One More Photo

One more image of the campaign. I think we won the battle of lawn signs, and this was won more strategy that got us more than 15 votes.

Thanks to Mary for this and most of the campaign photos we have posted, which I have not always acknowledged properly.

Swearing In

A group of us met at the town hall today to be sworn in together. Bridget and the girls all came to watch. Thanks again to all our supporters who made this possible. Then at 5 we had our first meeting - mostly a reorganization - I am the new clerk! So my first "speech" was the clerk's duty of moving to go into executive session to discuss land acquisition. Next meeting: June 6.

The group: Jen, me, Mary, Jose, Suzanne

We Win!

Now it's official, we won the selectman's race - 1094 to 1079. The override passed and my campaign partners Mary Chaffee and Jose Fernandez won the two seats on the Board of Health. Thank you to all the volunteers who stood out today, made calls, hosted events, organized, and especially those who served on the Committee to Elect. All of you made more than a 15 vote difference. Somewhere up there, Dad is smiling.

The early Cape Codder story.

Message to Supporters

As the campaign nears the end, I want to thank all of you for your support. Now we need you to take some time to help us over the finish line.

1. Make phone calls on our behalf. Call 10-20 people Monday afternoon/evening to remind people to vote and to make the case for Dickson for Selectman. Reach out to neighbors and friends who may not always be active voters. Some talking points:
a. A new perspective to bring positive change
b. Introduce long-term planning so every year isn’t a crisis
c. Increase transparency so we can better follow our government
d. Work toward consensus to increase the success of major projects
e. Improve the business climate in town
f. Support open space and water protection initiatives
g. Support the override

2. Email your contacts to remind them to vote and to give a brief testimonial about how to vote. Use this link to Dave Whitney’s excellent letter - http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2011/05/12/why-i-support-john-dickson-for-brewster?blog=36 You can also link to our blog – http://dicksonforselectman.blogspot.com - our newspaper ad - http://dicksonforselectman.blogspot.com/2011/05/campaign-ad.html - or our flier - http://dicksonforselectman.blogspot.com/2011/04/our-campaign-flier.html

3. In your communications, consider also talking up Mary Chaffee and Jose Fernandez. They have been intimately involved with our campaign, and we are lucky to have two such amazingly qualified people running for the Board of Health. Also, Suzanne McInerney has been supportive of our campaign and is an excellent candidate for the Planning Board.

4. Consider standing out with us on Tuesday at the Baptist church. Email me back – johntdickson@gmail.com if you are able – we will provide shelter from the rain showers that may roll through.

5. Call your phone list back Tuesday afternoon to make sure people have voted.

Thank you in advance for your work on this final push. See you at the polls! -John Dickson

Yes on Question 1

Here is I letter I submitted to CapeCodToday.com about why we need to support the override.


Yes on Question 1

I urge all Brewster voters to vote Yes on Question 1 to support the override. The results of this question will shape the nature and quality of our town services, and couldn’t be more critical to maintaining excellence in our schools. Our future is on the line.

After the cuts our elementary schools endured last year, the quality of education suffered. The loss of a reading specialist will have a long-term impact on students who need extra support to keep up with their peers. This impact will affect the children as individuals and the school as a whole in its test scores. Also, the reduction in library and technology instruction for all students will similarly impact students’ skills into the future. We need to restore these important positions.

If the override passes we will be able to partially restore these positions as well as cover a jump in special education expenses. If the override fails, the special education expenses will still have to be covered, so not only will we be unable to restore lost positions from last year, we will have to cut an additional $340,000 from the school budget. And this will grow to nearly $450,000 if the other three towns pass the regional override (Wellfleet already has), forcing the town to fund that increase from the existing budgets.

Such cuts will devastate our schools. There are no “extras” in the school budget after years of reductions. We saw that last year when the cuts hit critical areas. To close this gap, classroom teachers will have to be let go leading to a major jump is class sizes. This will fundamentally undermine the approach of our schools that has been so successful.

