Hello, I'm Lorraine Miller, and I'm a volunteer at the Hamilton Wyndham League of Women Voters. The league is a nonpartisan political organization which encourages informed and active participation in government. This league has hosted a candidates' night for more than 60 years. Our goal is to provide an opportunity for candidates to

introduce themselves so that voters will be more informed. The questions asked this evening were solicited from our membership and town residents. We'll be hearing from the candidates for 2 races. The first group is the 4 Hamilton candidates for 2 spots on the select board, and the second group is the 4

candidates for the 2 spots for the Wenham Water Commission. Now, I would like to introduce our moderator, Amy Smith. Amy is on the board of the League of Women Voters of the North Shore. She lives in Georgetown, where she serves on the Town Historic Commission and Open Space Committee.

This is the 3rd year that Amy has generously volunteered her services as our moderator, and we are grateful for her help. Good evening. The first segment of this evening for will be to introduce you to the 4 candidates for the Hamilton select board. The form rules are as follows. You will have 2 minutes for each response.

It's 2 minutes for your opening statement, 2 minutes for your closing statement, and 2 minutes to answer each question. Taking the entire 2 minutes for each response is optional. But extending beyond 2 minutes is not. A timer will sound at the end of each 2-minute period. We'll start in alphabetical order. And alternate thereafter, uh,

who answers next as we go along. So I'd like to invite the Hamilton select board candidates to make their opening statements, and we will start with Ms. Arbonite. Hi. Uh, first, I'd like to thank the League of Women Voters for this opportunity to introduce myself to the community, and thank you to the Hamilton residents for listening.

My name is Angela Arvinites and I'm running for Hamilton Select Board. For years before I moved here, I would drive through Hamilton from the city on my way to one of the beautiful North Shore beaches and think to myself what a dream it must be to live here. Beautiful, wide open green fields, horses jumping, kids

playing in the park. My 20-something self-taught, I would love to raise a family there. As I got older and moved from Boston to Beverly and Salem and got married and began to raise a family, the question became, could I actually make that dream come true? We began the house hunt when our oldest was ready for

kindergarten because like many of you, we knew the Hamilton schools were the best. It took 2 years before we found something that would work for us. It was by no means a dream home, but the bones were good, and we loved the location tucked back in the woods.

We knew over time we could make it something we loved. More than a decade later, we are still doing that. My kids are now 17 and 14. Wyat, a junior at the high school, and Sadie will be a freshman. I became involved in town board shortly after we moved here.

My first experience was on the Open Space Committee, where I worked to usher in the town's open space plan so that we might do things like apply for state grants to help purchase purchase land for conservation. I deeply value the green space we have here in Hamilton and believe it's an integral part

of what makes our community so desirable. As many of you know, I have a small gift shop in town. That journey was to spur my next endeavor into town government. I joined the HDC, or Hamilton Development Corporation, which does everything from beautifying the neighborhood with flower baskets baskets to considering how we might support long-term capital

improvements of our downtown community. I'm also a founder of Local HW, a small business group that supports the downtown community. In conjunction with the HTC, we have sponsored multiple festivals on Railroad Ave, created small business directories, run a Facebook page for small business advertising, and a myriad of other small events.

When my British neighbor Liz shows up in my driveway on horseback, or we see the hounds coming across the frosty schooly fields on a cold winter morning, I still say out loud, time's up. OK, that's.

00:04:10,099	Uh, next, uh, Mr. Kaluza. Thank you. Hi, everyone. Um, thank you to the, um, Hamilton went on League of Women Voters, uh, for putting this on. Really appreciate the time and opportunity to speak with you all today and for those at home listening. Uh, I moved to Hamilton, um, 3 years ago. I'm a husband and dad.

Um, I trained as a professional engineer. That's my, my background. I work in Um, both large and small, complex projects kind of all across the country, and some of those projects have taken me across the world. Um, so that's a bit of my background and some of the experience I'm looking to bring to the table.

Um, I started my platform, uh, pretty simply on 22 ideas to listen and to serve. So I went around, um, met a lot of new neighbors, um, kind of crossed many blocks and streets to keep finding new people and to listen to them. Um, which then kind of led me into a broader platform around

community revitalization, um, finding ways for us to continue to improve what we already have, as well as financial accountability, um, and transparent decision making. These were the things that mattered most to the people that I've been talking to, and they all come from. All sorts of backgrounds. Some have been here like me for just a few years.

Some have been here for 40 or 50 years, um, and have a lot of great ideas to bring to the table. So that's kind of been my, my approach, and I found all these conversations to be very inspiring as well. Um, it's kind of given me a lot of wind in my sails to keep

going and to uh keep meeting new people, um, with the interest of helping serve the town, and so. Um, I walked away kind of realizing that we need to develop a roadmap for our town that's transparent, that takes into consideration all of our major capital spends over the

next 10 to 15 years and getting that out to the people so that they can help us shape that and provide input to it.

00:06:15,470	Thank you. Right on time. Um, next, uh, Miss, uh, Stafford.

00:06:23,129	You're muted.

00:06:29,370	Hm, can I start? Is that OK? Looks like everyone's muted suddenly.

00:06:37,100	Can can the time restart since I was muted? Yes, thank you. Sorry. Thank you to the league for sponsoring this debate. My name is Deb Safford. I was raised in suburban New York and moved to Mass after graduating from Middlebury, Leaving briefly to get an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago, I worked at

Hewlett-Packard in Andover as a product manager. I currently work in our family business. Though we moved here over 30 years ago, I vividly remember the first time. Driving into Hamilton. I was captivated by the small town charm, the tree-lined arch streets, diverse housing, the horse farms and open fields. Connolly's and PJ Hansberry's were wonderful examples of the

rootedness people had to the community. We found our beloved home in a sweet neighborhood where we have been blessed to raise our 3 children, two of whom graduated from the high school. We know and care our neighbors, and we enjoy the serenity of nature within a short walk. We've always appreciated the socioeconomic, ecological diversity in Hamilton.

Large homes and cozy village homesteads have created opportunities for people to move here from varying means. Yet we're all the same when gathered for Fourth of July parades and veteran and Memorial Day flag. and community block parties, which, by the way, were spawned as an idea from Maple Street block parties in the mid 2000s.

