NATICK, MA — Voters in Natick will have a rare chance to elect two new members to the Select Board.
Longtime Select Board members Sue Salamoff and Richard Jennett are not seeking reelection this year. Three candidates have stepped up to run for the two open seats: Kathryn Coughlin, Bruce Evans and Cody Jacobs.
To help voters get to know each candidate, Natick Patch sent all three a questionnaire to probe their thoughts on municipal issues. Here’s what Jacobs had to say:
Find out what’s happening in Natickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Age: 37
Occupation: Lecturer at Boston University School of Law
Experience as an elected official: Town Meeting member, Precinct 2
What do you think is the biggest issue facing Natick and what would you do about it?
Find out what’s happening in Natickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
I have knocked on over 1,000 doors since I started this campaign, and the number one issue I hear about is affordability. It is getting harder for young families to come to Natick, and many who call Natick home are no longer confident they can stay.
Tackling this starts with reforming our tax system. I support shifting the tax burden from working families to commercial landlords by splitting the tax rate. Natick is an outlier among similar communities in that it still charges the same tax rate for residential and commercial landowners.
This regressive system means that working families must pay the same tax rate as McDonalds, Home Depot, and the Natick Mall.
Most similar communities have long ago adopted a split tax rate without sacrificing commercial growth. Splitting the tax rate will provide critical tax relief for working families at a time when Natick is on the verge of putting an operational override on the ballot.
Other affordability measures I support include:
- Adopting a means-tested property tax exemption for seniors.
- Increasing low-income and mixed-income housing stock, including through the adoptionof the Community Preservation Act in Natick (see below).
- Increasing housing supply through denser development, and mixed-use development, in areas near transit to encourage walkability and stimulate business growth.
Natick may have to decide later this year whether to adopt the CPA. Where do you stand on that issue?
Many people I’ve talked to support increasing affordable housing and preserving our open spaces in Natick, but aren’t sure how we can do these things with our operating budget already facing a gap. That’s why I support adopting the Community Preservation Act.
This legislation allows communities to place a surcharge on property tax bills (the current proposal in Natick is for 1%) that goes into a fund that can be used for projects related to affordable housing, historic preservation, and open space. The fund also receives “matching” funds from the state. Although the match isn’t dollar for dollar, it is still money that Natick is passing up — and that other communities are getting — because we haven’t adopted the CPA yet.
And the CPA is less regressive than other forms of property taxation because it exempts the first $100,000 of a property’s value and exempts low-income taxpayers entirely. This funding could be used for many important projects in Natick. Most importantly, it would help Natick to invest in more affordable housing projects, which, among other positive benefits, would promote diversity and equity in Natick. I would also be excited for potential open space and historic preservation projects that could be supported by CPA funding.
Natick in 2022 will form a governance committee to study town strengths and weaknesses. What do you think the town’s strengths and weaknesses are, and what changes would you want in any charter review?
We must center equity in the conversation around government reform. Our current government structure strongly favors those who have the privilege to volunteer hours and hours of their time for positions like Town Meeting. Although it is an elected position on paper, Town Meeting elections are rarely contested. This makes it very difficult for a typical voter — who doesn’t have time to volunteer — to use their vote to hold the government accountable and express their policy preferences.
At the same time, I also think our current structure puts Natick at a disadvantage in trying to attract business development to our town. When a business coming here depends on a by-law change that may or may not get through Town Meeting (which may not be happening for months), Natick is at risk of losing out to other communities with more nimble systems. Certainly, the strength of the current system is that it allows many people to participate in government, but we should ask ourselves whether those with the time to participate really represent Natick’s nearly 40,000 residents.
As a member of the Select Board, I would hear the results of the committee’s work with an open mind, but this is my current perspective.
Due to rising school and town costs, the Select Board may have to decide whether to put a Prop 2 override on the ballot. Where do you stand on this issue?
I support placing an override on the ballot. For several years, Natick has had a gap between the town’s revenue and its expenses. This has, in turn, required Natick to deplete its stabilization funds to keep all town and school services funded. This is not sustainable, which is why we need an override.
We also need to make sure we are funding our schools adequately, especially at a time when so many of our children are suffering from social and emotional issues and learning loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, I recognize that an override is not costless — it puts pressure on taxpayers, many of whom are themselves struggling with the lingering impact of COVID and rising inflation. That’s why I support adopting a senior tax exemption to help seniors stay in their homes, and splitting the tax rate to provide relief to all Natick families to offset the impact of an override. I also think we need to be vigilant about areas in the budget where we can make cuts. If I am elected, I will carefully scrutinize the budget to find areas where we can be more efficient. But we must be honest with voters — our budget gap is too large for small cuts and efficiencies to make up the difference. The choice is between an override and substantial cuts to important programs, including our schools; given that choice, I would choose the override.
If you could snap your fingers and make it happen, what’s one thing you would change or fix in Natick?
I would increase voter participation in local elections. Natick is very engaged in national elections and regularly has high turnout, even for primaries, but when it comes to local elections, it’s a different story. In last year’s local election, turnout was only 13%, which translated into just over 3,000 people deciding who should fill seats on the Select Board and the School Committee.
We need to ask ourselves why this is. Framingham had a municipal election last year too, and turnout was more than twice as high at over 30%. Part of the explanation lies in our system of government, which, for the reasons described above, puts little power in voters’ hands. Another part of it is simply communication. Natick is in the process of hiring a Chief Information Officer, and I hope that person will prioritize improving communication and outreach around town elections.
Local elections are just as critical as national ones, if not more so. Local elections can decide whether our economy works for just the wealthy or all of us, whether we stand up for antiracism and social justice, and whether we meet our climate goals and protect our environment.
Whether you cast one of your two votes for Select Board for me or not, I hope that everyone reading this in Natick will vote on March 29.
More Natick 2022 election coverage: