With Deep Gratitude

I wish to extend my deep gratitude to those Sturbridge residents who demonstrated their continuing support by extending me the honor of being able to serve another term on your behalf. I am extremely privileged and humbled by your faith and trust in me; evidenced by the fact that so many – despite this being an uncontested election – still deemed it important to check the circle next to my name. You can be sure that I will continue to advocate on your behalf, consistent with the Town Charter and the Bylaws of our community, in an open, honest, objective, and respectful manner.

I will continue to recognize – as I have at all times – that the role of selectman is not one of personal philosophies, ideologies, or particular constituencies, but rather an obligation to serve all residents of our community “faithfully, impartially and to the best of my ability, so help me God”. Though my decisions may not always find favor with all residents, you can be certain that I will approach every issue in a manner that is void of any personal proclivities or affiliations, but grounded rather in the dictates of our Town’s Constitution and those documents adopted by our Legislative Branch – the voters at Town Meeting and the ballot box.

I am privileged to have your trust and your support and I will continue to do everything in my power to maintain the faith and honor you have extended me by way of your overwhelming support at the polls.

Respectfully and with great humility

Time to move forward TOGETHER

The past few months have been a time of passion, heightened awareness, deep concern, frustration, and an opportunity for all who have been active in bringing platforms and/or issues of concern to the forefront for consideration by the voters of our community. The results are in, the voters have spoken, and the time has come for all to move forward together in a unified effort to make our community the very best it can be.

Just as some - deservedly so - are experiencing a sense of great relief and exuberance in terms of their individual or collective campaign successes, we must not forget that others - equally committed to their candidates and/or causes are experiencing a sense of loss, disappointment, frustration, and in some cases perhaps even anger. This of course, is all part of the election process and one recognizes that regardless of the positions taken there are significant issues that these campaigns/initiatives have called attention to and we are all the wiser for taking a deliberate and reasonable approach in considering the viewpoints of all. 

To that end, we must recognize that the ballot initiative to revoke the CPA has served a very valuable and important service in highlighting the real concerns residents have about spending and debt in general. Equally, it provided a great opportunity for residents to become better informed about this highly vetted, extremely valuable and important program. It is important to note however that it would be imprudent for any to presume that the very successful effort to keep the CPA in Sturbridge signals a green light to spending; to do so would represent a fundamental failure to recognize the very real concerns of the 42% who voted against the CPA.

There is little doubt that those who spearheaded the efforts to save the CPA understand the importance of a fiscally sound approach with respect to CPA funds. Such is evident in their overall approach to project submission for consideration by voters. Clearly as taxpayers, they too recognize that concerns exist, which is a significant reason that no substantive projects have been submitted for action by voters over the last two years. That is evident again this year based upon the draft Annual Town Meeting Warrant.

It is critical as well however, that those elected and appointed officials (BOS & FinCom) who make recommendations at Town Meeting for voter consideration recognize that there is little appetite for spending and additional debt within the community. Thus, it is imperative that our approach to the budget and the future use of tax dollars be carefully scrutinized, fiscally conservative, and "return on investment" centered. Any other approach would be an affront to those who voted in opposition to the CPA as well as the 58% majority that voted to maintain the CPA, as both supporters and non-supporters of the CPA are relatively uniform in their concerns about spending and debt, regardless of from where it manifests.

Considering that we are all neighbors in one form or another and that all of us want a community that provides character, charm, a great quality of life, and a level of affordability that allows us to enjoy this remarkable place we call home, I am hopeful that we can all now put the election behind us and move forward TOGETHER.