So for 30 years, my focus was on raising a family, working and volunteering in church and schools. In general, I kept my head down on town issues with the exception of train whistle laws and some educational hot topics. I've been blessed. Sorry, I've been grateful to others for stepping forward

into leadership positions in the town, trusting that these things that make our town great would just persist. I would say last April's town meeting was what really engaged me. The sense that the train had left the station on numerous topics compelled me to start attending meetings, watch old ones, and begin to speak up.

I do feel that we are facing numerous critically important decisions which will fundamentally transform our town. Thus, I'm running for select board because I care about our precious town and committed to keeping it affordable for seniors as well as those starting out. I'm stepping forward to participate instead of spectate

and hope to bring a fresh voice into the critical issues facing our town. Thank you. Right, I'm about to go to our first question and Mr. Gillizza, Europe. Um, the question is, how do you plan to balance investments in our schools and infrastructure with tax impact? Yeah, so going back to the concept of a strategic road

map, um, I think that we need to kind of put all of our cards on the table, um, when it comes to the town as well as the school district in terms of our upcoming expenses. And I don't think it does us any favors to kind of hold these things back from the public.

Um, if we know that there's a major capital expense coming or something is reaching the end of its useful life, um, we need to get those things out into the public. Domain and onto a list that we can then rank prioritize. There's a lot of things that that we've done in the town,

you know, that from, from my point of view are our wants, you know, and even kind of stretch into the nice to haves when we start to compare them to the things that, that we need. And when it comes to our schools in particular, um, they need a lot of help.

I, I think of the vote that's coming in front of us and um.

00:09:54,399	And I would say that it's a complex decision. Um, we, we have to invest in our schools. I don't think there's a way that that we get out from doing that. We've not been taking care of them as well as we should have for the

past 10 to 20 years, and so, um, we need to do a better job And so if each one of those schools, if it's an elementary of that. school, needs, you know, say. Uh, like 2030 $40 or $50 million a piece, like that information could be readily accessible and be on a

strategic roadmap with timing associated with when those costs are gonna hit. We then need to match that with a revenue uh basis that can be sustaining, right? So that typically is gonna come from tax taxes on on the residences and commercial um properties in this town.

So if we have all of these needs and these wants, or in some cases nice to haves, we need to know when those things are gonna hit. And then we have to have a plan to raise the revenue to pay for them, and the rank prioritization of needs, wants, and nice to haves is the most important aspect.

We need the community input on that transparently before we start deciding what we're gonna do and how we're gonna pay for it. Thank you. Ms. Sanford, you're next. like me to repeat the question. Yes, please, yes, mhm. How do you plan to balance investments in our schools and infrastructure with tax impact?

Balance and full information is definitely needed for voter decision making. This year's budget promoted the school consolidation and delayed addressing the impact of the contractual agreement with the teachers, thus making the school, who make the school so impactful to our children. The school committee acknowledged that doing a debt exclusion and having an override for expenses at the

same time would sink the school school building vote. Voters should be able to weigh the cost of this consolidation and the teacher contract at the same time since they both impact the tax rate. Providing data for informed voter decision making is our job. I would explore and discuss all options on the various issues and the cost impact.

I would work with the Capital Committee to understand and provide compromise solutions. Regarding the tax base, Fincom has recently acknowledged that commercial will not move the needle. However, we should welcome small businesses to our towns because they serve our community and also allow for smart development knowing business is the backbone.

Adding to our housing stock a variety of price point options such as the dorms at the seminary, Asbury Commons, and Canterbrook will positively impact our tax base. Finding places where we can grow without fundamentally changing our town is our goal. The school district stabilization fund is taxpayer money, just like the CPA funds held and accumulated for projects.

Public input and visibility into these decisions of usage would build trust and perhaps help us to better balance the overall school resources. With Hamilton's taxes already at 3rd highest in Essex County and with 60% of the town's collective budget already going to the schools. They are a critical part of our town, but balancing the

community needs and solutions is a priority. We need, we have significant issues with respect to our water resources, and the tax burden will only stay reasonable if we can stomach a compromise on some of these things, and I would work with the community to find the solutions that can help us to say yes, and which will sustain

Hamilton for the long term. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Arvanites. Um, would you like me to repeat the question? Sure. How do you plan to balance investments in our schools and infrastructure with tax impact? Uh, as we know, Hamilton has a limited commercial tax base and so we're supported mainly by property taxes.

Um, in relation to what others have said is, uh, uh, as well, in listening to board and committee meetings have come to realize that, um, The opportunity to make a meaningful impact on our tax base through development is just not realistic. We need to fundamentally, fundamentally change our town

to do that, and like many of our, like my family, like many of the residents here live here because we're not densely developed, and that combined with our reputation of school district and proximity to Boston is what makes it our town so desirable. I think we need to honor those qualities.

What we can do is work to make available more choices for senior living. We can make better use of existing developed spaces for affordable housing. The HTC was successful in doing this before my time on the board, creating 18 units of housing and what was a single family on 59 Willow Street without a major impact to the

town overall. Some units of Ford. Some market rate. I know there's also an effort to come to an agreement with Gordon Conwell Seminary to renovate their housing units and make them available for affording housing as well. Habitat for Humanity has 10 unit projects happening on Asbury. All of these things are happening slowly and within

control of our town bylaws and permit processes. They will help alleviate tax concerns for lower income families and se. They make sense for our community. We also need to be mindful of what we spend. We should be asking, do we need it? Does it benefit the community as a whole?

Is there a more creative way to accomplish it? Can we invite outside resources to offer their guidance if we spend the money? How likely is it to result in the desired outcome? I've seen us go down too many paths that cost the town money with nothing to show for it.

We need consensus on major town issues before we spend money developing ideas so that the money spent has a high rate of conversion to success. We need to seek buy-in from our residents before we pursue spending opportunities. Thank you. Now on to our second question, and we'll start with Ms.

Saffron. If the school consolidation project doesn't pass, as a select board member, what will your next steps be? Uh, to start, I want to just say I understand that as a select board member, I only have a consultative influence and no direct control over the regional school district because it's its own government entity.

