The HUC is pleased to welcome Andrew Turner as our new Board chair commencing September 1, 2024. Andrew is passionate about issues related to racial and social justice, and has served in volunteer and leadership roles on the Hingham Unity Council since 2021, and at his church as a leader of the Becoming Beloved Community ministry.
One of the goals of the Hingham Unity Council is to create a more inclusive and welcoming community. Can you please tell voters how you will use your public position to make Hingham more welcoming for all of its citizens? Read the answers from this year's candidates!
Below is a letter sent by the HUC Board to State Representative Meschino and Senator O'Connor advocating for the passage of two proposed pieces of legislation related to our Arab community members as well as a bill to protect First Amendment Rights by combating "doxing." We encourage other community members who support these bills to reach out too.
The Hingham Unity Council is currently seeking a college or graduate level intern for the summer of 2024. This is an excellent opportunity for an individual seeking to gain more experience in data collection and modeling.
The Hingham Unity Council stands in solidarity against antisemitism. We were horrified to learn about the threat toward the Congregation Sha’aray Shalom, and we know this only increases fear and trauma for many of our community members. It is vitally important that our community continue to remain ever-vigilant in resisting antisemitism. With the threat today, we urge our entire community to reflect on and live out our shared values. We again reiterate the call for our community: As a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-faith community, we reject all forms of hate. We all belong here.
The Hingham Unity Council acknowledges the enormous grief that is being felt throughout our community in the wake of shocking and horrifying violence and terror in Israel and Gaza. We unequivocally condemn the recent attacks on innocent lives by Hamas. We grieve these losses as our own. As individuals, we believe our most powerful tool at this time is to recognize and honor our shared humanity. We continue to pledge to use our collective voice to call attention to and support all those facing humanitarian crises.
Dear Residents and Leaders of Boston’s South Shore Communities: We are writing today regarding an incident that occurred in one of our member communities, Scituate, relating to the Scituate Public Schools Director of Diversity, Education and Inclusion, Mr. jamele adams. A makeshift tombstone with Mr. adam’s misspelled name and “in loving memory” on it was photographed at Museum Beach. The Scituate Public Schools and Select Board have already made a statement, as has Scituate Together for Representation, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (STRIDE). We want to collectively echo their strong condemnations of this unacceptable and vile act and express our support and solidarity for Mr. adams and the work he is doing in the Scituate community, as well as for all those who may feel threatened or unsafe as a result of this incident. We affirm our respect, compassion, and acceptance for all people as we continue to celebrate diversity of backgrounds and identities. Together, we will continue to pursue our commitment to ensuring our communities are places where everyone feels safe and welcome. The South Shore Unity Council is made up of various civic and municipal-level organizations that are deeply dedicated to the principle that every single person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect no matter who they are or where they come from. We invite others to join our efforts; please feel free to contact us at southshoreunitycouncil@gmail.com. Respectfully, Abington for Social Progress, Inclusion, Representation, and Equity (ASPIRE) Cohasset Diversity Committee Duxbury for All Hanover Unity Council Hanover Pride Hingham Pride Project Hingham Unity Council Hull No Place for Hate Scituate Together for Representation, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (STRIDE) Trans/Parent Support Group of the South Shore UPlift Pembroke Weymouth for Inclusion, Solidarity and Equity (WISE) Weymouth Pride Project
We wish to affirm our respect, compassion, and acceptance for all people as we continue to celebrate diversity of backgrounds and identities. We maintain our commitment to making sure our local community is a place where everyone feels safe and welcome, including all of our children, no matter how they identify.
There’s a lot of information out there coming from a lot of directions and it’s quite a bit to process! These issues are important for our community, however, so the Hingham Unity Council board has discussed the items on this years’ Town Meeting warrant that intersect with our mission and values – to foster a more diverse and inclusive community – and how they affect our Town. We wanted to share our thoughts with you. The SparkNotes version: We are voting Yes on Article 6- The Override We are voting Yes on Article 25 – Single Use Water Bottles We are voting Yes on the Alternate Motion to Article 29 – Accessory Dwelling Units. This motion will be brought by Planning Board Chair Judy Sneath on the floor of Town Meeting. Learn more here. Article 6: The Override This was a tough conversation for us and required some thought and work, because we acknowledge an inherent conflict between raising taxes and supporting a more diverse and inclusive Hingham: a more expensive Hingham is not accessible to all. However, we trust our elected and appointed officials, and the override has the full support of our Select Board and our Advisory Committee, who volunteer hours of their time in tireless service to our Town and have examined this budget closely. We are aware this was not an easy decision for any of them either – no one wants to raise taxes and they all live here too! A lot of work and thought went into presenting a budget they feel best serves our entire community. When we carefully examine the cuts that would need to be made if this override is not passed, we fear the burden of these cuts will largely be borne by lower income residents, and this burden outweighs the cost of a tax increase which for some residents, can be mitigated through tax abatement programs offered by the town. [Read More ->]
Dear Members of the Advisory Committee: I am writing on behalf of the Hingham Unity Council (the “HUC”) regarding the proposed changes to the Town’s ADU by-law. The HUC supports the removal of the familial restriction on these rentals as originally proposed by the ADU Study Committee appointed by Hingham Town Meeting. We have attended all of the Planning Board’s public hearings on this proposal and have yet to hear any fact-based explanation for retaining this restriction. If anything, we heard only additional data supporting its removal. We believe the strongest arguments in support are: Housing diversity/affordability. Goal 4 of Hingham’s Master Plan and the Hingham Housing Plan both emphasize the urgency of diversifying our Town’s housing inventory, especially as our overall population is aging, with a national trend toward solo aging. Page 90 of the Housing Plan states: “The recent adoption of the ADU bylaw is a good start and certainly a step in the right direction. However, restricting occupancy to family members largely sidesteps one of the primary purposes and benefits of such units - to provide homeowners with additional income that is particularly important for elderly homeowners, single parents, and others who are spending too much of their income on housing and for whom such income may be critical to remaining in their homes.” The report goes on to list numerous benefits of these units for increasing housing diversity. Exploration of expanding the potential of these units as a housing option was labeled a “short-term” goal in that report. Data presented by the HAHT during the Planning Board hearings demonstrates that these units are likely to be more affordable than currently available inventory. Positive experience of other communities. The ADU Study Committee’s extensive data and research shows that many of our benchmark communities already allow ADUs with no family restriction. Page 15 of [Read More ->]
