t appreciate being called a liar, and especially not by someone who knows nothing of what he is talking about. You have also misidentified me as a member of Mystic View.

Everything that I wrote is true. At the time that I wrote about, the Mystic View people were very discrete in protecting the identity of developers who they brought to the city. I didn’t know then who the institutional investor was.

I subsequently took a job in one of the surrounding cities that you refer to. Later, in my new job and by accident, I found out who the institutional investor was. Now, after all these years, I don’t think that making it public hurts anyone.

It was the man who manages the real estate portfolio for MIT’s endowment. The proven track record that I wrote about was the University Park development in Cambridge that his fund had bankrolled. And by the way, I too heard from other developers that they couldn’t get into Assembly Square because Taurus and Gravestar had the city “wired.”

That, as Bill Shelton says, is evidence. But I believe that your hatred is more real to you than any amount of evidence could be.

[observer]

City Hall Veteran et al

I'll stand by my views.

The group referring to itself as the Mystic View Task Force have done a lot more damage to Somerville than any other single group in the history of the city.

Spreading rumors and allegations about what may have occured behind closed doors seems both irresponsible, petty, and vindictive.

The fact is Assembly Square is a dump thanks to Mystic View Farce Group.

The fact is many developers wont do business in Somerville because of the citizen group that will take you to court unless you do things their way.

Those are the facts... your statements are unproven rumors, lies, and half truths in my opinion.

As for Bill Shelton... If you take him seriously then I question your IQ... to me he is a pompous ass who likes to pontifiicate about things...

[Imux]

To an extent I agree with Observer that Mystic View Task Force's participation led to "paralysis by analysis". Nothing got done because too many damn groups and people had to throw in their 2 cents.

In the end there was so much division and uncertainty (and obviously - contracts being "wired" beforehand) that we are left with what we now have. A dump, an eyesore and an area that is probably generating < 10% of the commercial taxes it should. What a disgrace.

No matter whose fault it is -- in the end we (residents and small business owners here in Somerville) got the shaft.... again. Instead of expanding our commercial tax base (to help property tax rates) -- all we got were more pigs feeding at the trough and nothing getting done.

[Solh Zendeh]

"No matter whose fault it is..." I would say the fault, in the end, and as usual, lies with *us*, the residents (voters).

If you care about what is going on, you must actually get involved. The reason MVTF had a say in what happened, is that they actually got off their asses and figured out what they wanted and then advocated for it. That is called community participation, something for which there is rarely a direct reward in capitalism, and is therefore is a forgotten or never learned skill for most of us.

Observer, I suggest that if you see something you don't like - you show up at the meetings, or you form your own group of people to advocate for what you want. Even if everything you say is true, there is no reason to pay any attention to you because you are one single anonymous poster - ie, utterly worthless.

[Citizen]

Observer,

You write that "As for Bill Shelton... If you take him seriously then I question your IQ." No one who posts here takes him more seriously that you do. If you didn't, you wouldn't keep reading his column and posting such hateful messages here.

[observer]

Hate is a overused word among the P.C. crowd. Nothing I have said indicates any hate of Bill or his thinking. I believe the more appropriate word you should be using is total lack of respect for his positions and his comments. As far as I know Billy is a nice guy. I dont know him and lack any personal feelings about him- other than to exercise my right to correct and comment on any posts here.

I sense most people who defend Mystic View are either disengenous or lack the ability to accept the truth. During the commercial boom time that surrounded Somerville- the group killed off the golden goose by keeping in court for 5 years- and the end result is Home Depot, Staples, IKEA, and KMart... and no Orange Line...

[cabbie]

Hate is a very real commodity from the right and the left. You've got the right calling those who oppose the war terrorists. You've got people on the left who cheered when Cheney almost got blown up in Iraq. This hate isn't getting us anywhere. Hate isn't an overused word among the mythical PC set. It's very real.

But the real reason I'm commenting - How is "no Orange Line" the fault of Mystic View? I seem to recall MVTF wanted the Orange Line stop. Then again, why let facts get in the way of your mud slingin'.

[Diogenes]

When I was young and full of myself, I was sure that I understood what was wrong with the world and how to fix it. My history and civics teacher, Mr. Fedele, told me that if I really wanted to understand how the world worked, I should try to change it.

Now I’m not young or certain anymore. I found out that Mr. Fedele was right. As Solh suggests, those who get off their asses and try to make a difference are the ones who find out what is really going on. Then comes the harder part—explaining it in a way that those who care enough to do something will understand.

Things like what was going on with Assembly Square are far more complicated than the simple explanations that you get in the press or from rumor. Those who want to use spin and manipulate legitimate feelings of frustration against people who are innocently trying to make things better will always have an advantage over those who are trying to solve the problem by communicating its complexity.

The Mystic View people were no match for the developers’ high priced PR consultants, when the consultants had the full cooperation of city hall. For a lot of reasons, Observer’s explanation that Mystic View was trying to prove that they were “smarter than the townies” makes no sense, including the fact that many in MV were “townies.” And no one works that hard and takes so much abuse just to show someone up. (By the way, I don’t call myself a “townie,” and I don’t know anyone who does. So maybe observer is trying to stir up bitterness against the innocents again.)

I don’t think that Mystic View was trying to prove that they were smart. I think they made the false assumption that the Mayor and Aldermen were smart. No, that’s not quite right. They made the assumption that overwhelming evidence of what is best for our city would matter to its leaders. What matters to most of them is keeping their jobs and their little perks.

Over time, people begin to realize that the simplistic spin that they were sold isn’t true. But most of us don’t have the time to get involved in the way that Solh suggests. It’s not that we don’t care. We don’t even have time to check out the solid evidence that Truth Fan presents. So we end up concluding, like Imux and Born Here, that the spin doctors were wrong, but that everyone involved must be guilty. That’s a giant step beyond Observer, who is so emotionally invested in the spin that he can’t distinguish allegations from facts.

I really don’t know what the solution is. The saddest thing of all to me is how much of our city’s future the Mayor and Aldermen will throw into the trough that Imux referred to for such petty rewards. I miss Mr. Fedele.

[Citizen]

Diogenes,

I do too.

[Bill Shelton]

Empathy/Bigelow,

If you really believe that about Francine, then you believe something false and ugly about a good and decent person. If you are sincere and respect the truth, then I would enjoy discussing this with you. You know where I live.