I’ve enjoyed living on Winter Pond for the past 18 years with my wife, Victoria, raising our two boys -- a third grader at Lynch Elementary and an eighth grader at McCall Middle School. I am a former Town Meeting member and am currently serving as Vice Chair of the Winchester School Committee. I am interested in representing our precinct in Town Meeting and have included my responses to the League of Women Voters below. I respectfully ask for your vote on election day. Thank you. 

What Winchester issues do you think are most important?

I think it is important that Winchester takes stock and seeks to preserve the rich legacy of our community while welcoming new people and ideas that challenge us to grow and lead as one of the Commonwealth’s most desirable suburban communities. Towards this end, I believe we need to invest wisely in education, balance traffic with pedestrian (and bicycle) safety, and govern our town operations in a sustainable and fiscally responsible manner.  

Of those important issues, which one do you feel most passionate about, and what is your position on that issue?

The tradition of educational excellence in Winchester drives the economic value and vibrancy of our community. I have supported sustainable and fiscally responsible investments in the Winchester Public Schools through my taxes, voting for the Lynch override, and taking a leadership role on the School Committee. Education tops my list as it is core to our identity, and it broadly benefits our community. Increasing traffic volume and velocity, however, must also be addressed as the community is becoming less safe for our children and seniors alike. Finally, we must operate our town in a sustainable and fiscally responsible manner to maintain a healthy and vibrant community. 

What does Winchester do well and what might be improved?

Two areas where Winchester is very strong are education (including meeting the needs of our special education students) and athletics. Two areas that could use improvement are town-wide planning (ie, comprehensive plan to address the traffic/safety issues) and communications (ie, we need to do better at communicating all the good work being done in town and provide residents and elected leaders greater transparency for decision making). 

The Town Meeting Communications Study Committee has recommended that a written communications plan be prepared and a town communications manager be appointed by FY2025. Do you support both recommendations, even if they would involve adding a new full-time position (salary and benefits) to the town budget? If not, what alternative ideas do you suggest?  

I support the creation of a written communications plan. I’d like to see whether the plan, once completed, recommends hiring a communications manager and, given finite resources, I’d like to understand what other needs and priorities we have before supporting this position over another possibly more urgent/important role. I am open to hiring a communications manager but need to understand the scope of the work and weigh it against other potential investments.