7 Point Proposal for the First 12 MonthsThomas R. Creamer02-10-09

Over the next few months, I will be actively engaging Sturbridge residents in an effort togain your support and your vote. The honor and privilege of serving as your selectmancomes with a great deal of responsibility on my part and expectations on yours. Inseeking your support, I have a fundamental obligation to provide you with as much detailas possible regarding my positions and my visions.To that end I am committed to ensuring that there is no doubt as to what you can expectfrom me - should I be granted the honor of serving you. My positions on issues will beclearly articulated in print and available via this medium at all times. This will ensure thatresidents understand my approach to issues, my deliberative process, and the basis forthe information used when coming to a decision. As well, it will provide each of you witha means of holding me accountable.Each and every day of a three-year term you have a right to expect and demand thehighest level of integrity, commitment, and objectivity from your selectmen in dealingwith the issues facing our community. I have an obligation to ensure that every decision Imake is based upon principles as opposed to personalities.There will be times when the decisions I make will be in conflict with positions held bylong-time friends within the community. That is inevitable, and despite thoserelationships, I will come to my final determinations based upon the facts through carefulreview of all information, and grounded ultimately in the overwhelming needs of themany.With that said, one would do well to remember that as a community activist one canadvocate strongly from one side or another; as a selectman, however, one must alwaysgovern from the middle.This is, and shall always remain, my personal commitment to each of you.Moving forward, I have outlined (and will continue to outline) a list of items that I amcommitted to addressing in the first 12 months of my term. These items will provide thebasis for a comprehensive review and discussion regarding the manner in which weconduct and project our responsibilities to those we serve. This list should not beinterpreted as being exclusive of other items warranting review, but merely as a startingpoint for more open and engaged dialogue on all issues of town governance.

Comprehensive Budget Analysis

We are well aware of the current economic crisis facing this nation, and in fact the world.Nationally our unemployment rate is at 8.1%, with many predicting 9-10%unemployment by year’s end. Home foreclosures have increased 81% since the sameperiod last year and 225% since 2006. In February of 2009, home prices witnessed theirbiggest drop (18.2%) in 21 years. Further complicating the national crisis is a significant

retrenchment in consumer spending which in the last 6 months has demonstrated thelowest rise in 47 years. At a time when consumer spending is receding in suchmagnitude due to the economic crisis, it is unconscionable that leadership at any levelentity would propose or support spending initiatives that are unnecessary and orunwarranted.At the very first regularly scheduled meeting (if not provided sooner in response to myongoing inquiries) I will publicly request a comprehensive list of non-essential budgetitems planned or currently being implemented along with the taxpayer costs associatedwith those expenditures. I will request that a spreadsheet be developed (and madepublicly available on the town website) that details the tax levy upon residents for eachof the items considered or approved. This will enable residents to clearly see theassociated monthly cost per resident for each item proposed or approved. As well, I willask that these items be categorized in terms of how and why they were prioritized on thelist.Subsequently, each budget request that comes before the Board of Selectmen duringthe course of the year should be added to this list, and made publicly available on thetown website, along with the item’s projected tax levy. This will enable residents to makemore informed judgments about the use of taxpayer dollars.All too often individual requests are acted upon as completely separate entities with littleconnectivity to their impact on the overall taxpayer debt. This frequently results inrequests being approved because of what appears to be an insignificant tax increaseassociated with a particular item. Sadly, as each of these requests add up, the burdenon Sturbridge taxpayers increases, resulting in diminished discretionary income for someand a loss of obligated income for others. This serves only to the detriment of residents.

•

This spreadsheet will include, yet not be limited to, the following items and theirsubsequent tax impact upon residents:

WWTF

Town Hall/Center School Renovations



Alternate site locations for the Town Hall

Burgess Elementary School Renovation/Reconstruction Project

Sturbridge Landfill/Recycling Center

Non-dedicated funds (i.e. Community Preservation Act) associated withthe purchase of land and/or capital expenditures.

Legal Fees and associated costs in relation to our contractualagreements with Kopelman and Paige as well as alternative agreementswith other acceptable prominent law firms.



In line with this request, I will seek a public accounting anddetailed explanation as to the process and rationale formaintaining our relationship with Kopelman and Paige asopposed to “market shopping”

Hamant Brook Dam Renovations/Maintenance vs. the StreamRestoration Project proposed by the State Division of Fisheries andWildlife.

A detailed report and tax levy estimate on the underground power lineproposal that the Town Administrator has indicated he will bring beforethe town for the 2010 Annual Town Meeting.

A review of the current tax assessments levied upon residents

•

Understanding the level of detail that these requests entail, I will commit toworking with the Board to ensure that the foundation for this proposal be initiatedwithin the first 4 months of my term and completely operational prior to the fiscal2010 Annual Town Meeting.

2) Burgess Elementary School

It is no secret that we have one of the finest educational systems in the area. One layswitness daily to the remarkably talented youth that grace our community. This is certainlyno accident and stems from the selfless sacrifices of parents and educators. Ourchildren represent our future and the foundation that we lay for them is in effect thefoundation that we lay for the future prosperity of our community.Unfortunately, our children and teachers at the Burgess School find themselves in lessthan ideal conditions that will only continue to deteriorate. We must endeavor to identifyand prioritize resources with which to facilitate the construction of a facility that is moreconducive to our children’s needs.Current estimates on the Burgess School are approximately $42 million, with the statethus far proposing to cover a minimum of 51% of those costs. In balancing the return oninvestment and the necessity of such an endeavor, we would do well to recognize thedifference between spending and investing.As I’ve previously stated, the future prosperity of a community (financial, social, andhistorical) is directly linked to the investment it makes in its youth and its educationalsystem. Investing in a new elementary school for our children, will reap significantrewards in terms of the desirability for businesses and residents to locate/relocate in thearea.World class businesses recognize the value of locating in desirable communities, whichinvest in their youth and seniors. Potential employees and residents associated withthose businesses fully understand and prioritize the educational and social needs of theirchildren and senior family members.As your selectman, I am committed to promoting the renovation/reconstruction of a newelementary school at every appropriate opportunity, be it locally or if necessary at thestate level.Simultaneously, working with the Board and members of the School Committee, I willencourage and pursue as much public discussion as necessary in order to ensure thatresidents are provided with the very best information possible with which to make aninformed decision.Clearly, we face significant hurdles in terms of financing such a project. The tax burdensof a new Wastewater Treatment Facility, the Town Hall/Center School project, as well assecuring the funds needed for capping cell number 2 at the landfill as well as estimatedfund shortages in the road improvement program will challenge our ability to fund a newschool.