An override failure will have a similar impact of the town budget. However the cuts are allocated, they will impact programs that citizens rely on.

Beyond the immediate impact, an override failure would hurt the town even more over time. It would erode our services and diminish our quality of life. It would make Brewster less attractive to visitors and lead to a decline in revenue for our businesses. These effects, and the impact on our schools would reduce the flow of families with young children into Brewster thus leading to a decline in property values. Such risks should make any voter wonder, given the precarious situation of many town services, whether we can afford not to pass the override.

So Question 1 presents a choice about the future of the town. Eventually, better planning may help avoid this kind of budget crisis. But this year, the override is necessary and unavoidable if we want to preserve the Brewster we know and love. Please vote yes on Question 1.

The Last Sunday on the Trail

For a while the afternoon was beautiful, as I walked LP Albert and Oliver Roads with Louise in the Baby Bjorn. Then I headed over for another afternoon of campaigning at the transfer station, and the rain returned. Then I walked Greenland Pond and Beechtree Roads dodging raindrops - thank you to Joan for lending me an umbrella for the occasional downpour. The finish line is in sight!

The Last Saturday on the Trail

After coaching T-ball this morning, I went over to the Transfer Station from 1-3 and got a lot of positive feedback on the newspaper profiles. Then I got to walk around the 137 area some more - McGuerty to the dirt road loop of Old Long Pond. Again, a very positive response, and I met this Guard Turkey:

My Favorite Places in Brewster, Part 8

The Herring Run on Stony Brook.

No fish in the run this morning (still coming in surges I hear), but a great morning for Pooh Sticks.

The Final Weekend

So we are gearing up for the final push this weekend. I will be posting some letters to use with your online networks this weekend to broaden our support and get people energized about voting on Tuesday. A great one to use is the CapeCodToday letter - see 6 posts below.

From here, it is all about GOTV - Get Out The Vote!

Holocaust Memorial

I thought I'd include here a special event from school that our STAND (Students Taking Action Now Darfur) group is doing together with Ms. Chilaka's Peer Leadership class.

One of the important themes we have been emphasizing at HHS for the last 5 years is genocide awareness. Ahead of the Holocaust Memorial events next week at Nauset Middle School, we planted 3000 flags - one for every 500 children killed.


These were the 30 students from our S-block Psychology and Peer Leadership classes who finished planting the flags today. There is a powerful effect to see the kids spread out among the flags memorializing the 1.5 million killed - about 10% of all deaths in the Holocaust.

Northside Fundraiser

We had a great event at the Northside tonight. About thirty supporters joined us for an italian dinner and some entertainment and campaign discussion. We ended with a sing-a-long to our campaign theme - "We, the People".


Here is a nice shot of the four candidates in attendance tonight - Suzanne McInerney, myself, Jose Fernandez, and Mary Chaffee. It makes for a great slate of candidates for your ballot next Tuesday. Thanks especially to Art and Cate for their hospitality at the Northside, and to Jose and Mary for co-hosting the event.

Here we are singing the Preamble:

Dave's Letter

There is a great letter by Dave Whitney that is up on capecodtoday.com. Usually I hesitate to read the comments below, but there are some good ones here.

Click here for the link.

Breakfast at the Brewster Store

Stopped by the Brewster Store for breakfast this morning and had a nice discussion sitting around the stove with the 6AM regulars. I hope to pay a return visit after the campaign.

Campaign Ad

This is the campaign ad that will appear in this week's Cape Codder. Thank you to all the folks who offered to appear in the ad and who gave us release forms - there were actually many more than we could fit. Hope you like it!

Dinner Thursday

We are hosting a dinner this Thursday at the Northside Restaurant on 6A - $25 a person at the door - I will be providing some entertainment. If interested, please rsvp to Dave Whitney at davidwhitney167@comcast.net - you can come last minute but we are trying to give an estimate of people to the restaurant by the end of Wednesday or Thursday morning. Hope to see you there!

