Dear Westfield Friends and Neighbors,
It has been my honor to have a record of accomplishment in speaking up for you and all Westfield families as your representative to the Massachusetts Municipal Board of Directors from 2017-2021. In that position, I advocated for policies that promote local control and increased funding from the Commonwealth for road improvements and increased school funding. All too often, small cities like Westfield, along with many others in Western MA are ignored by Boston politicians.
State Aid has not kept up with Westfield’s local needs and economic challenges!
We need more state aid or simply to keep more of our tax dollars local!
One of my main goals is to bring more of OUR OWN MONEY back to communities so that the real estate and excise tax burden on our citizens can be lower.
The officials in Westfield have tried to make the best of increasing costs and lower aid from the State. In 2007, property tax rates were $13.02 per thousand. Today, that rate is $18.49 per thousand. That’s about a 30% increase for many homeowners. The situation is the same for the commercial rate.
Chapter 70 Money from State: In 2012, The State of MA provided approximately $32.5 million, In 2023, it will be $39 million. If the State kept up with the increases seen by our average Westfield resident, that aid amount should be almost $43 million. See the problem?
That’s $4 million extra in revenue that the residents of Westfield are paying in higher taxes – all because the State & elected officials do not want to give that money back to Westfield. Multi-Billion-dollar State Budget Surpluses, yet no significant additional funding for cities and towns in Western MA. This needs to stop.
When the State spends the surpluses, does not provide tax relief to its property owners and taxpayers, all of us suffer. The increase in property taxes puts many on fixed incomes, in jeopardy of losing their homes. It forces the School System to fight for scarce tax dollars against municipal services, all to keep up with inflationary costs. It should not be that way. It does not have to be that way.
State government needs to reduce its size, stop funding ineffective programs and reroute those needed funds back to the cities and towns where they originate.
As an Agawam City Councilor for 17 years, I have championed Smaller State Government, Lower taxes and have repeatedly made the case that Cities like Agawam and Westfield can spend $1 in taxes more effectively, more efficiently than the State.
Additional Issues that I will address for the People of Westfield:
- PFAs & PFOA chemical contamination of the Barnes Aquifer. We need to make sure Westfield Residents using municipal or private well water have clean, pure, PFAS free water.
- Lack of adequate state assistance tied to increases in personal and business property taxes
- Traffic issues: roads, bridges including proper design of the Westfield MassPike Exit
- School building upkeep/repairs
- Floodplain Management & Flood Control Protection
- Emergency Management funding for equipment and training
- State and MEMA upgrades for the Emergency Management Warning System for all residents living downstream of Cobble Mountain Reservoir, Knightville Reservoir Dam, and Littleville Reservoir Dam
- Open Space protection
- I will fight against regressive tax schemes that take more money out of your pocket and that punish success. That includes Estate Tax Reform and Tax Relief for Senior Citizens.
SKYROCKETING FUEL COSTS: My opponent voted along Radical Progressive Party Lines to take away your right to buy a Gas or Diesel-Powered vehicle after 2035. Farmers and construction workers will be forced to either go out-of-business or convert to electric-powered tractors, farm equipment, construction equipment, and trucks. My opponent is causing you financial pain ON PURPOSE to advance his progressive energy policy. He is out of touch with the people of Westfield.
EMPTY GROCERY SHELVES: Basic necessities are still in short supply. When you do find what you need everything is expensive! Even worse, people are using credit cards to buy groceries just to make ends meet. That is unacceptable. As your State Senator I will fight against policies that are seeing your dollar worth less-and-less.
Whether you vote by mail, or during early voting, or in person on Election Day, I ask you to vote for me for State Senate. I will never put a political agenda ahead of the People of Westfield.
My Personal Ties to Westfield
I also have a personal connection to Westfield. Westfield’s unique position as home to Barnes ANG Base is greatly valued. My father served in the 104th Army Air Corps during the end of WWII, he was trained as a “belly gunner”. I feel a kinship and a great deal of gratitude for members of the Air National Guard that have or are currently serving at Barnes.
I have over 32 years of experience as a small business owner in western Massachusetts. As a rental property manager, I provide beautiful, affordable housing to residents of Westfield. I work in Westfield in the fields of healthcare and housing, and have forged many long-lasting personal and professional relationships with the people of Westfield.