Why Mark Gold is running for reelection to the Select Board

This letter to the Longmeadow Buzz blog was submitted by Mark Gold, candidate for re-election to the Longmeadow Select Board....

Why are you running again for Select Board?

I’m running for reelection to the Select Board because I believe I can uniquely continue to contribute to the progress of Longmeadow. The skills I bring to the position, combined with the experience I’ve gained during my tenure on the board have provided me with knowledge and understanding of the issues that are important to the residents of Longmeadow, and the ability to make progress on resolving those issues. My position as the most experienced member of the Select Board provides stability and consistency that continues to support our Town Manager and Chief Financial Officer. Yet with all that my past initiatives have helped achieve, there are achievements that remain incomplete, and I am asking for your vote to allow me to complete these goals.

What are your qualifications/ skills including relevant experience? 

I bring unique qualifications and skills to the Select Board. My formal degrees are in engineering and business administration. I primarily worked as a corporate manager but have had a second career as a management consultant. With those skills, I bring an analytical approach to understanding the issues facing the town, from budgeting to setting water rates. I am the only Select Board member who has worked in a management position for a Fortune 500 company. With this background, I uniquely understand companies the town deals with, whether that be MGM where I used these skills to help the town negotiate the second largest surrounding community agreement in Western Mass, to trash hauling contracts, were my skills supplemented those of the town’s purchasing department, a department designed to administer, not negotiate contracts, normally assigning them to the lowest bidder. My additional experience of managing subordinates, something no other Select Board member has, and working as a consultant to Boards of Directors, makes me uniquely skilled at working with the town administration as both a partner as well as part of the elected oversight team.  

What are the largest issues facing Longmeadow as a community?

The largest issue facing Longmeadow remains providing the services town residents require within the fiscal constraints of the residents and Proposition 2½. Addressing this issue involves understanding the town’s services and tax structure as well as listening to and working with the residents who pay these bills. The town must aggressively reduce costs wherever possible (such as I did when I led the program that purchased and installed LED Streetlights) and find sources of revenue to supplement tax income (as I did when I initiated the local 0.75% meals tax).

A second issue requiring the attention of the town is the need to maintain a level of department staffing that provides the services town residents require, which in turn requires control of the town budget. Maintaining working relationships with Town employees in balance with budget constraints is an essential need of the town. 

The third issue facing the town is the disposition of the Glenbrook school property. As we move forward with a single middle school on the Williams site, the town needs to have a comprehensive plan for the development of the Glenbrook property in a way that maximizes the financial offset to the cost of the new middle school while maintaining the character of that neighborhood and the overall town.

How would you propose to resolve the top 3 issues?

It’s a trite-sounding answer, but the way to address the first two of these issues is for the town to be ahead of the financial requirements of the town rather than be reactive to these financial issues. That means that we need to continue to work on reducing the cost of providing services where those costs can be reduced as well as to identify and implement opportunities to bring supplemental revenue to the town. I have identified several cost savings and supplemental income opportunities for the town and will continue to address these issues if re-elected to the Select Board. 

To address the issues surrounding the Glenbrook property, the town should convene a group of elected leaders and neighborhood residents to identify and develop options for repositioning that asset. The goal of the group must be clearly defined by the convener (Select Board) and be evaluated by the residents.

I ask for your vote in the June 3rd Annual Town Elections to allow me to make that possible.