Sunday on the Trail

I started the day at the Brewster Store at 7 AM, met a few folks, but found I was an hour too late to meet the regulars. Headed down to the Brewster Coffee Shop to say hi to a few friends. Then off to mass. After some work on the house, I headed to the dump fro the afternoon. As always, time there is well spent meeting new people and talking issues. The Drummer Boy dog situation was a big topic today. It seems to me that there ought to be a way to accommodate both the dog folks and the people who want to take their kids to the playground. Perhaps there can be a schedule set up where dogs can run free from 6-10 in the morning and 5-9 at night, and in between dog have to be on a leash. It seems to me that these are the times when I see the most dogs there, and kids are more likely to be there in the middle of the day. Just a thought. . .

Walking the neighborhood

After getting home from the transfer station, I got a chance to do another neighborhood walk - this time our neighborhood around Long Pond and Old Long Pond Roads. I had some valuable conversations, and if elected, I think I have a new go-to source of wisdom in a retired Town Hall staffer over on Twinturn.

Transfer Station with Dan Wolf

I had the honor today of being joined at the transfer station from 1-3 by our State Senator Dan Wolf. We had a great time meeting voters and talking about the issues. We convinced some folks to support the campaign, and at the same time hopefully the override.

I have to say how much I admire Dan. We have some things in common, as "fathers with daughters" (West Wing reference) with similar haircuts, and I think our basic political instincts, as consensus builders, are aligned. The work he has done with Cape Air is phenomenal and has made such an impact on Cape Cod. He ran into a retired reservations agent, and it was obvious just what a tight family Cape Air really is. We are fortunate to have a man with that kind of business acumen and genuine empathy willing to run for state office.

Thank you to all who stopped by to say hi!

Candidates' Forum

This morning, the Brewster Democratic Town Committee hosted the only candidates' forum of the campaign at the Council of Aging. Candidates gave 5-minute speeches and then took questions. They held separate panels for Elementary School Committee, Regional School Committee, Board of Health, Planning Board, and finally Selectmen. The incumbent Selectman, Greg Levasseur, who I am challenging, had a number of supporters in the audience who during the question period got up to say why they they wouldn't vote for me, and perhaps get around to a question. For those who get a change to see it on Channel 18 (first showing at noon on Sunday), you can decide if you think this was an ambush. I think my responses were strong - perhaps stronger than my prepared remarks. We also videoed the session and I will try to put that online sometime this weekend.

Click here for the test of my opening statement

Another Meet and Greet

We had a wonderful event last night at Fran Schofield's, co-hosted by the Barnards and Karen North Wells. About two dozen folks came by and we had an extensive discussion of the issues facing Brewster. Thank you to the hosts and guests - these events, and the chance they offer to have a full conversation, have been a real high light of the campaign.

Press Release: Sen Wolf to Greet Voters with John Dickson

Press Release: Sen Wolf to Greet Voters with John Dickson

Sen. Dan Wolf will be greeting voters at the Brewster Transfer Station on Saturday May 7 at 1PM with John Dickson, candidate for Brewster Selectman. Press is welcome.

Town Meeting Concludes

Town meeting concluded tonight with a more modest crowd and less contentious debate. We approved most of the articles with only a few getting extended discussion. After some arguing and a rare "motion to lay on the table", we did adopt a new approach to the approval process for major projects in town - one intended to be more cooperative. A plan to spend $24,000 for a review of the golf operation got some opposition, though I think it is worthwhile and could generate more revenue for the town from an improved system. And the resolution urging our federal and state representatives to take action toward a federal Constitutional Amendment undoing the Citizens United decision, after some comment and my suggestion that we remind our legislators about the two different methods of proposing Constitutional Amendments, passed easily. After two nights of animated discussion and pure democracy, I can say that as always I am proud to live in Brewster.

Town Meeting Update

It was quite an eventful town meeting last night - even though we only covered 11 articles in 4 hours, three of which got the most attention. The longest discussion - about two hours - was about Article 5 of the Special Town Meeting Warrant (taken up first), a by-law change which would have authorized the Board of Selectmen to go forward with the proposed two 1.8MW wind turbine project at Commerce Park, without Planning Board approval. Citizens spoke passionately on both sides of the issue. In the end the vote was 725 for and 411 against, which fell 33 votes short of the 2/3 needed for the by-law revision.

