To my fellow citizens of Medfield,
I am proud, honored, and excited to announce that I am a candidate for re-election as a Medfield Selectman, and I ask for your vote on March 26. I have been a Selectman for twelve years, and I truly believe that I am more effective than ever on your behalf. In the coming weeks, I look forward to discussing with you in some detail what I have done in the past and what I would still like to do.
The job of Selectman is to act as the chief executive of the town and to run the approximately $52 million business that is our town. While the town does have paid administrators who handle the day to day affairs of the town, the administrators technically work for and report to the Board of Selectmen, and legally the Selectmen are the final decision makers … the place where the buck ultimately stops.
At first glance, the job of Selectman may seem relatively simple and straightforward, but I have found that in order to do this job well, a Selectman needs to have many skill sets, including an understanding of municipal finance and budgeting, labor relations and collective bargaining, municipal law, and the state and municipal regulations. I am proud to report to you that over the last 12 years, I have availed myself of regular educational opportunities to build and hone the many skills required by this job, by regular attendance at Massachusetts Municipal Association seminars, Selectman training, and seminars on municipal issues.
On average, I have spent almost ten hours a week working on Selectman activities during my work week as an attorney, where I track my time. Outside of the office, I estimate that I spend another ten hours a week on being your Selectman. Those twenty hours a week are devoted to acting as your eyes and ears at the myriad of municipal meetings needed to make the town run, and then to reporting back to you any useful information that I learn at all those meetings by means of the hundreds of my posts at my blog, https://medfield02052.wordpress.com/, on Twitter (@Medfield), and at Facebook.
My past goals as your Selectman: I made the process of our town government more predictable and more transparent; I made you better informed; I strived to make Medfield well run; and I have explored how, and questioned whether, things can or should be done differently – to see if we can make Medfield even better.
My service has been an honor, and I remain challenged to do more. I hope that I have earned your trust, your respect, and your vote for my proven leadership, so that the work begun can continue.
Sincerely,
Selectmen, Osler Peterson
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