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I’m running for mayor because I love the city of Methuen. I’ve been a businessperson in Methuen my whole life. As a life-long resident of Methuen, I think I have unique qualifications to lead Methuen into the 21st century. I hope we can do a lot of good things when I’m elected. What do you do for work? I own a business in downtown Methuen, Rostron’s Liquor store. I have also done work as an accountant with a North Andover CPA firm. Why do you think you are qualified to be mayor? I think I’m qualified because of the unique blend of experience I have in business. I have the educational background with a master’s degree in business administration. I also have many years of civic involvement as a city councilor and as an active member of the community. So, I think that blend of experience makes me uniquely qualified to be mayor of Methuen. What are your goals as mayor? I hope that we can continue to do some of the good things that Methuen has done in the past and improve in some other areas that need attention. We need to make sure our fiscal house stays stable and in order, that our tax base stays as good as it is now. I would also like to attend to the issues surrounding Methuen High School because I think that the high school is in dire need of attention. I would hope in my administration that we would be able to build a new high school. What do you plan to change as mayor? I would like to improve the areas in Methuen in the way that we, as elected officials, communicate with the public. I believe that technology will make it easier for both govern-ment and citizens. One of the goals I have is to use tech-nology to make the citizens’ job of interacting with their government significantly easier. We can also integrate the way we approach government so that government works in a more unified fashion. By that, I mean the left hand of government should always know what the right hand of government is doing. Under my administration, I plan to change the way it is now and make sure that happens. What is your favorite book? The last great book I read was called Master of the Senate. It was a book about President Lyndon Johnson when he was in the United States Senate. I recommend it to all aspiring politicians. What makes a good mayor? A good mayor
has a combination of skills. Being good with people and
having empathy for people How does it feel to know that you will win since you are running unopposed? (Laughs) That seems like a trick question. I actually am not running unopposed. I do have competition in this race and I take her very seriously. I am out there on a daily basis, seeking people’s votes and I will continue to do that right up until Election Day. I am not taking anything for granted because in this business you never know what the voters are going to do. I enjoy campaigning, though. Today I was at the senior citizen center for its annual picnic and that was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to debating my opponent in the fall. Oh, OK, then how are you different than your competition? I have a more diverse background and experience in municipal government. I also have a deeper educational background and a broader business background as well. Those are the major differences. What is the first thing you will do as mayor? The first thing I will do, as mayor, is to sit down with the financial team of Methuen: the auditor, treasurer and others, to figure out where we stand financially. We need to make sure all things in Methuen city government have a solid financial base. The first order of business will thus be to sit down with the experts and figure out where we are so I can figure out how to get Methuen to where we need to be. Do you have any new ideas as chair of the school committee? It’s going to be a new experience for me. I believe that we need to have both the infrastructure and the curriculum to prepare Methuen students for a deeply competitive world. There is no question that the business environment is changing and, as chairman of the school committee, I can bring an emphasis on real-world skills to our students to enable them to go forward. They need to be able to work and exist in a very difficult business environment now. Do you support MCAS? Yes, I do. Obviously there are some issues there. But in a broader sense I support MCAS because it brings accountability. We need to make sure our students are leaving our school system with the core fundamentals. Accountability is not a bad thing; it is a good thing. Should good teachers be paid the same as bad teachers? In general, I think everybody would have to say no, but the problem is how do you ascertain who is a good teacher and who is a bad teacher. As they say, the devil is in the details. It’s a pretty difficult thing to ascertain. A lot of people have very different ideas about what a good teacher is and what a bad teacher is, as well as how we would go about measuring that. So, I am not going to just say yes. Of course, good teachers should get paid more, and bad teachers shouldn’t even be here. We should be looking to get rid of teachers who are not doing their jobs. But I think the issue is a lot more complex than most people think it is. Where did you grow up and where did you go to school? I grew up in Lawrence. I attended Holy Rosary School in Lawrence for eight years, then went to Central Catholic High School in Lawrence for four more years. So, I actually went to school in Lawrence for twelve years. I went to college at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for a B.A. in political science. I also went to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell for a master’s degree in business administration. Do you have any children and where do they go to school? My two children both go to school at the Tenny School in Methuen. My son is going into the eighth grade and my daughter is going into the sixth grade. Do you have any new ideas for the school curriculum? I think we talked a little bit about that before. We do need to be in the business of training our kids to be competitive. We need to ensure that our kids can excel on the MCAS test. But we ought to be teaching