I voted in favor of the project, but I can see why some people were uncomfortable with the scale of the turbines or the process used in this article. I would like to investigate more ideas for clean energy production on town land. Working with interested citizens, I would like to see if there are different configurations that might create similar benefits to the town with perhaps smaller turbines and possibly more of them.

The other topic of discussion last night was the budget override. The elementary school budget, including a $341,000 override, came up first and received the most discussion. After 45 minutes or so, the budget passed with few dissenting votes. Next came the town operating budget discussion, including a $215,000 override. After Mr. Levasseur explained his lone vote on the Board of Selectman against the budget, I spoke in favor. I wanted to acknowledge the sacrifice that we are being asked to make, and to argue that sacrifice is necessary this year to preserve the character of the town. This article similarly passed overwhelmingly. The last article of the night covered the third piece of the budget override - the Nauset Regional School budget, $244,000 subject to the override vote. After Dr. Hoffman's presentation, very few questions were asked before this too passed easily.

So the budget override has passed the town meeting hurdle, but history shows that the town election ballot is the more difficult obstacle. Our campaign is strongly in support of the override this year, and we will keep pushing on this issue. We appeal to all Brewster voters to vote on May 17, and to please vote Yes on Question 1 as well as hopefully voting for me for selectman. As I have said on the campaign trail, I would rather lose the race and have the override pass, than the other way around. Though I see no reason why we can't both win!

Town Meeting Tonight!

Brewster Town Meeting, that uniquely New England exercise in direct democracy, is tonight! We hope to see you there - we'll be saying hi as folks arrive.

Music Festival

I had a great time playing at Drummer Boy as part of the KOA Music Festival. A special thank you to Bert Jackson for organizing and running this event and thank you to Sam Mason for helping and taking pictures. I played a half dozen songs and ended again with The Preamble - our theme song! And if you've never heard Nauset Senior Anna Hirst sing, you should - she closed the festival and she is the best young songwriter on the Cape.

Brewster in Bloom Parade

We had a fantastic time at the parade today. Thank you to all who helped out and marched with us and cheered for us along the way. Some photos:

The Banner Carriers - Adam, Don, Dave:


The lead car - the Kellys:


Shaking hands at the Council On Aging:


My mother and mother-in-law pushing the strollers:


Working the crowd as a team with Catherine:


One last family photo: The context is wrong, but a line from an Eagles song came to mind - "Well I'm walking down the road, trying to loosen my load, I got seven women on my mind . . . "


Thank you to Board of Health candidates Mary Chaffee and Jose Fernandez who walked with us today. Thank you to Oliver for being our most enthusiastic advocate. And thank you to Mary for the photos!

Sunday at Brewster in Bloom

Two events tomorrow:

First, the Brewster in Bloom Parade at 1 PM. Anyone who would like to join us should meet on Underpass Rd around 12:15-12:30 - you need to enter Underpass Rd from Rt. 137. There will be parking on Underpass, and a shuttle bus back form the end at Swamp Rd. We will have t-shirts and hats to wear and signs to carry and cards and stickers to hand out. We are #8 in the parade.

Second Event - An acoustic set by the candidate at Drummer Boy Park from 3-3:30 PM. Join us at the band shell and be ready to sing along with the Preamble - "We, the people . . . "

Bloom Run

Four of us sported campaign shirts in the Brewster in Bloom 5k this morning. It was a perfect morning for a run - perhaps 300 entrants. The candidate finished in a respectable 24:56.

Brewster in Bloom 5K

Brewster in Bloom weekend is here! Tomorrow morning I will be running the 5k road race with a group of supporters - we will be sporting our new campaign t-shirts. If anyone wants to join us meet us after registration at 9:30 in front of the Woodshed.

