Selectman hopeful asks Milton residents for their vote

To the editor:

To the residents of Milton and Milton Mills, NH, my name is Humphrey Williams and I am seeking your vote, on March 9th, as your next Selectman. I have been involved with civil service for most of my adult life. I retired in January 2014 after 35 plus years of civil service between the U.S. Coast Guard and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. After retiring, my wife and I moved to Milton to live on Milton Three Ponds. Growing weary of rising property taxes and wanting the best for our community, I decided to get involved and work to make a positive difference and have spent the last 3 years serving the Milton and Milton Mills community.
I genuinely believe in the value and importance of public service!
During my shipyard career, after graduating from the apprenticeship, I held numerous leadership positions that are very applicable to what a Selectman should be, such as a Budget and Resource Manager, Production Operations Manager and finally a Shipyard Production Training Superintendent.
The training and mentoring I received throughout my shipyard career prepared me to be a valuable team member and effective leader and someone willing to help others by passing along my knowledge and experience on to them. Using my career experience, I have worked to help the community in the following ways:
Three years ago, I first became involved with the Milton Advocates Group, which was and is a collection of concerned citizens looking for ways to improve our community. I wanted to see Milton and Milton Mills thrive and was becoming more and more frustrated with the continually increasing operating costs and taxes. The group picked me as their spokesperson to work with the Board of Selectmen (BOS) to help improve communications and foster public involvement.
I am currently a Board member of the Three Ponds Protective Association (TPPA) and have also served on the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
I have served on the Milton Economic Development Committee for almost two years, where one of the first things I suggested and worked on was a Town Survey to reach out to our residents for input on ways to improve our community. I believe we need to rebuild "Trust" within the community and that starts by listening to and properly responding to resident input.
I have been on the Budget Committee for 2 years and have worked diligently to streamline the budgeting process and to analyze historical spending to forecast spending and research ways to effectively reduce operating budgets. As the Chair this past year I led our team to work cooperatively with the BOS, Town Department Heads and the School Board to create bottom-line Operating Budgets for both the Town and School that meet their needs but still come in "under" the Default Budgets.
Improving on our town's weaknesses: First and foremost, we need the community to trust in our decision making. That starts by improving communication with and commitments to the public. The public wants to be heard! To be successful, we need resident input, support and buy-in on how to rejuvenate Milton and Milton Mills.
Boards, committees, and town staff try their best! The BOS, as our elected leaders, needs to take the lead in bringing everyone together to help foster a more collaborative and cooperative environment, one that improves communication, understanding, cooperation, and services to our community.
We need to find ways to operate more efficiently and effectively to reduce costs. Sound financial goals need to be established and enforced. Using past spending profiles, we can reduce or eliminate waste; identify actual "Needs" versus "Wants" and establish viable spending profiles.
We need to find ways of improving our infrastructure, while staying within a sound fiscal budget, by establishing priority ranked projects and/or applying for potential grants. Gaining public trust and getting public input and buy-in on specific projects is crucial to be successful.
Promoting our town's strengths: We need to balance the protection of our natural resources with our community needs and foster sound economic development opportunities. We are in a prime location midway between the Seacoast and the heart of the White Mountains. Milton offers great residential opportunities, and we have the potential to be a great location for new businesses. The Route 16 corridor coming together with Route 75 at Exit 17 and with Route 125 at Exit 18 offers great commercial development opportunities that would greatly benefit the community without taking away from its rustic charm and scenery. This would diversify our tax base and generate revenue that offsets operating costs for necessary services for the town.
We need to maintain, even enhance the scenic beauty and heritage of Milton and Milton Mills. That means ensuring that we keep our lakes and waterways pristine. It also means that we work to preserve what have for historical buildings and sites and find ways to promote these landmarks to the public to enhance the community.
Why do I believe I am the best candidate for filling the vacant seat?
Our Community needs someone with experience in finding efficient ways at reducing operating costs. Someone willing to make the hard decisions on where to cut costs and produce savings. Someone who can help improve communications amongst our various boards and committees, foster teamwork and focus on common goals that are in the best interests of our town and residents. I spent my 35-year government career working on just these types of behaviors. I have spent the last 3 years working here to foster that type of environment within the community.
I am not afraid to make the hard decisions. I understand that not everyone will always agree with every decision, but I am committed to always make informed decisions that are in the best interest of the community as a whole.
I want to ensure that the Select Board remains vigilant in keeping down costs while still providing necessary services vital to the town and that we work "with" the residents to build trust and create a positive, viable and affordable community to proud of!
I want to see Milton and Milton Mills thrive! I want a community that not only makes the residents proud but one which others strive to become part of because of our heritage, our scenic beauty, our sound economic opportunities and for our willingness to work together to affordably move us in the right direction. I believe that as your next selectman, I can be a valuable team member and a leader that this community needs to achieve the goals to make Milton and Milton Mills the place to be! I ask for your vote on March 9, 2021.

- Humphrey Williams,
Milton