Candidates For Selectmen Speak: Four Profiles

The Board of Selectmen has two open seats, both for 3-year terms.

The candidates are Matthew Strauss, Patryk Januszewski, John J. Callahan and Charles Patsios.

Below are their responses to four question we put to them.

Matt Strauss

1. Please tell us about yourself — whatever you would like voters to know about you?

I am a 22 year resident of Swampscott. Currently, I reside in precinct 2, on Duke Street. I have been married to my wife Danielle for 31 years. We have three children: two sons, Joshua & Jacob and our daughter Jacqueline. I have been a town meeting member for 12 years.

Professionally, I possess over 30 years of operations management experience, a great training ground for the office of Selectman. As both a General Manager and a District Manager (where I managed 15 General Managers), I oversaw the operational activities of hundreds of workers. I was also responsible for developing and tracking project budgets in excess of $10 Million.

In addition, having served one term on the Board of Selectmen, including one year as Chairman, I understand how municipal government works. If elected, I will be ready to make a positive contribution to the well being of the town immediately. There will be no on-the-job training required. My service on the Board has reinforced in me the belief that a real leader cannot be silent when critical issues are discussed and that you must be willing to make the decisions that are truly in the best interest of the town, not simply the decisions that reflect vocal public opinion in the moment. That is why I spoke out at the last town meeting, outlining the criteria the town should use to make decisions on capital improvement projects where taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for years to come.

2. Why are you running?

Though there are many reasons why I am running, probably the most compelling are that I believe that leadership matters and that the need for strong leadership in Swampscott has never been greater.

On October 15th, 2-12 there was a Town Meeting to vote on funding a study to determine what to do about our aging elementary schools. Yet despite the fact that Swampscott's tax rate is the highest on the North Shore and one of the highest in the State and the fact that the study may recommend the construction of a new school (estimated cost: $25M to $35M), not a single Selectman offered comment on the issue.

Real leadership is not about remaining silent or about putting your finger up in the air to feel the prevailing winds of public opinion. Real leadership is about thoughtfully taking a position and communicating that position to the public and the reasons why you believe as you do. Real leadership is about making your case to the people when you think you're right but still being able to listen to opposing viewpoints and remaining open to being convinced -- by evidence and sound argument – otherwise. I believe Swampscott needs real leadership now!

3. What is the most important issue facing the board?

The most important issue that the Board of Selectmen will need to deal with over the next few years, an issue that will impact pretty much every other issue the town may face, is Swampscott's current tax burden. At $18.84 per $1000, Swampscott's tax rate is the highest of the 17 North Shore cities and towns and the 20th highest (out of 351 communities) in the state. Real unemployment, that includes people who have stopped looking for work, in Massachusetts stands at a seasonally adjusted 13.8%. Considering these two items and the fact that the social safety net is thinning and that many people, mostly seniors, are on fixed income, the need for a well thought out, balanced tax policy in Swampscott seems obvious.

Add to that burden, the fact that the town will soon need to decide what to do about our aging elementary schools as well as how to address our drain and sewer problems, the stress on taxpayers may become unbearable for many.

4. How would you help solve this issue? 

Though I believe that paying taxes for the things our town really needs is our civic responsibility, I also believe that our tax policy should be guided by principles that make sense for the community, that will not virtually bankrupt the town. Fiscal discipline is critical.

The guiding principles I will use when evaluating town expenditures, the principles that I believe will lead to fiscal discipline and that I will work to have the Board of Selectmen adopt, take the form of three questions:

1. What is the urgency of the need? Answering this question includes looking at who benefits from the expenditure, if it benefits all citizens or a limited group. It also means determining if the expenditure can be deferred and what it might cost to defer it.

Using these three questions as guiding principles upon which to evaluate town expenditures, will eventually instill a measure of fiscal discipline that has been thus far lacking in the town. Yet, in the effort to reduce the burden on taxpayers, I don't want to stop there. I also believe that we should establish a permanent committee whose mission it will be to find ways to reduce our overall tax burden. The town periodically establishes committees to evaluate capital improvement projects that require the town to spend a lot of money. I believe a committee whose mission is to figure out how the town can spend less money and lower Swampscott's tax burden is long overdue.

Finally, to make all this a reality, I ask for your vote on April 30th. It is critical that we begin the hard work needed to reduce our tax burden and to take control of the fiscal well being of our wonderful town.

Patryk Januszewski

1. Please tell us about yourself — whatever you would like voters to know about you?

I've been a resident of Swampscott for 3.5 years. My background is in computer programming. I'm 33 years old and live in precinct 3. I know that being fairly new to the town makes me a bit of an unknown, so I've created a website where residents can ask me anything they like: http://www.patrykforswampscott.com

2. Why are you running?

I'm running for Selectman because I see Swampscott as a place I'd like to plant roots. Our town has problems and this is a significant opportunity for me to impact change through transparency, communication, and technology.

It's my firm belief that elected officials are here to serve their constituents. My approach is to foster transparency and communication between the town and its residents. I have no history in town so I can promise that my approach will be unbiased and objective.

3. What is the most important issue facing the board?

The town's budget is arguably at the core of all the problems we're facing. Our ability to handle critical infrastructure problems such as flooding, repaving roads, dredging our harbor, and maintaining our schools stems from not having the budget to tackle them. The existing Board of Selectmen could place more emphasis on these issues. Instead, I feel that we're addressing the symptoms of our problems -rather than the cause.