Meet and Greet

We had a wonderful "meet the candidate" event at the Scheiers' house last night. Around a dozen of us had a great discussion about the challenges facing the town. Among other issues, we talked about the importance of the override this year. This was our third such event with two more scheduled. They are a great way to connect with concerned citizens in town. Thank you Bill and Cathy!

Full Moon Open Mic

Thanks to organizer, host, and performer extraordinaire David Roth and 20 other musicians, poets, and storytellers, we enjoyed a fabulous evening at the Brewster Ladies Library for the Full Moon Open Mic. David started the night with a song about voting he wrote in support of Dan Wolf last year, so I felt OK about getting up an discussing my candidacy later before leading a sing-a-long of the Schoolhouse Rock version of the Preamble. The Cape has an amazing reservoir of artistic talent, much of which was on display last night. David runs the open mic periodically around the time of the full moon (off by about a week this month) when his touring schedule allows. It occurred to me that this would be great for a Channel 18 broadcast.

In addition to other Brewster in Bloom events that will be announced later this week, I will be playing at the KOA Music Festival hosted by Bert Jackson at Drummer Boy (the bandstand I believe) on Sunday May 1. The event goes from 10-4, and I will be playing the 3-3:30 time slot - after the parade. Hope to see you there!

Easter Egg Hunt

Happy Easter Eve! The Brewster Rec gang did a great of accommodating an enormous crowd for the Easter egg hunt moved inside to the Carriage House at Ocean Edge. Our girls had a blast as always.

I also got to spend a cold, wet hour at the transfer station this afternoon. Thank you to all who took the time to chat.

My Favorite Places in Brewster, Part 7

After checking the herring run which was empty at 9 AM, we went to Drummer Boy Park.

A beautiful day for Walking

We kept up our busy vacation week campaign push today with two more neighborhood walks. This morning, Mary Chaffee (candidate for the Board of Health) and I walked Main St. and Alden for a couple hours. We had great discussions with innkeepers and shop owners about how we can improve the climate for small businesses in Brewster. I had an idea to form a task force of merchants and town officials to come up with a long-term strategy. Pictured above is Candleberry Inn co-owner Charlotte Fyfe - the kind of wise entrepreneur that we can learn a lot from.

This afternoon, I toured part of the Crowell's Bog neighborhood with Nadine Magazu, meeting folks on Carlton Circle, Tanglewood, and Sheep Pond Circle, as well as Crowell's Bog. This is one of the most scenic areas in Brewster. Again I'd like to thank the many citizens who took the time to meet and talk with us.

On the trail

A busy day on the campaign trail! After a nice morning coffee with some Crosby Lane folks graciously hosted by the Lambs, I headed over to walk around with Karen North Wells along Satucket and the full length of Rocky Hill. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon on Common Way. It was a great day of meeting voters and discussing the issues. Thanks to all who welcomed us. More tomorrow!

Daily Update

We had two campaign events today. First, I was Marcia Galazzi's guest at the Nauset Rotary breakfast this morning, bright and early at 6:30. Nauset, like all Rotary clubs, does great work in the community and beyond, and it was a pleasure to get to know some Rotarians. Look for their Pancake Breakfast fundraiser May 1, 7-11 at Captain Elmer's - just before the parade!

Later, I went door to door with the Whitneys off of Great Fields Rd - Lake Shore, Tracy, Pine Bluff, etc. We talked to a couple dozen folks and hopefully earned some votes. Mikey and Vicki were troopers and great doorbell ringers. Thank you!

Campaign Kickoff Event

Last night, the Johnsons hosted our campaign kickoff event. About 20 of us gathered to discuss the campaign and the issues facing the town. The group included two outstanding candidates for the Board of Health - Dr. Mary Chaffee and Dr. Jose Fernandez. This week I will be knocking on doors in various neighborhoods in town with some of the folks from the gathering - retail politicking. One month to the election!

My Favorite Places in Brewster Part 6

Another favorite place in Brewster - Little Cliff Pond Trail in Nickerson State Park. Isabel once asked Catherine, "Will you be my best friend?" "OK, but you gotta promise to stick with me."

