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My name is Matt MacDonald, I moved to Watertown, MA in the spring of 2010. I blog here, muck with municipal data at http://www.nearbyfyi.com and work at http://www.prx.orgI’m interested in learning more about how our world works. I love data, I write software and tools to help explain and visualize that data and I enjoy sharing what I find with others.
If a picture can speak a 1,000 words data visualization can speak 1,000,000. I think visualizations of data can help explain very complex topics and data does not lie.
Category Archives: Watertown
A response to retired Watertown Police Department employee Harry Palmer
This is in response to a number of comments that Harry made on an article that I wrote in the Watertown Patch. The Patch limits comment responses to 1,500 characters so I had to respond in full here. Hi Harry, … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA, Government, Police, Watertown
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Watertown, MA school district enrollment trends
Hi everyone, Hope you are enjoying a beautiful afternoon. I’ve been playing around with data from the Department of Education Office (DOE) http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/statistics/ trying to better understand the Watertown, MA enrollment trending data. During the School Committee presentation on Tuesday I was interested … Continue reading
Posted in Schools, Uncategorized, Visualizations, Watertown
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Access to Police Department crime reports and a suggestion to the Town Council about creating a Public Collaboration Committee
Hi Mr. Town Manager, Chief Deveau, members of the Honorable Town Council and other Town Department Heads, I could not find email addresses for all Department Heads on the Town website. Please forward as appropriate. As some of you may … Continue reading
Posted in Fire, FOIA, Government, Municipalities, Police, Schools, Watertown
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Watertown Budget and Finance sub-committee rejects COLA base adjustment with a 3-0 vote
Hi, With a 3-0 vote last night the Watertown, MA Town Council Budget and Finance sub-committee rejected the recommendation from the Watertown Contributory Retirement Board (WCRB) to increase the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) base from $12,000 to $14,000. There … Continue reading
Posted in Pensions, Watertown
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Our Fast Food Democracy
Hi, There are a number of negative comments made about the effectiveness of our Watertown, MA Town Council / Manager form of government and the decisions made by our Town Manager. A common complaint that I read in the TAB, … Continue reading
Posted in Government, Municipalities, Watertown
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Block the Watertown Retirement Board recommendation to increase the Cost of Living Adjustment
Hi, I’m asking that you help me encourage our Watertown, MA Town Councilors to reject the recommendation and request from the Watertown Retirement Board to increase the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) base. This vote will have direct long term … Continue reading
Posted in Budget, Government, Municipalities, Pensions, Watertown
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The ability to see raw numbers in police crime data matters
Yesterday I came across the article Watertown Police Dept. is Fighting Rising Crime Rate with a Smaller Force on the watertown.patch.com website. After I read the article I wish Charlie Breitrose, the reporter for the Watertown Patch had pushed Chief Deveau further to … Continue reading
Posted in Municipalities, Police, Watertown
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A proposal regarding food and milk choice in Watertown, MA schools
Hi, When Amy Vachon posted in the Watertown Parents for Strong Schools Facebook group about ‘sugary flavored milks‘ I would not have expected 30 comments from people quite firm on one side or the other. I think there are commonalities … Continue reading
Where does the data at www.nearbyfyi.com come from?
A friend asked me this question in a private email. Here is my response: Hi Phil, This is long so short answers first: Data comes from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education [1], the MA Department of Revenue [2] … Continue reading
Posted in FOIA, Government, Municipalities, Watertown
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Watertown, MA Town Council public speaking time OPEB benefits and true department costs
Hi, Here is the text for my 2 minutes of public speaking time at the Town Council meeting tonight. Hello Honorable Town Council & Town Manager, I wanted to use my 2 minutes of public speaking time tonight to cover … Continue reading
Posted in Budget, Government, Pensions, Uncategorized, Watertown
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