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My name is Steve Correia and I am running for election to the Wayland Board of Selectmen.

My wife Janet and I have lived in Wayland for 12 years. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to have the opportunity to raise our three children, Scott (10) James (7) and Adrienne (4) in a town that truly values quality education, exceptional services and programs, environmental conservation and community volunteerism. We have enjoyed working and playing with some of the most wonderful people over these years in many committees and recreational arenas. Whether leading a Cub Scout meeting, hammering nails into new houses in Waveland or exploring ways to advance youth philanthropy in Wayland, it is the talent, commitment and passion of so many that makes me confident that  Wayland will continue to be a great place to live for many years.

Like every city and town in the Commonwealth, Wayland is dealing with severe fiscal constraints. Our town finds itself struggling to balance tight budgets, quality services and affordability, and has to make some tough choices.  I fear that making these choices is dividing our town along the lines of special interests. These challenges motivated me to bring a new voice to the Board of Selectman.  I believe my 30 years of business and finance experience, my involvement as a member of Wayland’s Finance Committee, and serving as a volunteer on numerous other committees gives me a broad base of knowledge to help Wayland navigate these critical issues. My experience in real estate sales and my conservation efforts have educated me on what will keep our property values solid.  I am also confident that my management style can promote consensus building and informed decision making.

If you ask me where I stand on key issues, these would be some of my responses: 

• Proposition 2½ Override – I strongly support this year’s proposed override. The override will cover the cost of providing the services we have in place today through the next fiscal year. If this override does not pass, we will be forced to make lasting and substantive cuts to existing core programs used by everyone,  from our seniors to our children.

• Town Center – I strongly support the Town Center, both because of the commercial revenue opportunity and the positive contributions to community life.  There are still many challenges that need to be thoroughly analyzed and managed to protect our community and our long-term fiscal plans.

• Traffic – I believe that Wayland faces significant traffic challenges and we need to work together as a town to develop mitigation plans that keep our streets safe for all of Wayland, not just a handful of thoroughfares.

• DPW – I support the creation of a Department of Public Works because consolidation will streamline operations, better utilize management skills and will generate numerous cost saving opportunities.

• WHS – We must maintain our high level of education which includes keeping our facilities safe and effective.  I support efforts to pursue state aid and the development of an improved high school facility.

• Conservation and Historic Preservation – I am committed to maintaining Wayland’s heritage and conserving open space when the opportunities present themselves.

• Development – I believe that continued development is inevitable in a desirable town such as Wayland; however we must balance development with the planning for open space.

Each one of these positions is grounded in strong beliefs I have about the town of Wayland:

Wayland is on a path towards achieving its long-term financial goals.

The increases in health insurance, pension, and utility costs have seen double digit growth. Towns are also faced with state mandated requirements around education, conservation and elderly programs. These all continue to put pressure on almost every department in the town with little help from state or federal governments. The process of balancing already tight budgets with increased expenses outside the control of the town is an immense challenge.

Within this context, the town, along with the help of the Finance Committee, has made great strides in developing and implementing a long term plan for consistent fiscal stability.  As part of this plan, Wayland is obliged to look at every avenue to consolidate operations and functions to improve efficiencies and save costs, as well as review all opportunities to bring in additional revenue from state aid to increased commercial tax revenue.  

Wayland’s plans are working and getting us towards these goals. We are not yet there but we are making consistent progress. We need patience and diligence to see these plans through and to keep them consistently updated. We have already seen close to $700,000 in savings through our Ad Hoc Budget Committee and structural changes in our health insurance and pension programs are starting to payoff.  I have recently reviewed this Ad Hoc Plan in closer detail and feel confident that with more analysis and restructuring, there are more savings to come by all departments working together.   

We must balance our budget while maintaining levels of services and addressing specific issues of affordability. 

This is a tough job and all departments deserve an enormous amount of credit for maintaining high levels of service with 5 or more years of level funding.  The process should be thorough, fair and accountable. It requires diplomacy and trust that the system will treat every department with the same rules and guidelines.   

