Campaign Wrap-up Statement
I am Ed Pierce and I am again asking for your vote on March 14th to re-elect me to the Select Board.
In this campaign leading up to the election I have enjoyed knocking on doors, running the streets and listening to your input regarding the services the Town provides and the direction we as a community are going in the future. I have been working for you for the past 25 years.
I have been involved on the Select Board for 3 years, School Committee for 15 years, Finance Committee for 2 years and Recreation Commission for 5 years.
During this time, I have also served on at least 19 other committees, including multiple school design and building committees, feasibility, bylaw and policy committees, strategic vision committees, and a task force that increased State Funding for high school students we educate from Hanscom. That effort resulted in annual funding to the Town of $500,000 a year.
I am proud of the work we have done together, your support to fund the projects we have brought forward to Town Meeting, our ability to fund our services without resorting to a general override of prop 2 ½ or the introduction of fees on basic services like trash pick up and school sports.
I am excited for the opportunity to continue to work on the issues that are in front of us and those that will define the Community we leave for others.
Please vote Ed Pierce Select Board on March 14th.
Questions from the League of Women Voters of Bedford
> Why have you decided to run for another term? What do you identify as the contributions you have made to the deliberations of the Selectmen during your current term?
I am seeking another term as I would like to continue to provide oversight in the transition of our Town Manager. I would like the opportunity to be chair and set the agenda. I would like to continue evaluating the needs and plans for the fire, police, cable studio, and historical museum. I would like to find solutions to our housing needs. I would like to analyze our traffic issues and improve the dialog we have on improvements to intersections. I want to balance the carbon footprint changes we may impose on the commercial buildings in relation to the significant subsidy the commercial sector provides to our residential taxes.
As a business person with a financial background and twenty five years of Town volunteer service, I will continue to use my business and analytical skills to influence the decisions that are reached are in the best interest of the community.
> What is your position on the proposal for a new Fire Station?
We recently voted to recommend to Town Meeting that we pursue a new location to build a fire station. The current site has served us well but is too small and too congested for a modern fire fighting station. One of the alternatives was to add a new substation in lieu of a new location for the main unit. There is a significant duplication in the cost of building, maintaining and staffing a substation compared to a single site. The likely site for a substation is along Middlesex Turnpike. The overwhelming number of calls for the firefighters is for medical incidents. Response time can be a matter of life or not. As a result, the driver for the location of the station is response time. The site should also accommodate the modern equipment and pieces of equipment necessary to respond to the calls. The site recommended is 175 Great Rd.
> What do you identify as areas you would like to influence some changes in how the Selectmen meet their responsibilities or influence the direction that has been taken on particular issues
The Select Board on an annual basis prioritize the major goals for the Town. The process we use to do that is the pairwise ranking and it usually takes some time to complete. The projects are grouped in six categories, Infrastructure, Financial, Organizational Capacity, Charter Bylaw and Regulations, Transportation and Community Improvements and are ranked in comparison with other projects in there category. I would like to see us expand on this process by clearly identifying what outcome we are looking to achieve, what information we think we need to take action and what we expect the timeline to be. Further I think it would be beneficial to communicate these goals with all boards, committee’s and task forces
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