The Response That Was Asked For

I will start by answering the sensible anonymous writer first. You asked why you should vote for me. that is an easy one. I do have experience in solving problems like the ones we face right now. For example when i first got involved in town government i got on the finance committee and we were almost immediately faced with a 1.6 million dollar shortfall. the problem arose from double spending on the sewer account which is one of those accounts that are not scrutinized by the fin com, or seen at town meeting, and is one of the things i'd like to correct. as a matter of fact i tried to get the assessors to do just that about 3 or 4 years ago. anyway that was a very difficult time and it required leadership from the more experienced members as well as cooperation from all concerned. we compromised, trusted each other by being entirely open, and honest with each other and it all worked out although it did take years to recover from that one. one more thing, we had to be really tough with all dept heads who wanted money to run their depts. we could have pointed fingers and made rotten remarks but that would have been counterproductive. for the next five years i worked diligently on fin com and learned where all the money comes from and goes to in the whole town budget. then i got elected to the board of selectmen. at that time holbrook was even more of a laughing stock than we are now. the board had restraining orders on each other, there were members who sued each other, had papers served at meetings, you name it . i sat between 2 members who were angry at each other and i believe just being like cartilage and a buffer zone between them allowed cooler heads to prevail. at the same time, we were faced with new contract negotiations and due to my experience and the experience of Joanne Koval who also had served on fin com we did something new which was to actually project the money that would be expected for the next five years. that allowed us to bargain in good faith using real numbers and guess what? because the bargaining units knew we had solid reasons and figures to back them up, we settled on an unheard of contract with 0% !% and 3% if i remember correctly. at another time we had to use retroactive raises but again we were being honest and truthful and they worked with us. i have been hoping someone would ask about why a person who has already been a selectman might be a good candidate. some people think just because i've been here a long time that i might be one of those obstructionists. well i'm not and i'll prove it. i might forget some things so it might need to be revisited again as i remember things but here are some of the things i worked for and advocated for - for holbrook. i was the selectman that attended most other board meetings and kept the others updated. consequently it was me who stood before town meeting and tried to push for the over 55 housing that was to be built off rt 139 near the abington line. the obstructionists just couldn't get their small minds around that one. it took 2 years and by the time they thought it was ok 1 partner died and the other had a heart attack. as you can see no over 55 up there even now. i believed that the gentleman who came to some selectman's meetings to try to get us to let him put wireless receivers on telephone poles so anywhere in the square and some other areas too would have wireless connections for free. gee, do you think maybe we would attract some great small or even large businesses with something like that? i did too, but not the obstructionists.- speaking of the square, we had that project going on or trying to get started i should say, and the utilities were all pointing fingers at each other and holding things up until i demanded that they all show up for a joint walk thru and planning sessions where they worked together. at first they were angry but after just the first one we made great progress and they looked forward to the next one and the next until it was running smoothly. we did have a committee that worked hard on it too but it took a leader to take control and get them moving. my only regret on that one is not getting under ground utilities. it almost happened but continental cable had just strung new wires and we would have had to get very large betterments from landowners in the square. when i first got elected we were paying pretty big bills for engineering. i found out that we could get free services from Norfolk County. i was told strongly that it was not true but i knew better and as you may know we use them with great success to this day. maybe someone should add up all the fees we haven't paid just on that one alone. oh ya, and speaking of the County every year i got us at least a couple thousand dollars ( usually $3,000) as i remember for the recreation dept.not one child had to pay tuition when i was selectman. i am very proud of that. my general attitude was and still is that we pay enough in taxes around here, we should get some services. just so it's very clear that i am not in the obstructionist camp the planning board and i (as the selectman's representative) brought forward the idea of the cell towers. we got the info from other towns that were successful in getting them and also in conjunction w/ sen michael morrissey's office we brought this idea and an article to town meeting but again the obstructionists held it up just long enough for st joseph's to get it. that alone would have netted the town over 1 million dollars over 20 year life of the towers. i could go on but i'm afraid it's getting too long. there is more time and i never really liked tooting my own horn. sometimes you have to though.