It's time for us to go all in for Dedham

   I would like to share a little more about myself with all of you and let you know how the campaign is going. Well for a long time now when it comes to Christmas or any other family situation I'm the rock for everyone else in my family. I always put my families needs ahead of my own. At work I pretty much do the same thing. It's just who I am. I'd like very much to be that for all of you to. 
   I was told at every turn when I was younger I couldn't achieve certain things. I remember Chuck Becker, the former Dedham High baseball coach telling me I'd never be a high school baseball player. He was right I ended up being a college baseball player instead. I had people tell me I would never graduate college. Well it was a long and winding, twisting road with a lot of speed bumps but I got there and earned my associates. I was told I would never be a DJ and that I didn't have the best taste in music and yet 18 years later I'm still occasionally playing a party or two. 
  I supervise the payroll staff at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, a hospital named for yet another person that falls on my family tree. I'm responsible for 800+ people getting paid every two weeks. It took me 7 1/2 years to get to this position and I was told by people within my agency I couldn't do it until one day a person saw something in me the others didn't see and offered me this opportunity. I'm going on 6 years here and we run one of he better payroll programs in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and in one of the more challenging locations based on the staff we service. I'm proud of that. I worked hard to achieve it and to prove myself to them. I promised I wouldn't let them down. I would never let our town down. Every time someone tried to figuratively knock me down and tell me I wasn't good enough, I got back up and I kept trying and I continue to want to achieve. 
  I got back into running for that reason. When I started running again last year I was tipping the scales at 340 lbs. I ran over 20 races last year between March and December and got myself under 300. I already have one race under my belt this year and will compete in the James Joyce Ramble for the first time. I've never down a 10k and again just another thing I want to achieve. My goal is to try for 30 races this year, but none of them are as important as the one I'm in right now.
  I've gotten out into the neighborhoods and gotten signatures for the nomination and met people and asked them what they think. What I keep hearing as positives is the job that the DPW does with the parks in the spring summer and fall and the roads year round between snow removal and upkeep. Joe Flanagan and his staff have done an excellent job and I can tell you it is appreciated. Bill Keegan also recognized Joe and his staff at Thursdays Selectman meeting. 
  The Park and Rec Dept is another group that I hear great things about and I can tell you from my own personal dealings with them they do a terrific job as well. Bob Stanley and the Recreation Commission members(Sal Ledda, Chuck Dello Iacono, Dan Hart, Jim Maher and John Maida) work well together and I'm so proud of our town meeting members for allowing the Commission to continue to not only supervise Bob but also control their own budget. They provide a lot of great services to children and adults and it's their efforts that made it happen. I'm especially grateful for the pathfinders programs that were created from some existing special needs programs we had in town. Marnie Colantuoni runs pathfinders with the help of Kristen Engdahl and Pat Colantuoni. The care and expertise they put into these programs is admirable and the children and parents that are involved with them are truly inspiring. This hits home for me as two of my nephews have special needs. Both are legally blind and are students at the Perkins School. They both have cerebral palsy and are autistic. One of my nephews Daniel has been with their programs since we started special needs here in town.
  What I keep hearing echoed in own is the property tax and the lack of any relief or at least some stabilization of what we are paying now. I recently did and interview with the Patch that will be on here within the next few days and in that interview I gave two plans one to help our property tax issue and another to increase the towns revenue to justify the tax relief. 
  The other thing folks are unhappy with and most of these folks are seniors or folks that will be seniors in the near future is the need for a senior center. The current board is exploring the possibility of moving Town Hall to the Ames School House and having the Senior Center there. If elected I would completely support that measure. 
  Folks also want to see better facilities built for the Police and the Fire Dept. I agree with both and I think both of those Departments should be brought into the discussion on how to go about this. They are the ones that keep our town safe and they can give us the best insight into what their needs are and how we can accomplish the goal of giving them the facilities they need and the location that is most desirable to them to give us the best service possible.
  I'm going to wrap this up by simply saying I will never quit on you. I'm asking for one of your two votes in this race to help us be the best Dedham we can be. We need all of you to make that happen. If you choose me that doesn't change I need all of you to make things happen. I've said it before I'll say it again. We are more than a Board of 5 people or dozens of Town Meeting members. You all have a voice. We want and need you involved. The more involved and the more informed you are the better we can all be. I don't think our town is the best that it can be yet. We're doing good but I think we can do better. If you all go all in for this we can create change and we can make it better. They say the underdog is always the hungriest dog in the fight. Well I'm hungry or a better Dedham. Go all in with me and let's do it together. Thank you.