Come One Come All Toll Hike Protest
If you have followed the news, you would have seen the large protest in E Boston on 12/3 over the proposed Toll Hike. Please check out the good people at www.stopthepike.org and www.stopthepikehike.org . There is credible, working class opposition to the hikes and the gas tax increase.
I invite ALL who want to show your NON support of a Toll Hike and gas tax increase, while the commuters from the North and South still pay nothing for the Big Dig debt, to gather outside, in the front of the Memorial Building, 150 Union Ave, at 6PM. The public meeting starts at 6:30 PM in Nevins Hall. Send a message to Rep Pam Richardson, Rep.PamRichardson@hou.state.ma.us , Senator Karen Splika , Karen.E.Spilka@state.ma.us and all the rest of the Metro West Legislators, the Governor, Benard Cohen and Alan LeBovidge, inform them of your complete disappointment with their actions and tell them, to take a hike … with the hike and demand fairness from them all.
Contact me if you wish to help organize, jimpillsbury@verizon.net
Who to contact:
Governor's Office
Governor Deval Patrick
Office of the Governor
Room 360
Boston, MA 02133
p- 1-888-870-7770
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3_contact_us
Your State Legislators
www.mass.gov/legis/city_town.htm
State of Massachusetts
Transportation Secretary
Bernard Cohen
Executive Office of Transportation
10 Park Plaza, Suite 3170
Boston, MA 02116
p- 617-973-7000
f- 617-973-8031
http://www.mhd.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgrid=content/content&sid=contact
Mass Turnpike Authority
Executive Director
Alan LeBovidge
Mass Turnpike Authority
State Transportation Building
10 Park Plaza, Suite 4160
Boston, MA 02116
p- 617-248-2800
http://www.masspike.com/contactus/index.html
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 10:13 PM
48 Comments
48 Comments:
Mr. Pillsbury, are you planning to speak? I am against these tolls 100% but I am not sure I could stand up and speak at a public meeting. I will be there, but I am hoping you will speak for those of us who don’t have the nerve to do it ourselves.
Nice information for us all to use. I wrote to all of them today. We need to inundate them so they can not say they did not hear from us. They will have to admit they just don’t want to listen to us. See you on the steps on the 17th.
We will be there to voice our opposition to this disasterous fix that won’t fix anything. You can't just continue to throw money at the problem when the problem continues to be a problem and expect to solve it! Time for us to make it immpossible for them to ignore us. Thanks for getting this information out there Jim. Much appreciated
December 17th, a week before Christmas when everyone is busy. Do you think picking that date was an accident?? Screw them. I will be at the meeting .
Nice job pulling this all together. Count me in, I am sick of this crap, I will be on the steps. See you all on the 17th of December.
My mother always said to pick your fights, well, I am picking this one. Enough is enough. Time to stand up for what is right. I will be there on the 17th, hope lots of others will be there too.
I'll be there with bells on and a loud voice of protest. This sucks!
Nice blog, lots of great information, but I did not even know this existed. Figured after the election you shut this down. Found out about this when a neighbor mentioned he got some information here. You need to get the blog address out there where people who use thier commputers to stay informed will find it. Glad I did. Thanks for all the work you put in on this.
Isn’t it pretty much a forgone conclusion that they are going to increase the gas tax and increase our tolls? It is lousy, I agree, but they have to raise the money. Jim raises a very valid point about the inequity of the tolls, that metro west commuters pay so much, and Rte 3, 93 commuters pay nothing. I think instead of pushing for no tolls, which we know won’t fly, we should be listening to what Jim says and pushing for the addition of tolls for those other commuters. The money has to come from somewhere. But if we are going to push for that, they will argue that there is no mechanism in place to collect tolls from those commuters, so how about thinking of a way to address that argument? Jim, we look to your for leadership, any ideas on how to collect from those other commuters with no toll booths in place?
Why are they even holding public hearings when they obviously don’t want to hear what the public has to say? Why should we even bother? Mr. Pillsbury, you are to be commended for trying to get people to attend this meeting on the 17th, but do you really think it will accomplish anything, or are we just wasting our time? I am planning to attend just because not attending makes it easier for them to charge me, but I really would like to know if there is any chance we can stop the toll increase?
