Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Why I'm Running for Longmeadow Select Board - Walter Gunn

This information was submitted to the LongmeadowBuzz blog by Walter Gunn who is running as a candidate in the Preliminary Election on February 7 for the open Select Board seat. 

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Walter Gunn- Candidate for SB
To the residents of Longmeadow:

Our town government needs the proper representation our people deserve. A special town election is required when a seat on the Select Board is vacated, as it was in July of 2022, and must be filled in a timely manner. 
I am excited, not only as a resident of Longmeadow for sixty-one continuous years, but as someone who has worked for the community for twenty-two years, to be elected to the Select Board. Longmeadow thrives with excellent schools, public safety, public works, and resources for our seniors. Above all, we are a friendly and a great community dedicated to making this town the best in the Pioneer Valley.

I want to thank the Town of Longmeadow and its residents for putting their faith in me to serve the town. I also want to recognize and appreciate the support of the community members and town employees who get the hard work done day in and day out.

In my many years of service, I have chaired and clerked for the Planning Board. I was also appointed commissioner to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and today I am its chair, serving Longmeadow and the 43 communities within our region. I also serve as a voting member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), important in the process of distribution of federal transportation dollars to our region. In each of these positions I have advocated for Longmeadow and brought much needed support to the projects that keep our infrastructure and institutions working, and thus our town.

To detail some of my accomplishments: 
  • Helped create the responsibilities of the Town Manager 
  • Planning for parks, recreation, and conservation for Longmeadow 
  • Hazard Mitigation to make Longmeadow proactive and resilient to climate change. 
  • Complete streets making our roads safer for cars, bicyclists, and pedestrians 
  • No Chandler Avenue development preventing unnecessary invasion of our historic past. 
  • Action on commercial development in the interest of the for today and tomorrow. 
  • Zoning By Law updates to continue protecting our Town’s Amenities. 
  • Expedited the rebuild of Converse Street ahead of schedule, assured a new sidewalk and crossing at Bliss Road to Blueberry Hill School will be completed this year, that Converse Street and Longmeadow Street intersection will be upgraded and Longmeadow Street will be rebuilt.
As a Select Board member, I will: 
  • Support the Charter and Town Meeting Form of Government. 
  • Stop the Eversource pipeline from Longmeadow to Springfield forever and follow the state’s lead on clean energy implementation, including new solar energy power, to keep the promises we have made as a green community. 
  • Preserve open space now and for generations to come. 
  • Assure safety to pedestrians and bicyclists 
  • Keep roads efficient, safe, and neighborhood friendly 
  • Support our first responders assuring that Longmeadow continues to be safe for our residents. 
  • Stop the East Longmeadow “warehouse,” a proposed project that will flood our town with trucks destroying roads and congesting traffic 
  • Provide resources to the Middle School Building Committee to ensure the town gets a Middle School now, not later.
    (I’m Williams Middle School ’73) and make sure we have the resources to keep our 3 elementary schools modern and safe (I’m Converse Street School and Center School). I supported and helped the Town get a new high school (I’m Class of ’79).
     
  • Evaluate the proposed move of two town hall facilities to Greenwood Center. 
  • Work to create more housing for our deserving seniors. 
  • Repurpose former town property in new and innovative ways. 
  • Ensure our fair share of state money for schools and roads.
As a Select Board member, my primary responsibilities will include supervising fiscally responsible annual budgets (as a former small business owner budgets are the difference between success and failure), performance-based appointments to committees and commissions, and timely revue of the town manager. 
 
Speaking of budgets: We have come and are perilously close to the “$25 per $1000” limit on taxation. With good fortune and good budget management we have kept under the threshold. This year’s budget, FY 2023 is no exception. Longmeadow is boxed in by this persistent problem. Regrettably, we have very little space to build out and generate new revenue within the town. Perhaps, we are not the only town of 351 in the Commonwealth to feel this pain. We will need to show leadership and engage our legislative representatives to help resolve this problem for the benefit of this community, when required. 
 
Finally, please vote for democracy in our Town’s primary, February 7th and the Special Election March 7th and preserve our form unique form of New England Town Government. 
 
Thank you for your support and belief in me to keep our community vibrant.


 

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