However, if consolidation fails, I presume the citizen's petition would have passed and would provide direction to encourage the school committee to focus on renovation, expansion, rebuild of one school instead of, I'm sorry, repeatedly coming back with a revote. My recommendation would be to ensure that the school committee is listening to the public as it seems they have

been acting independently. Though the town is divided on this issue, should the consolidation vote fail, I would seek the opportunity to hear all sides on next steps. There is an MSBA process to be followed, but I would encourage the school committee to focus on getting another plan out quickly, exploring out of the box options, consulting other

school committees that successfully did these remodels for substantially less money. I would agree that the requirement to resubmit for MSBA approval, refine an ed plan, and fund another feasibility study seems like wasted money. However, countless citizens, the school committee's own polling, and two members pointed out that the consolidation option was risky with such town resistance and

maybe just re-educating the citizens was not the best solution. The school committee may have lost some credibility in this process, but there is clearly a way to get it back, and I would want to partner with them to bring another solution to the town by finding common ground.

The issue has always been that there is only one option that is voted upon without fully vetted alternatives showing the tax impact. Perhaps bringing a non-binding vote to the proposed June town meeting, comparing the tax impact of multiple options that have been vetted could be done. To steer the school committee to what the citizens have an

appetite for and could get behind. But regardless of the vote outcome, if elected, I will honor the vote and work for the best outcome for all of our children. Thank you. Thank you. Miss Arvanites, you're next. Would you like me to repeat the question? No, that's OK. Uh, if the consolidation uh article does not pass, we need

to go back to find out, um, to understand what the community wants and what it's willing to support. We need to ask questions. Do our schools need updating? Absolutely, without a doubt. It's possible to want to support our teachers and our kids. Is it possible to want to support our teachers and our

kids, but also believe the school consolidation isn't the best choice? Absolutely. There are a lot of valid reasons for not supporting it. The expense alone is enough reason to take pause. My parents are seniors and live here also. They love Hamilton and want to preserve it, but they, like others, are concerned about expenses.

Major tax increase is not just a concern for seniors, but lots of families as well. And it doesn't mean you don't support our students or teachers. It just means you want to find a more cost effective way to do it. Then there are considerations for what's truly best for small children.

Mine both went to Winthrop, and it was a second home for them and for our family. Everyone in the building knew who they were and they knew everyone in the building. I have had moms with young children come into my shop and tell me they will send their children to private school if

the consolidation goes through because it's just too big and is in direct conflict with why they moved here. There are also very real concerns about the logistics of how the change would impact the neighborhoods traffic, road theft, safety, disruption, and what would happen to the Winthrop property if vacated. The truth is we don't know.

We should not be treating the school consolidation decision as a silo. It is very much intertwined with understanding the possibilities for change to the Winthrop property. We should have some analysis available to residents so that they can make. Their decision with a full understanding of the possible consequences. These are real and valid concerns.

Is the consolidation option only one option? Yes, it is, and it might not be the right one. If it fails, I'd like to see us investigate the possibility of a reasonable renovation. Like many people in town and moved here for and value our small schools, and I do think it's possible to renovate them

over time with a carefully considered plan. We might need to be creative and accept reasonable compromises, but I believe it can be done. Thank you. And last but not least, I'm Mr. Galooza. Would you like me to repeat the question? No, that's OK. Yeah, thank you. Um, I agree with a lot of what

the other two candidates have said. Um, I think I would also echo that as a select board member, you know, and sort of how I started all this is to, to listen and and serve. So regardless of which way the school vote goes, um, I'll lean into uh the outcome and try to

drive a sort of a best value solution. Um, for our town and our, our taxpayers, um, so I just want everyone to know, and no matter what happens, uh, I'm gonna support the town's decision. Um, I, I agree as well that I think we need to kind of rank, prioritize, you know, this project or any other

permutations of it, uh, against the backdrop of all of our other upcoming expenses over the next 10 to 15 years, maybe even out to 20 years if it's gonna be a 20 year bonded project, like, well, what else is coming during that time period that we don't know about yet, um, and I think that might

start to change some of our perceptions about. Um, what else we choose or choose not to spend money on, or how do we get creative and, and find other, other solutions and pathways forward, um. So I think one of the things that I could do as a select board member, um, you know, is help hold more roundtable

discussions and facilitate those, um, work with our school committee. I think we've kind of erred as one of the other candidates was saying of maybe. Presenting too much and making recommendations too much, um, and not listening enough, not asking enough questions and seeking that input early on in the process.

I think it's also reasonable for us to have bookended cost estimates associated with any of these options, like at our fingertips, and the math as well to then figure out, well, if it's gonna be a bonded project, what does this mean for our tax base? Like that math isn't that that hard either, right?

I think we have a lot of qualified people in this town. We don't have anything to hide, right? I think hiding information is kind of what's gotten us into this challenging situation. Your time's up. Thank you.

00:21:57,900	And for our last question, we'll start with you, um, Ms. Arvanites. Um, the question is, what is your position on 3A?

00:22:09,569	3A. So I've spent a lot of time learning about 3A and was actually part of an advisory board as a member of the HDC and spent a lot of time with Jonathan Poor and Emil Dahlquist and Deb as well, learning about it and some possible solutions to it for the town.

Um, right now I think that there's just too many unknowns for us really to make an educated uh choice about how to move forward. Um, I think there's questions about it being an unfunded mandate. The guidelines are still not. Um, solidified, and I think as it stands right now, um, the,

the gravity of us adding potentially hundreds of units to our town is just completely overwhelming. I just, we just don't have the infrastructure to support that, um, and so I think it's unmanageable.

00:23:09,670	Thank you. Thanks. Uh, next, Mr. Gluza. Would you like me to repeat the question? Maybe cause it was pretty short and I wasn't sure which way to go with it, so can you. What is your position on 3A? My position on 3A. Um, my personal position, it's, it's informed uh quite a lot by

my background and uh working as a professional engineer in planning, development, design and construction. Um, I've seen numerous states across the country, you know, implement and execute things very similar to 3A. Um, you know, I think it's important for, for towns who are affected by policies like 3A to, you know, in some

instances, you know, push back, ask a lot of questions, and, and do somewhat similar to how Hamilton has, has approached it. I've also seen enough though to know that once the state decides that they want something to happen, um, there's often very little that towns, um, can do about it.

So as far as like my position, I would say that we need to begin, um, Working on and drafting both policy like and firstly, policies and process around how we would want development projects to proceed through our town before we release any zoning information. And getting those in the right order is extremely important to

help um protect our town, as uh as Angelo was just mentioning, around, you know, the impacts associated with a large amount of housing potentially coming here to our town, we have to have a process in place that puts us on sound footing so that we are not inadvertent. Certainly later on down the road, subsidizing for-profit development projects.