Specifically, our educational system constitutes an extremely important asset and at the same time represents the largest share of our overall budget. It is undeniably one of the drivers that maintains our high property values and attracts potential buyers.

While we focus on balancing budgets at the town level, we cannot lose sight of the needs of individual families who may be struggling with increased property taxes. We need to keep researching and communicating the means to make our Town affordable to all, with more property tax relief options and exemptions similar to the senior Circuit Breaker and the tax work off programs. 

We must maintain those assets and services that make Wayland a great town. 

We are fortunate to have a first-rate educational system, acres of conservation land and recreational services, well maintained roads and high levels of comfort from our public safety departments.  As we make decisions around the future of Wayland, we cannot sacrifice all of what makes this town special. 

As an example, Wayland has always been a leader in conservation and historic preservation. Those who came before us gave us the gifts of open space and a sense of our history. I am committed to maintaining that heritage as Wayland continues to grow and change. We must wisely invest in our future by buying and conserving open space when the opportunities present themselves, creating new recreation space and developing our town in ways that will benefit all citizens in Wayland. It could be a new Library, Cultural Center, a new Center for the Council on Aging, new Town Pool or maybe even an ice skating rink.

Over time I truly believe we can make all of these opportunities a reality and make Wayland a better town if we can learn to disagree without being disagreeable – that it’s possible to compromise so long as we know those principles that can’t be compromised; and that we have to be willing to listen respectfully to each other. 

Finally, part of what drives me in Wayland is volunteerism, which I seem to have caught while living here, and I believe I can help keep that enthusiasm alive. There is a spirit and energy in Wayland that makes this a great community. If elected to the Board of Selectmen, I will do everything I can to encourage this community activism. I will provide the leadership and skills necessary to keep Wayland on the path of maintaining a quality of life that is and will remain the envy of other towns. 

I look forward to hearing your perspectives on the issues, and meeting those Waylanders I don’t already know. 

I ask for your support at the polls on Tuesday, April 8^th. Thank you.

When I first considered running for the Board of Selectmen three years ago, I felt Wayland was at a crossroads. With state aid diminishing and growth slowing, towns like ours faced the choice between making severe cuts or managing frequent overrides to maintain our basic services. Our AAA bond rating had received an unfavorable outlook and real efficiencies needed to be made to minimize the size of the deficits we were facing. New commercial growth needed to be identified to broaden our tax base and reduce the impact to our residential tax base.

Three years later, Wayland is making great progress, matching or surpassing our peer towns in nearly every measure. This despite increases in fixed costs like health care, retirement and utilities which alone continue to grow faster than revenues allowed under Proposition 2-1/2.

Over the last three years, the Board of Selectmen has advocated and passed strong fiscal reforms and policies to mitigate our dependence on residential taxes. Retirement programs were revised, conservative labor contracts negotiated, engineering audits preformed, and the approval of the Town Center commercial development was supported in order to grow our commercial tax base. The efforts of the ad hoc budget committee identified over $1 million in savings over the last two years.

Today, the town enjoys a very strong fiscal footing despite the challenges we’ve faced, and the unfavorable outlook on our AAA bond rating was lifted only last month. The recent passage by the Planning Board of the Master Special Permit for the Town Center development will insure additional commercial tax revenue sure to reduce the scope of future overrides. Due to policies and programs installed under our watch, the growth of health care and retirement costs are trending downward. The Prop. 2-1/2 overrides we face are getting smaller and the town has sustained the vital core services that help define our town character.

Personally, I have been fortunate to identify many areas that the town could change operations, saving or generating hundreds of thousand of dollars in new revenues. For example, by establishing a competitive market for dirt to cover the landfill trash, the town received $140,000 in new revenue. I’ve helped lead the debate in support of the new Town Center development, which will generate additional commercial tax revenue in the range of $750,000 to $1 million annually. Further, I was a strong player in negotiations with the developer for over $3 million in unencumbered "gift" mitigation to the town as part of this development. When this money is matched with state and federal grant money, Wayland will be able to make great improvements to the downtown historic and commercial districts.

