Panagopoulos Submits Signatures for Selectmen, Calls for PILOTs for Private Schools

After years of working behind the counter serving up pizza pies in Dedham Square, 23-year-old George Panagopoulos will try his hand at campaigning for selectmen this spring.

The Roger Williams University graduate pinpointed increasing residential property taxes as the big issue facing Dedham and he wants to find a way to either stabilize it or decrease it.

“With and , there is a lot more revenue coming into the town and I feel that citizens should catch a tax break when it comes to property taxes.”

While he isn’t currently a homeowner, Panagopoulos said he is working with real estate agents to find a home in Dedham, something becoming increasingly difficult to do for young people in Dedham.

“It’s deterring young people and senior citizens from being able to stay in the town, especially in hard [economic] times like today,” he said.

Panagopoulos will face challenges from current selectmen Paul Reynolds and Sarah MacDonald, as well as Sam Celata.

“People know that I don’t have as much experience as the incumbents, but I’m a hard-worker and a fast learner,” he said. “I don’t see age as an issue at all.”

Panagopoulos became the first selectmen candidate to return his signatures to the town clerk’s office on Monday.

Panagopoulos wants to see a joint fire and police station built in town, saying that all three stations need major help – most notably the police station that he looks at everyday.

“Dedham has a police station that isn’t safe to work in,” Panagopoulos said. “It’s just in bad shape.”

Specifically, he said the station is not handicap accessible and the cells are not adequate.

“Not to mention that our public safety service is understaffed right now. We need a few new police officers and detectives in town,” he said.

Town Administrator Bill Keegan has said that a few positions at both the fire and police departments are frozen, but he would not dip below the current levels.

To help pay for a joint emergency services complex, Panagopoulos said the town could use money it generates from the local meals tax. Dedham earned nearly $1 million in the first year of the tax.

Panagopoulos suggested some of the town’s private schools – , and  – make a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) to the town to help drive revenue.

“It is important that we look for funding, that’s important to me,” Panagopoulos said.

Currently the town receives a PILOT from Hebrew Senior Life and M.I.T., according to the town's tax collector's office.

With a finance degree in his back pocket, Panagopoulos said his seven years of experience as a manager at , where he worked with the store’s financials and helped modernize operations, will help him on the board.

“I would be a great asset to the Town of Dedham,” he said.