Needham Select Board Positions

I am a registered independent who votes for the best person in any election.  I believe Town Governments should be fiscally responsible.  I am personally moderate on social topics. To me this means that I believe the town's money comes from you and I, the taxpayers. Our town funds should be spent carefully, or if possible, not spent and returned to the taxpayers. As a citizen, I also want the town government to protect my fellow citizens and our rights, encouraging an inclusive, diverse community where we value everyone, no matter their background or identity.  

This page will evolve as I hear from each of you on topics that are important to you. I'd like to take a moment to share my position on a few topics that you have already told me matter to you...

Most people I meet immediately ask me which Envision option I'd support, but I don't think that is the most important question...the better question is why is there still an Envision Project at all?  To be clear, the 4 lane option is the only choice I could support given the realities of our roadways in Needham (3 main roads + the MBTA in downtown make a road diet, well unpalatable....sorry for that Dad joke).  More important than the 2 lane or 4 lane question, it seems to me that the main objectives of the program are at best unclear.  Envision's guiding elements seem to have origins from our experiences in town during Covid, but now that Covid is in our past is that frame of reference still relevant?  Our town has always proven up to the task of change, but the objections our residents have about Envision are not rooted in a fear of change, they are based on practicalities of how our downtown is structured, most of these realities are difficult to ignore if you are ever running through town during high traffic periods.  While we have spent a good deal of money on Envision on branding, expensive consultants, color pallets and the like, I do not believe that continuing with the program matches the interests of our town and so if I am elected to Select Board I would ask for a vote to stop or pause the program.  There are clearly some sensible ideas that have come from the work the team has completed, and I believe those ideas should be harvested and mobilized for implementation independent of the Envision project.  These ideas would include improving sidewalks, accessibility, way finding, parking, and most of all the safety of our crosswalks...we must not wait for another tragedy to motivate Select Board to priorize safety of the crosswalks downtown!.  

Finally, it's clear that Envision has stressed the relationship between our downtown businesses and our Town.  Their Not Our Vision campaign has been a terrific reminder that their voice in our town is essential...the vibrancy of our commerce corridors depend upon having businesses that thrive.  We must rebuild the trust which has frayed between our Town and our Businesses through better engagement and communication. 

I support rebuilding Pollard. I believe that most residents want a new Pollard. But virtually everyone I met also has asked for my help to ensure that our town can afford the new school, along and tackle Mitchell, without the need to RIF teachers like in Lexington. Our schools are often called our crown jewel, we should not take that metaphor literally...beautiful school buildings without good teachers are just tax monuments. If elected, I would work with the Pollard team to accelerate value engineering to find cost reductions before the fall override vote. Asking less from taxpayers will help build trust with our town’s taxpayers and also improve the likelihood of success in an override vote.  We must rebuld Pollard Affordably, and with your support and the right leadership at Select Board we can get that done together.

 It’s way past time for Select Board to finally prioritize implementing the Quiet Zone and  give our residents some peace and quiet. Know that the Quiet Zone is not some Election Year promise for me that will be thrown out with the yard signs, it is my daily 5am blaring train horn wake up call that will continue to fuel me to ensure Quiet Zone is finally completed at all crossings including the golf course. 

If you elect me you can be certain that we will get this done ASAP.  We've all heard the various excuses for why we can't tackle this situation—claims that the MBTA doesn't want to help, that the State won't allow changes, it will create adverse liability for our town or that the local golf course won't agree.  The Governor, the State, the MBTA, and our own town government can and will assist us if this is something we want and push our leaders to realize, but that cannot happen if Select Board does not prioritize getting it done.  Breaking thru the inertia will take real leadership, I will go to work with each of you to finally address this and other quality of life issues for our residents.

In Needham, our average property tax bill is more than twice the average in the state. I often hear folks cite the importance of schools, renovation of town buildings, and maintaining nice ball fields— these of course also contribute to why Needham is a great place to live.  These same things also help fuel the grown in our taxes and fees that I have also heard so much about during this campaign.  I believe that we all agree that our Needham should continue to make needed investments in our town, but can't we do more to control the size of these investments so that taxes don't make Needham Unattainable for families and so that seniors aren't forced to leave due to high taxes?  Do you feel your town leaders focus enough of their energy on finding ways to reduce spending instead of increasing it?   I support the Finance Committee’s fiscal benchmarks, including debt near the town’s 3% operating guideline and below the 10% total debt threshold, if I am elected I would work to ensure we don’t compromise these benchmarks....but this is simply not enough to help control the growth in spending that propels our tax bills.

