The Westford Planning Board is now looking for volunteers to serve on its Master Plan Implementation Committee (MPIC).  This committee will report to the Planning Board and will be responsible for developing the specific follow-up measures necessary to implement the town’s Master Plan.<\p>

The MPIC will be responsible for working with consultants to craft by-laws, communicating with town boards and commissions and offering advice and counsel to the Planning Board on issues related to implementing the town’s Master Plan.<\p>

Indications are that the MPIC will have its work cut-out for it.  It will have to craft by-laws and regulations to manage and direct mixed use development along Rte 110 and Rte 40.  It will be responsible for examining the feasibility of a proposed “Transfer of Development Rights” by-law which is a mechanism for preserving open space in Westford.  The by-law will seek a formula through which developers can contribute open space in one area of town for density bonuses in other areas.<\p>

Finally, the MPIC may be asked to monitor the consolidation of several town agencies under a newly proposed Department of Public Works.  If this measure is passed by the Westford Town Meeting, the MPIC may be required to provide feedback to the Planning Board on the progress of the consolidation.<\p>

Persons interested in volunteering for this critical committee should contact the Town Clerk and complete a volunteer application form in which they specifically indicate that they would like to serve on the MPIC.  These names will be reviewed and appointments will be made by the Planning Board.<\p>

2010 has all the makings of a very memorable year.  At the very least it will be remembered as the year in which there was a major political event almost every other month.  Consider the following schedule of events.

• January 19 will witness the special election to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Senator Edward M.  Kennedy’s death.  Democract Attorney General Martha Coakley has squared away against feisty Republican State Senator Scott Brown for what some believe may be the race that will decide the fate of the free world.
• January 23 will see the WRTC conduct its caucus to select delegates to the state Republican convention in Worcester on April 17.  The tensions between Charlie Baker and Christy Mihos are just starting to build in that race.
• March 27 will be the new date for Westford’s annual town meeting.  Potential budget cuts and a possible second try at a consolidation measure hold the potential for melting the last of the winter’s icicles from the Abbot school’s roof.
• May 4 will be the date of this year’s town elections.  Two members of the WRTC will be seeking to hold their seats.  Arthur Benoit will defend his School Committee seat while Dennis Galvin will try to keep his seat on the Planning Board.

All of this action will climax in a spectacular fall political battle in which the Republican’s will attempt to take back the Governor’s office from lackluster Deval Patrick.  Republican Paul Avella will renew his efforts to oust Democrat Jim Arciero from the Second Middlesex seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

No matter how you look at it, there is a lot happening this year.  What is most surprising and reassuring is that here in the bluest of blue states, the embattled Massachusetts Republican Party continues to resist efforts by the state Democratic Party to eradicate it.  For a party that many said had died when Kerry Healy lost her bid for Governor, Massachusetts Republicans are fighting back harder than ever and at least in one instance are threatening a national upset and they are fighting this battle alone.

Many of the party’s critics attempt to downplay the obvious threat to the state’s Democratic monopoly.  Others, particularly extremist liberals, smugly reassure themselves between brief moments of panic, that their iron grip on the hearts and minds of Massachusetts voters remains strong.  Other pundits are dumbfounded that a party so near to extinction could surge to the point where they could upset the entire balance of power in the Bay State.  How could this be?  Well, maybe its just the simple truth that you can’t kill a good idea.  Abraham Lincoln’s observation rings truer now than ever: “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” The Massachusetts Republican party is living proof that Abraham Lincoln was right.