Raising kids, raising taxes -- its all in a day's work for Override Moms

NATICK

You could call them the Override Moms - politically powerful suburban women who lobby for property tax increases to pay for teachers, new schools, and better classroom gear for their school-aged children. Think soccer moms, with an activist bent.

In one community after another, these mothers have banded together in common cause, Globe West Bureau Chief Erica Noonan reports in today's City & Region section. They are nimble and they are quick, often performing with the agility and strategy of an expert strike force.

With at least 40 Eastern Massachusetts cities and towns planning to ask voters for more than $50 million over the next few months, this is the make-or-break season for thousands of these young mothers dedicated to persuading neighbors to vote themselves a tax hike.

Within 48 hours after Natick selectmen voted last month to seek a $3.9 million override, the town's first such attempt in six years, the group Vote Yes! for Natick had a position statement e-mail waiting in thousands of inboxes around town.

"This matters so much to the community," said campaign cochairwoman Mari Barrera, while standing out in the freezing rain Tuesday evening with a Vote Yes! placard. She cited threatened teacher cuts, library hour reductions, and cutbacks in the Police Department, Department of Public Works, and the town-run organic farm, if the vote does not pass.

Read more about Override Moms in the online edition of Globe West.