Town Meeting Member Bauler Running For Framingham Charter Commissioner

Framingham Town Meeting member Bradley C. Bauler, who represents Precinct 12, is running for Framingham Charter Commissioner.

Editor’s Note: Framingham voters will decide a ballot question on March 29, if they want to create a Charter Commission to study Framingham’s form of government. Also on that ballot, Framingham voters will be asked to elect 9 Charter Commissioners. Framingham Patch is allowing every candidate for commissioner to submit an announcement, per the Framingham Patch election policy.

Below is Bauler’s statement.

The residents and businesses of Framingham deserve a government that provides modern, safe, effective, and healthy municipal services to everyone who lives, works, learns, plays and invests their time and money in our community.

There are multiple options under Massachusetts law for how Framingham’s municipal government can be organized and how its leaders are chosen to perform its many functions.

The Charter Commission, if approved by the voters in March, has as its duty to put forward a proposed government that meets the needs of the working men and women, and businesses who pay the taxes that support that government, and represents the interests of the most vulnerable amongst us and those most fortunate.

I seek the opportunity to serve Framingham as a member of the Charter Commission to ensure that it conducts its business in a transparent and open-minded way. I will insist that the Commission listens to the concerns of residents of every precinct, embraces the needs of small businesses and large employers, and forms a government that preserves citizen involvement while finding efficiency and responsiveness.

I will work to have the Charter Commission hold at least one open meeting in every
precinct to bring the process to the neighborhoods it is intended to serve.

It is important that voters elect members of the Charter Commission who enter the process willing to
learn from the experiences of similar municipalities, listen to the unique needs of the residents and
business owners of Framingham, and value the essential role of citizen involvement and oversight.

I oppose those who enter the process with a pre-determined solution and seek to put forward a new
charter that serves narrow political or economic interests.

I have lived in Framingham on Main Street for 22 years, serve as a Town Meeting member on the
Standing Committee on Public Safety, and worked with extraordinary leaders to preserve the Main
Street bridge, help Framingham choose to qualify for state funding and save taxpayer money as a Green Community, and advocated for the state legislature to include Framingham in the jurisdiction of a Housing Court, among other causes.

I work for a small business in Framingham Centre that specializes in producing durable, authentic partnerships to address persistent social problems.

I’ve served on many boards including the Belknap Road Pool Club and Leadership Metrowest here in Framingham.

I am honored to be on the ballot with so many accomplished, dedicated leaders and fellow residents of Framingham. I ask for one of your nine votes for the Framingham Charter Commission.