Um, I think that would be the worst case outcome for our town is that if this is forced on us and we don't have plans and processes in place before zoning, we could end up with a bit of a giveaway for developers as well as an additional costs on the back end.

Um, if a lot of those units ended up being, um, family residences with multiple bedrooms and then having additional children, and then how do we have enough classrooms and end up with oversized, um, or with packed classrooms, etc. You can see kind of how these things can snowball if we don't

have some buffer room in place in our policies and process. Right on time. Thank you. Um, and Miss Safford, would you like me to repeat the question? What's my position on 3A, is that right? Got it. So, um, I, I would just want to start by saying 3A is an abundant housing law.

It's not an affordable housing law, and I think that's a really important distinction because we are all in favor of affordable housing and we've been working as a town to um execute the 40B, meet those milestones, and that's really important, but this is abundant housing. And it's dictated and based on some sort of uh metric which uh

puts into towns uh an inordinate amount of burden of numbers of units. I think it's 700 and something for Hamilton and another 300 something for Wenham, so that's a combined 1000. Uh, units which have no capacity, no limitations on how many can be in there.

So I am a big no on 3A because I think and uh it it it's a burden that's being uh put on to our communities, that's an unfunded mandate. And uh there's a lot of towns ahead of us that have been pushing back on the legal side, and I think we should be doing the same, frankly.

Uh, if it's an unfunded mandate, which is what the auditor has determined, we have every right to push back and determine what is the cost fiscally to our community, what is the burden that's being put on us to meet this, uh, this metric. Um, we should not be giving away the rights to how to develop our.

And, uh, because it never comes back. Lexington is a great example of this where they passed 3A zoning and they have buyer's remorse and they're trying to undo it, and they need permission from the EOHLC to, to get it back. So once it's zoned for 3A, it's out of your control, and the

town, that's, that's the most important thing that home rule is the town's right to, uh, to the zoning of its land, and we should not give that up without a fight. And uh if, if everything says then we have to do it, then we've got to really uh push back on, on how it's um gonna

hurt us and we need to have a modification of the requirement.

00:27:34,869	OK, thank you. And we'll go to closing statements now. And we'll start with Mr.

Galoza. 00:27:44,130	Right. Um, well, thanks again, everyone, um, for, for the discussion today and for, for listening in. Um, hopefully you've gained a perspective about my approach to listening first, um, and do my best to serve a very broad range and set of perspectives. Um, as I mentioned, going around door to door and having

over probably 140 some odd hours of conversations in the past 3 months, um, with all of our neighbors around the issues that that matter to them. Um, I think that Even though the situation we're in right now is a difficult one with with rising costs, um, deferred maintenance, deferred projects, and, you know, increases on the

There's actually a very broad overlap in this town of people tax base.

00:28:30,130	who care about same things, um, and everyone's just sort of like regular folks like. Like everyone on this call, everyone at home today, and it, everybody wants what's best for our town, both in the short, medium, and, and long term and and future and present and past residents as well.

Um, so I think it's kind of been quite inspiring. I'm actually really excited for the opportunity to potentially serve our town as a select board member. Um, I've been Really invigorated through through these conversations. So I just wanna know, want people to know I'm starting with kind of a full tank of gas, uh, my background in, in

engineering and infrastructure project delivery. Um, I kind of know all the, the tricks and turns, uh, that, that folks can uh try to play and where to head them off and to make sure that we're um getting what's what's best for, for us, um, so. I'll continue to, uh, to work with everyone, uh, through

listening forums and finding opportunities to do that so that we're not just broadcasting out and presenting out and waiting for that last 30 minutes of a meeting for Q&A that might not change the outcome. I really wanna listen first, um, before we get up there and, and tell people what we think we should do.

So, um, that's me. Thank you. Next, Miss Saffron. Thank you. Uh, the select board's job is to execute the will of the people as determined by town meeting and to provide via its bylaws the guardrails for the smooth functioning and operations of the town. So we're not to direct the will of the people, we're to execute

the will of the people. I think that's an important distinction. Though we all have opinions on these hot issues of the day, I do commit to honoring whatever happens at town meeting and executing to the best of my ability, those decisions which are in the interest of the town at large within the select

board's purview, and to decide to select board's purview to decide and we'll bring to the voters those things that um are directed by the town's people. Perhaps I've taken for granted the simplicity and peacefulness of our town, but I'm so grateful for the chance to engage more fully in the direction that we're in.

I appreciate the devotion and commitment of those who have stepped forward in leadership positions, and I appreciate Angela Dunn as well on this call. My concern has always been about the fiscal responsibility of our town for the benefit of all residents. My desire is to uh is the preservation of the town's

suburban rural character and its natural resources. I value and understand the importance of supporting a school system and educating the next generation with wisdom. My promise is to be prepared, to be informed, and to act with fairness and integrity. I just want to thank the League of Women Voters for this

opportunity to speak and to um hear all of our candidates, and I thank the voters for listening, and I hope um you'll consider voting for me on April 10th, so thank you so much. Thank you. And lastly, um, Ms. Aonites. Thank you. Um, a lot of what I've heard from Deb and Ben tonight are um

common themes that I share as well. Um, I think town government should be asking more questions. We should be engaging the townspeople and finding ways to collaborate with residents. Here I've heard tonight who obviously have expertise in problem areas that we face. There's a wealth of knowledge and experience in this town,

and I'd like to see us engage with residents outside our committees and boards. I'd like to see us invite those people in. Um this might give us a better ability to come to consensus on a particular issue before we go down a path that costs us money and gets us nowhere nowhere.

Often I hear the town wants this, or the committee made that decision, and I think to myself, who is the town? Who is the committee? It's all of us. It's not a small number of elected officials or volunteer boards. Those officials and those boards are supposed to be representing the residents.

What are they doing to determine what the residents want for our community? Are they listening? Are they changing their minds when new information is presented? Is the choice they are offering residents a foregone conclusion, or are they truly working to find the best solution for the people, even if it means it's not what they

desire on a personal level? I would like to look at ways to engage better with the community. Inviting residents to stay a few minutes at a town meeting isn't enough. Town government needs to be ready to hear what its people have to say and consider their ideas. I moved here for the rural suburban character, the green

spaces, and the small schools. I'm not interested in fundamentally changing the town. I'm interested in preserving what we have by making smart choices and by acknowledging that we need to be mindful of our spending. I love being a part of this town. I love the people I've met during being a small business owner.

