A Candidate For The Commons: Kramer Challenges Moalli For Kingston Treasurer
Selectwoman Jessica Kramer and Tax Collector Ken Moalli On Ballot For 3 Year Town Treasurer Term in Saturday April 22nd Kingston Election
(KINGSTON) — With the retirement of Kingston Town Treasurer Carl L. Pike, two candidates for the open position — Selectwoman Jessica Kramer and Tax Collector Kenneth Moalli — have put themselves before the Town in the upcoming Saturday, April 22nd Town Election.
Ms. Kramer was elected to the Select Board in 2019 and has served for four years on that board. Prior to that, she served on the Kingston Zoning Board of Appeals from 2017 to 2018, and on the Kingston Capital Planning Committee from 2017 to 2018.
( Selectwoman and Town Treasurer Candidate Jess Kramer; photo credit — Elect Jess Kramer)
Mr. Moalli was elected Tax Collector in 2021; Treasurer and Tax Collector are separate positions in Kingston.
The issue of whether or not Mr. Moalli would be serving in two full time positions at once, or whether those positions would be combined, is an open one, according to my understanding.
( Tax Collector and Town Treasurer Candidate Ken Moalli; photo via Mr. Moalli’s LinkedIn account. )
Ms. Kramer has spent her career as a finance professional, having worked as an accountant, a finance director, and a chief financial officer for local firms. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Boston University School of Management.
Mr. Moalli made his career in the printing and copying field, working in production management, sales, and sales management.
Ms. Kramer discussed her decision to seek election as Town Treasurer, rather than reelection to the Select Board, in a March 25th Facebook post on her campaign Facebook page, Elect Jess Kramer.
“I have decided not to seek reelection to the Board of Selectmen. New people and new ideas are good for the town, and I am happy to support Eric Crone in his candidacy for my vacated seat. I have the utmost respect for my colleagues on the Board: Kim Emberg, Don Alcombright, Sheila Vaughn, and Tyler Bouchard. I know I am leaving the town in good hands,” said Ms. Kramer.
“I have decided, instead, to focus on seeking the role of Kingston’s Town Treasurer. My academic, professional, and governmental experience make me uniquely qualified to take on this position, and I am incredibly excited about seeking election as Treasurer on Saturday, April 22,” she said.
“In the weeks leading up to the election, I intend to talk more about the different ways that the decisions of the Treasurer affect the residents of Kingston. One of those ways is in the Treasurer’s capacity as Tax Title Custodian. The Treasurer has the authority to auction off town-owned land to be developed. On the flip side, the Treasurer also has the authority to keep these properties town-owned, for public benefits such as conservation, affordable housing, or recreation,” she stated.
“These decisions have a serious impact on our neighborhoods. As the only candidate with a proven track record of fighting to keep our forests and wetlands out of the hands of developers, and instead turning them into conservation property for everyone to enjoy, I ask for your vote on April 22,” said Ms. Kramer.
Mr. Moalli’s campaign has been comparatively taciturn; the closest I could find (and it could well be my own error) for a statement on the Treasurer’s race from Mr. Moalli is the following statement on the Town Locals ~ Kingston MA Facebook page on April 4th.
“At Massachusetts Collectors and Treasurers Association Spring meeting. Always learning and keeping up to date with Legislation and compliance issues. I’m halfway to my Certification as Collector/Treasurer with the MCTA. I’m proud to be representing The People of Kingston in this fine organization. I look forward to continuing as a key part of Kingston’s Finance team,” said Mr. Moalli.
The Blackwater Memorial Forest — An Achievement For The People
Selectwoman Kramer’s candidacy for Treasurer has garnered support among many in the community, including those who were involved in the effort to preserve what is now the Blackwater Memorial Forest, off Winthrop Street, an ecologically rare parcel that was threatened with irresponsible (though no doubt remunerative) development.1
( The Blackwater Memorial Forest; photo credit —SOS Lend a Hand Save Our Land - Kingston, MA )
Jim Franklin, Vice Chair of the Kingston Conservation Commission on the SOS: Lend a Hand and Save Our Land - Kingston, MA Facebook page, wrote strongly in support of Ms. Kramer’s candidacy.
“The [T]reasurer is an elected official in town and Jessica Kramer is running for the open position against the current tax collector. I’m sure that you’ll all recall that Jess was one of the Winthrop St. conservation’s earliest and [most] vocal supporters. I would ask that you support Jess as she understands what we need from our hometown officials,” said Mr. Franklin.
