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At Board of Selectmen Candidates, we asked the recall candidates to provide information about their positions. This is Selectman Wayne Perkins response.

See also Marsha Brunelle's response, Greg Stevens response and Michael O'Shaughnessy's response .

Wayne Perkins Response

First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for this forum. I will try to be brief and concise with my answers to your questions.

I believe my background qualifies me for the position of Selectman. I have lived in Middleboro for thirty-three years, watched my three children attend and graduate from the Middleboro school system and been active in the community through different groups and my church. I was first elected to the position of selectman eight and a half years ago and have roughly six months left to my third term. I originally ran because I thought it was right to return something to our community. I still feel this way about it! Selectmen, like other elected and appointed officials in Middleboro serve without any form of compensation, except the feeling of accomplishment in returning something to our community. Over the years, I have been an independent businessman(owned an insurance agency), and served for many years with both the Bristol County and Plymouth County Sheriff's Departments. I served as Chief of Deputies in both of these Departments during my career there. I then accepted a management position with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Division of Insurance and retired from the state as Director of the State Rating Bureau approximately three and a half years ago. Since then, I have established a consulting business and currently work within the Automobile Insurance industry.

In response to your question about the DOR report, I am very much in favor of taking all of the advice given in this report. I initially asked the DOR to conduct this audit because I felt that an outside, independent source might be able to suggest ways in which to make our working environment better. The Town has grown to a point where we need to seriously consider giving much more day-to-day authority to our Town Manager and let him manage the affairs of the Town. We, as a Board, should spend our time establishing and setting policy for the Town. At the same time, I feel we should move towards appointing or, better yet, having Town Meeting appoint a Charter Commission Study Committee and bring our Charter into this century.

As far as our budget woes, we are not alone in this. It is a statewide issue which is being caused by a number of different things. First, Federal money which used to come to the State has dried up, because of needed funding for the war in Iraq. When the State isn't getting Federal funds, it limits what they have to send to cities and towns in the form of aid. Making this situation even worse is the vast amounts of money the State has expended on things such as the "Big Dig", further limitiing what the State can send to us. In the meantime, there has been no effort on the part of the legislature to roll back or at least freeze mandates that we have to fund. Adding to these problems are rapidly escalating health insurance premiums which we have to pay plus salary increases and general increases in the cost of doing business. This leaves us in a position where we need to do two things. First, find ways to cut expenses and secondly, find new sources of long term revenue streams. We have cut everything we can at this time, without cutting further into employees and thus reducing services to the public. We can, however, look at possible consolidation of positions, reallocation of duties, restructuring of Departments, privatizing some services and asking the Unions to give some concessions as we work through these problems.

In the short term, we may need to seriously consider a Proposition 2 1/2 over-ride or a Debt Exclusion to get us through. We need to hire a new Town Manager and get on with the business at hand. We recently have obtained the services of a health insurance consultant to help us deal with those problems and the Governor signed legislation letting Towns participate in the State Group Insurance Plans. We are currently exploring these as ways to mitigate some of these increases. Long term revenue sources is the other way out of the fiscal mess we are in. We need to drastically increase our commercial tax base. With the potential of a Casino coming to town, we also grow the potential for many other businesses to come along with it. The Casino project, in addition to providing a steady revenue stream, will pay to improve much of our infrastructure necessary to accommodate this much-needed new business. We also are seeing the "CollegeTown" concept coming to fruition. The Board of Trustees at Massasoit Community College voted two weeks ago, unanimously, to have DCAM approve a lease for the former St. Luke's Hospital site for a commuter campus. I expect this will be available by next year.

The issue of Oak Point residents paying more taxes has arisen , once again, in your questions. I feel very strongly that the taxes folks at Oak Point pay more than compensate for the services the Town provides. Residents at Oak Point pay other fees which provide the services real estate taxes provide to other conventional houses in town. Residents there also contribute in many other ways to the town through donations of time, talent and money. Further, they spend money at local businesses which also pay taxes. And finally, they have no children in the school system to add to that burden. The issue is also governed by State law and couldn't be changed at a local level anyway! I will continue to support the Oak Point community and maintain things just the way they are.

I could probably go on into much further detail, but I think this should provide a thumb-nail sketch of my perception of the problems facing this town as we go forward and would ask that you support me and allow me to complete the term I was elected to two and a half years ago. Thank you very much!

- Wayne Perkins

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