I love our schools and teachers and our small tight knit community. I'm lucky to have been able to raise my family here, and I'll work hard to do what's best for its people.

00:33:26,400	Thank you. And thank you, um, to all the candidates for um your civic engagement and um willingness to volunteer. Next, um, we're going to uh start the candidates forum for the water commission for Wenham. And we have 4 candidates for 2 spots. And we'll start with introductory statements first.

Um, and the first candidate who can make the opening statement would be Mr.

Ashley. 00:34:00,400	Well, thank you and good evening. Thank you to the League of Women Voters and interested persons tuning into this forum. I currently serve on the Water Commission and I am running for re-election, and this is the best application of my talents and knowledge and experience in the service of the town that

I've lived in for almost 30 years. In my career, I am a groundwater professional or a hydrogeologist, and I have 38 years of experience working with environmental and groundwater contamination issues. I have served on the Wenham Water Commission for 15 years, gaining experience and a breadth of knowledge on the water supply, treatment, distribution, and managing the

water department as a sustainable enterprise. I'm committed to providing clean water and clear communications. I can speak to my positions on water conservation and the challenges facing when I'm regarding water. We have a very competent superintendent, a sound water system, and the department is functioning well. But we have some big upcoming challenges.

We are working with Senator Bruce Tar's North Shore Water Resiliency Task Force, coordinating with other towns on how to address water supply limitations in the Ipswich River basin. And new lower water drinking water criteria will require us to add an expensive treatment system in our groundwater supply to address the low levels of P Phos that are

present in our water. We can meet these challenges through coordination and collaboration with our neighbors, conservation and communication, and then effective planning. I hope that through this forum, I provide a basis for citizens of Wenham to support my candidacy so I can continue to serve on the water commission. Thank you. Thank you. Next, uh, Mr.

Downey. You, um, good evening and thank you to the Hamiltonyham League of Women's Voters, uh, for hosting this forum. My name is Stephen Downey. I'm honored to be on the ballot for the Wenham's Water Commission. Uh, 8 years ago my wife and I chose to make one of our home.

Uh, since moving here, we've grown our family and now have two beautiful daughters, with our oldest who just started kindergarten at Bucher. Like many of you, we think about what this town will look like 1020, even 50 years from now. Wyndham has a long history of careful stewardship of its

natural resources, and I want to make sure that we continue that tradition, not just for my kids, but for all future generations who will come to this town. Professionally, I bring over 15 years of experience in corporate leadership, background in mechanical engineering and MBA, and more recently as a role of director of sustainability.

I spent my career working at the intersection of environmental responsibility, business strategy, and practical problem solving. Water is one of our most valuable resources, and we need to ensure when systems remain reliable, resilient, and sustainable so that our kids and grandkids inherit a town that it is not just strong, but even stronger than it is today.

As our town faces challenges like aging infrastructure, conservation efforts, and long-term planning, We need leadership that understands both the technical and strategic aspects of these issues. I'm ready to bring my expertise in sustainability, corporate strategy, and culture building to the Water Commission, helping to create solutions that are forward thinking, financially responsible, and built to last.

Wyndham deserves leadership that doesn't think about today's problems, but about tomorrow's opportunities. If elected, we will work to ensure that our water policies protect both the environment and the people who rely on the resources every day now and for generations to come. I appreciate your time tonight and hope to earn your support. Thank you. Thank you.

Next, Mr. Stoddard. All right, thank you. Good evening, everyone. Uh, my name is Colby Stoddard, and I'm honored to be invited by the League of Women Voters tonight to discuss my intention to run as a water commissioner for Wenham. For the past 5 years, my wife and daughters and I have been

proud to call Porter Street in Wenham our home. Uh, we came to Wenham because of the abundance of outdoor opportunities, which is something I grew up with in Montana and wanted to replicate for my children. I have a PhD in biochemistry and I've managed hundreds of millions of dollars in scientific investments, which

requires big picture thinking also maintaining willingness to get into the nitty gritty nitty gritty details of any topic. Could you, this is Lorraine Miller. Could you please just give me a minute? I, I need to start the timer. Um, but I need a minute, please.

00:38:35,269	The dry run, I think we have a minor technical difficulty. Yeah, a minor one. Doing great, Kobe.

00:38:44,730	It just kind of disappeared those candidates weren't talking if you could um mute yourself. Thank you.

00:38:57,530	Um, OK.

00:39:04,000	But I just mentioned. Can you help me find the timer? I don't know where it is. It's disappeared. I see it online. Let me see if I can find it. Hang on, um. Usually it's at the bottom of my screen, but with the apps, but I don't see apps, I don't know where they went.

OK, it says um Oh, OK, wait.

00:39:28,269	Got it. OK, just give me a second. OK. And then, and then I would ask you to start again, and I, I so apologize. I was trying to do two things at once with someone waiting in the waiting room and a chat to find out who they were. Not a problem at all.

So, um, OK, are you ready then? I think so. OK, thank you. You're good to go? Yes, good. OK. So, um, get back to the top. Good evening everyone. My name is Colby Stoddard, and I'm honored to be invited to the League of Women Voters event tonight to discuss my intention to be water commissioner for Wenham.

For the past 5 years, my daughters and my wife and I have been proud to call Porter Street and Wenham our home. We came to Wenham because of the abundance of outdoors, which is something I grew up with in Montana, and I wanted to replicate the replicate that experience for my children.

I have a PhD in biochemistry and and I've managed hundreds of millions of dollars in scientific research investments which requires big picture thinking while maintaining a willingness to get into the nitty gritty details of any topic. I've also spent a significant amount of time at the Department of Energy in Washington DC helping to set

energy policy at the national level for electrical utilities to incentivize green energy, and I'm thus very familiar with the thinking behind how utilities must operate and plan for the future. I currently serve as the chair of the Climate Action and Sustainability Committee in Wenham and through this work

I've come to realize just how critical water management is to our town's future. When the topical water first came up in our committee discussions, we dug deeper, and what we found bothered me in some ways, and that's why I'm stepping up today to take action. What specifically bothers me is to our approach on how we value

water in the town. And when I say value, I don't mean just appreciating it for drinking water or recreation. I mean how we price it and manage it as the scarce resource that it is. Through not implementing seasonal water rates in our town, we have encouraged excessive summer use of water

by 10% of our residents in the community, which accounts for over 2/3 of the discretionary water consumption in the town. This means 10% of the water accounts in this town need to be addressed, and frankly, putting up water ban signs has not had the desired effect. Vote for me and I'll fight to bring accountability and

fairness to our town through implementing smart water rate practices in a seasonal manner that will not affect 90% of the residents of the town who are already doing their job to conserve water. The outcome is either water conservation or raising money, and either one of those is a win for the community.

