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Date: 6/9/2021
LONGMEADOW – Two candidates are running to fill the two seats on the Longmeadow Select Board incumbent and current Chair Thomas Lachiusa is running for his third term, while Josh Levine is looking to fill the seat left open by Richard Foster’s impending exit. Reminder Publishing reached out to the candidates to ask their opinions on issues affecting the town.
Reminder Publishing (RP): Briefly, remind voters who you are and why you’re running.
Thomas Lachiusa: For the last six years I have been on the Select Board and I am running again because I have found being on the board to be enjoyable and I bring a unique view based on my many years of experience in social work.
One example of how my experience plays a role in the discussion, is evident in a vote regarding a request for a new start time for serving alcohol at a restaurant in town. Although it seemed like a fairly unimportant decision, it wasn’t. The establishment wanted to start serving when they opened at 7 a.m. Some residents in town might like to have a Bloody Mary with their breakfast, but the sad reality is, it would get complicated. Based on my work with alcoholics, individuals working third shift (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.) will find out where they can get served, and begin their after-work drinking with the local parents who just dropped their children off at school.
Many decisions have predictable outcomes. The best decisions evolve from the best discussions. I like to be part of the discussion.
Like most residents, I like the fact that Longmeadow is a small town without the problems larger communities have. The work the Select Board does is important to the daily life of our community and it seems worth all the time it takes to prepare and discuss town policies.
Josh Levine: My name is Josh Levine and I have lived in town with my wife Katie and three elementary school-aged children since March 2018. I am an attorney specializing in real estate, estate planning, and commercial transactions, with an office in East Longmeadow. I grew up in Western Massachusetts and am so glad our family made the move from Washington, DC, to Longmeadow.
I am running for Select Board for two reasons: First, I want to give another voice to the younger generation in town. Young people, especially parents, are passionate about many issues in Longmeadow but are too busy with work or childcare to get involved in town meetings. Everyone in town deserves a say and I hope I can speak for a large segment of residents who may have trouble being heard otherwise.
Second, I want Longmeadow to continue to be a desirable place to live. In my real estate practice, I help folks move to the area, including many to Longmeadow. People move to our town for our services including the schools, the green spaces, and our sense of community. I want to be another strong advocate on the Select Board to make sure Longmeadow remains attractive through prudent spending and management.
RP: What are the two most important issues facing the town?
Lachiusa: Regularly, I hear from residents about their tax bill going up, which would make it the most important issue. Each year as the town budget is prepared, the board does all it can to keep the increase as low as possible. Most of the budget is for personnel who get increases, tied to contract negotiations through their union. A parallel reality is that most of our residents get a cost of living increase also. The price of most things we purchase goes up over time and so will our tax bills.
The second issue is how will the town deal with buildings that are operating at less than 100 percent. This would include two middle schools that need to be improved, torn down, or repurposed. We also have a town hall that has accessibility only to part of the first floor and a community center in a similar situation. The property at Greenwood will soon be vacated by the Senior Services, who are moving to the new adult center because of Greenwood’s condition. How will the town be utilizing these five spaces? The solutions will require votes at Town Meetings for funding. If we don't address these facility issues now they will get more expensive later.
Levine: 1. The approaching Proposition 2 ½ limit and the impact on services. Last year, residents voted against taking the first step to explore lifting the property tax cap. Longmeadow can continue implementing relatively conservative budget increases, but eventually, we will hit the cap and need to make hard decisions on cuts.
I often hear that, if property taxes go up, people will no longer want to live here and property values will drop. The corollary to that, of course, is that people will also not want to live in a town losing essential services due to legislatively-imposed budget constraints, and property values will go into an endless spiral down. A tax cap exemption will ultimately be the decision of Town Meeting, but we need to continue to remind folks who live in town of the pros and cons of leaving the tax cap in perpetuity.
2. The Eversource pipeline expansion. I firmly believe that the town of Longmeadow and its residents should continue to explore avenues to prohibit the pipeline, not just in Longmeadow, but also in our surrounding communities. Gas is an energy source of the past and we need to look toward the future. When renewable sources of energy become more prevalent, as they must, the pipeline cost will be passed on to those who can least afford upgrading to renewables.
Further, as we have seen from Eastern Massachusetts, pipelines can be dangerous, raising risks of fire and possible emissions.
RP: The town has undertaken several expensive capital projects recently. Now that the Adult Center, Department of Public Works Garage and the Wolf Swamp Fields Renovation are mostly complete, should the town continue to invest in large-scale projects or curtail spending for a time?
Lachiusa: Our current Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Paul Pasterczyk recently confirmed that relief from override votes to fund capital projects will be seen in 2028. I would agree that it will work out well if we can wait, but the decisions made at Town Meeting are not controlled by the Select Board.
In my opinion, we need to seriously look at what are the best teaching environments for middle school students and research how many of those needs can be met by refurbishing/redesigning the current buildings by specialized architects. Look at what was done with Center School. I hear no complaints about the age of the building or limits to the teaching process.
We also need to have town offices that are accessible. Essential services can be in accessible offices. We need to develop a plan to better use the space that can only be allowed public access by adding an elevator. Colleges and universities have been making older buildings on their campuses accessible and a valuable resource for teaching or administration needs. As we try to determine “when,” we also need to consider the fact that interest rates on loans to municipalities are at a very low level for capital projects.
Levine: I understand the hesitancy among some in our town to take on additional long-term debt to fund large projects and for our taxes to rise too high. Given what we have already committed to spending, I hope that once people can fully utilize the Adult Center and Wolf Swamp Fields those projects will be a source of pride for our residents.
As for the future, of course, there is a limit to what we can and should take on. However, I think that our town should continue to improve itself and should not simply write off future projects. If a project is necessary and can be done with confidence in the budget and perhaps funded creatively, such as with grants, I think it should be given serious consideration.
In any event, we may not have a choice because of the physical state of the schools, especially Williams and Glenbrook Middle Schools. If we continue to work on the schools in a piecemeal fashion, we may end up spending more overall, especially if replacement is simply delayed a short time. We cannot be penny-wise and pound-foolish. As a Select Board member, I look forward to hearing more from experts on this topic.
RP: Is there a path forward to reducing the town’s tax rate, the highest in the state, without losing services?
Lachiusa: I like to think that we are on it. This year we passed a conservative budget that the Finance Committee supported. We try every year to maintain services and keep the increase to 1.7 percent versus 2.5 percent. The real opportunity to lower our tax rate will only happen when the property values in town have a significant increase. This will only happen when the economy of the entire Pioneer Valley is double of what it is currently.
Levine: There may be trimming we can explore, but there are fixed costs that will continue to rise and cuts will eventually be necessary. The largest portion of our budget is schools and it is my firm belief that we must support our students. Our children deserve all the opportunities we can give them and, ultimately, the town sees a return from school investment. If the budget is cut and our schools’ reputation suffers, you will see property values drop.
If the tax cap is not lifted or town residents only vote for small increases in the budget, we must get creative in raising funds to limit service cuts. Longmeadow is almost fully built out and we cannot rely on development to raise revenues. Town Manager [Lyn] Simmons has proposed hiring an assistant town manager who will, in part, focus on grant writing. There is money out there for the taking, such as green initiatives, and we should try for it.
On a final note, I hear from lots of folks that our taxes are too high. I would encourage all residents to closely review the annual budget or take it a step further and apply for the Finance Committee. If nothing changes, we will hit the mil rate cap and lose services to which we have become accustomed and which make our town a great place to live, without a doubt. If you think you can help make a difference and make smart decisions on town finances, please get involved.