WaylandeNews.com

Candidate Q&A

In an effort to help voters understand candidate positions on a wide variety of issues, we solicited question suggestions from the Board of Selectmen and School Committee candidates, and then send them all a set of questions (given below) on Thursday, February 26.  We required responses by March 9.  We limited answers to 100 words for each question to keep the compiled responses short enough to not be off-putting to readers.  We truncated longer answers, but posted each candidate’s complete answers in a separate document.   All of the Board of Selectmen candidates, and three of the five School Committee candidates returned answers.

Board of Selectmen Q&A

School Committee Q&A

In addition to a comparative document providing answers from each candidate, we have posted responses from each candidate individually, and printable versions of the comparative answers.

Board of Selectmen

   1. Do you support the debt-exclusion on the ballot this coming Election Day?
   2. Have you identified any aspects of how Wayland town government has been managed that you believe need improvement, and specifically what would you change to achieve such improvement?
   3. Do you generally approve of how Wayland has managed its fiscal constraints in recent years?
   4. Are you in favor of consolidating services with neighboring towns?
   5. Do you support a single override approach or a menu override approach?   Do you believe the approach that you don’t support is divisive, and why?
   6. Do you have any ideas for improving the transportation network, in particular the challenges of commuting to Boston, or improving public transportation options?
   7. Do you have any ideas about improving traffic and pedestrian safety?
   8. Do you support the development of affordable housing?
   9. Do you support:
           a. the high school project
           b. the library project
           c. the community center/pool project
           d. the highway garage
           e. the Wayside Rail Trail
        Assuming that these projects would have to be developed over a number of years, then how would you prioritize them?
  10. Please provide any specific ideas you have about growing town revenue other than through residential property taxes.
  11. Do you support the Town Center project?
  12. How would you evaluate and prioritize conservation expenditures?
  13. Are there any other issues that you would like to address?
  14. If you can, then please name anyone of prominence in Wayland, either inside or outside of town or school government, that you admire, and state why.  

School Committee

   1. Has the elementary school reconfiguration been a success, and why or why not?
   2. To what extent should programs and services that are not legally mandated or purely academic be supported by user fees?
   3. Do you agree with the current School Committee’s educational priorities, and is there anything you would change?
   4. Do you agree with the current School Committee’s co-curricular priorities, and is there anything you would change?
   5. Do you believe that the pay scale for Wayland teachers and administrators is appropriate, and why or why not?
   6. Do you support the current class size guidelines?  Do you believe that class size matters?
   7. Are there any planning initiatives that you would like to see changed or begun?
   8. Are there any changes that you believe are necessary in order for the Wayland schools to remain highly regarded?
   9. Is lower academic performance for the Wayland schools acceptable if necessary to lower the tax burden? 
  10. If you believe that it is critical for Wayland to maintain the quality of its schools, then how should that be achieved in the current fiscal environment?
  11. What creative solutions have been explored to maintain the schools without increasing taxpayer funding every year? Do you have any new ideas?
  12. Describe circumstances in which you would not support a budgetary override to fund the schools.
  13. Do you support a partially state-reimbursed upgrade of the high school facility?
  14. Do you support the debt-exclusion on the ballot this coming Election Day?
  15. Are there any other issues that you would like to address?
  16. If you can, then please name anyone of prominence that you admire in Wayland, either inside or outside of town or school government, and state why.