00:41:39,199	Thank you. And last, um, Mr. Whittaker. Yes, thank you, and thanks again to the uh the league for all that you do here. Um, my name is Ken Whitaker and I have lived in the town for approximately 27 years now. Um, um, I moved here from upstate New York where I was an environmental consultant in a

treatment technology airport for one of the largest consulting engineering firms in the country where I focus mainly on waste wastewater, water, and hazardous waste site treatments. I moved here about 15 years ago after I got my law degree to take a job with the Boston Law Firm, and I stayed with a variety of different firms over

the course of about 15 or 20 years. At that point, quite frankly, environmental law, stopped being fun anymore, and I decided to get out of that and get back to my technical roots, so I spent a few years as a conservation agent in Gloucester and next door in Essex.

Um, I've been bouncing around town government for quite some time during those years. A lot of ad hoc committees I've worked on the town hall and police station uh committee, the zoning upgrades. We had a commission that was looking at our zoning code. We made some changes to it. I was a founding member of the

um uh the Affordable Housing Committee recently on the CBA, and I actually served as on the board of Selectmen for a while as well. Currently I'm active on the Conservation commission where I've been a long standing member for a long time. A critical need here is to make sure that we can provide adequate water.

A lot of people don't realize we're already heading into a situation this summer where there's going to be water controls. We have seasonal water controls, but we're still in a drought situation. So additional controls and restrictions are probably going to be applied. They're almost inevitable this year. And if anybody wants to know what those restrictions are,

they can look at our bylaw Chapter 246 that shows the discretion of the commission to to impose those. Um, I think what we've, we've got to focus on here in addition to working with the time is up.

00:43:51,730	I beg your pardon. Your time is up. Oh my goodness. OK, I apologize. No worries. Um, I'm going to our first question. And um That question is, how do you think the town does with its water conservation efforts, and how would you approach enforcement of water conservation restrictions? And we'll start with Mr. Downey. Thank you.

Appreciate the opportunity to start. Um, one of them has made great strides in recognizing the importance of water conservation, but like any town, there's always room to improve. Our seasonal water restrictions help, but conservation isn't just about rules. It's about building a culture of responsibility and water use that benefits everyone.

One area where we can improve is updating our current uh conservation resources. Much of the information available to residents is quite dated, and there are free resources out there from state agencies, environmental organizations that could help us provide more up to-date guidance. By incorporating these tools, we can make it easier for

residents to understand best practices, take simple, meaningful steps to reduce water use. Uh, when it comes to encouraging conservation, I believe in balanced and proactive approach, one that supports responsible water use, while ensuring we have the resources to maintain and improve our infrastructure. Instead of relying solely on restrictions, I support an

incentive-based structure similar to what Mr. Stoddard had just presented, with the top percent of water users, users, excuse me, especially during peak summer months, pay a higher rate than they do today. I think this approach makes sense. I think it's targeted and fair. The adjustment won't impact the vast majority of residents.

It's focused only on the highest water users, those with excessive irrigation and non-essential usage, while everyday water use remains unaffected. It helps fund future conservation efforts. Additional revenue can go towards initiatives like rebates for water efficient landscaping, educational programs, and resources to help all residents manage their water use wisely.

Um, prepares us for the future by setting aside funds now and proactively address future infrastructure needs, reducing the risk of unexpected costs or rate hikes down the road. Beyond these local efforts, I also have connections and businesses and NGOs that specialize in sustainability, which I would leverage to help Wenha access additional funding tools, expertise for

conservation infrastructure improvements. By combining smart local policies with external support, we can strengthen our water system without placing any unnecessary financial pressure on residents. Your time is up. Thank you. Um, next, Mr.

Stoddard. 00:46:24,900	Would you like me to repeat the question? No, uh, I'm good. I don't see the timer. Oh, there we go. OK, um. So yeah, so, um, I think our town actually takes the issue of water um very seriously, and I think we've made many well intended efforts to, um, kind of address water conservation.

Our town has educated people through water conservation efforts, including Ipswich Watershed Association andacting with them, and even the legal women voters has invited a lot of high level policymakers to have discussions in our town. We promoted reduced costs for rain barrels, which is a great way to offset water use, but currently I really question

about how many of those rain barrels are not just sitting in on their side in the backyards versus being used to their full capacity. Our town has also adopted a tiered water rate structure designed to drive conservation, and I think this is possibly the most important thing that we've done and one of the most

progressive things that the town could have done. While these are all steps in the right direction, we can and should do more. The most effective tool we have for enforcement is to alter our water pricing, and I haven't seen many conversations about how to change that in the same zone manner.

I don't believe going door to door and handing out fines is a solution to enforcement. Finance financial levers are the most effective tool for changing bad behavior and achieving enforcement. Seasonal rate structures penalize those who do not conserve water, and the funds raised from the seasonal rate structures could be invested back into our community to

implement water conservation technologies and help the community to do things like actually implement rain barrels, which is actually much more difficult than it sounds. Uh, we could also implement monthly billing and take the opportunity to redesign our water bills that come in the mail and make them an educational opportunity.

This would let people know where they stand in the community regarding conservation on a monthly. Basis and for those that are water savers, some of the money raised could also be used to reward them with lower bills. All these ideas are simple approaches and have not been implemented in our town, but have in many adjacent communities.

It's time for us to kind of implement some of these new ideas and that's why I'm running for the commissioner position. Thank you. Next, Mr. Whittaker, and would you like I'm convinced that we really have a problem with this, and I'm certainly not in favor of raising the rates as a as a disincentive for water conservation.

I think what we've got to do here is continue to promote a community spirit. I understand that a lot of the exceedances or the violations of our pumping regimens are often due to equipment malfunctions or people just not understanding exactly what the current regime is for water conservation. And no one wants to be the beat cop here.

