Wayland 2022 Candidate Profile: Dovie King, Select Board

WAYLAND, MA — Voters in Wayland will have a between three candidates for select board in the May 10 town election.

Select Board Chair Tom Fay is running to keep his seat against two challengers: Board of Public Works chair Clifford Lewis, and Human Rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee member Dovie King, who would be the first person of color to serve on the Wayland Select Board.

Wayland Patch sent each candidate a questionnaire ahead of the election to help voters get to know them better. Here's how Dovie King responded:

Age: 49
Occupation: Attorney licensed in MA (state and federal courts) and formerly in NY and CA; pre-law advisor at Tufts University; mother of a Wayland Middle School student, Noah (13), and dog owner.
Experience as an elected official: Wayland Human Rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee chair; former Belmont Town Meeting member; former Belmont Human Rights Commission member.

What do you think is the biggest issue facing the town, and what would you do about it?

Wayland’s high property taxes threaten the diverse composition of the town. The cost of high quality schools and quality services offered to a broad range of residents are growing at an unsustainable rate. I want residents to be able to stay put and not be priced out of town.

Housing costs in Wayland are 225 percent above the national average, making it one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Yet we have few amenities to show for it as compared to similar towns. For example, we continue to lack a senior center, sports fields, new library, etc. This situation has gone unremedied for years.

As a single working parent and homeowner, I worry about the lack of leadership and policies that do not govern annual increases. Being asked to support 4 percent to 10 percent tax increases year over year especially effects the affordability of the town for seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and working families like mine. It’s time for a change.

If elected to the Select Board, I’ll use my expertise as a labor and employment attorney to establish meaningful and impactful hiring policies, eliminate waste and stretch our tax dollars. As you know, our expanding payroll and undisciplined hiring practices consume 75 percent of our budget. Currently, we have vacancies for key positions, i.e. town manager, clerk and treasurer. I’ll negotiate better employee and union contracts and work in partnerships across town agencies to maximize efficiency. Finally, I’ll make sure we properly deal with employee complaints currently costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A developer has proposed a new 40B project at the site of the former Whole Foods. What's your view on the proposal?

For Wayland residents who are unfamiliar with Chapter 40B, this is a state law which enables local zoning boards of appeal to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if a portion of units are set aside as affordable housing. As a public service attorney for 23+ years, my legal experience includes working at a pro bono law firm dedicated to helping affordable housing developers break ground in communities like Wayland, so I am very familiar with the process.

That said, today there is no plan or strategy in place for dealing with the deserted Whole Foods Plaza dead mall. The current property will require zoning changes to accommodate such a massive residential endeavor. Had planning been more of a priority of the Select Board, the town would have planned for future zoning changes versus having to react to an impending project based on a developer’s deadline. Whole Foods has been vacant for years and has not been a part of the Select Board’s agenda.

It’s also important to hear more from residents about the 40B project, and especially for those abutting the property. Community input is essential for guiding government decision-making. We need to do a better job at keeping Wayland voters abreast of the many projects happening in town at each stage of development, including this one.

Like many towns, Wayland has been dealing with high PFAS levels. What's the Select Board's role in reducing contamination, and how would you approach the problem? If you're an incumbent, what would you have changed or done differently?

Since discovering unhealthy levels of toxins in our drinking water, or PFAS, some steps have been taken to mitigate the problem. However, as of the writing of this message, Wayland is still in the dark in terms of the online reporting system promised to be in place by now.

The project is long overdue, and you cannot put a price tag on keeping children and families safe. In early 2021, the Select Board could have been more proactive in ordering the PFAS supplies including the resin needed to remove PFAS. Their inaction resulted in significant supply-chain-related delays now extending over eight months.

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The Select Board did not prioritize the MWRA hookup and opted to micromanage the problem rather than defer to environmental experts. Further, while we need a short-term solution, we urgently need a long-term plan as well to address the safety of drinking water, including weighing the possibility of moving from a private well system to connecting with MWRA and the various cost-saving benefits it would provide. These are important issues that residents need to consider, but it hasn’t happened yet.

The Select Board’s role is to provide leadership with long term planning. We have yet to see this regarding our water supply. Without a long-term plan in place, we are destined to see a resurgence of toxic PFAS levels in our water supply. This could signal a public health crisis and cause Wayland property values to decline over time.

As a Select Board member, I would fill the void by immediately holding public hearings and soliciting community input about the future of Wayland’s water supply. I would also allocate ARPA funds to support the project.

The state is planning a Route 20 repaving project this year. What upgrades do you think the road should get? Should Route 20 be made more friendly for pedestrians and bicyclists, or stay relatively the same?

Route 20 is a critical piece of land in town with much potential for revitalization. For decades, however, Route 20 has been a blighted corridor in need of improvement. As someone who grew up in a low-income community with few financial resources, I have seen similar neglect, but in an affluent community like Wayland — with all of its resources — this is simply disheartening.

Unfortunately, current town leadership has provided limited direction. For example, after establishing the Route 20 Southside landfill committee, the committee met twice over two years. There were no conclusions, follow up or resolution. It was paralysis.

There are sidewalks along Route 20 that are in disrepair and crosswalks that need to be designated and enhanced to support ADA compliance. The Town should consolidate curb cuts to make the sidewalks safer for pedestrians. We could also add a bike lane that connects the town center with and bike trail with the rest of the community.

The good news is that the road is slated to be repaved with help from the state, so we have an opportunity to re-envision what Route 20 could be rather than what it has been for many years. I will confidently lead this next phase of development to make it easier for people to walk on sidewalks, have better lighting and better connect the rail trail to the river’s edge.

To be certain, I’ve worked closely with elected officials in large cities, such as Los Angeles, to realize multi-million-dollar revitalization projects. I’ve dealt with public contractors and private business owners to improve blighted areas. Further, I have the endorsement of Wayland’s water department, highway, transfer station and parks workers union who trust my leadership.

If you could snap your fingers and make it happen, what's one thing you would change or fix in Wayland?

I would give everyone I represent a voice that they can rely on in town government. Today, it feels impossible to have a voice unless you’re an insider, have a personal friendship with an elected official or countless hours to spend. Being accountable and transparent needs to be fixed so residents can have meaningful opportunities to interact with their leaders and participate in town affairs. Most of us are busy leading normal lives, such as going to work, raising a family, volunteering, etc. Our democracy shouldn’t be based on favoritism— this goes against our core values. We need to strive to achieve greater equity and inclusivity so government works for all, not for some.

The lack of participation is most evident in the low voter turnout at town elections. Wayland has 10,000 registered voters, but a Select Board member can be elected with as few as 901 votes. Last year, more people voted for “no one” by deliberately leaving their ballots blank than for either Select Board candidate. This disconnect should give us pause.

I’m an independent voice and my campaign is built on transparency and broad-based voter support. I invite you to review my campaign finance report (scroll to bottom of webpage) and compare it with the other candidates. Together we can build a better Wayland for everyone!