Norwood Former Selectman Allan Howard To Run In Special Election

NORWOOD, MA - Former Selectman Allan Howard announced today that he will be running to fill the vacancy on the Board of Selectmen created by the untimely death of Selectman David Hajjar last month.

The winner of the special election on Jan. 3 will fill the remainder of Hajjar's term, which ends in April. A regular election will be held at that time, and Howard said he will be running for a full term.

"I have made the serious decision to re-run for this vacancy," he said. "I have missed the interaction with the other board members and of being more involved in our community.

Howard is a life-long resident of Norwood and graduated from Norwood High. After he completed his studies at Burdett College, he served for six years in the Army Reserve.

Howard retired as a manager from The Hartford Insurance Group after 38 years in their audit department. He also has been happily married to Irene (Renie) Fitzpatrick for over 56 years and is the father to three sons.

"Now is the time for experience and not the time for on-the-job training," Howard continued. "The late Selectman Hajjar’s vacated seat is a big seat to sadly try and fill."

Prior to serving as a past Selectman for nine years, Howard held a variety of town government
positions, including 12 years on the Finance Commission and over 35 years as a
Norwood Town Meeting Member.

"I served on the townwide Budget Committee and the Capital Outlay Committee along with a host of other Committees ," Howard said as he noted his accomplishments. "As Chairman of the Finance Commission, I asked Town Meeting to support the override for our new High School which ended up with an incredible bargain - a total cost of $28 million. We can hopefully be as fortunate with our middle school, and I will work hard to that end."

Howard said he was instrumental in bringing two key businesses to Norwood, taking part in the initial meetings with Moderna and The Skating Club of Boston, as well as urging the town purchase of the historic Forbes Property. He also was one of two Selectman representatives at meetings with our trash contractor for the current contract, where they worked to save us hundreds of thousands of dollars through contract language and negotiating.

Howard explained that he takes a no-nonsense approach to government.

"My biggest joy is assisting individuals with issues they bring to me," said Howard. "I have always tried to keep water rates, electric rates and property taxes as low as possible. I have and will fight to curb excessive spending."

He currently serves as a member of the Council of Aging Board at the Norwood Senior Center, where Howard said he interacts with seniors regularly. Advocating for elders and veterans will be one of his priorities if he returns to the board.

"We raised the limits of income-based offsets for seniors and veterans not long ago at Town Meeting," Howard said. "A good start, but do we do enough for our seniors?"

"If elected, I can once again prove to the people of Norwood that I will be a hard worker, a valuable contributor and transparent to those interested in our town government operations," he said.