When are yiu reperesentaives or hopefuls, going to lower the spending and avoid the taxes, taxes and taxes?

When are you representaitives and hopefuls going to vote to reduce spending as opposed to raising taxes, taxes, taxes?

Stoneham is looking to implement ANOTHER tax!
Community Preservation Act or CPA. A surcharge (liberal speak for tax) from 1% to 3% on top of our property tax.
Tell me why in the world would we need to add an additional tax on Stoneham families who are already "Getting Hammered", when we already are giving Millions to Illegals and their families?

What are your plans for solving the ongoing Chapter 70 issue that has plagued Stoneham?

Charles, I have already signed CLT's no taxes pledge. I would hold the line on discretionary spending and call for an audit of all surplus state property (real estate and equipment) and sell them off. I would also seek to seriously look at duplicative agencies and consolidate in a manner that provides true cost savings. From day one, my goal will be to keep an eye on spending so that your hard earned funds are not squandered or wasted.

Mark, as a member of Stoneham's Finance and Advisory Board I voted to allow the CPA issue to come before the citizens as a ballot question in April because we deserve to discuss the merits of the program. Yes, the CPA is a tax but it may serve as an avenue for additional state resources for important, unfunded improvements to playgrounds and other capital needs. It may also result in the end of the trash fee, which unlike a real estate levy is not deductible on your Federal income taxes. But, it is a tax, and it's important to be sure that if it passes, it is not used as an excuse to justify additional spending on other issues because resources are freed up. There needs to be clear plans of action outlined during the next few months to justify the imposition of this new tax in order for us to support this initiative.

Jack, the problem with Chapter 70, at it's core, is that it is unfair to towns like Stoneham. It's unfair because we never receive the promised threshold funding percentage of 17.5%. It's unfair because the system is skewed against towns that share Stoneham's tax base. It's unfair because wealthy towns like Dover, Newton, and Brookline get a higher percentage of the allocation then do we.

The first step is to establish an honest and achievable threshold percentage which would provide equity to all towns. There's not enough money in the Chapter 70pool to fund 17,5% of every town's school budgets, but there probably is to fund 10% or 12%. So, as a start, we should adopt a baseline to make the system fair. The study advocated by Rep. Lewis may be a positive step towards reforming the system in the long run, but won't provide fairness or equity immediately. And there's little hope of any passage of reforms if the House remains in its current constituted makeup where the majority of the Democrats represent towns and cities that are doing well under the current regime.

Making the Chapter 70 system fair and predictable is the first step towards meaningful reforms and to additional funding for Stoneham schools.

Thanks for your questions, folks. No more questions will be accepted for this round of questioning of the candidates. We'll post their responses once we receive them.

You're welcome, Mark. We'll likely have a few more rounds of questions for the candidates ahead of the Nov. 6 election, so keep your eyes peeled for the next callout post early next week.

Mark: I certainly and wholeheartedly hear your comments and agree with them!

I will be having Office Hours tomorrow, October 19 at the Stoneham Senior Center from 11am-1pm. I welcome all visitors with any questions they have, or issues they would like to discuss. I hope to see some of you there tomorrow. I have office hours in Stoneham on the third Friday of each month.

I also hold Office Hours in Winchester, on each second Friday, in the small meeting room at the library.