Good People,
I can't say for sure.. anything I we or you do, will change any outcome. They, The Turnpike BOD, Governor, Reps, even our own local elected stewards are not listening to us on just about everything we hold dear. But if I lay down and let them walk over me... then I have no bitch and no reason to complain. Yes, they all got re elected with ease and yes, they haven't listened to us for decades now about toll increases, but by showing some visible opposition, like they did in E Boston last week, ATLEAST shows them how we are united against the idea of higher tolls and perhaps higher gas tax. In the cold, days before the holidays while many worry about there jobs and futures. Folks in E Boston have threatened to lay down in the road. Not that I suggest that any one do this here in Framingham, but I do admire their spirit.
So... the idea of fairly taxing North and South is not without merit and if our Reps had any kyunes, they would demand it. Gas tax is easy for them on the Hill and Linsky in Natick. But the out of state drivers will most likely not buy there gas here. Give away the transponders, pay what we pay to travel to 128 say from Exit 13. Perhaps, pre fab electronic toll stations for just one direction of the commute. Have one toll station at 495. Most of the time traffic moves relatively slow from both directions from 6AM on.
No more Mass Pike toll increases for at least 5 years. Keep the dam tolls... they will never give them up anyway, no matter what increase in gas tax they get... it's more smoke and mirrors. I'm no expert in any of this, but fair is fair and you don't need a PhD to know what fairness is. I'm sure there are hurdles and obstacles to this whole idea, but to take tolls North and South off the table as they did months ago, is NOT fair.
I'm very sure there are even better ways to collect tolls form the North and South and I'll bet someone has already done much of the groundwork and with the new administrations goal of highway projects, some cool up front money may come from... oh no... US, to build quickly toll stations. They have though about it... and even rejected it.. this past few months. They know.. .deep down, tolls, North and South would be the fairest and economically best long term solution for paying the big dig dept.
Bottom line... so few really care enough to take a responsibly educated honest stand.. on any issue, but the toll increases piss most people off. And wether they know it or not, their Reps could care less and do nothing but provide lip service and party line quotes to those of us who are pissed.
I'll be there at 6PM. I'll have some signs, say some words and let them know we are not in favor of ANY Toll increase, peacefully. Go to the meeting at 6:30 and help get the message out. Unless we can burn our toll tickets? Any Mass Pike employee's out there willing to donate?
Lots of good information here for people, if they know this blog even exists. You need to do more to get this address out there!
When is the big dig going to stop being OUR bill? I can not charge my company for expenses I incurr without their prior approval. I don't remember anyone asking me to approve these charges! This is ludicrous. We can not let them get away with this without at least putting up a fight.
why not just go to the regular meeting? what purpose does showing up on the steps ahead of time have? if we stand together at the meeting and voice our opposition, that should do the trick. I appreciate your efforts, and the information this blog provides, and you are going a great job, but you are not going to get people to stand on the steps in the cold at 6pm. Most people commuting on the Mass Pike aren't even home to Framingham by 6pm.
Lets make them stand on the cold steps with us. If we are outside and they are inside, they won't hear anything we say. If we are there at 6 and they don't show until 6:30, they won't hear anything we say. I like your idea, but I think we should just blast them at the scheduled meeting myself. I do check here every day to see what is new before I leave work. Thanks for posting all this information
This is not going to get us anywhere, just a waste of everyone's time. Your intentions are good, but really, do you think they are going to listen to any of us? Their minds are already made up!
Great idea about the protest on the steps, but I am mot going to home from Boston early enough to make it for 6pm. All that Mass Pike traffic you know. But I will be there for the hearing, hopefully by 6:45. Hoe this blog raises people's awareness and gets them to this meeting. Thanks for your efforts in that area Jim.
Jim, do you pays this toll yourself? I hear you don't, so why is this your battle? Do you really care, or is this just a political maneuver on your part? Not trying to be sarcastic or offensive, this is an honest question.
Framingham,
I've paid the tolls since 1975. The company I worked for just got sold and I started a new job down the street, so no, I don't pay tolls anymore, until they put a toll both on Rte 135. I worked on the ballot question for tolls years ago and on my TV show, I was one of the first to expose the lack of oversight and fraud in the Big Dig. I will always stand on the side of toll fairness, fiscal responsibility and eliminating waste and fraud from our State government, whether I drive the Pike or not.
Fair question though
D,
If I had my way, I would have the Turnpike BOD, our Reps and Governor, brought to the harbor and tossed in.... like they did with Tea Leaves so many years ago... just to make a point.
I will.. as you will be at the meeting, if you can make it in time. But just know that whether it's 10 or 500 people standing in the cold, on the steps, the message will get out that toll increases to pay for the big hole, is not something we all agree with.
Yes.. they will do whatever they want... and we can't stop them, but this battle spans now generations and most young and old people understand something has to be done. My hope is to get media coverage on this issue and make it clear to those who make bad decisions, Metro West is watching.
sounds like a good plan of attack. I will be there to speak up, hope lots of others will also.
