Out Secret Formula

Ann-Mara Lanza, Precinct D, Highlights from Special Town Meeting

November, 2015

“It really isn’t a secret to anyone who has served Wellesley. It is our current decentralized government that has allowed us to build exceptional town services, while remaining fiscally responsible.”

Wellesley was founded in 1881, when a group of independent thinkers from Needham decided to form their own town, because they thought that they could do better. And what those people created brought us to where we are today, which is a pretty good place.

By almost any measure, Wellesley is one of the top communities in Massachusetts. We have:
       • first class schools;
       • a low crime rate;
       • a preeminent library;
       • a triple-A bond rating;
       • the best town center, west of Boston (according to Boston Magazine);
       • a recycling facility that has no rival; and
       • the longest running Tree City, USA designation in the country, because of our commitment to caring for our woodlands and open space.

Wellesley is a town where people strive to live.

How has Wellesley achieved so much? There are many communities in Massachusetts that would like to better understand our secret formula for success.

However, it really isn’t a secret to anyone who has served Wellesley. It is our current decentralized government that has allowed us to build exceptional town services, while remaining fiscally responsible. It is the checks and balances of this decentralization. It is the careful deliberation of plans. It is the detailed vetting of the department budgets by Advisory. And, yes, it is free flow of ideas between groups with opposing opinions and differing missions. Most importantly, it is the commitment of our elected and appointed officials and town meeting members – our volunteers.

Here, in Wellesley, we have witnessed that government that best serves the people, is government that is most closely connected to the people – elected representatives providing the services requested by residents. Wellesley is great, because residents can expect excellent services from all departments – because we elect officials who focus on the job they were elected to do and each superb piece comes together to make up the outstanding whole.

Yet, on March 15, residents are being asked to throw all of this away.
       • To ignore the achievements of our community.
       • To disregard all our progress.
       • To dismiss the values of our community,
       • To dismantle our citizen-led, highly-successful government, in favor of vague promises of more “efficiency” from outdated, top-down management methods.

Towns do not become great because the government focuses on internal processes and greater efficiency. We need to keep Wellesley’s government focused on providing great services. We need to ensure the government that has brought such success to our community is protected and preserved. We need to honor Wellesley’s “secret formula” so that the future of our community is as good as the present.

Vote NO on Question #1 - Special Act, March 15, 2016.