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Date: 5/9/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The upcoming Town Election takes place on Monday, May 15, and the ballot will only feature Lesa Lessard Pearson for the one Select Board seat but there is competition.
W. Daniel Fitzpatrick is running a write-in campaign.
The two are vying for a Select Board seat being vacated by Jim Barry, who is not running for reelection.
Fitzpatrick said that he didn’t originally plan to run for the Select Board until he saw there was only one person on the ballot for the position, but added he is fully committed to running with a purpose.
Fitzpatrick has lived in Belchertown since 1969 and has served on the Select Board for two terms in the 1990s and joked that he is running for reelection with a 20 year hiatus. He also served on the School Committee and Planning Board.
He added that he is running because he loves Belchertown and his goals would be to de-emphasize politics from the board, restore respect for each other and town employees, encourage voter participation in town government, survey voters to quantify ideas that give direction to the board and assist the School Committee in continued quality education for students.
“I have worked long and hard for the town over the years, and have helped to achieve much, and have invested in our lives here,” Fitzpatrick added.
When it comes to the biggest problem facing the Select Board, Fitzpatrick added, “The Board has ceased to be effective, constant bickering, subterfuge, back biting, no respect from/for employees who feel attacked by individual Selectmen, and political motivation over voters' needs by some. The Select Board, above all others, must work as a team or the town gets hurt.”
During his time as a Select Board member, Fitzpatrick said the Select Board were able to be productive for the town when they were on the same page.
He added the Select Board rolled up the town debt to nearly $100 million due to a new police station, fire station, Senior Center, three new school buildings, new sewer and water lines to Pine Valley and around the lakes, new sewer processing plant, and a new water pumping station.
Fitzpatrick added, “I want to get back the selectmen back respecting each other, put voters and employees over individual needs and get back to a team. It takes time, but I have done it before, and I can do it again.”
He continued, “It’s amazing that the board could cause so much consternation and dissatisfaction with the work experience of employees. In my experience, we all had a good relationship. People stayed on for years and were happy in their environment. It was a pleasant place for employees and elected officers. That teamwork served the voters more effectively and with more loyalty then they could ever know.”
Belchertown is currently facing a $1.8 million structural deficit that Fitzpatrick thinks the town employees should focus on.
He said, “Simple, let the employees in the Treasurer’s Office examine the situation and identify solutions under commonwealth law. They can then educate the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee with a recommendation. That is the legal procedure. All this running around by many uninformed people, weeping and gnashing of teeth, accomplishes absolutely nothing. That is except worry all the voters that there will be a tax increase. Then again, that is what is intended by some.”
When it comes to employee turnover, he thinks that can be fixed by the Select Board.
“I have talked to many employees, some I have known for years, and they are honest with me. Some are unavoidable like retirement, illness, poor health, etc. The single biggest, almost unanimous problem again is the selectmen, or some of them. Universally, almost without exception, they feel badgered, unappreciated, too many bosses, selectman interference in the performance of their work, and undue pressure,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick would also like the Select Board to be as open and transparent as it use to be.
He said, “In 2010, the commonwealth changed that law which now reads ‘the chairman of the committee decides if meetings are open/closed.’ It was difficult but we got a lot done. One example of difficulty was the Rail Trail Committee. We were an appointed town committee which placed us under the commonwealth’s Open Meeting Law requirements. Everything had to be presented, discussed, and voted in open public meetings. The opposition, not being a town committee, would come to our meeting, glean all the facts then go back to their closed meeting, and make new plans to fight us.”
He added, “I would, if elected, work to get a by law passed to return to the Open Meeting Law for Belchertown meetings, unless a closed meeting was previously approved by public vote of 3/5 of the elected Selectmen. The recent Search Committee for Brougham’s position was a travesty. No one was permitted to attend, no minutes were received by the Town Clerk, no one could find out anything about the search, which causes me to feel something nefarious was under foot.”
Pearson said she was born and raised in Massachusetts and is currently serving as the chair of the State School Building and Grounds Committee.
She added, “Belchertown is growing and changing like any healthy town does and there will be challenges, opportunities and missteps ahead, but I have great optimism about Belchertown. My experience in budget analysis, business partner development, cross channel communication and strategic planning will be helpful both to the new town administrator and the town itself.”
Pearson ran for the Select Board in October 2022 for the vacant seat before losing to current Select Board member Peg Louraine.
She said she is excited to run again and hopefully bring a new perspective to the board.
According to Pearson, the biggest problems on which she wants to focus if elected are economic development, addressing the structural operating deficit and increasing transparency in town affairs.
“I am running because I am worried about the tax burden placed on Belchertown homeowners. Broadening our taxbase through business development will provide new goods and services for town residents and create new opportunities while also strengthening our tax base,” Pearson said.
She added, “That is one of several reasons why I am running.”
When it comes to the structural deficit, Pearson realizes that something needs to change soon.
She said, “Belchertown has spent several years creating it and now hovers around $1.8 million. A balanced budget has been presented annually because it was achieved through draining the towns reserves and by using one time only ARPA money. Those funding sources are nearly depleted, so we face the real possibility of homeowner tax hikes, reduction in town programs and services and/or school budget cuts.”
Pearson thinks the best solution is to have everyone work together in town government to work on the problems.
She wants to assist the new town administrator tackle the ongoing structural deficit and expected transitional challenges while ensuring that essential programs and services stay intact.
“Before we consider raising taxes, we need to do a careful analysis of the necessity to fill vacant spots in town government for instance, as well as in the school system along with a comprehensive review of the entire budget. It will take an incoming town administrator, the Finance Committee, the Planning Board, the School Committee and the Select Board together to resolve the deficient,” Pearson said.
Pearson realizes that Belchertown is facing some upcoming problems but added her thoughts on the state of the Select Board.
She said, “The biggest challenge the Select Board is facing is we have a town leader who is just stepping down and with that there is staff turnover. That is very normal to see staff turnover when a senior leader departs and I see it as a golden opportunity to analysis the need for replacement or revision of job responsibilities based on the needs and value propositions of the town.”
Pearson added, “The transition from one town administrator to a new town administrator will be a challenge and the Select Board needs to do everything it can to assist in the process to a new administrator.”
One of the most important things about being a town leader is to be open and transparent to the community about current problems and news.
Pearson thinks that Belchertown needs some in those areas but has some ideas to fix it.
She said, “The standard response of, ‘Well if you want to know what is happening you should have gone to the meeting’ is a false narrative. The truth is town government needs to make it a priority to get news and information out to community residents through a variety of communication outlets.”
Pearson proposes adding a town employee who is a communications specialist to work with the Communications Committee to gather news and distribute it to the public. Her long-term goal is to also create a new user-friendly website to accesses news and information.
Pearson added that the Communication Committee is currently working hard with great ideas and if elected, she would like to be liaison to the committee.
“I want this dedicated town resource to work with this committee because not one person can know everything that is going on in town. I think working together, they can get the job done,” Pearson said.