I agree with everything everyone says here, including that showing up is probably a waste of time, but that showing up is important. Guess it is one of those no win situations, so cover all bases and show up on the chance that if enough of us do that, they may have to listen, not because they want to, but because they will look like idiots if they don't. I can spare a few hours to show them up for the bastards they are taking money from us to pay for thier mistakes when we don't have enough money to put food on our tables!
Merry Christmas...give me all your money for tolls and if you have any left, then you can buy a present or 2. Feels like that is what they are saying when they hold this public hearing 7 days before Xmas eve. I think they know that makes it less likely people will show up. I say we surprise them an overwhelm them. I will make the meeting, but with my commute, I won't make the steps by 6pm. But good luck
For those of you who don't see the Framingham paper, the Republicans are actually going to do something on Wednesday night before the public meeting... hipp hipp horaay!
A bipartisan effort... as long as you are a Democrat or a Republican.
Monkey see.. Monkey do Mr .Chairman
Did you see the paper today? Trying to steal our thunder. You do the work and they try to reap the credit. They are such losers, definately not leaders! Jim, WE know you got this out there and they are only doing this to take the limelight away from you, so for all of us who have been informed using this blog, thank you and keep up the good work Don't let those losers get you down.
Hope that lots of people show up tomorrow night, even though those bastards scheduled this for 15 minutes before Jim scheduled his. I bet they would have done nothing if Jim had not organized something. But in the end, I guess the important goal is to stop the toll increases, so Jim getting this going motivated them to get something going so he did what he set out to do, although not necessarily in the way he planned to do it! Anyway, just show up, it is important for all of us. This simply is not fair to metrowest commuters.
Time for metrowest to take a stand and stop being pushed around. Show up, take your 2 minutes to voice your opinion, let them know we all vote, and we will NOT be voting for anyone that does not work actively with us to stop this. Notice, no Richardson on the list of people attending. Pillsbury will be there, representing the will of the people. You can not tell me anyone from Framingham is FOR this toll increase, so why isn’t Richardson organizing something to get this stopped?
Tomorrow night is important. These idiots stealing the show from Pillsbury should not discourage us from going. In this case, the end does justify the means. Show up and be heard. And remember, they would not be on the steps opposing this at 5:45 if Pillsbury had not planned to be on the steps at 6pm to oppose this.
See you all there we hope. Remember, the more the merrier and this is the season to be merry.
Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New Year too, especially to you Jim. Success to us all next year.
Time to scare the bejeezez out of them. Show up in mass and don’t sit quietly by, speak up and let them know this is unfair, unjust, and probably unethical and we in metrowest are not going to take it anymore. This is wrong. Show then that we hold them accountable.
What did we all do before we had computers at work to long into these things on? Anyway, I will be there by 7pm when I am out of work. Let’s hand together and hang tough, don’t just lie down and let them run over us with this toll increase as if we had no say. We do have a say, so let’s use it.
The more the merrier.... and Pam WILL be there to testify. The bipartisan hypocrites that will speak on the steps will only add to my intolerance of their lip service. The party loyalist are responsible for this mess to begin with... but it's the fair minded people who will get something done, not the politicians.
See you all on Wednesday.
The time for bitching is over, and the time for action is here. Jim gave us the forum for venting, now we need to take that venting to the people who can address our concerns. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that this blog solves the issues, because as great as this is, and as informational as Jim keeps this blog, we still need to say to the powers that be what Jim has been allowing us to say here. Jim is one voice, albeit a loud and recognized one, but he can not stop this alone, and we should not ask or expect him to. So show up at Town Hall on the 17th and let them hear all of our voices.
so, did you push Pam into testifying? Seems that she was content to sit in the background on this one, and now suddenly you say she will testify? I see the hand of Pillsbury in that change of heart! Since we need all our reps to be against this, as much as I have no respect for her, thanks for pushing her buttons Pillsbury. See you tomorrow.
Time to put up or shut up. Pillsbury will put up he has backbone. How about the rest of us writing here? I will be there at Town Hall. Hope all of you will also.
Good People,
I have to work like the rest of you so I will be at the steps at 6PM. The guest speakers have better hours than I, so someone please take notes, as I'm sure I will miss some earth shattering solutions to the problem of toll increases.
