Search Results for: political advertising

Natick Election 2022, political candidates advertising

Please contact deborahcb100@gmail.com for rates and space availability.

Natick Report does not endorse candidates for political office. We do accept political advertising, as a business transaction, from all candidates for any office, as well as related organizations, or organizations involved with ballot initiatives. We accept these not to express the views of Natick Report, but to help pay the costs of publishing.

Natick Report recognizes that political advertising can and does inform voters, and our editors are committed to fairness and freedom of expression. We follow generally accepted journalistic policies, and all candidates have equal opportunities to advertise.

Any advertisement is considered political if it involves a political figure, party or government issue, regardless of whether an election is taking place.

Natick Report reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement. Natick Report will decline advertisements that it knows or believes to be misleading, inaccurate, fraudulent or illegal, or that fail to comply, in Natick Report’s sole discretion, with its standards of decency, taste or dignity. Natick Report reserves the right to remove any messages that we deem are inflammatory, libelous or in bad taste.

Like all quality publishers of original journalism, Natick Report maintains a clear separation between news and advertising content. Advertising that attempts to blur this distinction in a manner that, in Natick Report‘s sole judgment, confuses readers will be rejected.

Stating disagreement with or campaigning against a candidate for public office, a political party, or public administration is generally permissible. Natick Report reserves the right to ask for verification of claims made in political advertising. Political ads must not include accusations or attacks relating to an individual’s personal life. The distinction and decision will be made solely by the management of Natick Report.

All political advertisements must include all information required by local, state and federal law, and the advertiser is solely responsible for compliance.

An advertiser will not be permitted to buy up all or excessive inventory (ad spaces).

Space availability and rates for 2022 election, front page

Under news story #1
Dimensions: 540 x 150
Rate: $200 for ad run of Mar. 1 – Mar. 29, 2022

Under news story #2
Dimensions: 540 x 150
Rate: $200 for ad run of Mar. 1 – Mar. 29, 2022

Under news story #3—space not available

Under news story #4
Dimensions: 540 x 150
Rate: $200 for ad run of Mar. 1 – Mar. 29, 2022

Under news story #5
Dimensions: 540 x 150
Rate: $200 for ad run of Mar. 1 – Mar. 29, 2022

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Political advertising

Details here

Ad Rates:

Ad to the right of our masthead: $200/month

Right hand side of site, ad space #1 – #3: $125/month

Ad spaces under Post #1: $200/month

Ad spaces under Post #2: $200/month

Ad spaces under Post #3: $175/month

Right hand side of site, ad space #4 – #6: $100/month

Right hand side of site, ad space #7 and down: $100/month

Recent examples of Sponsored Posts:

Everybody’s coming to the Tenacre Fair
Summer camp spotlight: SummerTech at Regis College in Weston
Announcing the houses on the Junior Women’s Club Kitchen and Home Tour

Advertise on our Summer Camps page:

Rates:
Your Summer Camp featured at the top of the page: $100/month
Here’s an example.

Natick senior wins $6K water bill abatement appeal

November 24, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Here’s a heartwarming tale to take you into the holidays: A Natick senior recently appealed her unusually high water and sewer bill, and the Select Board couldn’t deny the longtime resident’s compelling story.

Rita Aude, who her son Robert Audi described as being widowed and disabled, is a 30-year resident of the town living on a fixed income (Note: their last names are spelled slightly differently). When she received a shockingly high water and sewer bill in $4,745 in February she soon after contacted the town, which visited the property and determined a toilet was constantly running. Aude had a plumber fix the problem the next day.

Unfortunately, the new quarter was already underway, so the bill for that period came in high, too, at $1,490. Aude’s typical bills were for $90-$150 per quarter, and her water usage returned to the normal level once the plumbing issue was fixed. The overall bill for the 2 quarters would have accounted for about 25% of her yearly income from social security.

It turns out that the running toilet was in a seldom-used half bathroom attached to Aude’s bedroom. “Had we known we would of course repaired the toilet right away, knowing that it was putting out close to 1,500 gallons of water every day at its peak,” Audi said. His mother uses the main bathroom, which is outfitted with handrails, not the half-bath, described by the son as being akin to an airplane restroom in size.

