News
Excerpt from Metrowest Daily News
April 8, 2008
A Primer for Local Elections
By Jim Kleinkauf/Daily News staff
In Hopkinton, where local elections involve political parties, Selectmen Chairwoman Muriel Kramer, a Democrat, faces Planning Board member R.J. Dourney, a Republican.
...The selectmen's race will be the hottest one
Because, in Hopkinton the divide is less between political parties than it is between those who favor managed growth and those who want no growth. Kramer is in the latter group.
A lifelong Republican before switching parties for an unsuccessful bid to unseat then-incumbent Selectman Ron Clark, a Republican, Kramer's initial political agenda was to block E.L. Harvey's expansion.
Although yesterday, Kramer said her main concern during her first campaign was making sure monitoring wells were in place on the Harvey site.
Kramer has opposed the Fruit Street wastewater treatment facility and Boulder Capital's purchase of Weston Nurseries.
But yesterday, she said, "I am firmly committed to making sure Legacy Farms is a successful project."
In December, when selectmen, under Kramer's leadership, named a committee to negotiate with Boulder on the project's impact, she said it was important to keep the public informed as negotiations progressed.
"I don't see this ever not being an open process," Kramer said.
Since then, the negotiating committee has held unposted weekly meetings that
frequently include Dourney, Kramer and Selectman Mary Pratt, but from which the
public has been barred.
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Hopkinton Independent, January 16, 2008
RJ Dourney announces candidacy for selectman
by Amy Comcowich
RJ Dourney will be a Republican candidate for selectman in the May 2008 election. If elected, he hopes to help restore Hopkinton's confidence in its leadership and encourage more residents to get involved with the community.
Dourney believes all town residents share a desire for great schools, taxes we can live with, affordable housing, and a town where businesses compliment the community. He also believes the Board of Selectmen "have a charge to understand the needs of the community and to move that forward," he said.
What concerns him is the current cash-flow problem Hopkinton is facing and a perceived "dig-in-your-heels" leadership approach in our government.
"The year 2008," he said, "needs to be the year of moving the economic development forward" and
believes this is how he could best serve the town.
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Metrowest Daily News January 16, 2008
Planning Board member vying for selectman's seat
By Richard Conn/Daily News staff
Jan 16, 2008
HOPKINTON
Planning Board member R.J. Dourney announced yesterday that he will run for
a seat on the Board of Selectmen.
Dourney, a Republican, will challenge for the seat currently held by selectmen Chairwoman Muriel Kramer.
Kramer, a Democrat, said yesterday that she hasn't decided if she will run again.
Dourney, who is the owner of Hearthstone Associates, a Hopkinton-based
restaurant franchise, said if elected he plans to bring leadership, a strong
business background and professional approach to the board.
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Hopkinton Independent, May 8, 2008
Elections matter - Your vote matters.
by RJ Dourney
Elections matter. At the local level, the actions of elected officials impact us and our children every day. We need Selectmen with the leadership qualities and financial expertise to get Hopkinton back on track to fiscal stability. That is why I am running for Selectman.
As the Town's costs for health insurance, energy, and inflation keep rising, we need a long-term plan to keep expenses and revenues in balance. My top priority will be to create a financial plan that allows us to keep our schools strong and maintain our infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, etc.) without property tax overrides.
The cornerstones of my plan will be to make improvements in operational efficiency, be relentless in cost control, and broaden our non-residential tax base. If we move aggressively, we can have an immediate impact. Indeed, the efforts of the Financial Plan Working Group under the auspices of the Appropriation Committee and School Committee accounted for $1 million in savings towards next year's budget. With leadership from the Board of Selectmen, we can do even better next year.
On the revenue side there are two key things that we need to do: get the wastewater treatment facility that Town Meeting approved years ago up and running to attract more world-class companies like EMC and Caliper, and facilitate the Legacy Farms project in a revenue-positive manner. We can do these projects in ways that leave as much land as possible undisturbed. I am committed to protecting our environment. Full Article ->
Hopkinton Independent, April 24, 2008
Let's Stop Paying More to Get Less
by RJ Dourney
Paying more and getting less has been our recent fate as taxpayers. Residential property taxes are up a whopping 22% in the past three years, but there is a solution. There is a way to keep class sizes reasonable, protect our kids' future, and fix our roads and sidewalks.
Hopkinton needs strong leadership on the Board of Selectmen.
We need a leader with financial savvy who can fashion a plan
to hold taxes in check, keep our schools strong, and maintain
our public infrastructure (roads, buildings, etc.) while preserving
the character of our community. I am that leader.
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Hopkinton Independent, April 10, 2008
It's All About Leadership
By RJ Dourney
The election for Selectman is all about leadership. Leadership requires having clear objectives, a strategy for achieving the objectives, and the skills to inspire people to accomplish the objectives.
As Selectman my primary objective will be to hold taxes in check while keeping our schools strong, maintaining our infrastructure, and preserving the character of our community. This cannot be done by cutting spending to match revenue year after year.
Hopkinton does not have a spending problem; it has a revenue problem. Certainly,
we need to continually make improvements in operational efficiency, but such improvements
cannot solve a multi-million dollar problem. We also need significant additional revenues.
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Hopkinton Independent, March 27, 2008
Roadmap to Fiscal Health
The clock is ticking while taxes keep rising. We must stop the constant residential property tax increases. As your Selectman I will provide leadership toward that end.
The Selectmen's meeting on March 18th was a glaring example of why we need strong leadership in Hopkinton. Whether you support an override or not, no one could have come away from that meeting feeling confident about our town's current and future fiscal health.
As selectman my focus will be to move the town to a position of positive cash flow in a way that
preserves the educational, social, and environmental character of the community. The way to get
there is to establish a comprehensive plan with specific actions that will bring our fiscal situation
into balance.
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