Election Guide

In response to several specific requests for information and to help educate voters regarding the voting records of our officials, we've prepared the enclosed voting summary sheet for town meeting reps and brief analysis of the races for Selectman, Planning Board, and TM below. We hope you find it useful.

Board of Selectman
I hope voters see the value in electing Jim Murray as well as myself to a seat on the board. Jim is extremely well informed. When he has access to reports relevant to a decision he has to make, he reads the entire reports. I'm not sure I know anyone else who does that! Some of my greatest insights into local issues have come from Jim, from protection of Oak Hill to protection of the interests of entrepreneurial businesses in town. Jim Murray is a guy who comes up with good ideas constantly; and if he comes up with an idea that has holes in it, he listens and throws it away or modifies it. How many of the current selectmen do that?

But here's the acid test. Jim Murray was in the race three years ago along with George Dixon. I can tell you that if Jim Murray had been elected at that time, we would not have had Center Park obliterated, because Jim was one of the first to realize that the "open space conservation area" and "public park" would be obliterated by the construction. We would not have had a two-year delay in notifying the Ethics Commission that there was a problem. We would not have had all this foot-dragging about proper study of renovation options for Center Fire Station. We would not have the violations of the Open Meeting Law, and we certainly would not have had a recall election.

That's the difference one person can make. As the saying goes, "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them."We had a chance before to elect Jim Murray in place of George Dixon, and we failed to take it. Let's not make the same mistake twice.

Planning Board
There are three seats open (along with the fourth 2-year seat which will go to Ann McGuigan uncontested). The challenger, Marc Dolat, is knowledgeable and well intentioned. He has stressed planning for stability rather than growth throughout his campaign. Incumbent Bob Joyce has shown a high level of personal integrity and grit while defending common sense. That leaves the other two incumbents, George Zaharoolis and Colleen Stansfield. It's not even close. Mr. Zaharoolis has stressed the importance of shifting from a pro-growth facilitation mode to planning for redevelopment and sustainability. Ms. Stansfield is still talking about the inevitability of growth, facilitating growth, facilitating 40B developments, etc. It's no contest if you're interested in retaining the character of the town.

Town Meeting Reps
This year, because of redistricting, all 18 seats in each precinct are up for reelection. That means in most precincts the vast majority of reps will be reelected. But your vote still counts greatly, because the top 6 vote getters receive a 3-year term, the next 6 receive a 2-year term, and the next 6 receive a 1-year term. And those at the very bottom (such as the bottom 3 in Precinct 6) will not be seated at all. So it's important that you only mark those candidates you favor. If that's just 5, or 8, or 11 that's fine! Don't mark people whose voting record you disapprove of or that you know are not responsive to voter concerns!

The warrant articles at last fall's Town Meeting provide a good example of how our elected board members and those appointed by the Town Manager base their votes on personal loyalties and work as a bloc to implement self-serving policies against the wishes of residents. The vast majority of the town's voters want to see Oak Hill protected in perpetuity as conservation land. But not a single town board would submit a warrant article to do so. So a citizen's petition was submitted to place an article.

We've analyzed the vote and it turns out that members of the BOS and Planning Board, and Cohen appointees who are members of the "loyalty-first boards" (Master Plan Implementation Committee, Affordable Housing Committee, Finance Committee, Historic District Committee, School Committee/Arts and Technology Education Fund, and/or Zoning Bylaw Review Committee) voted not to protect. In fact, of the recorded votes, their outcome was 27 to 2 against protecting Oak Hill.

On the other hand, the great majority of town meeting reps who are not otherwise appointed as officials, voted in favor of protection. You can see this clearly by looking at the enclosed voting summary.

The disconnect is striking. Our government is working at cross purposes with the residents. And you know why! The Town Manager appoints three times as many committee members as we get to elect. And the criteria for selection are based more on personal loyalty and a reliable vote in the desired direction, rather than qualities such as objectivity or analytical skills.

In response to the citizens petition sponsoring protection, the BOS submitted an article in favor of spending $15,000 to fund a study to see if any ways could be found to economically exploit Oak Hill (such as for housing construction). The same "loyalty board" members voted 27-2 in favor of this warrant article. Since a board-sponsored article requires only a simple majority to pass, it passed easily despite opposition by a majority of the remaining Town Meeting reps.

As you can see from the markings in red and green on the enclosed voting summary, Reps who were on the BOS, the Planning Board and the "loyalty-first boards" voted en masse against protecting Oak Hill, with the lone exceptions of Stratos Dukakis of the Finance Committee and Bob Joyce of the Planning Board. That's 27 to 2.

You can see that if the Town Meeting reps who are on these "loyalty-first" policy-making boards are removed, the outcome of votes to protect Oak Hill would be quite different. This is true on other questions as well, such as approval / modification of budget items, real estate transactions, and other policy decision.

The solution: don't vote for "loyalty-first" board members as Town Meeting reps. And don't vote for their relatives, because they historically vote the same way.

In general, you'd do well to support challengers with your vote, with the exceptions of Stefani Bush (daughter of former selectman Bill Dalton) & Eric Stansfield (pro-growth husband of Colleen Stansfield).

New Fire Station
Vote "No" to keep from saddling us with $637,500/yr debt for the next 20 years!

Voting Record: Oak Hill Warrant Articles

If an incumbent is not listed as having voted "Yes" or "No" on Oak Hill, they were either absent for the vote, or did not have their vote properly recorded (NR).

Sincerely,

Roland Van Liew