them, as a matter of principal, things that are going to help them go on to higher education and to be competitive in the more complex work force. It really is important to give kids the education they need so that they are not stuck at minimum-wage jobs. Is “No Child Left Behind” working in Methuen? I’m not sure, to be honest with you. I don’t know if No Child Left Behind is working in Methuen. I think that the No Child Left Behind Act reflects a desire by educators to do what the MCAS is doing here in Massachusetts. Which is, that the federal government would be of some assistance, but demand, as a consequence of that assistance, that children do well in testing to show that the additional money is having an effect. How that is doing in Methuen is probably about the same as we are doing in MCAS. Whether or not there are additional issues beyond that, I honestly don’t know. Who has endorsed you and do endorsements help? I think that endorsements have a value to a campaign. While people go into the voting booth and make their own determination as to who to vote for, endorsements help. People know that if the people who work with you in government and deal with you on a regular basis like working with you, then I think it can give people confidence that you are at least capable of doing the job. Now, of course, it always depends on who is giving the endorsement and what the public thinks about that person. I have been lucky to receive a number of endorsements this year for my campaign for mayor. I was endorsed by State Senator Steve Baddour, Representative Arthur Broadhurst, City Councilors Pat Uliano, Matt Kraunelis, Linda Dean Campbell, Michael Hennessy, Michael Connolly, and former mayor Dennis DiZoglio. If you were the mayor of Lawrence, how would you have handled the whole situation with its school superintendent? I don’t want to seem like I am sticking my nose into Lawrence’s business. I do think that Lawrence has gotten a bum wrap on this. I think that the mayor has done everything that he can do. But we have two adults here, and the mayor is not in a position to order or command anyone to do anything. It is beyond a mayor’s role to think that Mayor Sullivan can do more than he has done now. I mean, look, I have enough trouble worrying about Methuen. But since you asked the question, I think Mayor Sullivan is in a very difficult spot. Whatever criticism he has taken on this, I know he has the best interests of the city at heart. Will you raise taxes? No. We are going to do everything we can to build financial growth in the city and it has always been my goal to limit residential property taxes. Methuen, as we speak, is currently below the proposition 2 1/2 levy limit. We are one of the few in the Merrimack Valley. Like all municipalities, there are conflicting pressures on us and they are very simple: the rise in pension costs, the dangerous increases in health care costs, and increases in education funding. It is my goal to hold the line on taxes. It is going to be a difficult fight. But it is also important to hold the line on expenses, too. With fuel going up the way it is, the city of Methuen has to minimize its use of energy and fuel consumption. I am not exactly sure what the answer is, but there are ways we can conserve and as mayor I will make sure we are not wasting any money. Do you regret that Methuen is not having a primary? I voted in favor of eliminating the preliminary election. It was my view at the time that it looked like there would not be a significant amount of candidates. There really wasn’t any public opposition to eliminating the preliminary election either and, as an elected official, you have to look at that, too. If we had not passed this and there was no legislation to cancel the primary, there would have only been one primary in the west district to eliminate one candidate. So, I know it might have turned out differently, but in this case I think I did the right thing and it turned out all right. We omitted the primary in the west district and it saved us about $20,000. In general, aside from the financial interest, it was the only time I know of when we’ve ever done this. I think primaries are a good thing for both the public and the candidates. This year was particularly unique and I hope and don’t anticipate we’ll have to do it again. There is usually a lot of competition in city elections. Do you think that Methuen will abolish term limits? I believe that the way the question will come to the city council will be for the potential elimination of term limits for city council, school committee, housing authority and vocational school representatives. But the mayoral term limit will continue to exist. I know that the proponents of term limits always point out the financial advantages that congressmen, senators and governors, etc. have in amassing huge war chests, but I believe the best term limit is the ballot box. There are other ways to solve the problem. And you know, city councilors and school committee members in Methuen don’t have the problem of senators and congressmen when it comes to incumbency. We have had incumbents bounced out of office over local issues and the city candidates do not raise excessive amounts of money. So, I do not believe in term limits, in general, but to have them in a city like Methuen serves no purpose other than to stifle free speech and prevent good public officials from continuing in their capacity as elected officials. Each month
our ace-reporter, Hanna, interviews community leaders
about educational issues. Next month Hanna will interview
mayoral candidate Ellen Bahan. You can read all of
Hanna's interviews on line at www.tommyduggan.com/hannaindex.html You can email your comments
or questions to Hanna at ValleyPatriot@aol.com *Send your questions
comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
Why are
you running for mayor?
is critical to doing a job like this. But
I also think having a solid knowledge of how municipal
government works is important. You have to be able to
read and understand government and financial statements.
Government has become a lot more complex and a lot more
difficult to understand, so I think that is a critical
attribute.