A critical component of successfully run towns is an informed public.

It takes a concerted effort on the part of the elected officials to become knowledgeable regarding the key issues and then to properly communicate salient information to the townspeople. Representative government does not mean that decisions are made by the few, in a back room and then “sold” to the public.    This process is potentially fraught with problems, especially creating suspicion and a general lack of trust.

Tom has strived to make all aspects of town operations open and available to the public. Attendance at town council meetings was restricted during the worst part of the pandemic. As soon as this danger was past, he pushed to have these meetings reopened to the public.

You can listen as Tom regularly appears on local radio stations to give information about topics that affect our community. This has included updates about recent wildfires and the pandemic.

Have you attended one of the monthly “Chat with the Mayor” sessions? Tom discusses topics of interest to our community and takes questions from the audience. Check the event calendar for the next monthly “Chat with the Mayor.”

Tom has published his personal mobile phone number on his business card and accepts all calls on that number.

Tom believes that any major proposals affecting our community should have a series of public meetings where the project and its impact on our community should be fully discussed and all points of view aired. The citizens of our community should be informed and be the drivers of all major community efforts. These efforts should filter up from the citizens to the town council. They should not be decided by the privileged elite and then sold to the citizens. open and honest communication is required of all parties

To ultimately accomplish this, we need to take certain decisions to the people in the form of ballot propositions, especially if the project has any financial impact on the citizens.