Monday, March 25, 2013
Vote passes overwhelmingly for a second time, 1,936-625.
Opponents of Sudbury’s movement to increase the Board of Selectmen from three to five members were defeated a second time when voters Monday approved the addition of two seats during Annual Town Election. After voting to approve the measure in September last year during Special Town Meeting, opponents in town, which included current Board Chair Larry O’Brien, asked the State Legislature to overturn the ruling. It was overturned and the town was told to vote again via ballot. After Monday’s vote, the only thing left is to ask who wants to run for the two new seats? “I'm incredibly pleased the people of Sudbury chose to make this important change, that they again expressed their desire for more representation, and again called for more …
Friday, March 22, 2013
Resident Larry Jobson says he's voting for ballot question to increase the board.
By now, most of you are aware of the pro and con arguments for voting to change from a 3-member Board of Selectmen (BOS) to a 5-member BOS in the March Sudbury town ballot. As I see it, there are two fundamental questions on which we should focus our attention when considering a 3-vs-5 BOS: According to the Town’s charter, the principal roles of our BOS are: There are clearly many other subordinate roles that the BOS must perform, but none are fundamental to optimizing the town’s long-term growth path. Central to the effective execution of the three principal roles is the enumeration of and management to a set of measurable strategic goals and objectives. These goals and objectives should be part of a strategic plan, which essentially …
Friday, March 15, 2013
Resident Bryan Semple explains his views as Annual Town Election approaches.
I am writing to express my support for several candidates and also the change to our town charter. First, I support the move to five selectmen. Despite another 6 month opportunity to study the issue, those opposed to increasing the board still only offer up the reason that “we need to study it”. The studies have been done, they just point to the need for five selectmen. Please join me in supporting an increased size in our board. For the town planning board, please support Peter Abair. His positions on 40B and his work on the Sudbury Housing Trust are in line with those of us who don’t believe Sudbury should be overrun by 40B developers. As Peter appears to be the outsider candidate, I will vote for Peter alone. For school committee, …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Residents Art and Mara Huston say they are supporting the change in the March 25 Annual Town Election.
Over the past many years, Sudbury has considered expanding the Board of Selectmen (BOS). In the past, town government seemed to be working well so it was voted down. Times are different now. Sudbury is facing many important challenges that need to be addressed in a strategic, transparent, intelligent way. We are facing a structural deficit, a commercial district that needs to grow, a rail trail that residents want but isn't being built, and an increasing property tax rate that needs to be controlled. An expanded BOS will provide more leadership with transparency, accountability and representation to attack these issues and more. Some residents believe this change won't help solve the problems. We disagree. So far 135 towns have made this …
Publius
10:46 pm on Sunday, March 24, 2013
Oldtownie: "They can only do what us people want them to do. We go to town meeting and tell them what to do." So, there was a town meeting, the people voted for 3 to 5 expansion. Seems like you shouldn't have a problem with that. more ›