Wayland 2020 Candidate Profile: Dave Watkins For Selectmen

WAYLAND, MA — The Wayland spring 2020 election is coming up on June 9, and Patch has reached out to candidates in several key races to learn more about why they're running this year.

In the Board of Selectmen races, three people are running for two seats. Vice Chair Douglas Levine is not seeking another term, so his seat is wide open. Candidates David Watkins and William Steinberg are both vying for a seat, while incumbent Selectmen Chair Cherry Karlson is seeking her third term.

READ: Wayland 2020 Election: Who's On The Ballot

Wayland will be holding regular in-person voting on June 9, but the Town Clerk is encouraging absentee voting due to the coronavirus crisis. You can vote absentee by mail or in-person. Find out more details on how to apply on the Town Clerk website.

David Watkins

Age (as of Election Day): 54
Position Sought: Selectman
Family: Lilly, David, 26, Jonathan, 23, Emelie, 20, Matthew, 15
Education: University of Massachusetts
Occupation: Software Executive
Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: Finance Committee
Campaign website: https://www.watkins4wayland.co...

Why are you seeking elective office?

I have been a volunteer in Wayland for the past nine years – six years on the Finance Committee (two as Chair) and three years on the Economic Development Committee. I gained significant insight into better ways to address the Town’s financial, legal, and operational issues now and in the future. Wayland town government is still being run without a long-range strategic plan – without a common set of goals and milestones to measure our achievement. Unlike comparable Aaa-rated towns, Wayland lacks a process for anticipating needs, managing timing for expensive capital projects, systematizing priorities, and planning for funding large, new initiatives. See my web site www.Watkins4Wayland.com

My top priorities as a Selectman are to:

1. Deliver well-managed town operations within a sustainable and planned financial model;
2. Establish a year over year plan for a well-maintained infrastructure for school and town facilities;
3. Spearhead an overall comprehensive strategic plan for the future that considers needs, setting priorities and timing – and includes processes for reviewing progress and getting there; and
4. Bring the Town’s information technology capabilities into the 21st century -- update the multi-year information technology plan for infrastructure, hardware, software, and management structure to increase efficiency of operations, save on manpower, and protect data.

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

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is controlling the ever-increasing local tax burden, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Wayland needs to moderate the tax burden while preserving Wayland’s character, educational superiority, and town services. It is time to acknowledge the importance of a prudently managed financial game plan for municipal projects, facilities and services for ALL segments of our population. A multi-year strategic plan will stop pitting townspeople against each other and stop forcing them to choose sides. A multi-year plan emphasizing projects that are in the Town’s best interest will aid voter decision-making. Taxes aren’t going away, but with good planning, we can make the best use of our tax dollars and control how rapidly taxes escalate.

I bring fresh ideas and the professional business and analytical capabilities to support those efforts. I am committed to being a leader who follows through and gets results.

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

I believe there are two critical differences between me and the other two candidates. A Selectman's role is to lead the town and to do that effectively you need a plan. One cannot just say, as the other candidates do, “I want to see this happen”. You need to think things through, develop a clearly articulated plan of how to get from point A to point Z, and develop a strategy to get there. This is what separates me from the other two – this is a crucial difference. I am a planner. I think things through. I do it successfully in business and I do it on the Finance Committee. I see the issues, figure out what needs to be addressed, and outline the individual steps and the timeline to get to the end result.

The second critical difference is that I understand that I have an official role and, in that role, I represent the entire community. My own personal wishes must be set aside. Unlike the other candidates, I know that it is important to always separate my own personal desires from what is in the best interest of the Town and its residents.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

The Board of Selectmen must stop avoiding the development of a long-range plan to manage for the future. We cannot afford to continue making financial decisions by the seat of our pants.

We also need to carefully re-assess next year’s proposed budget in anticipation of an expected shortfall in revenues and state aid. We have to plan for these unexpected deviations from the norm to avoid making hasty decisions when reality hits and we are scrabbling for solutions. In these times it is especially important for Selectmen to put aside bias for special interest groups and make decisions that are in the best interests of the whole Town. Wayland needs, and I support, transparency when governing, professional presentation of the facts and issues, prudent decision-making and respect for our neighbors. I know that the best results are obtained from encouraging vigorous discussion of issues and listening to diverse opinions.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

I believe that effective town leadership demands proven organizational and management skills. It is a Selectman’s role to manage finances, oversee needed service delivery, deliberate in public, insist on decision making without prejudice, and stand up to lead in times of emergency or crisis. A Selectman’s responsibility for the well-being of an entire community does not allow bias towards a subset of the population.

I will insist on conducting all of the Board’s business openly and will encourage robust public debate to ensure that decisions are made in public view rather than behind the scenes. I realize that to be successful in governance, there has to be general community buy-in and not just a top-down approach.

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

With a degree in finance, I started my career at Accenture before joining Ernst & Young. From there I started a software company and grew it to a $30 million international company headquartered in Wayland. My firm developed and delivered Human Resource Management programs to Fortune 500 businesses worldwide.

While serving on Wayland’s Finance Committee, I worked collaboratively with the other members of the Finance Committee to correct years of financial mismanagement. Our new strategy defined and implemented sound financial practices that saved our Aaa bond rating and its benefit of being able to borrow at the lowest possible interest rate.

While Finance Committee Chair, I insisted on conducting all of the committee’s business openly and encouraged robust public debate to ensure that decisions were made in public view rather than behind the scenes. Additionally, my knowledge of financial analytics helped the Finance Committee present a more thorough and clear explanation of the budget for residents. As a result, time spent on the Omnibus Budget at Town Meeting went from five hours down to just one hour.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Expand your comfort zone. Your comfort zone is just a self-illusion. The more you hold on to it, the smaller your world becomes. Start small and think big.

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

Toward the end of February, as the new pandemic moved toward our shores, I started working on what my experience indicated Wayland needed to plan for short- and maybe even long-term. Of immediate concern to me were support networks for residents who would have to self-isolate to avoid infection. How would our senior citizens and others with compromised immune systems access food and needed prescriptions and how would they cope with isolation and loneliness?

I issued “a call to action”, created the on-line platform www.wayland.info to organize the effort, and received an overwhelming community response. Over the past three months, I organized efforts and have gotten to know more than ninety Neighbors4Seniors residents who are making regular telephone calls to more than 2,200 senior citizens – offering human warmth, kindness, and a good chat. The callers direct citizens to Town departments and more general needed services to help them through these difficult days. The on-line platform highlights important Town Corona Virus phone numbers, shares a daily data sheet of food stores’ supplies of essential products, provides links to informational videos, and facilitated the efforts of Lillian Way neighbors to acquire face masks for themselves, with the vendor’s $1,170 in proceeds being donated to a regional food bank. A proud example of the generosity of Wayland creating definite win-win ripples. Neighbors4Seniors has been recognized as an AARP Mutual Aid Group that helps communities connect while staying apart.