To the editor:
I am writing to fully support Danielle Leonard and her candidacy for Swampscott Select Board.
I carefully watched the candidate forum hosted by the DAV on April 13. I respect both candidates for putting themselves out there, and a competitive race is always good for our town. To me, it was very clear that Danielle is more prepared and experienced to be our next Select Board member. She is articulate, organized, thoughtful, and came across as a good listener. She is both confident and qualified to manage the serious complexities that our town’s highest executive committee requires. Her professional skills in human resources are desperately needed in a town with a serious HR crisis under current leadership. Danielle is a people person and was clearly at ease talking with the public.
Danielle has a professional human resources background, plus 10 years of past experience in the business office of our own Swampscott schools. As its newest member, she will bring to the Select Board elements like rational decision-making, transparency, business acumen, goodwill, and the restoration of trust. We need better public communication and less distracting virtue signaling that divides us. We need better processes and structure to manage these enormous infrastructure issues. We need a trained HR specialist who can rightfully guide and protect the town while addressing the 90% female turnover rate from the past few years (26 women out of approximately 30 employees left under the leadership of this town administrator). It’s ultimately clear that we need leaders capable of addressing two MCAD discrimination complaints and impending lawsuits to the satisfaction of the voting public. Danielle is the right candidate with the right skills at the right time.
In contrast, I found the other candidate demonstrated (an acknowledged) discomfort with the public. She also revealed poor understanding about our town budgeting process when offering this ludicrous idea about how Danielle might have to recuse herself from budget votes because her spouse is a school employee. This attempt at kindergarten politics was not impressive. Canned non-answers, an uncomfortable cadence, and a reminder of your parents only take you so far when you haven’t demonstrated any other professional qualifications. It’s not a contest about who cares more about Swampscott and their families. It’s a distinction between the candidates’ capabilities and preparedness for the job.
Reading The Daily Item, you are already paying attention. Journalism won the day when it revealed serious employee accusations against our town administrator. However, your neighbors might not know. It might be up to each of us to explain why the current Select Board seemed ready to re-sign the town administrator’s contract early before the MCAD investigations were completed. Then ask why past Select Boards have opted to avoid hiring independent HR consultants to evaluate staff, including the town administrator? Why did the current Select Board assign a direct report (employee) to the town administrator to investigate his own boss? The town’s public rebuttal documentation reveals an internal alienation between our town administrator and the police force.
But wait, there’s more. Our own school superintendent and members of the School Committee have publicly called the town administrator out as a non-trusted partner in negotiations. The chair of our elected Board of Assessors just publicly complained last week how she was being legally bullied by the town administrator and the Select Board for doing her job. Is it a coincidence that our town administrator is proposing a charter change to strip that board’s elected independence?
Tell your neighbors that we are at a $ 100 million infrastructure turning point. That we need leaders who can clearly communicate the fiscal disruption of our EPA-mandated consent order to fix our leaking sewage pipes. That we require leaders who can guide us on how best to pay for the costs of sea rise, flooding, home insurance cancellations, rising energy prices, rising solid waste prices. Who is more ready to lead the conversations about priorities and the costs and sacrifices we will make to fix our infrastructure problems? Will we pick leaders that can actively discern the difference between wants and needs? Will we choose leaders that will hold our most senior employee accountable? Neighbors, will we choose leaders that ignore the clear will of the residents by offering a $37 million library proposal at the Hawthorne site?
Our highest executive team needs members who will work to reduce the chaos and contribute to re-fostering lost trust. This is the most important local election we’ve had in years and the other candidate has opted out of any further public face-to-face engagement. The electorate needs to award this Select Board position to a woman with a unique set of skills in a time when those skills are most needed. It’s time to elect Danielle Leonard as our newest Select Board member.
So please, reach out to your neighbors and tell them the importance of their vote.
Vote Danielle for smart, thoughtful decision-making in the 21st century. Thank you.
Wayne Spritz
Swampscott Precinct 3