I believe we should expect our town leaders to have bold vision and also find ways to carry that vision out without mortgaging our town's future.  Our property taxes impact the affordability of our town.  Heck we already have surplus accounts which we continue to build, isn't it time that we look at our spending and surplus accounts and find ways to reduce spending and the taxes/fees that we collect from our residents?  As an executive, my budget was never a given, I had to start from $0 each year and find ways to reduce or remove prior spending to make way for new needs, I never was allowed to start with last year's budget + 3%, I bet that we all do the same in our own home when we encounter a big new expense or investment...shouldn't we have a similar discipline in our town? If I am elected I will work with Select Board to review the budget planning process to look at ways to curb year on year budget growth and also look at large projects to make sure they have cost control target that is as ambitious as the project itself.

When I was at Trader Joe's getting signatures on my Nominating papers, a woman asked me about my position regarding Stephen Palmer. I had to admit to her that I really didn't know much about Stephen Palmer, and so she gave me the basics. She told me how she and her fellow seniors were expecting to move out of Stephen Palmer in May of 2027, but the Select Board decided to accelerate their exit, pushing them out of their homes six months or more sooner (moving the exit to October of 2026). She explained how hard it is on seniors to suddenly be pushed out of their home by their own town, when the plan for Stephen Palmer re-development has not even been defined or reviewed by our citizens.  I was raised to respect and care for seniors, to cherish them for their wisdom, and to watch out for them in their later years when they are vulnerable.  Why are we in such a hurry to force seniors to the curb, when there is no clear use for Stephen Palmer?  We all will grow old (if we are lucky); shouldn't we give (and one day expect) compassion and help to be prioritized over clearing this facility six months early? It makes me sad to see our seniors treated in this way, and I wish I had learned more and advocated for finding a better way on this issue, our seniors deserve better.   If I am elected to the Select Board I will work with the Select Board to ensure that there is transparency and community engagement on determining next steps for the building, and I would explore if the end date for residents could be returned to the original target.

I believe that most residents want to see improved building regulations that help to preserve the character of our town, and incentivizes diverse housing stock.  I have heard from many people their genuine concern about Needham being untouchable for working families because of the price of housing, and because smaller houses seem to be disappearing in favor of large homes in our community.  I have also heard that if we are not careful with changes being made, that it can have unintended impacts on the value of the single largest asset most of our residents, especially our senior citizens own, their home.  I am not in favor of the four Planning Board proposals presented for public comment.  This view was also shared several members of the Large House Study Committee  during public comment, these members indicated that the proposals being brought forward were the Committee's most aggressive set of regulations and were not what they recommended be brought forward.  Many seniors also joined the March 4th meeting and expressed concern regarding the significant impact the proposed regulations would have on their property value if they chose to sell their home.   I believe moderate improvements can be made which preserve our town's character while also preserving the property value, market forces, and incremental tax growth that our town's new homes have helped fuel.  I would support a simpler less aggressive approach set of regulations at this time.  I would also support focus on developing options that create developer interest in building small and mid-sized homes.  We should also review our regulations to ensure rennovation of small homes is encouraged.

First off, I believe that developing areas near the T can have a real benefit for our town. I am in favor of the concept of the state's push here via the MBTA Communities Law.  I am also supportive of the need for diverse and affordable housing, ensuring that Needham is a town where people of many income levels and backgrounds can live. That said, I struggled with the size of the Neighborhood Housing plan that was put forward, the overbuild in relation to what the state law required, and the limited information on the consequences of this building regarding traffic, parking, town services, infrastructure, and schools. It all felt like too much like a leap of faith to me. I voted with the majority and with the NRTZ movement on this referendum and I opposed the MBTA plan that was presented, hoping that we could return to a plan that resembled the base plan. If elected to the Needham Select Board, I will work with the Select Board to move past the zoning changes to work to attract developers to ensure we realize the vision and then see those projects thru to ribbon cutting.