Woodard: Better Communication Will Make Sudbury a Better Town

As a former chairman of the Sudbury Finance Committee, Chuck Woodard understood the importance of letting people voice their opinions at meetings.

Whether you agreed or disagreed, he felt it was crucial for members to listen to the public. And unlike the current Board of Selectmen, residents did not have to submit requests ahead of time to speak, wondering if it would be declined.

Woodard says if he's elected to the newly created two-year seat on the Board of Selectmen on June 25, he'll support bringing that back to their meetings — without the censorship.

"I believe in it to my core," he said. "You want two-way communication. If we start to listen, then maybe the anger may abate a little bit."

Woodard and his wife, Lisa Eggleston, moved to town in 1989, raised two kids, and have been active in town government. Woodard said he and his family plan on being here for another 20 years and that's one reason why he's running for selectman.

"We have deep roots, and we have a big stake in the future of Sudbury," he said.

Woodard said he decided to run for selectman after seeing which candidates threw their hats in. He felt the town needed another option.

"I think residents need a couple of things I can offer based on what I’ve done. What you see is what you get," he said. "I want to run because I want things to go well for the town, keep it the way it is. To do it long-term, we need to improve the tone in town. The nastiness is not good and it's a terrible example for kids. It makes it more difficult to build consensus. The beginning of consensus is dialog, the willing to talk. Nine out of 10 people can come to (an agreement) in between of what you want and what I want (if there is dialog)."

One of the issues Sudbury is dealing with is the finances of the two school systems. Woodard said although there has been talk of splitting from Lincoln, that wouldn't be the best idea.

"We can't afford to split from Lincoln. Sudbury will end up paying higher fixed and operational costs," he said. "It will cost more per student and more in taxes."

The best option he said is to create a K-12 system with Lincoln, similar to what Acton and Boxborough voted on earlier this month.

The creation of this school system would allow for one budget to be used by one superintendent and discussed by one school committee.

"This structure I strongly support. If you have one superintendent, then that person can decide where best to spend the money," he said, adding that currently there is no incentive for Lincoln to change the regional agreement.

"It will be a long-term process. They are concerned because we haven't passed an override for a while," Woodard said. "To change the agreement it all starts with our Board of Selectmen talking with their Board of Selectmen. There are a lot of benefits doing something together."