Candidates for selectmen expressed different levels of satisfaction with the town's current degree of openness this week in answering a question from the local League of Women Voters.
The League asked the three selectmen candidates the following question: The League of Women Voters encourages informed and active participation in government. Please address any concerns you have about the flow of information and how the citizens of Andover can become informed about issues prior to Town Meeting. What would you handle differently, if anything?
Candidates were given 200 words to answer and those whose answers ran long were edited.
Jerry Stabile, incumbent
8 Blueberry Hill Road
Age: 50
Occupation: COO SW Development Company
Family: Wife, Amy; daughters Alexa, Joslyn, Carly and Julia
Answer: One of the great things about Andover's form of government is it gives everyone a chance to vote on the issues. The downside is that there are a lot of issues, some of which are very complex. There are multiple ways to become informed and volumes of documentation. So how can the average resident and taxpayer get informed to the point where they can responsibly vote on these issues at Town Meeting?
If you are serious about getting informed the most complete and extensive information you can review is the Town Manager's recommended FY2011 Budget (http://andoverma.gov/publish/recbud/), Capital Improvement Program (http://andoverma.gov/publish/reccip/) and the Finance Committee Report, which will be out in early April (http://andoverma.gov/). Another great online resource is the Andover Budget Blog (http://andoverbudgetblog.blogspot.com/). This is a forum where you can actually participate in the dialog. You can also find the School Department's information online (http://www.aps1.net/index.aspx?NID=411). If you are not an Internet person you can obtain copies of these documents at Town Offices, Bartlet Street. There is also the traditional media, including the Townsman, and the public access stations. You can actually attend meetings. It is up to you to get informed and there are so many ways to do it.
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Alex Vispoli, incumbent
7 Alison Way
Age: 52
Occupation: Director of Sales, for Waltham's Venyu Inc., data protection and availability solutions company.
Immediate family: Spouse, Ann (Maguire) Vispoli; children: Colleen, 25, and husband Ian Callahan,; Alexander 23; Christine 21; Kevin, 11.
Answer: I ran for selectman to improve proactive communication with residents and town government. When residents are informed, town government functions better.
I proposed and implemented a mid-fiscal year review. This annual event provides a "board of directors"-type of consolidated review for residents. Projects are presented by department heads, including resident questions and concerns. These public meetings are televised live, and rebroadcast.
To provide the community the opportunity to ask questions or make suggestions, especially for residents who cannot attend meetings, this year the Andover Budget Blog was launched. The blog is moderated by a subcommittee from the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee and the Finance Committee as a way to address residents' questions.
Last year, we began streaming on-demand video of all our meetings on the town's Web site. The Finance Committee Report is mailed to all residents 10 days prior to Town Meeting; the Townsman covers key budget items. The League of Women Voters hosts a budget forum. All information planned for Town Meeting can be found on the town's Web site.
As your selectman, I will continue to support new and innovative ways to keep residents informed on issues throughout the year in preparation for Town Meeting.
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Larry Bruce
254 Chandler Road
Age: 51
Elected office held: Student government president, Worcester State College, 1982
Occupation: Engineer
Immediate family: wife Pamela Bruce, daughter Ally Bruce (AHS '09)
Answer: We live in an "information age" - unless you're looking for information about how Andover spends its annual $140 million budget.
Our finance report gives little or no information about actual contracts or purchases. As selectman, I would advocate posting every contract, every invoice, every payment on the town's Web site. Too expensive? We already have a programmer on payroll making $92,000 a year.
Right now a citizen is allowed access to supporting documents if demanded. It's a time-consuming process, going to Town Hall, filing an official request, being charged for copying each page of the document, etc.
What's the problem with transparency? The truth shall set you free. As an example, I was told that no town money was spent on the library's polar bear statue. It took a couple of weeks, but I now know that at least $9,750 came from our general funds. That money could have been better spent. And I daresay that it would have been, if the taxpayers had known about it, which they would have if the financing plans had been posted before approved.
Open the books. Put them on-line. Let's get Andover out of the Dark Ages and into the Information Age.
