Current Select Board Vice Chair looking to raise awareness of recently expanded elderly, veteran tax benefits
James F. Mackey III is one of four candidates for two open seats on the Tewksbury Select Board. He is the only incumbent in the race as Chair Todd Johnson is not running for reelection. You can hear from James and the other candidates on Thursday night at the Crier & Carnation Candidates Forum.
Tewksbury Carnation: Why do you want to be reelected to the Select Board?
James Mackey: I want to be re-elected to the Select Board to continue the work I have started. The way I see it, what has been accomplished so far regarding water and cybersecurity is just the beginning. When I ran for election three years ago, I spoke about how I felt I still had something to offer by way of civic duty. That sentiment is as strong today as it was three years ago.
TC: Give us a brief bio.
JM: I am a 4th generation resident and homeowner in Tewksbury. I was born and raised in town and plan to raise my family here as well. I served thirteen years in the United States Army before I was medically discharged for injuries sustained while serving. I have spent the entirety of my professional career in cybersecurity, coordinating with state and federal organizations and navigating complex policy and regulations.
TC: What is your education?
JM: My education is a bit non-traditional. After graduating from Central Catholic, I joined the military where I attended multiple civilian certification courses for cyber security. Most notably is the Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP), a certification that is currently considered equivalent to a master’s degree in the EU.
TC: What is your “day job,” and how do your past or current professional experiences prepare you for service on the Select Board?
JM: I have two day jobs. First is running my boutique cybersecurity consulting practice, where we help large and medium sized businesses assess and improve their cyber security operations and incident response capabilities. We also offer managed security services for companies looking to outsource some or all of their detection and response capabilities.
My second job is leading the Municipal Cyber Association, which is a nonprofit 501c3 focused on helping municipalities maximize their limited resources to build sustainable cyber security programs and empower them to combat cyber threats.
TC: What are your key accomplishments in your first term?
JM: I believe I have been successful in my first term by achieving the following:
- About $8 million in DPW Project budget reductions, without compromising community welfare, through rigorous project reviews and creative solutions to identify cost savings.
- Improving our water infrastructure by tripling the annual rate of water main replacements, while continuing to work towards a long-term plan to deliver clean and affordable water to Tewksbury residents.
- Secured approximately $250,000 in grants and donations to increase Tewksbury’s cybersecurity. I forged Army National Guard partnerships and created new internship programs to keep our data and infrastructure safe.
- Initiated and provided oversight for Phase 1 of the new Tewksbury website project, aimed at modernization and making information more accessible for residents.
- Championed responsible governance, with a focus on community well-being and operational effectiveness.
TC: If re-elected, what do you hope to accomplish in the next three years as a Select Board member?
JM: If re-elected I hope to finalize and present a long-term plan to replace the nearly 50% of our water infrastructure that is at or past its end of life. Additionally, I seek to continue to drive improvements around information technology and cybersecurity for the town.
I hope that the state’s financial projections are not as grim as they appear, so Tewksbury can improve its financial picture to the point that we are in a position to have excess levy capacity. Finally, I hope to drive an increase in education around our recently expanded elderly and veteran tax benefits.
TC: How do you define your budget priorities if tough decisions have to be made?
JM: We run a pretty tight budget in Tewksbury, so if tough decisions need to be made around the budget, my first action is around preserving the quality of services provided to residents as best we can. This can become challenging due to the number of services we have in town, but I am hopeful that if tough decisions need to be made, our department heads and staff will be supportive in finding creative ways to limit spending or generate additional revenue.
TC: Do you feel that Town Meeting is still effective or would you support moving to a representative Town Meeting or even a city structure?
JM: I do not believe that Town Meeting is the most effective structure, but I also don’t know what the right answer is to replace it. On one hand, if people don’t come to Town Meeting, it could be interpreted as people are content with the direction and decisions being made. On the other hand, Town Meeting is susceptible to large turnouts for special interests that can have severe impacts on our budget. We are not a city, so I don’t believe we should have a City Council. I don’t believe that a representative Town Meeting would necessarily be an improvement. It may be worth considering alternative structure focused around changing the scope of what requires Town Meeting approval while leaving town meeting intact or changing the scope of what would be required to be on a ballot, questioned and voted on by residents during annual town elections. As I said at the onset, I don’t know what the right answer is, but there is room for improvement, and I would be happy to engage further on this topic if others felt the same.
TC: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing Tewksbury, and how will you address it?
JM: I believe the biggest challenge facing Tewksbury is threefold.
First are the challenges around replacing roughly half of our water infrastructure, which will be an exceedingly costly yet imperative undertaking. Almost everyone in town is impacted by constant water main breaks and subsequent brown water.
Second are the challenges around reduced state aid and the potential for budgetary shortfalls, which means there is an increased potential for there to be some lean years in the near future that will require us to wisely limit the impact on services to residents.
Third is overdevelopment and the lack of compensating measures. Tewksbury faces multiple challenges around traffic and the inability to widen any of our major arteries, critical infrastructure such as water and sewer, and limited public transportation. Any large spike in development would only exacerbate these issues. Tewksbury has done more high density development over the past ten or twelve years than many of our peers, and while the state has a high demand for housing, Tewksbury needs to be diligent in managing development when and where we can.
TC: What is your position on how Tewksbury should, or should not, comply with the MBTA Communities Act?
JM: I believe there is no question that Tewksbury should comply with the MBTA Communities Act as it is a law. A bad law, but a law nonetheless. As I mentioned above, Tewksbury is reaching, or in some opinions, has reached a state of overdevelopment. While the State has a need for housing, Tewksbury has done our part over the last decade. That being said, we need to comply with the law and I believe the Select Board has done everything within its power to mitigate the negative impacts as best we can with this bad piece of legislation. If we choose non-compliance, as Milton did, we face the loss of state monies and a lawsuit from the attorney general. In the case of Milton, this has resulted in requested appointment of a Special Master who would implement the zoning in town, regardless of town input. So unfortunately, for me compliance is a no brainer until there is a path to victory. If Milton is successful against the State’s lawsuit, I will be one of the first people to push for the removal of the new zoning.
TC: If you see non-compliance as an option, what is your plan to deal with any financial penalties or legal action?
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TC: How do you think Tewksbury can best be proactive in regard to services and development at the Tewksbury State Hospital?
JM: The scary thing that most people don’t understand is that the State owns more land in the town than the town owns itself. This means we need to work closely with our delegation to mitigate impacts as much as possible and ensure residents are educated on matters such as MBTA Act or proposed Housing Bond Bill, a bill which would potentially allow for the sale of state land. When these issues arise, while the board can and should engage with our delegation, the most effective recourse is for residents to reach out to their State Representatives and Senators to make their concern known.
Tewksbury relies on one-time endowments from the State since there is not a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) program for the State Hospital land. Myself and other members of the board have broached this topic in the past and have had little to no success, but I believe we should continue to push our delegation to support such an action.
To summarize, I do not believe the State Hospital or any State land should be developed, and I believe we should continue to push for a PILOT program.
TC: What didn’t we ask that you would like to share with voters?
JM: I would like to let the residents know that I have enjoyed working with and for you over the past three years and I look forward to serving our community for another three years. I would encourage resident to visit MackeyforTewksbury.com, and to humbly ask residents to vote James F Mackey 3 on April 6th thank you.
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