I think a lot of cases a neighbor will go and they'll talk to somebody who's who's discharging or using water when I think a friendly reminder and it's only if that isn't they're not.

00:48:56,000	unaddressed that we can get the water commissioner out there to knock on the door and give one warning. But quite frankly, I think we're doing a very effective. Job of that right now we just need to encourage people not to be afraid to approach their neighbor, to address the

situation and remind them of what the the uh the conditions are to address those mechanical issues that is not their fault. Thank you. Um, OK, thank you. Um, Mr. Ashley. Thank you. Uh, I think we strike a pretty good balance considering a number of factors like the specific yield of the Ipswich

River basin, the needs of the community during the winter versus the demands in the summer, our allotted water, withdrawal amount, the quantities we pump, and the rate structure, which is required to maintain a good sound system and quality water. That said, we have several policies and enacted bylaws that work to conserve water.

We prohibit watering during the summer from 9 to 5 when water would be wasted through evaporation, and we require rain gauge shut off on automated sprinkler systems. Unlike Milton, we passed a bylaw in the town that applies our water restrictions to private wells because we really are all in the same bucket.

And we set these water rates with an increasing rate scale, including a highest or conservation rate to encourage and incentivize conservation. And we developed mailings targeted to the highest seasonal water usage, and we send them out annually. The fact that really less than 1% of our residents hit that conservation rate during the summer shows that their current

conservation efforts have been affected. I believe that it should be a balance of education incentives through our water rates and enforcement efforts. We make every effort to educate residents that may not know that we have seasonal conservation restrictions or that we have implemented a water ban. Many times that is all that is needed.

We first issue warnings and then we do have an enforcement mechanism where we can issue tickets of increasing penalties. The last thing we really want to do is issue fines to our neighbors. So education, water rates are the best way to incentivize water conservation. And, um, Uh, for the people that use that much water in the conservation

rate, they pay a significant share of our water budget and keep the rates lower for others that use less water. And as I noted in my opening remarks, we expect to add a treatment system in our near future. This will require more increased rates. Thank you. Thank you.

00:51:33,099	Right, I'm on to the second question. Um, and we'll start with Mr. Stodd. PPass is an emerging concern for Wenham's water supply. What are your thoughts about maintaining the safety of drinking water? Yeah, so I think it's already been mentioned that we're gonna have to have a water treatment facility implemented in the town.

Um, the EPA standards have been set and we're creeping closer and closer to what those, um, those regulations are going to be. Um, we currently are going to be asking for a $500 million to study a plan to actually implement a water treatment system in our town, but that $500 million is nothing near to

the $10 million plus that we're actually gonna have to invest into actually building a facility to, um. Uh, to, to clean out the PFAS chemicals and, and other chemicals that are are too high. So, um, but ultimately it comes down to money and so, um, when my focus is on, uh, you know, seasonal pricing and charging

those people that are excessive users of water, um, I think if you use too much water, you should pay for more of the remediation of the PFAST in in our system, full stop, and so to evenly distribute that across uh the entire community. I think it is unfair.

Um, there's a lot of people that use much less, and I think paying your fair share is, is only reasonable. If we were stuck on a desert island and, uh, food was limited, we, we wouldn't just let those people go that eat half the food, you know, the 10% eats 2/3 of the food.

So I think, uh, the situation is true for this with a limited water supply. And so we have to invest in this, we will invest in it. It is in our future no matter what, and so it's really a question of how you pay for it and who's gonna pay for it, and

I think, yeah, charging the the lead users more is perfectly acceptable.

00:53:12,099	Thank you. Uh, next is Mr. Whittaker, and would you like me to repeat the question? Yeah, yes, please. Uh, PFAST is an emerging concern for Wenham's water supply. And what are your thoughts about maintaining the safety of drinking water? Well, I'm particularly interested in that because I have a great background in the

water treatment systems of this type. I did my doctoral research on activated carbon with particular attention of getting recalcitrant organics out of water supplies. Back then it was primarily pesticides, but they have a lot of similarities with the

00:53:48,269	excuse me, PFAS that we're talking about now. Also, when that system happens or if that system happens, as it probably will, or some system will happen to address that are coming out of the federal government, water rates the MC.

00:54:00,929	are definitely going to increase. We have to, we have to pay for this very expensive system. That might be the best time to start talking about rates rather than an incentive right now. We also need to look at the possibility of combining resources with the town of Hamilton. I've been a big proponent of trying to increase the

concentration and the connection between those two towns for years. And worked on that very hard when I was a selectman to get more realignment and more joining of combining of resources. This may be an opportunity too. They have an activated carbon system that's functioning right now. Their problem is water supply.

We have a lot of water in our wells, so we don't have that infrastructure yet. We should really investigate the possibility of combining resources to save everybody some money. Thank you. Thank you. Ah, Mr.

Ashley. 00:54:52,829	And you're muted. And would you like me to repeat the question? Uh, no, I don't think so. Um, so we have currently, uh, a criteria of 20 parts per trillion, and the amount of PFAs in the Wenham's water is running at about 15. And these are very low numbers. A petroleum is 1 2nd in 32,000 years.

So we know that our water is currently safe, but the new criteria where we have to meet by 2029 is 4. So we will have to put on a filter. And we had talked about activated carbon, which is exactly what is in a Britta pitcher or something similar.

We have used grant money to start the design, and we are proposing a transfer of $500,000 from our already accumulated reserves to pay for pilot testing. And, uh, we are correct that we are going to have to do some, um, increase of our rates over a period of time so that we can anticipate treatment on this water.

The water is currently safe to drink, but we will be complying with these, um, Lower criteria, uh, by the time they go into effect. In the meantime, residents can use an activated carbon filter like a Brita filter that can lower the amount that is in our water, as well as some other aspects of the water like what

we use in chlorine to sanitize the water to improve the water that they are drinking on a day to day basis. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Mr. um, Downey.

00:56:30,000	Um, would you like me to repeat the question? No, I'm good. I appreciate it. Um, just to kind of build off what the others have said, um, first, safety first, always, uh, PFATs are important, it's important to get them out of our water to the best of our ability. I appreciate Mr.

