Experience

As a Select Board Member

In my role as a member of the Select Board, I have had the opportunity to guide policies and decisions in line with our Town's vision and missions.

  • As the Select Board representative and member of the Capital Planning Expenditure Committee, I helped initiate a review of the policies, and their implementation, that guided the CPEC's work. The scope of the committee's work was expanded to better match policy goals. As a result, all capital projects now go through the CPEC review and prioritization process. This provides residents with a more complete and accurate picture of current, planned, and likely projects across all town departments and services.

  • While serving as the Select Board's representative on the Economic Development Committee, I led the effort to create a clear set of goals and objectives. This effort, timed with the hiring of a new Economic Development Coordinator created a renewed sense of mission and energy for the EDC. To achieve these goals and objectives, the structure of the EDC was modified to include more local business representatives.

  • As a member of the Select Board, I led the effort to organize the Affordable Housing Forum in January 2020. This forum was the first time in Town history that all stakeholders involved with Affordable Housing had met. As a result of the Forum, the Affordable Housing Trust Working Group was created to explore if and how to create an affordable housing trust for Westborough. As chair of the working group, I led the effort to research laws and regulations, identify best practices, establish guiding principles, and provide education and outreach to the community. In November, 2020, Town Meeting voted unanimously to create the Westborough Affordable Housing Trust.

  • As a Trustee of the Westborough Affordable Housing Trust, I led the effort to create a COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance program. The program provided families in need due to COVID-19 with 4 to 8 months of rental assistance. Families gained housing security; local landlords recovered lost revenue and avoided the time and expense of evictions.

Since my taking office, the Select Board has made four significant updates to the Town's strategic financial management policies. These include:

  • Adoption of a Debt Strategy that better enables the Town to balance how and when it uses short term versus long term debt.

  • Updated policies guiding investment strategy and management for Town Trust Funds.

  • Updated policies guiding investment strategy and management for OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefit) Funds.

  • Updated policy for funding OPEB, post COVID-19.


Prior to Joining the Select Board

The Westborough Select Board is my first elected position and, with the exception of my short tenure on our Charter Review Committee and participation in the Strategic Planning open meetings, I had not served on other town board or commissions. I have, however, been involved in town activities and have spent time learning.

  • I attended most of the Board of Selectmen's meetings for the prior year, watching and learning how the board functions.

  • To learn about other boards and commissions, I attended or watched recordings of Planning Board, School Committee, and Advisory Finance Committee meetings. I met with current and past members of various boards and commissions, as well as department heads.

Beyond my learning process, I continue to participate in town and school activities. I am a founding member of the Westborough Education Technology Fund and served on the Implementation Team for the BORO Sugar Shack. My business has been in Westborough since 2003. We are members of the Corridor 9/495 and Worcester Regional Chambers of Commerce.

As a small business owner, consultant, and serial entrepreneur, I bring management, process, people, and operational skills to the role of Select Board member. By nature and practice, I am a pragmatic problem solver who looks to facts and can assimilate different points of view into options and solutions.

So while I am relatively new to Town government, I bring ideas, perspective, energy, and focus to the challenges and opportunities at hand.