A Better Westford Starts May 5th

I will fight for all the residents of Westford.  Here's how:

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1. ​Maintain Top-Notch Schools

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Investing in our schools is a high priority for many residents.  Great schools are very important for those residents with kids - it was one of the top reasons we moved here.  Yet great schools also help everyone else, not just through higher real estate values but through a better educated, more well-rounded younger generation who will someday be in charge.

 

At the same time we need to ensure that we are spending money where we can get the most out of every dollar.   

 

​​​2. Keeping Public Safety Staffed and Fairly Paid

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One of the other primary responsibilities of the town is to provide for public safety.  We are fortunate to have a great police and fire department, yet our firefighters have been working without a contract since 2024.  The new MBTA developments planned at Powers Rd and the Westford Regency will add significant workload to our public servants.  We need to ensure that we are providing them with the tools and job stability that is fair.  ​

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3. Reducing the Upward Pressure on Taxes and Fees

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The first two items above take money, and lots of it.  There is no two ways about it.  There is also no denying that many residents cannot afford increasing taxes and fees - that's why the override failed in 2024.  One of the primary reasons is the decline of our commercial/industrial base.  Commercial and industrial properties pay significantly more in taxes than they cost the town, while residential properties - on average - cost the town more than they pay in taxes.  It is essential that we have a healthy commercial base to subsidize the residents.  Our comparable towns have commercial property pay about 15% of the total property taxes.  In Westford, it has declined from that to about 9% this year.  What does that mean?  It means that more of the tax burden is shifted to the residents simply because there is no other option.  If elected, it will be my primary focus to work with every committee to rebuild our commercial base.

 

4. Keeping Westford as a desirable, safe place to live for people of all ages

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Westford is a great place to live.  We are close enough to everything in Boston to go quickly get there when we need or want to.  We have consistently top notch schools.  We have a growing selection of great restaurants.  We are right along several major highways and commuter routes to get to wherever we need - including lots of high tech jobs just a few miles down the road.  We have lots of open space, still have some apple orchards, and lots of wildlife - deer, turkeys, foxes, bears.  All of these reasons, and many more, are what brought people here.

 

We cannot continue to raise taxes and fees, and risk forcing long-time residents to move because they can no longer afford to live here.  We need to look at regionalization of services where that makes sense.  We need to be prudent in our capital expenses.  New equipment is not always the most cost effective choice. 

 

On a more personal note, the industry I work in - small biotech - has been very unstable for many years.  It can take 10 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a drug that more often than not will fail long before it can be bring in a single dollar.  Companies hire and grow, and often fail and shut down on a regular basis.  I have been laid off 3 times since 2020 when the company I was working for at the time ran out of money and effectively shut down.  That has taught me several things:

 

1. There are almost always ways to reduce spending while still providing the same services (feeding the kids, providing a roof over their head, providing clothes for them, etc).

2. There are almost always more cost effective ways to address infrastructure needs (repair broken equipment instead of replacing, extending expected life of things, etc).

3. There are almost always options to reduce capital expenses until finances improve.

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Westford needs someone on the Select Board who has weathered financial storms and made it through.