A LITTLE BACKGROUND AND THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION,

"WHY DID YOU RUN FOR COUNCIL?"

My family owned a small cottage on the Cape since before I was born. I grew up making the short trip back and forth from Scituate to Cape Cod from April to October.

In 1983 I was offered a position with a company that had 40 offices. My choices were west of Boston, Boston, or Hyannis. That was the easiest decision I have ever made.

I love this town, and immediately felt at home in a community where the tourists take over in the summer, and all of the faces become familiar in the "off-season."

I met my husband in his father's restaurant where I had worked a few shifts in the evenings after my regular job.  We were married in 1986 and bought our home in 1987 in Centerville. We have two daughters who each went through the Barnstable school system and went on to college. One is  a college senior and the other is heading to grad school this spring.

I became involved in the community when my children were young. I was on the board of directors of their preschool, taught Sunday School, coached Junior League Baseball, was a member of the School Council for the Osterville Elementary Schools, volunteered in school classrooms, started a school newspaper, and was a representative to the System-wide PAC, eventually becoming chair. I worked at Hyannis East Elementary School as a Technology Instructor, and later had a Web Development business for 10 years. I was involved in with the teacher's union while I was working for the school system, and was a member of a regional Web development group that was part of the Cape Cod Technology Council.

I ran for town council in 2001 the first time when the schools were facing the first significant cuts in years. I went to school committee and town council meetings and watched the two groups working separately when it seemed that they would accomplish more working together.

There were good people in each group, but they all looked at their positions as "two sides" that worked against each other. When the schools were facing cuts, I called my councilor and asked him if there was any way the council and school committee could work together. He seemed to prefer the divisive approach.  I decided when he was up for reelection shortly after that conversation that I would throw my hat in the ring.

I believed that the town council and school committee could work together. It didn't happen instantly, but eventually we were able to work so closely with the school committee that we established a level of trust that allowed us to begin the process of combining the school and town finance departments, and later the school and town human resources department.

The success that comes with combining school and town functions goes unreported and often unnoticed here in town, but statewide and nationally we have been given innovation awards, and recognized as a model.

State law does not allow the town council to have a hand in creating the school budget. That is respected in the arrangements. The finance department reports the numbers and details, but does not interfere with the budget development, just supports it. 

State laws here in Massachusetts like in most states almost set up an adversarial relationship between the school department and municipal operations in our towns and cities.

Overcoming that has been a tremendous success.