My dogged support of the Nike Site affordable housing development helped sustain this project to allow the $3.9 million state and federal grants that will fund 80 percent of this groundbreaking local housing model, Finally, this year I have advocated and convinced the town to join the Metrowest Regional Transportation Authority, saving some $80,000 in FY08 and FY09 while leveraging hundred of thousands of federal and state dollars to allow for expanded service to our seniors and handicapped community. More local service for no local money!

The challenges that face Wayland have not been caused at Town Building and will not entirely be fixed there. While we continue locally to identify efficiencies and support sound fiscal policies, we also need to advocate on the state level for legislation to supporting the needs of suburban towns. State aid to cities and towns is down over $600 million annually since 2001. We need a dedicated revenue stream from the state to allow for more stable local budgets going forward. Further, state supported, outsized and uncontrolled Chapter 40B projects threaten to change the character of Cochituate Village over local opposition. Chapter 40B laws need to be revised to protect our small town’s character.

My family and I are fortunate to have many close friends in town. Born and raised in Wayland I am deeply invested in our community. My wife Elizabeth and I have three children – Ally and Ryan in Loker, and Jamie on his way. My mother Mary is an active senior living in the Cochituate housing development. I am involved in numerous local organizations and am proud of what we stand for as a community. As selectman I have endeavored to be a responsible and pragmatic public servant.

I am often asked why I chose to run for selectman. Service on the board does not pay a salary, and the position requires many nights away from home. The answer is that I do it because it matters, and because I earnestly care. The decisions made at Town Building on Monday nights will impact all our families’ futures for years to come.
Over the course of my first term I have consistently supported prudent long-term fiscal planning that will preserve the qualities that make Wayland great now and long into the future. Sound governance is a marathon that should not be subject to the easy sound bites or quick fixes too often proffered by those with the near view. Our community is a great treasure that we need to protect while guiding its growth. It is for all these reasons that I have decided to seek a second term on the Board of Selectmen.

It has been my great honor and privilege to have a seat at the table as we forge our community’s future and I thank you for having granted me the opportunity to serve. I humbly ask you to consider supporting me for a second term on the Board of Selectmen by voting for me on Tuesday, April 8.

For more information or to contact me please visit my Web site at www.josephnolan.com

For the past three years I’ve been privileged to serve as your Selectman. With your support this April 8^th, I hope to return to the board as your voice for accountability, affordability, public safety, and a government that works for you.

 While on the Board of Selectmen, I have worked to improve the town’s wireless communications, cable TV competition, and transparency in tax increase reporting, among other subjects. I supported more fair property tax assessments, created easy-to-use tax calculator tools, advocated for affordable housing, participated in town center and wastewater negotiations, and promoted ideas for more efficient government. I created a website that allows two-way communication between us, along with many more accomplishments. Please visit www.AJReiss.com and see for yourself. 

I have taken this awesome responsibility very seriously and worked hard.  I’ve learned that good government should serve its people but not bankrupt them; welcome their participation, not shut them out; should operate  in the open, not in back rooms; welcome diverse ideas and not be afraid of information and facts. I have learned that an open, volunteer-rich town government is democracy in action. That is priceless. 

I have also witnessed trends in our town government that concern me. 

The political litmus test in Wayland is “the override,” where being pro-override is code for pro-school. I have not personally passed this litmus test because I have been advocating for less frequent overrides, Menu overrides, or overrides which do not compromise public safety and the aged.  In Menu overrides, voters get a chance to set priorities at the ballot box on how their override taxes should be allocated among town services. Other towns do this, Wayland has never done this.  Our current practice lumps life and death services in with everything else, in an all-or-nothing vote. In Wayland, there is no distinction made between what is the most essential service for all residents, vs. what is not.  It appears that public safety is used as a vehicle to scare voters into supporting overrides.

