http://www.vermontjournal.com/content/david-yesman-run-select-board
David Yesman to Run for Select Board
Submitted by VT Journal on Tue, 02/24/2015 - 8:59am
By LAUREN DRASLER The Shopper
SPRINGFIELD, VT - Springfield resident and local Real Estate Agent David Yesman, will seek re-election for his spot on the Select Board March 3. Yesman has served on the Select Board for three years, but was on the Board a number of years ago for six years. Yesman and Peter MacGillivray are the incumbent candidates, while Walter Martone and Carol Cole are running against them. Only two seats are open on the Select Board.
“I’m running again, because I want to continue with the projects that the Select Board has started,” Yesman said. “I think these projects will be helpful to Springfield and I want to see them through. I am also seeking re-election, because I want to help reduce taxes in town.”
Yesman said that one of the projects he’s been working on with the Select Board is energy consumption in town and how to help Springfield use renewable resources like solar power.
“I would like to continue my work on using solar energy in Springfield,” he said. “I’m on the Energy Committee in town and we look at energy that’s used by the town facilities like the town hall, library and other town buildings. This is an ongoing project, and it will take time to complete.”
Another project that has sparked Yesman’s interest is what to do with the old Park Street School. Yesman is on a committee that has been holding discussions on ideas for what to do with the building.
“This project [Park Street School] has been taking a lot of time, because it’s half a town concern, but half a school concern as well,” he said. “However, whatever happens to the school is of total concern to the taxpayers.”
Yesman said that his main concern while serving on committees in town is helping to save Springfield taxpayers money.
“I try to always save taxpayers money, and I look for ways to do that,” he said. “One way we can do that is through renewable energy, because that can help reduce the budget. We are probably one of the highest taxed towns, if not the highest, in the state of Vermont, and this is because Springfield is a full-service town. It costs money to keep the police, fire department, town manager and the library, and we do this through taxes.”
Though Yesman serves on a variety of committees, he said that what he wants voters to know about him is that he has the time and energy to devote to serving another three years on the Select Board.
“I want people to know that I have time to devote to being a Select Board member, and that I will attend all the meetings and all the committee meetings as well,” he said. “I’m a Springfield native, and I’ve watched this town develop over the years. I’ve watched it go through a decline, but I think there’s a resurgence of enthusiasm in town, and I think we need to have economic development in Springfield that will help to grow the economy, employ residents and increase the town list.”
Yesman may not be equipped to recruit businesses to Springfield alone, but he said if he is re-elected to the Select Board, he would work with area organizations to help boost Springfield’s downtown and economic growth.
“I’m not in economic business, so I don’t personally have the resources to get businesses to town,” he said. “However, Bob Flint is on the town budget, and the Springfield Regional Development Corporation can search out and find new businesses to bring to town. Springfield on the Move is also on the town budget and has the resources to recruit businesses, and I work closely with organizations to help promote Springfield.”
Some may wonder why it’s important for a town to have a Board of Selectmen in the first place, Yesman, however, said that the Select Board is an integral part of Springfield because of its relationship with the Town Manager.
“It’s mandated by Springfield’s charter to have a Select Board,” he said. “However, having the Select Board is important, because we are directly associated with the Town Manager, and in fact, the Select Board elected our new Town Manager Tom Yennerell in 2014. Tom oversees the day to day operations of town, and then the Select Board meets twice a month to discuss everything, and to help resolve the issues that come up daily.”
Along with the election for the Select Board, the town budget will also be on the ballot March 3. Yesman said that he feels it’s crucial for residents of Springfield to vote.
“A lot of people stay home and don’t vote, but I think it’s very important that people get out there and vote,” he said. “The town budget is on the ballot and it’s a conservative budget and I hope everyone agrees that it’s reasonable. It’s important that the budget gets passed.”
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Another incumbent puffing heavy on the rhetoric, but lacking much in the way of concrete achievement. The town has continued to languish under his watch.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, he also touts his support for the Springfield Regional Development Corporation and Springfield on the Move, both of which have failed massively by any measurable standard. And in almost the same breath he has the audacity to claim that “[He] always [tries to] save taxpayers money, and I look for ways to do that...”
Really? Yet the tax rate has continued to rise, meaning he isn't effective.
And he's apparently a "green disciple" with a fascination for solar which requires substantial expenditures to install but has a tremendously long payback period, which doesn't even factor in the lower than predicted performance of such systems and their unforeseen maintenance costs which will ultimately have to be borne by taxpayers.
It's time for this guy to also say his farewells to the board.