Dear Editor,

            The race for state representative in the second Middlesex District is very important for Westford.  The impact that state government has on our town is often shielded from voters who are often pre-occupied with national or local politics.  However, it is our state legislature that determines many critical policies that affect us.  Our local aid allotment is decided by the legislature and this directly impacts our town budget.  

            Mandates issued by the legislature, have historically meant significant cost to the town, because of the state’s refusal to provide financial support to back these up. Our legislators set the parameters,that define what our town can do to manage and direct our growth.  Finally, the tax and regulatory policies established by the House and Senate directly effect the pace and scale of economic growth in our region.

            In recent years our local aid has been slowly dwindling.  Mandates, particularly those related to special education, have spiked, increasing the cost of running our schools.  Efforts to bring about land reform, which would allow Westford to impose such things as impact fees on large developments, have been continually blocked.  Economically, recent data shows that our unemployment rate is starting to edge up, giving evidence that the tax and regulatory policies advanced by Beacon Hill have been inadequate.   These are precisely the effects expected from a state legislature that has taken its eyes off of the general interest in order to serve special interests, who provide money and influence to keep the status quo in power.

            It is time for a change.  Val Wormell offers the voters of this district a clear alternative to politics as usual on Beacon Hill.  Her seven years as a Westford selectmen gives her considerable insight into the relationship between state and local government.   She knows what the problems are because she has continuously dealt with the shortcomings caused by inadequate state support.  She knows what the agenda for Westford, Littleton and Chelmsford should be and she has what it takes to press that agenda.  We must stabilize local aid, reduce or fund mandates, extend more local control for planning, and most importantly establish reasonable tax and regulatory policies, that will stimulate, not retard economic growth.

            Her opponent, Jim Arciero, is the consummate Beacon Hill insider.  All he has offered the town over the past two years are excuses as to why state government can’t provide more aid or reduce mandates.  He enjoys strong support among those, who would seek to limit Westford’s ability to regulate and manage its growth.  As a member of the majority party, in a legislature riddled with corruption, he has been an enabler, who has said or done very little to challenge the abuse of his own party leadership. 

            This district desperately needs a representative to Beacon Hill, not a representative from Beacon Hill to this district.   This is what we have now.  Vote for Valerie Wormell and let’s start to assert the will of the second district within the Massachusetts House of Representatives.   We can’t afford to delay and rest assured we will not be alone.

-Dennis Galvin