Meet the three candidates for Selectmen
Janet Adachi
Janet Adachi did not have her sights set on a Board of Selectmen's position. Perfectly content to serve the town on the Conservation Commission and as that committee's representative on the Community Preservation Committee, Adachi's view shifted when there was a dearth of strong candidates.
“I started to worry about what would happen and who would fill in,” she said. “But I always thought it was something other people did because they had a hankering to be active in politics.”
Adachi has used her skills as a lawyer to help the town before and said she thinks those skills, including navigating legal issues involving both real-life situations and theoretical situations, would transfer to the BOS where legal matters crop up routinely. “I have used my skills on the other two boards, and I think they would be helpful on the Board of Selectmen,” Adachi said. “The board could work better than it works now. It is not as efficiently run and focused as it should be.”
Adachi, at the urging of some colleagues and friends, decided to take the plunge. “I decided I can do this not being a politician, but being an executive,” she said.
Adachi's primary concerns for the town are budget issues. “People are concerned with money, with funding for the schools, with municipal money,” she said. “And the budgets are pretty austere. I think this is a big issue.”
Acton's schools are strong and people want to keep them that way, Adachi said. Adachi, who has lived in town for more than a dozen years with husband Jim Gado, credits her excellent education in the Sudbury school system to her successful career. But she wants voters to know that although she supports the schools in a general way, there has to be room for compromise when budgets come up.
Adachi sees 40B affordable housing developments as another pressing issue, but one that can be worked on with compromise and cooperation. “40Bs are going to happen,” she said, “but with a bit of luck we can get developers who want to work with the town.”
It would be nice, she said, to modify the laws and give some authority back to the town; currently the law favors the developers, she said. The best outcome, she said, would to be to have “friendly” 40Bs involving an active collaboration with the builders, the town, and property owners.
Adachi's believes the sewer issues that are plaguing West Acton's Tuttle/Flint neighborhood need quick resolution. “Sewers have to be part of the discussion,” she said. Stalling over any solution is not helpful, but she is concerned with the expense and is sensitive to the location of the problems. “We have to compromise,” she said. “Right now we are at a standstill, and it is festering.”
When discussing Acton's transportation issues, Adachi said she hopes the MBTA design of the South Acton Commuter Rail station can be worked on. Aesthetically, “it isn't going to age well,” she said. Station elevators might be good in theory, but Adachi has seen too many out of service to find them reliable. Adachi encourages the sidewalks people talk about in town, if they are in a place that is going to lend itself to lots of use and a village feel.
Adachi says although Acton is run well and that the people who serve on town boards and committees are dedicated and competent, there is always room for improvement. That happens, she said, by getting people involved. Volunteerism is important to Adachi, and she would like to encourage residents to get involved as much as they can. She likes hearing talk right now of having volunteers pursue grants for the town, a time-consuming process that would free up employees to complete other work.
“We are lucky that so many people step up and participate,” she said. “There is lots of talent we haven't yet tapped.”
Mobile: 978-340-0746
E-mail: Janet@JanetAdachi.com
Dean Cavaretta
Dean Cavaretta wants Acton voters to know he is no stranger to the intricate workings of state transportation and that his experience in the field will only help the town.
The Board of Selectmen race was something Cavaretta only considered after watching the Scott Brown and Martha Coakley senate race deteriorate into negativity from both sides. “I thought politics is in trouble when two good people are getting slandered,” he said. “I thought if and when I run for office again, I want to fashion a campaign that reaches out to all voters.”
Cavaretta grew up in Acton and moved to Concord for several years before recently moving back to town. He currently works as a consultant for Keville and is in the process of finalizing another contract opportunity in the transportation field. He is thrilled to be back in town and close to TC Lando's, he said with a laugh.
“People have encouraged me to run in the past,” Cavaretta said. But now, with Acton being “ground zero” for a combination of potential transportation projects, Cavaretta sees a need for leadership with a strong understanding of that area. “It is more than just one transportation project,” he said. “All the projects scheduled are colliding. This is the offshoot of us departing the Big Dig era. The state is finally paying attention to our area, and we are now getting funding.” The Board of Selectmen will have to work closely with the state's Department of Transportation, said Cavaretta, to get all these projects, including such varied projects as the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the MBTA South Acton commuter station upgrade coordinated.
Even with coordination, Cavaretta said there will be disruption and that residents will just have to do the best they can while waiting for the completion of each project. “Because of my experience,” he said, “I would advocate for a project delivery technique that accelerates and bundles the projects. The Board of Selectmen will have to reach out to other stakeholders in the projects,” he said.
Cavaretta is also a proponent of getting fresh faces in town government. “It is time for new leadership,” he said. “Public service is important, and it is time for new people to step forward.”
Despite the volunteers in town who are qualified and highly educated, Cavaretta said, a new face on the Board of Selectmen is good for the direction the town wants to go. “I want the next Board of Selectmen to be professional and collegial. We need to bring that back to the board.
“I represent new leadership and a skill set that offers another unique view,” he said. “I bring with me a teacher's listening skills and a manager's ability to work with people. I am a fresh face and a hard worker.”