Ms. Kramer has devoted considerable energies to issues that relate broadly to the commons of the Town (and beyond).
“My proudest accomplishment in my 4 years on Kingston’s Board of Selectmen would have to be the acquisition of 46 contiguous acres of woodlands, water, and walking trails off of Winthrop Street,” Selectwoman Kramer told The Plymouth County Observer.
“The land, now known as Blackwater Memorial Forest, was slated to be clear cut, mined, and developed. I lobbied hard, ultimately convincing the Board of Selectmen to act on our Right of First Refusal and purchase the land for conservation and passive recreation. I was also instrumental in securing the $400,000 Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity (LAND) Grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to fund the acquisition,” continued Ms. Kramer.
Blackwater Memorial Forest was purchased by the Town at an autumn, 2021, Special Town Meeting. The 46 acres surround a fallow cranberry bog that feeds Sampson Brook, which empties into the Blackwater Swamp. The Blackwater Swamp contains the southerly-most Black Spruce Bog in New England, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP).
( The Blackwater Memorial Forest and adjacent Blackwater Swamp; Winthrop Street runs about a third of the way up the photo; credit — Google Earth. )
The Maine Natural Areas Program, a division of Maine’s Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, describes black spruce bogs:
“This open canopy peatland type is characterized by black spruce and/or larch trees over typical bog vegetation of heath shrubs, graminoids, and peat mosses…. Canopy closure is usually 20-50% and occasionally ranges up to 85%. Black spruce is usually dominant, but in some cases larch (or rarely fir) may be more abundant. Red maple may be a component in somewhat more minerotrophic portions, and white pine may occur on hummocks. The shrub layer, including small trees, is usually well developed (>30% cover). Labrador tea and three-seeded sedge are characteristic species. The bryoid layer has close to 100% cover and is dominated by peat mosses; sparse reindeer lichens may occur,” it said.2
The Historical Context: The Commons vs. Enclosures
Beyond the specific ecology of black spruce bogs, the Blackwater Memorial Forest — and the successful communal effort, including Selectwoman Kramer, to save it — encapsulate issues relating to the Commons, and the common life of our towns, not only in Kingston and Plymouth County, but in New England, and the world. We see what in earlier centuries was called the process of Enclosure — whereby lands and waters that are held in common, whether de jure or de facto, are taken for the exclusive use of any particular and exclusive proprietary interest. We would call it “privatization” today.
We should note that the commons typically precede enclosures as a matter of historical fact; the 6th century Code Of Justinian recognizes commons as ancient and general to all nations. Moreover, that these enclosing interests are, as a matter of historical record stretching from the Tudor Era to our own, affluent, powerful, and well-connected, is no accident.
But there have been other voices, voices which from an early date have defended the rights of common people (what Herman Melville called “the kingly commoners”), and their common lands and waters. The records of early modern England are replete with average inhabitants of the land protesting the enclosure of their commons by wealthy sheep barons and other enclosing interests.
This older tradition has deep legal reality: rights to the commons of the realm for the commoners of England are guaranteed at Magna Carta (via the 1217 Charter of the Forests, associated with Magna Carta) and there is a long and lineal corpus of precedent supporting those who speak on the side of what Herman Melville called “the kingly commoners.” Indeed, William Pitt the Elder, widely regarded as Britain’s greatest Prime Minister, noted in a 1766 speech to the House of Commons that the law and the constitution’s ancient guarantee of equality ensures that “even … the meanest cottager … in the case of enclosures [must be] heard.” (“Mean” here connotes humble circumstances).
So here.
Ms. Kramer spoke — and acted — on behalf of the many, not the few, in the case of the Blackwater Memorial Forest, and to the lasting benefit of the Town of Kingston and her neighbors. This alone is an exceptionally compelling argument for Ms. Kramer’s candidacy for Treasurer, especially given that office’s importance in terms of the custodianship of Town properties that developers may seek to enclose.
The Kingston Town Election will be held tomorrow, Saturday, April 22nd, at Kingston Elementary School at 150 Maine Street. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The present laws in Massachusetts with respect to affordable housing perversely incentivize the destruction of critical natural and historical resources, while not actually producing very much in the way of actually affordable housing. These laws are well intentioned but deeply flawed, which is why it is fortunate we have our own Town democracies that may defend, as in ages past, our common and ancient rights.
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap/features/communities/black_spruce_bog.pdf
Other surrounding towns should take note, that preserving these wild places will inherently increase the prosperity of the towns & it's citizens in the long run, through their may be some short term up front cost, opportunity has always cost.