Local taxpayers decide to take action
Published on February 20th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - At least 50 local taxpayers recently indicated their desire to formally organize the Stoneham Taxpayers Association (STA) into a political action committee last Thursday at China Moon.
According to former Finance Board member Peter D'Angelo, who convened the gathering alongside other founding members of the informal advocacy group, a crowd of between 50 to 75 citizens arrived at the Main Street eatery last week to support the formation of the new organization.
Next month, the local residents will again congregate to mull over a mission statement for the STA, which is currently being drawn up by the group's leadership.
"It's been a loose organization and we wanted to see if there was the interest to form a more formal group," explained D'Angelo, when asked to elaborate on the purpose of last Thursday's gathering.
"There are all kinds of interest groups throughout the town. And that's a good thing, people representing their interests," the former School Committee member added. "Someone has to represent taxpayer interests. There has to be a political watchdog, and that could be one of the missions of this organization."
In June of 2004, the STA first organized as a political action committee to act as a counterweight against pro-override group Stoneham Together and other tax hike proponents.
The STA platform, which opposed a then proposed $2.9 million proposition 2 and 1/2 override question, successfully lobbied for the defeat of the initiative, which lost overwhelmingly that year in a special election on June 15.
After the contentious debate over the ballot question ended, both advocacy groups largely disbanded. However, over the years, a small group of STA members, including D'Angelo, former Selectman Jim Juliano, and local residents Lawrence Allen and Stephen MacLeod, have lobbied against other financial proposals, such as the trash fee.
The informal organization has also advocated for a more streamlined government, better accounting of the town's unfunded medical liabilities, and for consolidation of local municipal functions. According to D'Angelo and Juliano, while those previous stances give insight into the group's purpose, the future mission of the STA remains up to the larger membership. The two longtime STA members further pointed-out that despite popular belief, the political interest group will not necessarily fight against every override or other fee-based revenue source pursued by town officials.
Juliano also expects the organization to examine other ways to improve the town that are unrelated to the town's finances.
For example, the former Selectman referred to a group of citizens who wanted to explore opportunities to beautify Stoneham, so that residents take more pride in the community.
"We want to establish our vision for the community. In other words, what do we want it to look like in five, 10, 15 years," said D'Angelo. "What we want to do is see how we become a better community and figure out how to best spend our money effectively and efficiently."
"We don't have an agenda, whether anti-override or anti-anything," Juliano explained in a separate interview. "We're just a bunch of people who get together and ask questions. The intent here is not to belittle any elected or appointed officials in this town. They have it tough enough as it is."
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