At-large representative Mark Rosenshein unveiled a working model for the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Web site last week, marking the first foray into the digital age for the 22-year-old organization.
Rosenshein said the new site would provide contact information for every Neighborhood Council representative, schedules and agendas for upcoming meetings and notes from past general and committee meetings.
“Anyone who can’t make the meetings can look at the notes,” he said.
The site will also provide a network of online links for various community organizations, city agencies and elected officials’ offices.
“There will be a pretty good network of Charlestown Web sites,” Rosenshein said. “Someone who doesn’t know Charlestown can wander through the sites and learn about the community as a whole.”
Neighborhood Council Chairman Tom Cunha recommended the formation of an ad hoc committee to help finalize contents of the site, following Rosenshein’s presentation at the Nov. 6 meeting of the organization.
A working draft of the Charlestown Neighborhood Council Web site is now available at www.charlestownneighborhoodcouncil.com but will be replaced by a final version by the end of the month. Rosenshein invites all Neighborhood Council representatives and members of the community to visit the site and e-mail their comments to info@charlestownneighborhoodcouncil.com.

Nearly 65 percent of registered voters in Charlestown cast their ballots in the Nov. 4 state election, although their support for President-elect Barack Obama was significantly less than in other parts of the city.
Of the 12,693 voters registered in the seven districts of Ward 2, 8,158 took part in the election, according to unofficial results released by the City of Boston. Turnout in Charlestown edged out the voting rate of around 62 percent citywide.
More than 65 percent of Charlestown voters supported Obama, while John McCain trailed at 33 percent. This was a departure from the citywide results, which favored Obama at nearly 79 percent over McCain at approximately 19 percent.
In the senatorial race, nearly 69 percent of Charlestown voters favored the incumbent, John Kerry, compared with the citywide rate of more than 81 percent.
On the state ballot questions, nearly 70 percent of Charlestown voters opposed Question 1, which would eliminate the Massachusetts income tax. More than 77 percent of voters citywide said “no” to the initiative.
Approximately 68 percent of Charlestown voters supported Question 2, which would reduce criminal penalties for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. This compared with the approximately 70 percent of voters who supported the measurecitywide.
Question 3, which would ban dog racing statewide, was supported by slightly more than 56 percent of voters in Charlestown and throughout the city.

CAPTION: An artist’s rendering of the Bunker Hill Community College Health and Wellness Center.

A Bunker Hill Community College representative appeared before the Charlestown Neighborhood Council last week to outline plans for the its new Health and Wellness Center in what was the college’s first community meeting in more than a year.
In June, the college broke ground on the $22.7 million, 48,000 square-foot building — the first new structure built on its Charlestown campus in 30 years. The new building should be substantially completed in December of 2009, with classes starting there in the summer of 2010, according to BHCC Executive Vice President Jesse Thompson. The Health and Wellness Center will feature state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories to support students majoring in nurse education and health professions, as well as faculty and administrative offices, a gymnasium and a 5,000 square-foot fitness center.
“We’ll move all health-related programs into that facility,” Thompson said at the Nov.6 Neighborhood Council meeting, adding that the move would allow the college to transform the lower level of B Building into a “one-stop” student services center.
As for the impact of the new building, Thompson said parking spaces would be relocated on existing property, but no additional spaces would be created.
Thompson added that the construction of the Health and Wellness Center is the first step in the second phase of building out the Charlestown campus, a project that was “put on hold’ in the late ‘70s due to financial constraints. Construction of a 36,000 square-foot learning resources center is planned within the next 10 years, he said.
In response to concerns that the new building would lead to a more congested campus, Thompson said the school had seen a 9.4 percent increase in enrollment this year that was “not because of the building.”
“As the economic climate continues to deteriorate, many students who would have gone to private universities are now going to community colleges,” he said.
Despite Thompson’s claim that the Community College hadn’t sufficiently notified the Neighborhood Council of the new building because it was a state project built on state land, Jim Conway of the CNC faulted the college for its lack of communication with the community on this matter.
“Charlestown is part of the City of Boston, and Bunker Hill Community College should have the same respect for Charlestown that other universities do for their communities,” Conway said.
Conway requested that the college send schematics of the Health and Wellness Center to all 21 CNC members and notify the Neighborhood Council of any proposed development in the future.

The Charlestown Neighborhood Council voted last week to elect all seven candidates vying for the seven at-large seats, thereby eliminating the need for the Nov. 15 at-large election.
The candidates are Barbara Babin, Peg Bradley, Paul Clausen, Tom Cunha, Ed Grace, Mark Rosenshein and Erin Sullivan. With the exception of Clausen, who currently serves as the Neighborhood Council representative for Friends of City Square Park, all the other candidates are incumbent at-large members.
Following a motion made by CNC representative Jim Conway at the Nov. 6 meeting, the Neighborhood Council authorized Judy Brennan, the secretary-clerk, to cast one vote for the slate of candidates.
The vote is expected to be ratified at the Dec. 2 Neighborhood Council meeting.

PHOTO 1 CAPTION: Local artist Dick Grant.

PHOTO 2 CAPTION: “Two Little Girls” by Dick Grant.

Remember Grant Photo & Design on Main Street? Artist Dick Grant, a Charlestown native, and his father, Arthur Grant, along with his sister, Diane Grant, ran the successful business until 2000. Dick has continued his thriving portrait business from his studio on Cobbett’s Pond in Windham, N.H.
“I receive most of my clients from word of mouth, but I realize that as a businessman these days, you need to have a web presence,” Dick said.
He has launched his new Web site www.GrantPortraits.com just in time for his busy holiday season. “I use only photographs for my pencil portraits, and I can combine single photos to create a group portrait. This is a great tool, as sometimes the best shot of a subject may be buried in another photo. Or, clients may have very old or rare photos that can’t be restored. This is a great way to preserve the memory,” he stated.
Dick continued, “I love faces, a person’s face shows so much about their personality and basically about whom they are. The eyes are, I think, are the path to the soul, the personality of the subject. This is why I specialize in pencil portraits specifically. When I do a pencil portrait, I become one with every detail in a person’s face (and pet’s too). Pencil is the best medium to realistically capture subtle nuances.”
Portraits make a great gift any time of year, including anniversaries, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and, especially, Christmas.
You can contact Dick Grant at 603-475-9834, or by email at next2pond@verizon.net and view Dick’s extensive portfolio and pricing at www.GrantPortraits.com. He is now booking for delivery by Christmas.