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Selectman candidate, one seat, three-year term: Philip J. Trapani
Wed May 02, 2007, 04:32 PM EDT
Georgetown -Professional background: Officer, U.S. Army/Reserve; five years corporate travel industry sales and marketing; eight years enterprise software industry sales; four years commercial real estate sales. Presently employed as a partner manager with Microsoft Corporation.
Education: High school, Austin Preparatory School, Reading; college, Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, Norwich University, “The Military College of Vermont.”
Relevant associations: Board member, Georgetown Education Foundation; founder/board member, Georgetown Concerned Residents Group; officer, Masonic Lodge, Georgetown; co-chairman, North Shore Teddy Bear Drive, DSS/HAWC Salem Chapter; parishioner, Saint Mary’s Church.
Question 1: There is an article for a Proposition 2 1/2 override on this year’s annual Town Meeting warrant. Do you feel an override is the best means to pay for the town’s expenses, or do you feel there is another more appropriate means to raise funds for the town?
An override vote is not the best means to pay for the town’s expenses and should only be used in a critical financial situation as a last resort. It should be supportable if we are confident the town is managing our finances responsibly. I generally do not support any tax increase, unless the town’s Finance Committee and auditors confirm to us that we are spending responsibly. Our Finance Committee has done this, and I overwhelmingly agree the town needs an override this year.
An override vote is a short-term solution to solve immediate issues. This clearly demonstrates that status quo in a growing town does not work as we don’t have enough revenue coming into our town to cover our growing expenses.
Georgetown residents pay nearly 90 percent of the tax revenues the town collects through residential property taxes and other fees. We have to become less dependent on residential property taxes and diversify this tax base. If residents do not want to continually be asked to vote on overrides, the only alternative solution is to bring more commercial tax base to our town. Our community must embrace the idea and become more business friendly, by identifying, welcoming and properly locating new businesses while still preserving our rural character and being sensitive to our environment. We have to be progressive in our thinking as many citizens cannot afford to have their taxes increased. We are only making it worse by not working to bring more business into Georgetown. One of my objectives is to chart a course to get us there.
Question 2: What is the shape you see Georgetown taking in the next five years? Continued residential growth? Commercial growth and if so, where? A mix of both?
Believe it or not, the town as a whole has been very fortunate to have this housing bust. Personally, if you have been trying to sell your home, it has been stressful and costly as I watched a year go by before my wife’s mother could sell her home. This housing slow down has certainly reduced new residential building in town and has given us a chance to digest our situation. Rest assured, once the housing market returns, we are a prime target of builders as there is a decent amount of land left to develop.
It is important that we collectively construct a shared vision of what the future of Georgetown should look like. I believe we need a healthy mix of residential and commercial business in town. We are far from that right now. Once we agree on a common vision, we can work together to develop a plan to begin to get us there. This is not a short-term proposition so it has to be started now.
On the residential development side, we have to be fair to land owners and developers, but balance this with what is best for the town. Unchecked growth will only continue to add to our problems with infrastructure, schools, senior services and more. This vision and plan will include a commercial development component. Georgetown needs a plan on how to identify potential new areas to zone commercial land as well as redevelopment of existing commercial areas. Bringing business into town has to be done with a smart plan. We are not moving fast enough on this and I aim to provide the leadership to move forward in this necessary direction.
Question 3: Please rank these current town issues in order of importance, and explain your feelings on the rankings you placed on them: School accreditation warning; Bailey Lane Bridge; the need to increase town revenue; open space; changing the fire department to a “Strong Chief” model.
We simply don’t have enough revenues coming in and expenses are going up. Many of Georgetown’s expenses, such as healthcare and heating bills, have incurred double digit increases this year, yet our town can only raise taxes 2 ½ percent per year. Massachusetts state aid is still $500 million lower than in 2002. For five years we have made significant cuts in staff and operating hours in town departments. Continually cutting services, staff and hours is not a solution and our residents will not just keep throwing money at our problems. It is because of this I rank this as a main, critical issue. By addressing this and increasing our town’s revenues it will naturally aid the other need areas in town.
The “all volunteer” fire department model has served well in the past, but Georgetown has grown nearly 10 percent from 2000 to 2005. I’m concerned we are going to have a major fire/rescue event with few fire fighters available to respond immediately. These volunteers also perform inspections, provide permitting and emergency response planning. We should explore hiring a full-time fire chief who can dedicate 100 percent of their time in emergency response management. This is not a clear-cut decision, but if there is a better way to reduce risk in Georgetown, I am for it.
Our community understands the critical importance and social responsibility of having an accredited high school. The ramifications of losing our accreditation are enormous. Georgetown’s graduates will be less competitive in getting accepted to colleges. Property values will depreciate as fewer people will want to move into Georgetown. Families with students will start moving or choice out. Losing our high school accreditation simply can’t happen. We have time to address this and a portion of this override is earmarked to get back on track and prevent us from going into probation, the last step before we fully lose our accreditation. The troubles we are experiencing didn’t happen overnight, and it is going to take time to fix them. But this would be a major positive step forward in the right direction towards that end.
I applaud our Community Preservation Commission for the work that has been done and the opportunities ahead. It is vital we meet the goals of preserving open space, protecting our town’s historical significance and providing recreational areas. The CPC provides a terrific balance to fund projects that might otherwise compete with other town issues. The CPC protects the soul of Georgetown, which although intangible, is key to our town and what makes it special.
To me this is just one example of many with a familiar underlying theme in town. When something is in disrepair the town does not have the means to fix it — the Band-Aid box is empty — and unfortunately, as in this scenario, even when it potentially jeopardizes the safety of residents. This goes back to why I put increasing town revenues as my critical number one issue. It would address items like this once and for all. In the interim, I believe our highway surveyor is working hard to come up with a cost-effective solution.
