To the Editor:
To my fellow members of the Shrewsbury Community,
My name is Mark Willingham and I have been a proud resident of the great town of Shrewsbury for 14 years. As many of you are well aware, we are facing an important decision June 3 in the Special Town Election and will be considering an override of Proposition 2 ? to add revenue to the town.
I am a fiscally conservative person, a former military officer and Gulf War veteran, and have managed a high technology business. I am locally grown, born in Massachusetts, educated at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Boston College and love this area dearly.
I have done my best to educate myself on this issue and have come to firm conclusions. To avoid only hearing the facts through the prism of other people's choices, I joined the Fiscal Study Committee last summer and working with this group through the fall. This exercise was an eye opener for me as I was able to interface with key town officials and employees. This included some of our selectmen as well as our Town Manager Dan Morgado. I was able to see both their strategies and tactics in running the town.
The Fiscal Study Committee was a group of disparate sets of expertise, ages, gender and length of residency. It was a pleasure that we were able to work so positively as a team and be accepting where differences emerged. The report is available to all and in spite of the variety of opinions going in, the recommendation was clear – Shrewsbury needs more revenue to continue to be the place it has been for decades. There is no more to be squeezed from this stone.
In business I understand that “not spending money” is not a strategy and will not lead to growth or prosperity. From my direct experience, Shrewsbury town leaders have a solid strategy and now they need us to do our part.
I could not more strongly advocate for passing the override June 3. I will vote YES and hope you will join me. I would welcome anyone from Shrewsbury to talk directly about my reasoning and understand your questions.
Mark Willingham
Member, Fiscal Study Committee
Shrewsbury