Shrewsbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Siobhan Weber, Select Board

SHREWSBURY, MA — Shrewsbury voters in 2023 will have to make a choice in the select board race, where five candidates are competing for two seats.

Of those candidates, only Beth Casavant is returning to run for reelection. Select Board Chair Maurice DePalo, who was first elected to the select board in 1993, is not running for reelection. Residents James Brown, Siobhan Costello-Weber, Carlos Garcia and Rajesh Uppalapati have filed to run in the hopes of picking up the open seat.

To help voters get to know the 2023 candidates, Shrewsbury Patch sent each one a questionnaire ahead of the May 2 election. Here's how Costello-Weber responded:

Relevant experience

(Did not provide answer)

Why are you running for select board this year?

My family and I (husband Andrew and five school-aged sons) moved to Shrewsbury 8 years ago, one of the best decisions we could ever have made as a family. I come from 20+ years in a fast-paced corporate executive world and it was time for all of us to slow down a bit and plant roots in a community that offered my family the quality of life we ultimately found here in Shrewsbury. As a family, we have been beneficiaries of the many wonderful things this town has to offer - top quality schools, a new Library, Ski Ward, Lake Quinsigamond and so much more.

However, over the past few years I have started to see a clear disconnect between residents and leadership. A disconnect not only in terms of communication, but also a disconnect in terms of how decisions are being made by town leadership on behalf of it's residents. I have started questioning if we are truly looking at the downstream impact of decisions being made today, taking into account both the long-term fiscal and structural implications. Are we thoughtfully engaging critical stakeholders in our decision-making? These are just some of the questions I ask myself regularly these days as I look at local town government decision-making.

I believe my many years of executive-level corporate experince with strategic planning and execution, vendor management and cross-functional team leadership will provide the added breadth of experince our current board needs as we best prepare to navigate the years ahead. I should mention that since transitioning out of the corporate world, I am now a local business person, community volunteer and court appointed child advocate. These experinces are a tremendous value-add in understanding the needs of our community.

What's one thing Shrewsbury is lacking right now, and what would you do about it?

Shrewsbury is lacking an actionable long-term (multi-year) financial plan. This is an essential component to achieving a comfortable level of organizational and executional clarity for our community and it's residents. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, our world has changed and with it the cost of providing the essential services we have come to expect from our town. Revenue streams are shifting regularly as well. In addition, we have grown to a community of over 39K residents. One of my early proirities when elected is to work toward a holistic fiscal roadmap that leverages our current resources to keep us competitive in areas of economic/physical development, education, public safety, waste and water management, and preservation of both open space and our community's history-rich buildings.

Shrewsbury's downtown area around the common is being studied for transportation upgrades and a new development at the former Beal School. What's your vision for this part of town?

I am in support of a multi phase development approach to our town center, starting with utilization of existing empty commercial space. Ideally local small business owners would be incentivized to sign long-term lease options to help stabilize the area. Secondly, I am in support of strategic parcel sales for commercial development, open space preservation, and public transportation access. Leaning into expanded public transport options will enable greater access to commercial areas without increasing the residential load on existing infrastructure and traffic.

Shrewsbury is a WRTA member community, but only a small portion of Route 9 and the common area have fixed route service. Would you like to change the town's access to public transit in any way?

Public transportation is a tremedously valuable asset to any community, particularly a community of our size and density. Not only does it transport people to their destinations, it reduces roadway congestion, reduces pollutants such as gas-use emissions into our environment, creates a sense of equity for those individuals who are not able to own or drive a car. The first step to making change in local public transportation is conducting a full assessment, financial and otherwise, of the specific needs of our community now and moving foward. Local small business owners would be fantastic partners in identifying strategic areas of expansion opportunity along existing routes, which could in turn simulate future commercial growth in areas with maximum access and minimal traffic.

What's your favorite thing to do as an activity in Shrewsbury?

My family and I love kayaking on the lake in summer, tubing down Ski Ward in winter and Dean Park all year round!