Ashley's update, um, as to where we are today. Um, PFAS has been linked to cancer, hormonal and thyroid disorders, a bunch of horrible things that we know in this community wants to be part of. Um. I think the rates is a piece of it, and I appreciate the work

that's been done to this day to prepare us for this. However, similar to what we've heard in previous select conversations, etc. I think we need to understand that we even with Hamilton likely are going to need outside support to help fund and Create the necessary infrastructure um to drive the

improvements we want and want to keep all of us safe, um, and, and meet the necessary requirements that are gonna be coming. Um, I think driving external partnerships that exist outside either through the states, through partnering with other municipalities, NGOs that are operating it, I mean, even looking into.

What money is out there from the 3M lawsuit and others that have come from suing the chemical companies that created the PPASS problem. Um, I think there's partnerships and money out there that we need to, as the water commission to look at opportunities of how to help bring that funding to help

support us so that we don't just. Increase rates to emphasize and put pressure on kind of our whole community that is already having challenges with the other challenges we're facing around schools, etc. So my hope is to look for outside opportunities to help fund some of the challenges we see coming forward. Thank you. Thank you.

And now we'll go to closing statements, and we'll start with you, Mr. Whittaker. Yes. Well, I just want to uh reiterate again my strong background in environmental issues and water treatment and um the uh the mediation technologies we're looking at for this very expensive treatment of PAFS that is coming forward. I also want to uh

um mention the, you know, the extensive work that I've done with the town over the years. I think I have a reputation of being a uh an effective communicator, a person that works very hard in committee and have a good reputation of cooperating and getting things done rather than just talking about them.

Really welcome the opportunity to work on the water commission because this is an area that's very close to my heart and indeed this is the route that got in, got me into the environmental field in the first place. Um, I do have a, uh, as, as another candidate, I have a professional engineer degree.

I have registered in several states, PhD, and as I mentioned before, I have a law degree as well. So as the legal issues come in, I should be able to assist the water commission in interpreting those as well. So on that basis, I would welcome your support and ask you to vote for me on election day.

Thank you. Thank you. Next, um, Mr.

Ashley. 00:59:35,869	You, thank you. Uh, as a community in the Ipswich River Basin, we have a limited, uh, resource and a limited withdrawal allotment. It is actually sufficient for all of our potable needs, but we, if we waste water through irrigation, we will exceed our limit and incur additional restrictions and requirements from the mass DEP.

I think the water rates, including the conservation rate, um, is a disincentive to, uh, wastewater, and it also offsets some of the cost for the lower usage consumers. And we enforce our water restrictions primarily through education and communication, resorting to tickets only as a last resort. And we have these challenges coming forward, and the

commission, uh, I'm currently serving on has already started taking plans to pilot test the treatment that will be required. So I'm glad for the opportunity to serve as a water commission and contribute to the town in the best way I can through my experience as a groundwater professional. I expect this may be my last 3-year term.

So in addition to working hard for my $2 a year annual compensation, I will commit to transition planning to ensure that the water commission and water department functions effectively in the future. I encourage those interested in the water department, water conservation, and the commission to attend our open meetings, which we hold in person every month.

Thank you for the opportunity to outline my candidacy, and I hope to continue serving the town as a water commissioner. Thank you to the League of women and voters and those listening to this forum. Thank you. Mr.

Downey 01:01:26,400	Um, thank you all for being here tonight and for your commitment to our town's future. Uh, when I'm in this special place, one with a deep sense of community and a shared responsibility to care for what we have. Water is one of our most valuable resources, and how we

manage it today will shape the future of our town. I believe that by working together we can take a smarter, more proactive approach to conservation, one that ensures our water systems remain reliable, fair, and prepared for the challenges ahead. My focus is on practical community-driven solutions, updating our conservation efforts with modern resources,

encouraging responsible water use through incentives rather than just restriction, and making sure that we're investing in long-term improvements rather than reacting to short-term problems. And through my experience in sustainability and my connections with businesses and NGOs, I'll work to bring outside resources to support Wenum without placing unnecessary financial pressure on residents.

But most importantly, I'm running because I care about this town, its people, its future, and the kind of one of my daughters will grow up in. I want to make sure we are making thoughtful, forward-looking decisions that protect our water today and keep our communities strong for generations to come.

I'd be honored to serve on the water commission, and I hope to earn your support. Thank you. Thank you. And last but not least, Mr.

Stoddard. 01:02:46,170	All right, thank you. So, so my plan for um seasonal rate structures would decrease water demand and increase the amount of money of our town has for future investments. Um, we are set to approve, like I said before, $500 million to design the water treatment system for the removal of toxic

chemicals in our water supply and to actually build that facility is going to be over $10 million in new investment that this town doesn't have to spare. Smart rate structures help chip away at this looming cost so that our property tax. I take less of a hit in the future and at least we'll be

able to say that we used all the tools at our disposal um to mitigate these costs. I look forward to also diving deep into the bigger questions of how our water system evolves over the coming decades, many decades from now, and we'll be a strong advocate for taxpayers in the town.

We receive funding from the state to assess the potential to join the Salem Beverly water supply, and it's clear that the MWRA system is being built towards our community more and more every day. One or both of these options will be needed, and I look forward to digging into the data that will allow us to make

good decisions that will positively impact our community for generations in both a financial and environmental manner. And finally, I, this is. Little off topic, but, uh, it's, uh, I, I hear a lot of comments about people who have been in the town longer or more appropriate for for certain positions, but I would say vote

on ideas not how long you've been in the town. Um, I've clearly said a number of ideas tonight that are concrete and even if you don't vote for me, I'd like you to leave today looking for answers on the questions of why don't we have seasonal rate structures and then push your

choice of candidate to commit to this approach as new water commissioner, but I'd prefer you vote for me.

Thanks. 01:04:21,929	I think back to um the Hamilton Wenham League.

01:04:34,130	Now the league would like to thank the candidates for participating this evening, and a special thanks to our moderator, Amy Smith. We recognize that our time here was short, and we encourage voters who have follow-up questions to contact the candidates directly. Please consider joining the league and working with other

local volunteers so that we can continue to provide this type of voter education. Visit us at lWVHW.org to learn more. And remember to attend the annual meetings on April 5th. Town meeting starts at 9 a.m. in Hamilton at the Hamilham Wenham Regional High School, and 10 p.m. in Wenham at the Bucher Elementary School.

Lastly, please remember to vote in the local elections which will be held in both towns on April 10th. Thank you for watching.

01:05:25,300	Thank you for attending. Thanks for hosting once again. My pleasure. Did you turn off the recording. Yeah, I