Sudbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Charlie Russo, Select Board

SUDBURY, MA — Sudbury's spring town election will happen Monday, and Sudbury Patch has reached out to candidates running in contested races to answer questions about why they're running.

This year, the races for select board, planning board and Goodnow Library board are the only contested races — although there are plenty of other candidates on the ballot running in uncontested races.

Here's what incumbent Charlie Russo said about why he's running this year.

Charlie Russo, 45, marketing, business development for an engineering firm

Relevant experience

I’ve had the honor and a privilege to serve since September 2020 (a start delayed by four months due to COVID) as a member, then Vice-Chair, and currently as Chair of the Sudbury Select Board. Notable projects and priorities that have advanced since I joined the Select Board:

• A new Town Manager was hired following a transparent, speedy process that included extensive public input. As Chair, I led the search process and now serve as the primary point of contact for the Town Manager, which gives me a unique role in providing continuity and guidance to support the Town Manager transition and enable his success.
• Bruce Freeman Rail Trail advanced from 25% design stage when I joined the board and now construction is underway.
• Fire Station 2 approved and construction underway, funded without needing a tax override to provide improved emergency response times for residents.
• Fairbank Community Center renovation/replacement, discussed since 2012, approved and construction underway to support seniors, schools, and the community.
• ARPA funds allocated in a transparent manner that incorporated extensive public input in ways to alleviate the short- and long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on residents.
• Camp Sewataro 5-year license renewal approved by the Select Board. This topic, which spurred intense debate among the board members, eventually won a 4-1 vote based on a contract for which I led the negotiations. The new contract provides for increased revenue to the Town, private investment by the camp operator into the property, and enhanced public access.

Other notable actions taken that reflect the community values:

• The creation of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission was one of my first votes, and while I was Chair we made it permanent
• PRIDE month was celebrated for the first time while I was Chair
• The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism was adopted by the Select Board while I was Chair
• A first-ever Sustainability Coordinator position was created and hired

Prior to serving on the Select Board I served six years on the Conservation Commission and served one year on the first iteration of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail Advisory Committee, which helped advise on and advance the BFRT to 25% design.

Earlier in my career, I worked as a newspaper journalist covering many of the same kinds of meetings I now participate in, so I bring broad experience in municipal matters from many communities, and an objective and independent perspective.

If elected, what's one item you'd like to see pass the select board in 2023?

At this point, I have no personal agendas I want to advance, and will make decisions based on the best long-term interests of the town. In 2023, we will continue to have large capital projects that need be monitored and/or completed in 2023 (Fairbank Community Center, Fire Station 2, Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, Eversource/Mass Central Rail Trail).

There’s a lot to do — from advancing Select Board goals (joining a vocational education district, providing transportation services to vulnerable residents, advancing ADA compliance, improving sustainability efforts, advancing rail trail progress) to supporting progress in the Master Plan Action Plan. Town Meeting approved funding for a new Open Space and Recreation Plan, and the Select Board provided ARPA funding for an economic development consultant provide a report to help fill empty storefronts and generate commercial tax revenue, both of which must start. Our first-ever Sustainability Coordinator has been hired, and efforts to advance our ADA Transition Plan compliance must continue. There’s no lack of initiatives to advance.

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

Sidewalks. We’re a very car-centric community. To consistently build more sidewalks, we need consistent funding. Communities with successful sidewalk expansion programs generally have a dedicated line item for sidewalks from Free Cash. Sudbury currently has a capital stabilization account that we contribute $250,000 per year to from Free Cash, with a current balance of $1 million and a goal of approximately $2 million. We could create a sidewalk stabilization account, and when the capital stabilization account is full, divert the $250,000 to the sidewalk account. Over time, we could fund sidewalk expansion this way without adding a new demand on the budget.

What does Route 20 look like 10 years in the future and what role does the select board play in shaping it?

One of my biggest hopes is to make the Route 20 corridor pleasant enough and pedestrian-friendly enough that a resident of, say, MeadowWalk, would find it a lovely idea to stroll from their home to a restaurant in Mill Village for dinner and back on a cool summer evening. That would never happen now.

We know what we’d need for infrastructure to make it happen. More sidewalks, wider sidewalks, continuous sidewalks, farther from the road, with fewer curb cuts. Street trees, benches, pocket parks, lovely lampposts. Wayfinding signage (to the BFRT, MCRT, restaurants, or places like Hosmer House, Loring Parsonage, Wayside Inn, or other historic spots, etc.). Maybe a bit more commercial building in-fill in some of the parking lots, to give pedestrians some more window shopping opportunities and merchants more opportunities for sales. A safe pedestrian crossing for Route 20.