If we want to have a new turf field and try to fix the flooding problems in our town, we need to think creatively and explore all options available to us. The residents need to have all the information about the issues made readily available to them. Being informed is the only way we can make the right decisions for our town.

4. How would you help solve this issue?

I plan to use my extensive experience in technology to save money and hopefully increase services in the town by working with the departments and committees to find inefficiencies. I've already started speaking with many department heads and committees to get a clearer understanding of their needs and directions.

I'm starting an internship program to provide experience for local college students while developing software and services for the town. The software would be published on the internet freely, and not cost the town anything to develop. One of the projects in mind is to renew and enhance the town's website (as suggested by the Design Advisory Board). Another project I'm eager to pursue is a website that would foster debate and act as a resource for residents to educate themselves on current issues facing the town. By increasing communication and transparency, we can get a clearer sense of what residents think, find creative solutions to our problems, and ensure that we're considering all possible options. If we limit our options, we limit our success.

I plan to work with the Finance Committee to explore options for creating a budget that allows us to address our flooding problems in a timely manner, reduce the amount of debt exclusions we've been taking, and plan for large projects in our future. The Green Energy Committee has multiple infrastructure projects that aren't expensive and would save the town thousands every year.

While our problems are complicated and there are a lot of details to address, the approach shouldn't be: The Board of Selectmen works to serve the residents of the town. They should listen and provide as much information as possible so that we can all be informed and make the best and most responsible decisions possible.

I'd like to invite anyone who has questions for me, to contact me through my website: http://www.patrykforswampscott.com

John Callahan

1. Please tell us about yourself — whatever you would like voters to know about you?

My name is John Callahan and I am a candidate for Board of Selectmen.  I moved to Swampscott 23 years ago.  I moved to this wonderful town for the following reasons: great schools, small population, beautiful ocean view, a historic North Shore community, proximity to Boston, an Olmsted community, character of homes and neighborhoods.  My wife Amanda and I have lived in the same home since moving here.  We have a son Liam at the Middle School and a daughter Eve at Stanley School as well as our dog Sophie. I am a software engineer at InterSystems Corporation in Cambridge where I have worked the past 10 years. Before that I worked for Oracle Corporation in Burlington.  I believe the skills I use every day at work are easily transferable and desirable to the job of selectman: excellent communicator, problem solver, independent and team worker, pragmatic, practical and energetic. The world of software is always evolving and changing and to remain relevant in that environment you must be flexible and adaptive. These skills along with being a patient listener will allow me to make sound decisions as your selectman.
I have been involved in Swampscott Youth Soccer since my son started playing 8 years ago.  I have been fortunate to be able to coach both my son and daughter in this terrific program.  A few years ago I reached out to the SYSA Board of Directors because I wanted to get more involved and pointed out I could really help them with their website.  I am currently the Registrar.

2. Why are you running?

I am running for Board of Selectman to help guide our wonderful town into this new and challenging century.  I am confident we as a community can work together in a common goal to improve our infrastructure and schools, integrate new construction while preserving our town's heritage, and solve our fiscal challenges. I want to assure you that I am not running on any hidden agenda or ego trip.  I believe I have the personality and talent to be an asset to our community as selectman.

3. What is the most important issue facing the board?

The lack of communication and transparency on our current board directly affects the competency in how well our town is run.  Before we can address the many thorny issues of taxes, schools and infrastructure we need to be able to hold a civil conversation.

4. How would you solve this issue?

 The first challenge I’d like us to overcome is lack of communication and transparency. I believe the Board of Selectman inherently define the tone of our town. The many boards, committees and employees take their cues from how ordinary citizens are to be treated by watching the actions and interactions of this board. We need to do a better job listening to the people of this town. I applaud the numerous office hours selectmen donate their time and energy to in order to meet the public. But this should be the just the start of public contact rather than the end. When specific neighborhood issues face the town our selectman ought to out knocking on doors and meeting with residents. By going directly to our townspeople we can help overcome this lack of communication and transparency.

Charles Patsios

1. Please tell us about yourself — whatever you would like voters to know about you? 

•  I have been a resident od Swampscott for 23 years I am married with two children,
• I am a Compliance Officer for Stanley Back and Decker (Stanley Convergent Security Div)
• I have also been involved  RE development most recently the GE factory of the Future

2. Why are you running?

• I want to bring fiscal accountability long term planning
• I want and we need reliable infrastructure which currently is in need of repairs
• I would also like to work into that long term plan other improvements such as a new field 

3. What is the most important issue facing the board?

• Fiscal accountability and long term planning

4. How would you help solve this issue?

• This is not about a single issue and where I stand on it. Its about about the long term health of Swampscott. No one including myself will enjoy some of the things "WE MUST" do. I will say this, that we all need to tighten our belts, each and every dept including schools needs to work as a team our the town as a whole suffers. I know that we can do better! here are a few other things,
  • Streamline the ZBA process so easy request are now handled by the BLDG Comm
  • rewrite the zoning bylaws to invite more 55 plus housing which helps the tax roles and does not burden the schools
  • consider mix

The candidates are scheduled to appear at a candidates' forum tonight, Monday, April 22, at the high school from 7-8:30 p.m.