My message to them:
NO TOLL INCREASE and NO EXCUSES
See you all tonight. Stand strong and yell loud. We need to make them listen to us. Pillsbury is a great organizer, but he can only speak for 2-3 minutes like the rest of us. We need to use every single minute they give us. And if these public hearings don’t stop them we need to do what Pillsbury suggested originally, picket their homes. Hang tough Pillsbury. They most likely will prevent you from speaking, but they will know you are there!
To success!!! On my way to the rally. See you all there!
Ok Protest Fans... the elected elite and wanttobe's had their say... on the steps, more useless and pointless information from people who could care less... most of them don't pay tolls or get travel stipends. The historical elected took to much time from the people inside and those who spoke had already meet with the BOD many times in the past and to no avail. While on the surface, the elected elite appear to be on our side, and say what we want to hear, but the reality is that all of them have let the Turnpike Authority have their way with us for years. So we have until Jan 13th to drive the point home. The public meeting was mandated by law, not by their conscience . I couldn't stay to the end... it made me sick to hear how politically motivated the whole thing was.
Thanks to all who showed up.
I agree with everything Jim said. It was a politically orchestrated event, and even our own local reps had parts in the play. You would think their consciene would prevent them from being so blatently dishonest on their home turf, obviously not! Some good things were said last night, none of which was read of anyone's notes! But this fight is far from over. This is not going to just go away. Jim, I am asking, and I am sure others feel the same way, where do we go from here? I am gone for the holiday's now, but when the first of the year rolls around, I will be ready to rumble on this issue. Could sure use Pillsbury's help in figuring out what to do!
As they say, onward and upward. What's the next step Pillsbury? Sort of out of touch now for the holidays for a few weeks, but when I am back, I will check here to see what the plan is. Hope you have one! I showed up last night because you motivated me. I bet you motivated a lot of the people who showed up who were not there for political reasons. We need to get more people involved in this, many more. Any suggestions on how we do that?
Ditto what everyone else said here. Last night was good, but we need to keep moving on this, only, I have no idea where to go next. Sent emails and letters and showed up last night. Jim,what's our next step? Ditto on being out of the loop now for a little while. Let's plan to "regroup" here after the new year. I am an old man but I am learning this blogger stuff and find it very informative. Keep up the good work Jim, and merry Christmas to you and yours.
Merry Christmas to you Mr. Pillsbury, and thanks for being willing to stand up and take the lead for so many of us in so many areas, decrim, toll increases, recycling. We have been slow to listen to you, and most still don’t listen, but some of us have begun to come around, and more will follow. This blog has shown us that you are a good guy, truly interested in helping Framingham be the best it can be, even if some of your ideas are a bit on the extreme side for many of us. But then, at one point, many thought decrim was extrememe, and now it will be law. I have kept abreast of the toll issues via this blog, and appreciate the time and effort you have clearly put into keeping this up to date. Just want you to know that those of us who use this, however many that may be, do appreciate your work and efforts. I hope you have a happy holiday season, and I will be back checking here for updates and more news after the new year. Thanks again.
Happy holidays to everyone who stays in touch here. Nice to have a group of like minded people to blog with. To those of you in need of assistance, use the resources Jim posted here, and there are others out there. We all need to band together in these intensely difficult times. Jim I echo the sentiments of the “Friend” blogger, we do appreciate the time and effort you put into this blog. Best wishes to you and your family for a healthy, safe, and stable new year, and for all of us as well!
The toll meeting was a waste of time, just a platform for all those lousy, dishonest political hacks to feel important. They have all sat around and watched this happen without doing anything and now they want us to believe they can fix it. Bull! What happens now? Do we just wait until this damm hike passes and then take alternate routes to work?
Leaving today for family home for the holiday, but wanted to say thanks Mr. Pillsbury for the insight and guidance, and will be back here after the first of the year to see what the next steps will be. Happy Holidays to everyone, and hope you don't get completed buried here in Framingham before Xmas!
Merry Christmas to all the bloggers who come here to see what is going on. Sort of another way to stay connected, and much better than using the paper these days. Anyway, out of touch myself for the next week or so, but will check back in when I return. Stay vigilant Pillsbury, we are counting on you to lead us out of this mess. Enjoy your holidays with your loved ones and rest up, we got a big fight ahead of us next year and every fight needs a strong general, and you are ours.
Happy holidays Jim to you and yours. Thanks for all you are trying to do to make Framingham a better place. Don’t agree with everything, but sure do agree with most of your ideas, and respect the fact that you are willing to get out there and push the envelope for what needs to be done. Not an easy fight as you have found out. In any case you are making a difference, even if not in a big way yet, but your time is coming. New Year, new leader, new ideas. Keep up the good work.
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