The Milton Coalition is a non-partisan group of concerned citizens advocating for clean, competent, and courageous government.

The Milton Coalition was formed in November 2015 to oppose the “conservation” subdivision ordinance (CSO).  We saw the CSO for what it was:  a gift to Special Interests that would accelerate development in Milton and actually hamper green space conservation in Milton.  The CSO and so-called “conservation” subdivisions are merely thinly disguised profit maximization schemes for developers.  Their intent is to open up marginal land in Milton to development.

The Milton Coalition was originally formed by eight concerned citizens, six of whom were neophytes to city government.  We have since added members to our core team, as well as brought in other volunteers.

While we continue to organize against the CSO, we have expanded our mission to include acting as citizens’ counterweight to the influence of Special Interests in our city government.  During the CSO debate, the battle lines were clearly drawn:  citizens on one side and Special Interests on the other.  Consider the December 7th City Council meeting when Council unanimously voted down the CSO.  The vast majority of speakers in favor of the CSO were not ordinary citizens, but rather Special Interests:  developers, builder lobbyists, community septic vendors, large landowners, consultants, and political advocates.  Most were not even Milton residents and most had/have much to gain from adoption of “conservation” subdivisions.

It became clear to us that someone in Milton needed to stand up for ordinary citizens.  Clearly, some of our elected officials have abandoned us.  Consider the following statement by one City Council member (in an e-mail dated November 16, 2015):

“You’ve mentioned that the Conservation Subdivision Ordinance is a ‘gift to developers’.  That is your opinion.  It is not mine, as I’ve been witness to developers at every meeting stand up and state that they are not in preference of the CSO.”

Of course, at the December 7th meeting, quite a few developers and their partners spoke in favor of the CSO; no developers spoke against CSO.  This surprised none of us, as the CSO was gradually revised over time to satisfy the builders.  The June version of the CSO was certainly a “gift to developers” as the requirement to conserve buildable land had been deleted.  It is at this time the developers embraced the CSO and two Council Members publicly endorsed it (in the Milton Herald)–long before the Planning Commission had finished its work or the public had weighed in on the issue.

The Milton Coalition is a voice for the ordinary citizen.  We are organizing on your behalf and representing your interests.  Our efforts to defeat the CSO have made us smarter.  We know how to get out our message and how to mobilize citizens.  However, we still need volunteers.  If you are interested in clean, competent, and courageous government, please reach out to us at miltoncoalition@outlook.com and let us know how you would like to help.

On Monday night March 21, the Milton Coalition addressed City Council.  Following are the remarks.  We are concerned that the voice of the ordinary citizen is being drowned out by the roar of Special Interests, who exercise outsized influence in Milton.  We are tired of being talked down to and talked at by certain Council members.  And we plan to vigorously oppose “conservation” subdivisions, which citizens have clearly stated they do not want.  Please contact us at miltoncoalition@outlook.com to join us in preserving the Milton we love.

This evening, I am here speaking on behalf of the Milton Coalition, which was formed in November to oppose the CSO.  Our mission is to advocate for clean, competent, and courageous government.  Behind me are members of the Milton Coalition.  We are ordinary citizens concerned about the current direction of our city.  Most of us have never had any involvement in city government.  However, the CSO and the process to draft it deeply troubled us and brought us together in opposition.

We saw the CSO for what it was.  A gift to developers.  A profit maximization scheme.  An avenue for introducing higher density housing into Milton.  A way to open up marginal land to development.  And the opposite of conservation.

We also saw a deeply flawed process.  An incompetent consultant.  An unstructured and non-transparent process.  Disrespect for staff and the Planning Commission.  And meddling from some Council members.

So the Milton Coalition was started.  We began from scratch.  We had no money, no e-mail lists, no organization.  Yet in 3 weeks, we were able to rally 835 citizens to sign a petition.  Over 100 supporters attended your December meeting, with 35 stepping to the mike.  And I would remind you that only 15 people spoke in support of the CSO and most—11 of the 15—were non-resident Special Interests, including developers, building lobbyists, land owners, community septic vendors, and consultants.  The image of citizens vs. Special Interests could not have been more stark.

Fortunately, enough of you realized the truth of the CSO and the forces behind it and the CSO was denied.  Presumably the CSO issue was put to bed.  Or so we thought.  However, Special Interests and their agents were undeterred and are now using (or misusing, in our opinion) rezoning and variances to achieve the CSO’s objectives.  And based on last week’s Council meeting, there seems to be a lot of support for conservation subdivisions on Council.  So my question to you tonight is: what has changed in the last 3 months to make you want to reconsider conservation subdivisions?  Why are we going to drag citizens into another fight on this issue?  How can you lament divisiveness on the one hand and support again raising this issue on the other hand?

The wisdom of this is lost on us.  So this evening we are here to tell you that the Milton Coalition never went away.  We are still here and we are not going away.  And we plan to vigorously oppose the Ebenezer development, should Council decide to reconsider conservation subdivisions.  Last night we met at my home to plan our campaign.  Fortunately, we are smarter and better organized.  We know how to mobilize citizens and that is precisely what we intend to do—if we have to.

This evening, we do want to issue a challenge to Council.  Rather than accusing us of disseminating misinformation and using scare tactics, why not pick up the phone and call us?  Why not invite us for coffee and meet with us?  Why not talk to us instead at us?  Tell us why we are mistaken or what we are exaggerating.  Better yet, we challenge Council to hold a moderated town hall meeting where we can have a civil discussion, or even debate, about land use and conservation subdivisions.  We invite you to come down from the dais and engage ordinary citizens, without any Special Interests in the room.  Let’s work together to build a better Milton, which starts with two-way communication.

Citizens of Milton:

Thank you for returning to the Milton Coalition blog.  Our intent is to publish posts every day.  Sometimes, there will be multiple posts, so be sure to read beyond the first post.  We could not be more pleased with the traffic to our blog.  Amazingly, we have had over 400 page views since we launched just a few days ago.  The civic pride of Milton is shining through.  So, so proud of the citizens of Milton!

We are also overjoyed with the signatures on our petition.  We are at 832 signatures today and are on our way to 838 signatures–the same number obtained on the anti-CSO petition.  So it has taken us less than 3 days to garner the same opposition to cluster homes and community septic that it took 3 weeks to garner in December 2015.  City Council, how many times do we have to do this?  How many petitions will it take?  How many citizens have to say NO to cluster housing and community septic before you listen to us?  Please listen to us!

Milton citizens, please continue to enlist your family, friends, and neighbors to sign our petition.  Let’s stop this insanity once and for all!