The town issued what Town Administrator Jamie Errickson termed a “tighter” water and sewer abatement/adjustment policy effective in mid-2021. It was designed to make decisions for town officials less subjective and more clear, which among other things helped the Natick shrink its backlog of abatement requests.

The town rejected Aude’s initial request for abatement for not meeting its criteria, but steered an appeal of that decision to the Select Board, which serves as Natick’s water and sewer commissioners and can use its discretion in deciding on such matters. That’s what brought Robert Audi all the way from Sturbridge to Natick for a nighttime Select Board meeting on Nov. 16. (view discussion about 45 minutes into the Pegasus recording).

The Select Board considers the case

Following Audi’s statement, which included his mention of joining the Natick WaterSmart Program to get alerted if his mom’s water or sewage usage spikes, the Select Board members mulled the issue. Errickson explained that 1 option would be charging a resident whose case is legit a lower rate similar to their usual rate. In Aude’s case, that would have reduced her bill by a couple thousand dollars, and a motion was made to do that.

But then another motion was made to abate a full $6,000, leaving Aude to pay her usual amount.

Select Board member Michael Hickey said he’s always been sympathetic to this sort of situation. After hearing about the circumstances and that Audi had traveled east to help his mother (“what a nice son”), Hickey said: “I could not in good conscience expect this resident to pay anything approaching anything with four figures…”

Board member Rich Sidney, who made the motion to abate $6,000, said “We have here an elderly person who is trying desperately to stay in her house. This is something we’ve called our values for years, and we want to support her ability to stay in town and live her life. I think this is an unusual situation—she fixed the problem as soon as she knew about it, it’s not like she let it go for months. That would change my mind. I’m very empathetic to the circumstances.”

Board member Kathryn Coughlin, also in support, said “It’s really good to have anchoring values in… a political philosophy. But when it comes to applying that in a very specific situation with human beings and real world circumstances, it’s good to be able to reconsider.”

Bruce Evans, another board member in support of the big abatement, said “Policies are pieces of paper, people are people.”

Chair Paul Joseph made the decision unanimous, though acknowledged he’s previously voted against abatements, citing homeowner responsibility

“Consider this your compensation for advertising the WaterSmart Program on behalf of our community,” he quipped.

(In fact, I signed up the day after I heard this session.)

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Fall in Natick: Signs of the season

October 14, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

We’ve reached peak color in Natick this fall. The yellows and oranges, the reds and browns. The blacks and blues, the purples and greens. Yes, lawn signs are everywhere, both on private property and on public land, where they shouldn’t be.

You know the hot spots, along the stretch of Rte. 135 near the dog park, in South Natick at the intersection of Union/Pleasant/Eliot, and even on school grounds. The offenders are many, from political campaigns to private schools to realtors to companies that yes, sell yard signs. Extreme signage displays have been seen in town of late, such as those urging people to slow the @!(#% down, but hey, do what you will on your own property.

wilson school sign and yard signs — Wilson Middle School sign, fronted by assorted yard signs

Section 6 Signs in Public Ways or on Public Property

No person shall place any unauthorized or non-conforming sign within the right-of-way of any street or on public property. The Building Commissioner is authorized to take down and remove such an unauthorized or non-conforming sign. Such sign shall be retained by the Building Commissioner for a period of thirty days after its removal. The owner of such sign may reclaim it within thirty days of its removal by submitting satisfactory proof of ownership to the Building Commissioner. If such sign is not claimed within such thirty day period, the Building Commissioner may cause such sign to be destroyed without incurring any liability to the Town or any of its Agents.

The issue even came up during the South Natick dam discussion at the Oct. 3 Select Board meeting (about 1 hour and 24 minutes) when a Save Natick Dam proponent said that some of their signs had been removed. That led to a brief discussion about when the town will take down signs put up on public land. We’ve heard Select Board pleas to the public in the past to at least remember to remove such yard signs after events being promoted have taken place.

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Natick Report: Helps us help you in ’22

January 1, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Thanks for all of your Natick Report support in 2022.

We appreciate the news tips, from the quirky to the really important. We appreciate the photos. We appreciate you sending along memos from town officials that the rest of the community might care about. And we appreciate organizations, businesses, town officials, and residents who have given us a heads up on things and answered our questions.

As a two-person, independent journalism operation, we need all the help we can get, and we want to make Natick Report an even more useful resource for you in ’22. Reach us at natickreport@gmail.com as well as on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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