The communities to the east of us have begun this process — Weston recently re-did its downtown infrastructure and Wayland has a re-visioning exercise underway — and Sudbury should soon initiate a similar public input and visioning process to imagine Route 20’s future.

A recent Mass Municipal Association webinar on placemaking gave a few case studies of how to make commercial areas more vibrant, but gave one main rule for creating attractive spaces: “people attract people.” People will be coming to Sudbury, via the two rail trails that will intersect near our commercial district. If we can provide the infrastructure to make them want to linger, then they’ll spend time and money in Sudbury shops, they’ll visit our historic sites, they’ll want to come back, and it will create a virtuous cycle that will benefit residents’ quality of life, as well as visitors, business owners, and the municipal budget. We as residents will have a nicer commercial district to enjoy.

Town government (including but not limited to Select Board) can’t compel new businesses to open in Town. But we can influence the underlying infrastructure, and create a welcoming environment for businesses.

Route 20 is a state road, governed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). When the MassDOT-funded Bruce Freeman Rail Trail crosses Route 20, we should leverage the safety needs of that crossing to urge MassDOT to upgrade Route 20 infrastructure.

Some towns are more aggressive in outreach to new businesses; Sudbury could do better by listing available commercial sites, surveying residents for the types of businesses they’re interested (biergarten and bakeries?) and publicizing that, and packaging zoning regulations in an easy-to-use format on our website. We also have a good story to tell about working cooperatively with businesses, such as the MeadowWalk development and how we supported business there by helping obtain an additional liquor license for that shopping center, among other examples.

Town government could also implement new tools to draw in desired businesses. Tax Increment Financing (TIFs) can be used to target and attract specific businesses or business types. Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), when approved, can help to keep up the conditions and attractiveness of a commercial district. Form-Based Code (FBC) zoning is a relatively new type of zoning that enforces the physical shape of buildings, rather than the use – once we determine what we want our Route 20 to look like, FBCs can help us get there.

Sudbury is asking voters to approve two Prop 2-1/2 items this year. What does this signify about the town's overall financial position?

Overall, Sudbury’s financial position is strong. We have a AAA bond rating and are maintaining or expanding services on a balanced budget on the municipal side in the upcoming fiscal year.

Proposition 2½ is a Massachusetts law that caps the allowable increase in property taxes at 2.5% annually (plus new growth). Sudbury is asking for two Prop 2½ overrides to increase taxes above that cap this year — one an operating budget override for the school department to provide support services to students whose education has been disrupted by Covid, which would add about $114 in additional taxes to a Sudbury home with the average value of $956,957. The second is a capital override to pay for a fire engine that would add $155 in taxes to the average value home for just one year to pay for the engine to support speedy and reliable emergency responses.

Overrides should never be desired, or pursued cavalierly, but sometimes are necessary to provide the services that residents need. Because inflation in many years runs above the 2.5% cap from Prop 2½, municipalities must tighten budgets and look for efficiencies simply to maintain the same services being provided, year-over-year, let alone add anything new or provide any improvements.

I support both override votes, and hope residents will join me in approving these requests. These two overrides would pay for things that are outside past years’ budgets that are critically important – post-pandemic support services for students, and a major piece of emergency response equipment.

Regarding the fire engine, since 2019 the Select Board has been funding $250,000 per year into Capital Stabilization account, now totalling $1 million, with the goal based on state Department of Revenue recommendations of about $2-2.5 million. Once fully funded, the capital stabilization account will pay for large capital items, like fire engines, without needing a tax override.
Sudbury has been cautious in its spending; an example is the expansion of Fire Station 2 on Route 20 (which will enable the Town’s second ambulance to move from headquarters to Station 2, speeding response times to the busiest section of town). Rather than replace the station in its entirety, a more modest expansion of the station was pursued, which we paid for using available funds, without a tax increase.

Compared to many other communities — communities like Newton and Acton-Boxboro are facing cuts to staff, teachers, and services — Sudbury is in a strong, stable financial position.
Town leadership has been prudent in its spending habits. These overrides are being requested to deliver additional services, and will deliver quality services and value to residents that make their approval worthwhile.

Previous Sudbury 2023 candidate profiles:

• Sudbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Timothy Anderson, Goodnow Board
• Sudbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Ingrid Mayyasi For Goodnow Board
• Sudbury 2023 Candidate Profile: Elizabeth Iwasaki, Goodnow Board