PhilipShapiro's blog

This was in the Transcript and Press earlier this month and I forgot to post it here:

Dear Westwood Voters,

Thank you very much for your support in our election. I am humbled by the confidence you showed in me. I will work with you, other elected and appointed officials and our staff to help Westwood be the best it can be. I will work hard and think clearly to help bring solutions to our problems and to improve our quality of life.

I enjoyed meeting so many of you and I am hugely impressed by how much everyone cares for this town. Please continue to let me know what you think and how I can help.

I also want to thank my three opponents. The campaign was positive, clean, lots of hard work and fun. The process was exhausting for all of us but the level of engagement of all the candidates and their supporters was great.

Phil Shapiro

I am responding to several inaccuracies in Mr. Feyler’s letter. [Editor's note: link to that letter here.]

I am on the ballot for Assessor in addition to Selectman because I had already taken out papers to run for re-election as Assessor when I learned of Tony Antonellis’ intention to step down as a Selectman. I asked several people if they would be willing to take out papers to run for Assessor and no one was interested. Rather than have a blank space on the ballot I am willing to also run for that office and if I am elected Selectman I will step down as an Assessor this summer to allow a new Assessor to be appointed (it is much easier to find a volunteer if the person does not have to go through the nomination and election process).

Mr. Feyler also seems to think that it is a problem to have people who have served as volunteers on town boards holding my signs and supporting my candidacy for Selectman. I am proud to have Mr. Antonellis and so many elected and appointed officials who have served with me on the Fincom, Business Development Advisory Board and Long Range Financial Planning Subcommittee supporting me. They know my leadership abilities, independence and judgment. They agree on many things and disagree on many others as do the other 175 people on my list of supporters. The only promise I have made to any of them is to do my best for the Town of Westwood.

No one talked me into running, I believe my 20+ years of senior public finance experience will be a great asset for Westwood as we work through our financial challenges and uncertainties in the next three years.

To answer his last question I absolutely do want to be the next Selectman in Westwood, and I have worked tirelessly the last two months to prove that to my fellow voters and to earn their votes.

Phil Shapiro
Westwood

Westwood has been my home for the last 30 years and I am very excited to announce my candidacy for Selectman. I look forward to talking with people in town to understand their ideas and concerns on the issues that face our town.

My experience in town government began in the late 1980’s and includes service on the Finance Commission for a 3 year term and being Vice Chairman. I then was the Chairman of the Business Development Advisory Board for 4 years and have been an elected Assessor for the last 6 years. I will bring my experience in town government to the financial, management and community challenges we are facing. My professional life includes experience as Vice President for Finance/CFO at Babson College, 12 years as head of the New England office of Standard & Poor’s Bond Ratings and 9 years as the CFO of the Mass Water Resources Authority.

Having worked with cities and towns across New England I understand the financial challenges they face. We are fortunate to have the Westwood Station project that has the potential to take us out of the cycle of Proposition 2 ½ overrides and deteriorating services. Westwood Station has the potential to help us address many of our financial issues over an extended period. Its success will be critical for us in building balanced and sustainable finances. We must be sure that it is done in a way that protects its neighbors from unfair burdens. It will be interesting and enjoyable to spend the next few months talking with old friends and meeting new ones. I want to listen to people to understand their concerns and bring my experience to meeting our challenges.

Phil Shapiro is a graduate of Amherst College with a masters in higher education from the University of Maine and an MBA from Boston College. He has been a soccer and softball coach, a board member of the Westwood Land Trust and is on the Board of Directors of BIDHospital-Needham. He lives on Mill St with his wife Jeanne Kantauskis Shapiro and his daughters Tracy, a sophomore at Westwood High School and Alysson a freshman at Drew University in New Jersey.

I am not a regular blogger so I am looking forward to that as another part of the learning experience in running for Selectman.

One of the best aspects of government and politics is meeting interesting and committed people and I know that that will be the case in this race. A side benefit is getting to know Doug and Greg and talking with them about the issues in town. It should be a lot of fun.