DougObey's blog

I would like to thank all the voters who came out Tuesday and participated in our town election. With only one race, all others uncontested, 29% voter turnout was a relatively good showing as town elections go.

Thanks to all who supported me with not only their votes but with their personal efforts, a sign or donation, it was much appreciated.

Special thanks to the other three candidates. Until you run for office you can't understand the tremendous amount of effort, time, money and organizing it takes to mobilize supporters and run a campaign regardless of the size of the race. They should all be commended for stepping up, putting themselves on the line and working tirelessly, all so the voters of Westwood would have a choice as to who they felt would best help lead the town as we go forward.

And not to take anything away from Jason or Phil but the campaign I personally was most impressed with was that of Greg Agnew's. Working from a clear disadvantage of his youth and lack of life's experiences that can only be acquired through living a bit longer, Greg organized and ran an incredible campaign. He should be commended for trying to effect the change he felt could best help the town and not just sitting on the sidelines. Coodos!

As we go forward as a town, and continue to stay involved, it is in all our best interests to be as supportive of Phil Shapiro in his new role and to all our elected officials and them to us, the constituents they serve, in their varying roles, to help keep Westwood the town we all want it to be.

Sincerely, Doug Obey

In the Transcript on Friday 4/25, our town reporter in her effort to abreviate our comments as candidates for selectman, stated my comment in a way that might be misinterpretted as suggesting that I felt I had more integrity than the other candidates which is certainly not how I feel. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to run for any town office and I don't beleive anyone does it for any other reason than to do what they feel is best for the town. Knowing the effort it takes better than anyone I can only applaud my opponents for stepping forward and getting involved. It's wonderful when the people of Westwood have choices especially with energetic, knowledgable and passionate candidates. Having said this, I thought it might be helpful if the full context of the question and answer were displayed for anyone interested.

The question that was posed was:

You are the most experienced politician in this race. How do you think this experience makes you the best candidate?

My exact answer was:

I would not label myself the most experienced “politician” in this race. Maybe the individual most experienced in running for public office, maybe the individual who has worked harder than anyone else to try and represent Westwood, but not a politician. If I were, I might have won one of my prior elections. Today’s perception of a politician is someone who does whatever is necessary to win regardless whether it’s ethical, or whether you have to make promises that you can’t keep, or whether you have to disparage your opponents or maybe run as an Independent and change affiliation after the fact. No, I’ve never acted like a “politician” and have always been honest and sincere when running for office even if my position wasn’t a popular one. I think it’s that integrity that makes me the best candidate.

I hope the full context helps provide clarity.

Doug Obey

Our freshman State Representative voted again with the House leadership, (H 2840), this time to start the process of exempting seniors from future proposition 2½ over rides. I’m sure Paul’s intention was to simply provide relief for seniors from rising property taxes. A noble idea but one with unintended consequences, or at least I hope they were unintended. If this now passes the Senate, the increasing property taxes will put even more pressure on working families already being squeezed by higher prices at the grocery store, gas station and everywhere else.

Fast forward 10 to 15 years when the baby boomers, the largest tax paying block, start becoming seniors and falling into this "relief" category. The result; the pressure on working families will become insurmountable.

Even worse, this policy eliminates the balance seniors provided against property tax increases. With seniors voting in mass "for" overrides, because they are no longer subject to the tax increase themselves, we can expect larger and more frequent tax increases being proposed and passed. The protection Proposition 2½ has provided from even higher property taxes, if that can be imagined, will become a thing of the past. The unintended consequence of passing this ill thought out bill, will be runaway property taxes that are already squeezing hard working families to the breaking point.

Hopefully there is still time to call Senator Walsh and ask her to vote for working families and vote "No" on this bill. Working families of Massachusetts and this district need property tax relief as much as seniors. I’m sure Paul McMurtry’s intentions were admirable but someone has to start representing the silent majority of working families in our district. The consequences of "Feel Good" legislation is, too often, more than working families can afford.

Doug Obey
Westwood

To the residents of Westwood,

My name is Doug Obey and I'm running to be your next selectman. My family and I moved into town 18 years ago, initially like many others because of the reputation of the Westwood school system and wanting nothing but the best education for our three children. But we found so much more; great neighbors and good friends wrapped in a community of well informed, involved people who took special care to maintain the character and quality of life in Westwood.

As many of you know, I've been involved in town for most of those 18 years, initially in the elementary schools when my kids were young by chairing the "Together We Can" program that helped create positive self esteem in young children. (I'll never know if our Governor stole our tag line) Then as my children took to Westwood's playing fields not only did I have the time of my life coaching their respective teams but was tapped to be the treasurer of the Westwood Fields Association and for ten years went on to become the president and finally the chairman. Prior to disbanding in 2005 the WFA had raised over $300,000. to maintain the fields in Westwood and keep them safe for children to play on.

In 2000 I was invited to join the League of Women Voters and served as their treasurer for 4 years, as well as a couple of years in voter service organizing political debates to help people in Westwood learn where candidates running for various positions stood on the issues. As some may remember, in 2006 I ran for State Senate and then in the special election for State Rep. in the spring of last year.

Most recently I chaired the Community Preservation Act advisory committee and authored the Minority Report being the only dissenting vote. The final report recommended that the town reconsider joining the CPA which would impose a 1½% surtax on property taxes (but never to exceed 3%). The CPA would have to be endorsed by town meeting and then voted in by Westwood citizens on the ballot in the fall.

My professional background, for almost 25 years, is in finance and economics. In light of the changes we are going through in town, Westwood Station, tight budgets, potential overrides and a looming recession, I feel an understanding of finance and economics will be extremely helpful in the Selectman's position. As a fiscal conservative I will do everything possible to maintain the character of the town and the quality of the schools and town services without future overrides.

I would like to stay involved in Westwood as one of your three selectman and am asking for your vote on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008. I hope to use this new venue, The Westwood Blog, as a means of communicating with you and I encourage your thoughts, questions and concerns.

Sincerely,
Doug Obey
Candidate for Selectman