I endorse Oscar for the Select Board. I have worked with him for 5 years, first on the Energy Committee and then for the past few years on the Finance Committee, where he has been the chair for both. He understands the various elements of the budget very well, and has sound ideas about how to improve the budget process. One of those is to strengthen long-term capital projects and strategic planning, which should articulate the town’s future vision and help to maintain stability in spending and fiscal management, over time. He also advocates for more time spent publicly discussing various options and parts of the budget, than we saw this past year.

He has done a good job of leading a diverse committee of people who do not always agree when discussing controversial issues. Most people like to say they are good listeners, but he actually follows through on that point, quite well. You won’t ever find him using his privileged position to manipulate others or to have the last word. He is fair and easy to work with, while maintaining his own principles. He is confident in his leadership and also able to allow people with strongly opposing views to express themselves, to challenge each other, sometimes learn new things in the process, and then find reasonable consensus. These are qualities that I think will contribute well to being on the select board.