Elections 2012: Planning Board Candidate Malcolm MacGregor

Office: Planning Board

Name: Malcolm A. MacGregor

Age: 69

Address: 168 Jordan Road 

Background:  

I've lived in Plymouth for 40 years. I have a wife, three sons (2 of whom live in Plymouth) and a sister who lives in Plymouth.

Department Chairman, 2010 – present, Environmental Protection, Safety and Emergency Management Dept. Previously department chairman and professor at Mass. Maritime Academy since 1972. I have also owned my own business.

Currently a member of the Plymouth Charter Committee, previously a member of the Plymouth Community Preservation Committee (2008-2010), Plymouth Planning Board (1985-2010), Plymouth Conservation Commission (1972-1994), Jordan Hospital, Board of Directors (1990-1993), Sewer Study Committee (1980-1982, 1990-1992), South Shore Voc. Tech. High School Curriculum Advisor, Pembroke (1984-1990), Plymouth County Wildlands Trust, Board of Directors Duxbury (1982-1990), Water Supply Citizens Advisory Committee (1982-1990), Plymouth Board of Health (1980-1984) Wetlands Protection Bylaw Co-author (1989), Impact Fee Bylaw, Author (1988), Aquifer Protection Bylaw Co-author (1985), Board of Health Revised Regulations, Co-author (1982). Member of the Friends of Myles Standish State Forest.

Reasons for running:

As a number of recent events show, our government is not working well as a team, and the result is wasted effort and unrealized plans. Having differences of opinion is one thing. We don’t seem to have a way to vet issues thoroughly and in a timely fashion. The results are rushed decisions, lost opportunities, and, in some cases, bad judgment calls.

As a person who’s served in government for a long time and in many capacities, I understand how this happens. In the absence of clear leadership and the ability to project a consistent vision, we go off in different directions. In the area of planning, for instance, we have a master plan but we don’t make decisions based upon that plan. We talk about protecting historic assets and then waffle when it comes to saving some of our more important buildings. We change our bylaws to suit specific development interests without considering the long-term consequences or alternatives.

The solution to this problem begins with better communication between different parts of government, and the government and the public. We should not be waiting until town meeting to be discussing long-term plans for the town. The Charter Committee, which I served on, attempted to create a mechanism to do this. It got defeated at town meeting by one vote. Next time we need to approve such a mechanism.

As a planning board member, I would reach out more aggressively to other leadership groups in the community and the public.

You can’t fix something if you don’t know it’s broken. Having served in Plymouth government for 40 years, I know what’s broken and what works. Having chaired committees for many of those years, I know how difficult it is get consensus. Leadership requires an ability to listen and learn, and the knowledge and experience to translate planning visions into planning outcomes. I have done this in both my professional life and as a community leader, and these are skills I would like to bring back to the Planning Board.