2021 Candidate Profile: Janie Dretler For Sudbury Select Board

SUDBURY, MA — The Sudbury spring 2021 election is about two weeks away, and Patch has asked candidates running in the Select Board and School Committee races to answer candidate questionnaires so voters can get to know them better.

In 2021, Janie Dretler is asking voters to return her to the Select Board. She is in a three-way race for two seats along with incumbent Dan Carty and School Committe Chair Lisa Kouchakdjian, who is making her first run for Select Board.

Here's how Dretler answered our candidate questionnaire:

Janie Dretler

Age (as of Election Day): 52
Position Sought: Select Board
Family: Jeff (husband), Jacob and Benjamin (children)
Education: BA, University of Massachusetts, Paralegal, Northeastern University, AIMSE/Wharton Investment Institute, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Occupation: I am a marketing professional by training and spent the first 15 years of my career in various marketing roles within the financial services and banking industries in downtown Boston. After moving to Sudbury, I transitioned to operational roles closer to home, spending several years with a human resources company in Framingham and currently work for the past 1 ½ years with a technology firm based in Concord, in addition to my Select Board work. I have also run my own photography business and am active with local non-profits and volunteer causes, with a focus on issues related to women and children and the environment.
Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: Select Board, Chair
Campaign website: janieforsudbury.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am proud to say that service to the country and community runs deep in my family – my father served in the U.S. Air Force and both of my grandfathers in the U.S. Navy. I learned there are no shortcuts to hard work, responsibility, and commitment.

As a 17-year Sudbury resident, with two children in the Sudbury Public School system, I know our community well, observing over time both challenges and positive change. During these past three years on the Select Board, and now as Board Chair, it is my priority to make sure there is equity for all residents, focusing on a safe environment and improved quality of life, and moving projects and policies forward in a fiscally responsible way.

It is a privilege to have been directly involved in the town’s recent accomplishments, and I am looking forward to even more progress in the next three years.

The single most pressing issue facing our town is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

There is no more pressing issue facing the Town of Sudbury than the COVID-19 Recovery and Re-opening. In March 2020, I recommended to the Select Board that Sudbury declare a State of Emergency so that the Town could immediately respond to this unprecedented public health emergency. As a member of the Sudbury Housing Trust, we created the Emergency Rental Assistance Program to provide rental assistance to eligible households who experienced a loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I support taking measures to assist our most vulnerable residents in getting vaccinated and vaccinating our teachers and school employees, especially as our children prepare to return to the classroom on a full-time basis.

During this pandemic and once we are through it, the Select Board must continue to focus on priority issues such as reviewing our town’s budget, holding another safe outdoor Town Meeting, and ensuring our public safety needs are met throughout the year.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

As an experienced incumbent having served on the Board for the past three years and currently as its Chair, my track record of taking action to drive initiatives to completion differentiates me as a candidate. Residents will tell you that I have championed many positive changes. I am willing to act, while listening intently to the community's voice. I have guided growth and development in Sudbury while always making it a top priority to maintain the small town feel and character of our town.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and CSX Corridor: I am strongly committed to honoring the community’s desire for this project; voters at the ballot box and Town Meeting have overwhelmingly supported this project across many years and many votes. More progress has been made on this project under my Board tenure than under any other. I have been the Board liaison to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail goal, and during this time we have completed the 25% design, held the 25% design public hearing, and started the 75/100% design. I am the only candidate who has advocated frequently at the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization meetings to ensure that funding will be available when the program is ready to be constructed in 2022.

I fully supported the acquisition of the CSX property and strived to ensure town residents understood the full scope of the project. In 2020, Town Meeting approved the acquisition of the 1.4-mile CSX rail corridor, ensuring control of the corridor and allowing for the possible expansion of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail across Route 20 to south Sudbury and the Framingham line.

Eversource — Sudbury to Hudson Transmission Line: As a Select Board member, I continue to support our ongoing litigation. Prior to joining the Select Board in 2018, I lent my voice to Protect Sudbury to bring attention to this issue by encouraging resident involvement. I donated my photography skills to capture and promote the beauty of the historic and natural landscapes along the MBTA ROW. Further, I participated in Board of Selectmen, Conservation Commission, and Energy Facilities Siting Board hearings to provide support against this project.

Fairbank Community Center: In 2018, I was the only member of the Select Board who volunteered to continue to work toward a solution for the failing building. In early 2019, I was appointed to the Town Manager’s Fairbank Working Group, along with representatives from the Council on Aging, the Park & Recreation Commission, and the SPS School Committee. Our group presented its findings to numerous boards and committees. Ultimately, Select Member Jennifer Roberts and I presented the project via a Town Forum and then to Town Meeting on September 12, 2020. The Town voted overwhelmingly to support the project at Town Meeting and then again at the ballot.
Financial Management, Prioritization and Funding of Capital Projects: In 2020, the Select Board identified capital planning and financial policies as a high priority goal. As a new member of the Select Board in 2018, I requested that the town have the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services (DLS) review our financial policies and capital planning process, at no cost to the town. In 2019, the Board agreed to move forward with my request, and in April 2020, the Select Board received the DLS Capital Improvement Program report. I believe next steps include incorporating DLS recommendations, committing to prioritizing capital projects, and identifying funding sources that will help to offset the financial burden to taxpayers.
Master Plan Steering Committee: I served as a member of the Master Plan Steering Committee since its inception in 2019. A Master Plan is a community “blueprint” for future growth and development. Meant to provide guidance over a period of a decade or more, Sudbury’s updated Master Plan includes recommendations and proposals for land use, housing, economic development, historic preservation, recreation and open space, infrastructure, and transportation. I am honored to have been a part of envisioning the future of Sudbury.
Sudbury Station and Cold Brook Crossing: As a member of the Select Board, I have been actively involved in finding a solution for the Sudbury Station development proposed for Sudbury’s historic town center. As Chair, I recently signed the closing documents to bring the multi-year litigation and negotiations with the developer of the Cold Brook Crossing residential development to a close. In exchange, the Town of Sudbury received 40-acres of land in the town center along with $1 million in mitigation funds.

My opposition to the town center project was never about affordable housing, a cause I fully support. As a former leading member of the Oppose Sudbury Station steering committee, I am very proud of the smart, strong, and influential citizen rebuttal to this project. The citizen group was key in identifying flawed traffic safety, environmental, historic preservation impacts, and other areas lacking in the developer’s project submittals. A letter detailing the groups full concerns with the project can be found here: http://bit.ly/2FGT05w

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Solve the problem, do not just address the symptoms. Solving the problem requires stepping back and thinking more broadly to develop an approach that will address the issue long term - not just temporarily fix it. Also, it is critical to hire the most knowledgeable people you can - even more knowledgeable than you, listen to them and incorporate their suggestions/insights. My request to bring in the Division of Local Services to advise the town on the Capital Improvement Program is a good example of this. Finally, it is critical to learn how to create and manage teams well and collaborate often with your peers. As a member of the Fairbank Working Group, we were able to act nimbly, educate numerous boards and committees, and finally, gain the support of the voters at Town Meeting and at the ballot.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I believe residents want their elected officials to fully understand and evaluate all issues that come before the Town. As a Select Board member, I believe taking a position on an issue is not the first step but should be the last step. First, I must understand precisely what the issue is, research how it will help or hinder the town, and consider the consequences. It is only then that I will take a position. I have evaluated all issues that have come before me on the Select Board in this way.