Gerard F. Sheehan - Precinct 3

Preferred contact method:
Via email at gsheehan.52@gmail.com. And happy to meet in person or chat on the phone. Most days I walk in town or in the Fells with our dog, Finley, and we welcome stopping and chatting. And Finley loves to meet new people!

What experiences and perspectives would you contribute to Town Meeting?
I currently serve on Winchester’s Finance Committee (FinCom), the Capital Planning Committee (CPC), and the Winchester Committee on Community Preservation (WCCP). As a result (assuming I am doing my homework!), participation provides a sense of the town’s considerable strengths and likewise our challenges.

I bring over 40 years of management experience in higher education leading multinational teams of faculty, administrators, and graduate/professional students. This includes 35 years of leading budget (both operating and capital) development and budget implementation and monitoring, and on occasion in times of financial duress, e.g., the great recession. I have participated in/or led team reviews of organizations, often with financial challenges being integral to the review.

My wife and I are 33 years residents of Ginn Rd. Both our children attended Ambrose, McCall, and WHS. I have previously been engaged in the community, e.g., at St. Eulalia’s (Eucharistic Minister and Sunday School teacher), many years as a youth baseball coach, member and chair of the selection committee of the Winchester Scholarship Foundation, and volunteering in the schools when the kids were enrolled. My wife and I are considerably engaged with several charitable organizations, and as an ardent hiker and fisherman, I am a member of several conservation groups both here in Massachusetts and in New Hampshire.

I have served on several national advisory committees/boards (for executive departments of the U.S. government and non-profit organizations) which in turn, hopefully has provided an additional framework (and perhaps a bit of wisdom, patience, humility, and appreciation for humor….) for working effectively one-on-one and in groups.

What are two or three issues facing Winchester that you think are most important and what are your positions on them?

1. Foremost is the override. I support the override but am also on record having preferred a figure of $10m. The current $11.5m figure is a suitable compromise position between those who favored a lower amount and those who favored $12.5-$15m. Kudos to our Select Board for coming to an agreed figure, and to the very many who devoted substantial sums of time that resulted in the State of the Town report.
   
   If the override passes, the town’s elected officials and appointed committees (including Finance and Capital) must exert due diligence to ensure that funds are spent according to plan. And we must also strive to see if the funds from the new tax levy, combined with the implementation of other ideas suggested in the State of the Town report, can extend the life of this new funding beyond 3 years.
   
   If the override does not pass, difficult decisions lie ahead with respect to both the town’s annual operating budget and the town’s capital needs. Elected officials and various town committees will need to listen carefully and assess thoughtfully residents’ concerns and suggestions on the path forward, particularly regarding municipal services and support for our schools.
2. We should not let the importance of the override vote and its outcome obscure the criticality of the many worthy ideas proposed in the State of the Town report in Work Streams #3-6, namely (a) non-property tax revenue, (b) structural cost and efficiencies, (c) tax fairness, and (d) fiscal stewardship. See State-of-the-Town-Report—Final
   
   Many of these proposals, some of which have been on the table for years, could mitigate the tax levy burden in the coming years--if implemented. Regardless of the override outcome, we need to commit to pursuing these opportunities. Most will require concerted and time-consuming effort. Inevitably, there will be a need for community members to volunteer to support or to join working groups tasked with investigating possibilities.
3. Winchester is substantially more diverse in many dimensions than it was in 1993 when we moved here. On economic diversity, however, census (and other data points) indicates we have regressed. We are less income diverse and there are disconcerting examples that not all our neighbors are moving upwards. For example, see slides 4-6 at the following link: A Smaller Override - Considerations and Current Trends
   
   The choices we, as a town, make must remain supportive of the needs of our retirees and those of modest income and means. And decisions must be cognizant of the town’s affordability both for our town employees and for the next generation who wish to make Winchester their home.

What is a special challenge in your precinct that might not be faced in other precincts?
One attraction to living in Precinct 3 is proximity to our town center for most P3 residents. Walkability is an enormous asset with access to shops and groceries, our town’s municipal services, public transit, parks, open spaces and recreation facilities, the library, and schools. Ensuring pedestrian safety and accessibility to these assets (for not only P3 but for all residents) should remain paramount.

As with other precincts, and as Winchester becomes more of a “cut through” for car commuters, there are problematic traffic areas that should be examined. The recent commitment of town meeting to funding an engineering study for Symmes Corner is a promising development.

Many valued town assets are in Precinct 3 ranging from historic structures such as Town Hall, the Lincoln School and our Public Library, to recreational sites and open spaces such as the Packer Ellis Tennis Courts, Ginn Field, Wedge Pond/Borgaard Beach, and the Town Common. We have an obligation to all residents to maintain and enhance these assets.

There is also a need to ensure the commercial viability of our downtown center and not only encourage but find specific ways to increase mixed use development enabling town goals of developing new sources of revenue and increasing affordable housing. The Planning Board’s tentative approval of a 5-story building at 10 Converse Place is a step in the right direction.

Why should voters elect you to represent them? 

1. My professional life has been based on listening (a lot); asking questions; being receptive to, and respectful of, divergent views; and once having made a choice or a decision, being transparent and honest about the reasons why.
2. Service has been a life constant from college, through Peace Corps teaching and training in Central Africa, to involvement in numerous community undertakings via Tufts—all of which have helped me develop some capacity to understand and respond to the needs, perspectives, and emotions of others.
3. While conscious of the special concerns of P3 residents, I will endeavor to represent the best interests of the town, consistent with my service on FinCom, CPC, and WCCP.
4. My wife and I have had the great good fortune to live and raise a family in Winchester. We moved to town primarily because of the schools but also because of the sense of community and belonging, and the richness of town activity. In some small way, I am trying to contribute to maintaining the qualities of life which attracted us, and which will continue to enable others to happily live here.

Thank you for considering my candidacy for town meeting, whatever the outcome may be.

–

Return to Town Meeting Candidate list.