Why I am voting for John Rooney on May 10th
Al Hamilton
Why I am voting for John Rooney on May 10th
I served the town for 10 years first on the Capital Budget Committee and then on the Advisory Committee and chaired each as part of my tenure. I am concerned about the future of our town. We have some big issues to face. We need to straighten out the state of our public buildings and determine which to keep and which to dispose of. We need to address our unsustainable employee benefits situation. We need to address the overall management structure of our municipal operations. We desperately need to find creative ways to use technology to improve productivity. We need to find ways to deliver services more efficiently. We need to find more effective ways to fully maintain town assets. We need to break down the barriers that exist between municipal departments and between town and school operations.
For years I have observed that our Board of Selectmen focuses on operating the Town in the same way we have for decades. I have heard a number of times when challenged “That’s the way we do it” or “This has always worked for us”. Trying something new or taking a risk is not viewed as a career building move in town.
I really became disheartened about a year ago when the Board of Selectmen refused to put a link on the Town Web Page to a website that the Advisory Committee had developed that posted all of our communications, presentations, budgets and any other information that was presented to the Committee. This is just the sort of use of technology that encourages transparency and participation in our Government.
I could go on at length about the police chief selection process, spending money hunting for a blogger, or the Southborough 8. You can read about these at length on mysouthborough.com or the MetroWest Daily News. The real tragedy here is that all this time, effort and money was spent on these endeavors which in the end have decreased the likelihood that the town various independent boards, such as the Planning Board or Personnel Board will work together and certainly not with the current Board of Selectmen. It is unrealistic to believe that the damage caused between the current BOS and their operating team will ever be repaired. All this time and treasure would have been much better spent working on our real challenges rather than making mountains out of molehills. This is the sort of result you get when you focus on the minutia of town affairs rather than the big issues.
I have met with John Rooney several times and spoken with him at length. I believe his record of success in business and executive skills can help us move in the right direction. In particular we need to empower town managers and hold them responsible for results. Our Board of Selectmen need to spend less time micromanaging and more time helping us face the difficult challenges we have been ignoring for so long. I believe John is the right person to help us move forward.
That is why I am asking you for your vote for John Rooney for Selectmen on Monday May 10th
Al Hamilton
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