Testing Sentiment

I’m going local with this post, but there is a national angle. There is an interesting election coming up in Natick – that of Selectman. Natick is run by a 5-person Board of Selectman, and there is an election this Tuesday for one of those members.

The candidates could not be more different, and actually represent the two ideological ends of the political spectrum. The incumbent is Josh Ostroff, a Democrat and free spender. As liberal as they come, he excels when the coffers are full and there is money to spend. The bigger the government the better. Very creative spender Josh be (he is well known for supporting a wide range of 'fees' to get around tax caps).

His opponent is Tony Lista. Tony is a Republican, and a fiscal conservative. He currently serves on Natick’s Finance Committee, which is a group of people who are responsible for figuring out Natick’s budget. Since joining the board, Tony has consistently put forth money-saving changes to the way Natick does business. Tellingly, Josh never served as a member of the Finance Committee.

Natick, a town of roughly 35,000, has a town budget of $100 million. Rough estimates for THIS fiscal year (ending THIS July) suggest the town may be facing a $4.5 million shortfall. The town is looking at major service cuts on its current spending path.

All five members of the Selectmen are Democrats, and have been so for a long time. Democrats outnumber Republicans in Natick 3 to 1. Hopeless for Mr. Lista? Perhaps not. The anti-governemnt, anti-spending sentiment erupting all over the country is certainly evident in the current campaign. “Lista for Selectman” lawn signs out-number “Ostroff for Selectman” signs by my estimate 4 to 1 in town. In chatting with neighbors around town, it is evident people are fed up with higher and higher taxes to fund larger and larger government, and that frustration may materialize this Tuesday in an upset election, if the voters are truly fed up enough to go vote. Here are some campaigning pictures.

There is a general ‘hope’ at the national Republican level that the crazy direction the national Democrats are taking the country will energize people to resist, and that the resistance will manifest itself first at the grass roots. If that is going to happen in Massachusetts, this is the perfect test election. Let’s see what happens.

Author: Mark