Hi,
This is total rubbish. Your comments had nothing to do with my decision to run.
The 5 or 6 who have supported me have turned into hundreds as you will soon see.

Local government is totally broken and dysfunctional. My aim is to make it functional and accountable to taxpayers. It seems like your approach is status quo which many people say is unsustainable. I have already made a difference and given people hope that tax sanity can return to Westborough.

Steve

Without new candidates, how do we bring about change. I agree, get involved if you are not happy. Give him his chance. Rubber stamping agendas do not bring about change.

It is very easy to say local government is totally broke and dysfunctional. It is also bogus. Anybody who is actually engaged knows that elected leaders spend a lot of time balancing the needs of taxpayers -- the desire for lower taxes (nobody wants to pay an extra penny) with the desire for decent services. It is easy if you are like Mr. Faris (a relatively new arrival in town with no kids in the schools) to say cut the schools budget and other services. What does he care? But call a spade a spade -- he doesn't want to fix anything that's broken, he just wants to break things so he can pay less taxes. He should have done his research and moved to a town with bad services and low taxes instead of relocating to Westborough.

Well, i have two kids in preschool so I am not looking to blow up the school budget or anything else. I do think that incumbents should be given their chance to make things better, and if they don't they should move out of the way and let others try. Just because you are an elected official, it doesn't make you corrupt or bad. That being said, I have lived in this town for 3 years, but I am a novice regarding our elected officials (and their challengers), and what they have done, or not done, or what you get for our tax dollars. But I do think that incumbents ought to do more than stand at the rotary with a sign to explain to newcomers why they should be re-elected. This blog is new to me, but I find it encouraging to hear comments from Mr. Faris and Ms. Emery. So based on this limited outreach, they have my vote. One person cannot break or fix things alone, but we need varied opinions in order to find better answers. If Mr. Faris is as bad as some people profess, then he will have a short tenure.

Lee- On another post you wrote that you didn't know anything about me. I posted this morning at about 8:00AM that you were free to email me at timothy_dodd@yahoo.com and I would be more than willing to talk to you. I was unable to get your number; Feel free to call me at (508)-373-3152- That's my cell. Any other voters who still have questions may reach me there. I look forward to hearing from you. If you would like to learn more about me without contacting me, I have a website (http://timothydodd.webs.com)

Mr. Harris's comments are typical of those who try to mislead or confuse. I've never heard Steve Faris discuss CUTTING the school budget. He is interested in REDUCING THE GROWTH of the school budget to more reasonable levels that we can afford. It is true that someone may have to make a tough decision to reduce one program in favor of another, but that is what the school administrators get paid for -- to make tough decisions. Instead these administrators and other town officials avoid conflict and "try to bring people together". The result is a town budget growing substantially faster than the income of the town residents.

The current group of elected officials have had many years to address this problem and have had no success. Why not let someone else try.
Craig Goldman

Tim- Thanks for reaching out. I truly would like to make an informed decision today but I know that there isn't enough time to thoroughly understand all the candidates. I would appreciate you posting something here for the benefit of all. I just don't have the time to talk in detail as I am supposed to be working. I can read much faster than I can talk so please tell me something about your background, what you have done as an incumbent, and what you hope to accomplish going forward. I read your brief synopsis in the patch but it was too general for me. As an incumbent I hope that you have had an opportunity to understand what is working and what isn't work in our town. Please tell me what you like, what you don't like, and what you plan on doing about those things that you don't like. It hard for me to believe that there isn't room for improvement. I know that people try to make things better, but I would like to vote for someone who IS going to make things better.

Lee, sure. My website has a list of my acomplishments (http://timothydodd.webs.com). I would also refer you to profiles in the COmmunity Advocate (http://www.communityadvocate.com/2013/02/19/500/) and the Patch (http://westborough.patch.com/articles/dodd-s-goal-core-services-provided-cost-effectively). These include some accomplishments and information about my bio. A few letters to the editor about me can be found here (http://westborough.patch.com/articles/letter-mallozzi-supports-dodd), here (http://westborough.patch.com/articles/letter-hensleys-support-dodd), and here (http://westborough.patch.com/articles/letter-dodd-has-proven-track-record) When I first ran, I knocked on over 800 doors. This time, I did about 200. I have made about 300 phone calls, and reached out to many others through other means. As I have said all along, I want to hear from you and hope that we can work together. As I said in the Community Advocate, "communication is a two way street"- It is up to both the resident and the officials to facilitate communication I know it is impossible to meet with everyone and, win or lose, I would be more than willing to sit down for a cup of coffee- My treat. You have my contact info!

Tim. I have looked at your website, but I don't find a lot about how this town can provide services cost effectively. Property values have declined close to 30% and unemployment has been very high, especially over the past three years while you have been in office. Why isn't there more focus on cost containment (not cutting services) or trimming waste during this period and next? I know its easier said than done, but without emphasizing it, we will continue to let rising costs drive up our taxes. Maybe I am biased by our Federal and State government's inability to trim fat or control greed (like with the military budget and state's housing authorities), but I have to believe that we need to focus on new ideas for delivering needed services, accountability, and cost controls. That's what I want to hear from my elected officials. Thanks again for dialoging with me.

Lee - I couldn't agree with you more, and I'm sorry if that did not come through in my documents I sent. The idea behind the innovation council proposal is to involve citizens in working eiyj town officials to look at areas for cost efficiencies. Some ideas include- looking at what can be shared between the town and school sides, exploring regionalization with our neighbors and using new technologies such as the proposed online building permitting system. As examples of regionalization, we shared a building inspector with Ashland and just joined a new veterans district.

Property values have not declined by 30%, at least according to the assessor records. Comparing current year v 2009 it would be difficult to find a negative 10% variance in assessed values and in some cases, values have increased. So were your assessments too low 3 years ago or too high now?

Westborough's taxes have grown at less than the state average for the last 5 years according to the DOR website. If we are so out of control why is that the case?

Mike, Are you suggesting the assessed property values are a accurate reflection of our housing market and economy? Maybe we should look at values according to our insurance industry. If we do then we are in an economic boom. I don't know that many people who feel richer now than 3 years ago. And I don't recall saying that our taxes are out of control, but I would argue that higher taxes are not what we should be striving for. It is my opinion that our all elected officials (at all levels) should look at ways to reduce costs (not just cut services). This topic should be on everyone's agenda, not just a few. I moved here for the school system and because I like the town. I am eager to learn more about how this town works. I am not criticizing anyone as I don't know enough. I just wanted to make the best decision possible based on as much information as I could gather on a short notice. This forum allowed me to start the learning process. I have made my decision, and voted, as I recommend we all should do. I look forward to living here for a long time, and getting involved as much as possible.

We are not out of control. Our taxes are high but so are our services. Last big snowstorm I doubt there was a paved road in Westborough that wasn't maintained during the storm. People in CT an other MA towns waited several days for a plow to show up. I couldn't send one of my kids to a private school for what I've paid in taxes for the past 10 years, never mind several kids. I pay the equivalent of 50% of my tax bill for car insurance (kids!). Yes it's high but it's not out of control.

Short fuse for Steve.

we should be competitive on tax rate and school quality with northboro & shrewsbury,

there is something missing here - i hope steve can fix it.

Let's see.....maybe Dominic will run next time.

You sound a little bitter in your choice of words....try running a real campaign next time and the result may be a little better. Good luck to you.

Not bitter at all. Adding insulting remarks seems to be your style.