Online Survey

We have designed an online survey to generate a database of supporters. Please click here to take the survey!

Our Campaign Flier

Here is our campaign flier. Btw, I did a little research after seeing it as "flyer" several places, and according to grammarist.com, both are right for any of the meanings, but "flier" is more common in American English, and "flyer" is more common in British English, so I'm sticking with flier.

Our Campaign Logo

OK, my grades are in and the house is out of quarantine. So let the roll out begin - our campaign logo - soon to be seen as a lawn sign around town. Email me at johntdickson@gmail.com if you want to put one on your lawn - particularly if you are in a high traffic area in Brewster.

Campaign Kickoff Week

While we have been quiet online this week, we have been busy gearing up the campaign. This week we will release our campaign flier and lawn sign design, and next Sunday, we will officially kick off our campaign - a month ahead of the election - more to come soon!

Eddy School Guest Presentation

I got to visit my daughter's class today at the Eddy School. They are preparing a Uganda exhibit for the International Fair this Friday. It turns out I lived in Uganda for 6 months in 1995 (working for an anthropologist studying chimps there), so I offered to give a slide show about the country. They seemed to enjoy the pictures and the stories - and I had a blast. Thank you Ms. Princi!

A chameleon we were lucky enough to spot.

A very pregnant lioness lounging in a tree.

One of the many adult male chimps in our study community.

Listening Tour

As part of the first stage of the campaign, I have been visiting with various town officials to learn more about how their departments work and how this fits into the overall operation of the town. I want to highlight one - my visit yesterday with Denise Rego, Director of the Council on Aging. We had a great discussion about how to improve the Council going forward - given the increasing numbers of elderly in our community. I also got a tour of their facilities and an overview of the many operations they run out of the old town hall. Thank you Denise!

My Favorite Places in Brewster, Part 5

We went out exploring after breakfast at Grumpy's, and took a brisk pic at Saint's Landing.

Day in Boston

Spent the day with Senators-for-the-day Camille Dings and Laura Adams at Student Government Day at the State House.

My Favorite Places in Brewster, Part 4

The firehouse! I got a chance to stop by this week to talk to Chief Moran. They are always welcoming to kids, especially Firefighter Glenn. This is after the Easter Egg Hunt last year.

From Class Today

I was teaching about Gorbachev today (as part of our Comparative Government unit), about glosnost and perestroika, and I brought up my strongest memory of glasnost - when Vladimir Horowitz, the great Russian pianist, was finally able to return to Moscow to play. The concert in April 1986 was broadcast live on CBS Sunday Morning - I remember watching it and being moved by the incredible emotions of the audience, who had been separated from their culture for so long, and now had this great moment of healing. I've described this to students often, but today it occurred to me to see if this is on youtube, and of course it is. Here is the video - it is well worth 2:29 of your time.

My Lucky Watch

After my father passed away eleven years ago next month, we found this old watch of his. My wife had it cleaned up and a new strap put on it, and gave it to me for my birthday. Now as we begin this campaign, I'm going to try to remember to wear it every day. My dad was a Selectman and State Representative in Weston (MA) all through my childhood, serving the town for about thirty years. Somewhere I think he's probably smiling to watch me run for office for the first time. I hope his watch brings me luck.

My Favorite Places in Brewster, Part 3

The Stony Brook Marsh trail at the Museum of Natural History

My Favorite Places in Brewster, Part 2

My middle daughters at Ellis Landing last April. Hopefully we'll be back on the beach soon!

My Favorite Places in Brewster, Part 1

In the first of an occasional series, here is one of my favorite places in Brewster - the Solar Calendar on Wing Island - my two older daughters and my father-in-law.

Signatures are Certified!

Last Friday, I took out papers to run for selectman. Last weekend, we spent some time collecting about 100 signatures, mostly at the muffin wars at Stony Brook. Tuesday I handed in the signatures at the town clerk's office. And yesterday I got the call that the signatures had been certified (we only needed 50). So the campaign is officially on!