Brewster Candidates Forum 2011
Thank you Steve, and to the Committee for hosting this event, the only chance for voters to see all of us together before this critical election.
My name is John Dickson, I live at 132 Old Long Pond Road, I am a teacher at Harwich High School, I am married with four young daughters, we’ve lived in town for 10 years.
During this campaign, as I have been meeting with voters, walking neighborhoods, visiting town departments, marching in the parade, etc., I have often been asked one basic question: why am I running for selectman? So I’d like to make that the theme of my remarks today.
I am running because this is an important moment in Brewster’s history. Together, we have built a wonderful community, but to preserve what makes Brewster special, we need to make a few big decisions.
First of all, we need to support the budget override this year. We have endured a number of lean years in our town’s finances and we have made tough decisions and cuts to our town programs. We cannot afford to continue to do this. If we fail to pass this override, the quality of our town services and our schools will be damaged beyond the point where we could restore what we have now any time soon. This would be a costly mistake.
In submitting an override, we are asking our townspeople to make a sacrifice. But we should not be afraid to do so, nor should we underestimate out neighbors’ willingness to sacrifice to protect the character of our town.
I am running to bring long-term planning to our town’s government. In recent years, every budget cycle has been a crisis, and important decisions have been deferred. For example, we have a growing retired population, and Denise Rego is doing an admirable job of addressing their needs, but we do not have a plan for how this institution should look in five years to address the changing demands we will face.
We should consider a five-year budget plan that could map out where we need to go and how we can get there. We need to adopt a capital plan for major future projects like the fire station. We need to revive the town’s comprehensive plan. In the area of planning, we are well behind other towns and this needs to change.
I am running because I want to improve the climate for small businesses in town. We should embrace and not resist the idea of Downtown Brewster. We need to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the recently deferred utility work to upgrade our traffic and pedestrian access on 6A. We should form a Task Force of business and town leaders to create a plan to help our commercial areas thrive.
I am running to protect the environmental resources of our town. We have done great work at creating open space and identifying which undeveloped parcels should be protected. We need to continue and accelerate this work, to preserve our water supply and the rural nature of the town. Proactive work in this area may help reduce future costs such as sewering.
And no issue points more clearly to a failure of planning than our bayside beaches. Erosion is a fact of life on Cape Cod, but we need to plan for it. Look at Paine’s Creek Beach and Ellis Landing and you see effects that were predictable, but were not planned for. We need to act now on these issues, but we also need to decide how we are going to manage these over the next decade and beyond.
I am running to bring greater transparency to our town government. The budget process should be one that any citizen can follow. Proposals and drafts should be posted online and should allow for public comment for our town leaders to address during the process. A Guide to Brewster Town Government should be developed to make clear how all the pieces fit together.
Ultimately, I am running because I love this town. I love what we are, a distinctive Cape Cod community, and I want to preserve this. We are a town where old and young come together to create a unique tapestry, and where the beauty around us can be enhanced if we value it enough to plan for the future.
Please vote on May 17, please vote for the override, and please consider my candidacy for selectman. Together, we make Brewster home.