Cavaretta also knows that money figures prominently in any discussion about goals for the town. “I am for sustainable budgets,” he said. “We have to be prudent, especially through the recession. Certain members of the Finance Committee and other boards have to be cautious. . . . I think we have no other choice but to be cautious. Fiscal year 2012 will not be fantastic by any stretch of the imagination.”
What Cavaretta would advocate for is a state-budgeting overhaul. “I'd like to end this state-aid guessing game and implement a two-year state budget,” he said. Doing so would eliminate the schools scrambling every year to cover state shortfalls if they happen. “That would be the most useful tool to help Acton.”
“I am the only candidate who is a product of all the Acton schools,” said Cavaretta. “I have taught and coached football at the high school. I have a unique view of our town and understand its issues.”
Cavaretta's focus is on getting whatever needs to be done completed, no matter how taxing the task at hand might be. “I am passionate about public service and am willing to put in the long hours. I am focused on the next three years - not the last three or the last 10. I want people to know I am ready.”
Cavaretta's show on Comcast channel 8, FIOS channel 45, weekdays at 7:30 am and 5:30 pm
Pamela Harting-Barrat
Pamela Harting-Barrat has been active in Acton's community for more than three decades, serving on various boards and committees ion many capacities. For someone who feels the tug of public service, Harting-Barrat said she is running for the Board of Selectmen because she can add some solid background experience with the town's government to the board.
“I received lots of phone calls from people saying, 'We need someone with lots of experience,'” said Harting-Barrat about entering the race. “This is a new board. If Lauren does not run again, we will have a board with inexperience and no history.”
Harting-Barrat has served Acton in several capacities. She served one term on the Board of Selectmen a decade ago, although she did not run again because she needed to devote more time to her elderly father and a brand-new job, she said. She is currently the vice-chairperson of the Board of Health, a position she segued into after leaving the Board of Selectmen. As the liaison between the boards, Harting-Barrat found the transition a natural fit between her town experience and commitments and her own family's involvement with Acton Nursing which came out to help Harting-Barrat's mother when she was ill. “They were also involved in emergency response work which I also do,” she said noting that she has worked at the Environmental Protection Agency in the Public Affairs/Critical Incident Stress Management Team for almost a decade. She also uses her professional experience to offer her behavioral health services for the town's Medical Reserve Corp.
After moving to town with her young family in the 1970s, Harting-Barrat was concerned by the well contamination recently discovered in town. That concern spurred her to join the ACES (Acton Citizens for Environmental Safety) and eventually the Planning Board to dovetail her concern with responsible development and environmental responsibility. As Harting-Barrat's children moved through the Acton schools, she spent 12 years on the School Committee at the same time as she was working as a full-time therapist.
The timing for her to run for the board is right, said Harting-Barrat. Both of her children are grown and she has more time and flexibility with her job. “There are so many interesting things going on right now,” she said.
Chief among those topics, she said, is the fiscal state of the town. “I think we can rail against the state,” she said, “but if they don't have it, we can't get it. Even with some growth, I think it will take a few years to turn the economy around. We have to look at what we will do with what we have.”
Harting-Barrat said the town must also be cautious with planning and development, so that “we do not have all 40Bs coming in. We also have to have some land to purchase because once it is gone, it is gone.” She supports passing the 40B amendment.
For that reason, Harting-Barrat advocates for a comprehensive community plan that will give residents a chance to offer up their own opinions of what they think is important to the town. “Otherwise, we will be spinning our wheels,” she said.
It is time, she said, to start listening to all sides. “Reasonable people can come to reasonable decisions even if they do not agree with each other,” she said.
She also wants the town to listen to the needs of the large baby boomer population as well as the needs of the town's young school-age residents. “Should we have intra-town transportation? I think that is very important,” she said. Boosting the public transportation options will also help Acton reach its goal to become a greener community. “[Public transportation] will decrease pollution, make the town more walkable, and more bike-friendly with the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail,” she said.
As far as septic vs. sewer arguments, Harting-Barrat said she stands squarely in the middle. “It is tough one,” she said. “It depends on the terrain of the properties. There are pros and cons to both.”
Calling herself a “process person” Harting-Barrat wants the town to become a civil place where all sides can be heard and where people can sit together and hash out what they are willing to give up or what they feel the town cannot do without. “These are all people issues,” she said, “and they are all extremely important as we move ahead. What brought people here and what keeps them here?”
The Board of Selectmen that Harting-Barrat would like to be a part of should be a “board of the people. When I listen to others, they have good reasons for what they think. If I do not agree with them, that does not make what they think not valid. . . . I would like to see people think outside the box.”
pamela.hartingbarrat@gmail.com
(978) 263-0741
Candidate Nights
Monday, March 15, 7:00 pm, Acton Town Hall 204, sponsored by Acton Voters Group
Thursday, March 18, 7:00 pm, Acton Town Hall 204, sponsored by the League of Women Voters
Sample ballot: http://www.acton-ma.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=846
School Committee Candidates
Michael J. Coppolino
copp@verizon.net
Brendan M. Cotter
COTTERFORSCHOOL COMMITTEE
http://www.votecotter.com
brendan@votecotter.com
(978) 580-0054 Mobile
Amy Hedison
www.amyforacton2010.com
Xuan Kong
www.tinyurl.com/kong4sc
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