Two candidates seeking a spot on the Planning Board — Paul Cimino and Andrew Mills — talked with voters at the candidates night this week about their experience and their priorities for the board. Lisa Braccio is also running for a seat on the Planning Board, but she did not attend the candidates night event.
Cimino, a lawyer with an engineering background, said one of his goals is to help develop the town’s commercial tax base. “We need to support vibrant commercial development on Route 9 without sacrificing what knits the town together,” he told voters.
Other top priorities for Cimino are replacing Town Planner Vera Kolias who resigned earlier this year, and furthering the implementation of the town’s master plan.
Cimino said his background representing both developers and municipalities in land court will serve him well on the Planning Board. “I want to bring my leadership and professional expertise to the Planning Board,” he said. Cimino has been a member of the Personnel Board for the past six years.
Mills, a process improvement manager at Fidelity, said his priorities center on ways to make the Planning Board even more efficient and productive. “I want to put to paper things that have been tribal knowledge,” Mills told voters. “I want to get transparency on how things are done.”
Mills is currently chairman of the Community Preservation Committee. “I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish on the CPC,” he said.
Mills said that since he moved to town 14 years ago, he’s been looking for more and more ways to get involved with town government. “The town doesn’t just run itself. It takes the community to make it what it is,” he said. “I want to be part of that.”
My Cimino sign was stolen. And I am not happy about it.
Honestly, isn’t it possible that it blew away in the record high winds we had on Thursday?. I bet it turns up in a ditch upwind from your house. Are you seriously implying that a candidate running against Mr. Cimino stole it?
I would like to convey my support for Andrew Mills for the Planning Board. I have had occasion to see the direct actions or indirect results of Mr. Mills’ leadership of the Community Preservation Committee (CPC), on which he currently serves as chair, and I have never failed to be impressed with his character, commitment, integrity, and results. Mr. Mills has demonstrated a very strong commitment to public service and to the best interests of the town of Southborough, and he will bring a very important perspective to the Planning Board, to help maintain the character and qualities of the town that we all value so much.