It’s all about the money - tax more, spend more. Pro-override candidates are proffered to ensure more overrides. This is especially true for the Board of Selectmen. They appoint the Finance Committee, which, in turn, recommends on financial issues (like overrides) to the Selectmen, who in turn have the exclusive power to place overrides on the ballot. There is no separation of power, as in our Federal government, to ensure independent thought and action. 

Interestingly, in many towns the Finance Committee is appointed by the Moderator or elected by the public. Unlike Wayland, these models allow for separation of power as well as checks and balances in the political process.  Finance Committees appointed by Selectmen are clearly in the minority in Massachusetts. This is a problem looking for a solution. 

Since 2002, we now face our 5th override ballot question. That’s one every 1.4 years. Wayland has never failed an override in 20 years. Town officials predict the need for overrides will continue at a frequency of at least every other year. So the probable, almost certain future for taxpayers is tax increases above and beyond the 2½% allowed annually by the state. I am convinced that defeating this year’s override is the only way to change the direction in which the town is headed and how budgets are constructed.           

Can you and your family keep up with these ever-persistent tax increases?  As a Selectman, I have cared about keeping Wayland affordable so that residents living here are not forced out of town. I don’t support the “let them eat spaghetti” mentality of some pro-override activists who suggest that those who are feeling the tax pinch live more cheaply, as if spaghetti could possibly make up the difference; or the blogger blather that if you can’t afford the taxes, move out. These arguments speak to the disconnected logic rampant amongst a vocal and politically motivated minority in this town. Overrides will come in the future, but they should happen less often, be of smaller magnitude and they should give voters choices without threatening the public’s safety. 

Let’s talk about our Aaa bond rating.  Moody’s says a failed override of $1.9M would not negatively affect our Aaa bond rating if we also make cuts of the same magnitude. Moody’s views bond ratings over intermediate spans of time. Furthermore, if and when there ever was a downgrade to Aa1, it would only be 5-10 basis points based on today’s rates.  That’s 1/20^th of 1% to 1/10^th of 1%, or about $83 per month per $1-million in initial borrowing, then decreasing monthly. So $50 Million, like a new school, would be about $4,167 more the first month decreasing monthly.  These aren’t large amounts relative to our total budget. And a lower bond rating won’t even be an issue if we keep our general spending in line.  There’s no reason to let the Aaa Moody’s rating argument intimidate anyone into voting for this override. 

My final point: It’s said that this override will help your property value.  The affordability of a house is based on ratios, which include permanent property taxes.  The higher the taxes, the fewer people who could buy your property.  Supply and demand takes over.  High property taxes add to the region’s expensive cost of living. That discourages companies from doing business in Massachusetts.  Companies relocate, outsource and jobs leave.  This is happening insidiously.

When jobs leave, real estate supply goes up.  Note that for the first time since 2000, our Assessors have dropped the median and average valuations of our homes. Clearly, passing the previous 4 overrides have not insulated us from that: Our real estate valuations are lower, even with all the money we have been spending for great schools. The factors affecting home prices and valuations are global; schools are a factor, but there are more powerful forces at work. You won’t reverse the decline of our property values by voting for this override.

In conclusion, I am a voice for fiscal restraint and smart government. I need your voted support this April 8^th at the ballot box to remain on the Board.  I believe I am good for Wayland and would be honored to continue to serve our wonderful community.

Alan J. Reiss

Member Wayland Board of Selectmen

When asked by a friend if I would run for a seat on the Board of Selectman, I immediately responded yes. My primary reason for seeking one of two open seats is the demonstrated need for change on Wayland’s chief executive board and the knowledge that my extensive experience in town government will enhance the democratic process. I am confident that my unfailing commitment and my diligent, straight-forward approach to getting the job done well will be assets on the Board of Selectmen. Business must be conducted objectively, with the best interests of all residents as the basis for decision making.

The current board is fractured and has lost its focus. The dynamics of the board must be changed by adding a member with new ideas, new focus, and a new perspective. I believe I am that person.

My work, serving you, as a Road Commissioner for the past nine years has resulted in a record of positive achievement that has improved and enhanced our town. I have been able to consistently achieve results by working cooperatively with board members, department heads, consultants, and the public.

I was elected by fellow Board of Road Commission members to serve as chairman three times. Under my leadership, the board resolved a difficult personnel issue that resulted in a dramatic and positive transformation to the operations of the Highway Department. Today, due to the efforts of the board and Director of Highway Operations, the department is now regarded as a model of budgetary efficiency that continues to provide excellent service to our residents and is extremely helpful to other town boards and departments.

With funding approved by Town Meeting, the Board of Road Commissioners researched potential locations for and solicited bids to build a new storage facility for road salt. The project was completed on time, under budget and with the least possible impact on the surrounding neighborhood. Immediate cost savings have been realized because of our ability to receive and store larger quantities of salt, thus lowering delivery fees.

During recent Town Center Project discussions on roadway reconfigurations in Wayland’s Historic District, it was my suggestion to narrow the width of lanes in order to minimize the impact on existing green space, trees and historic artifacts yet still keep the traffic moving efficiently through the area. That is the position that our traffic consultant and other Town boards have now adopted.

I spear-headed the Rice Road/Oak Street/Route 30 intersection re-construction project that turned one of the most dangerous intersections in town into one of the safest. The aesthetics of the design included traffic calming islands and ornamental signal poles creating the standard for future such projects in town.

After the town suffered a tragic loss at the intersection in front of Wayland High School, it was clear that safety improvements in that area were necessary. As the point person for the Board of Road Commissioners, I worked with the Police Chief to convince the Selectmen that signalization at the entrance to Wayland High School was a priority and should not be put off. These improvements are now slated to be constructed in the near future.

Wayland is facing its fifth Proposition 2 ½ override in the last seven years. Selectmen must aggressively identify and pursue permanent financial economies immediately. We must break this on-going cycle of tax increases. As the cost of living skyrockets, many younger homeowners are financially burdened by large mortgage payments and older homeowners on fixed incomes are finding it difficult to remain in Wayland. As Selectmen we have an obligation to our fellow residents to ensure that we have done everything possible to either eliminate or substantially reduce overrides. I do not believe that has been done yet and, therefore, I cannot support the override as currently proposed. I believe the first consideration for cuts must be to non-essential programs and personnel. Assuring public safety – police, ambulance and fire personnel – must be a top priority.

Many other issues are affecting our quality of life today in Wayland but one, in particular, is threatening the traditional character of our town. Chapter 40B development applications have flooded the Zoning Board of Appeals. Cochituate Village has been impacted heavily by very dense projects that increase traffic, pollution and strain our town services. We must urge our elected State representatives to work aggressively with other communities to amend Chapter 40B to increase local control over these projects.

I have lived in Wayland since 1986 with my wife Diane and my daughter Emma, a Wayland High School graduate and a sophomore at college. I plan to remain in this wonderful community for many more years. I am a graduate of Boston Latin School and Bowdoin College and currently run a small family business in Boston. I have served on several town committees including the Middle School Building Committee, the High School Feasibility Study Committee, and the Route 30 Traffic Study Committee. As a resident for the past 22 years, I have learned how to get things done in and for Wayland. I would be honored to continue serving the town as your selectman.

In your consideration of my or anyone else’s candidacy, please do not judge us by our positions on any one issue. Please carefully review the entire record and only then make your decision. As Selectman I will not alter my approach to dealing with the many issues and challenges the board will encounter, both new and ongoing. Public input, fact-finding, cooperation, collaboration, those are the keys to a successful government.

Take advantage of this opportunity to elect an independent, hard-working and dedicated individual who will bring diversity and new energy to the board. I would appreciate your vote on Tuesday, April 8th. Thank you.

Selectman Resume
Professional Resume