Selectmen 'Excited' Over Library Director Pick

Dr. Mary Ann Tricarico, five weeks in, has eyes on a strategic plan.

  You're only new in a job for so long. That's what Dedham Library director Dr. Mary Ann Tricarico is finding out as she has begun to navigate the waters of budget season and looks to create a team atmosphere amongst her staff. "I don't know where we are going to go with the strategic plan. I don't know what we are going to see the future of the library become, but I think we are in a very positive direction," Tricarico said. Tricarico, a veteran of public libraries in Peabody, Lincoln, Newton and Lynn, worked for the past 15 years in academia, before taking over as Dedham's director on Feb. 13. "Coming back to a public library, I'm smiling everyday," she told selectmen Thursday evening. Five weeks in, Tricarico soon plans to begin a …

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Selectmen Approve Liquor License for Tedeschi

Ziad Greige's plans call for ID'ing every customer.

  The Dedham Board of Selectmen approved a liquor license for Ziad Greige and Tedeschi in Oakdale Square during a meeting Thursday evening. Greige pledged to ID every customer that purchases alcohol, a decision hailed by selectmen, and a policy selectman Sarah MacDonald has specifically encouraged stores to adopt since a September 2011 liquor sting caught several stores selling to minors. "We are going to be ID'ing everybody, no matter their age. First for our safety, and second each time we scan, we record everybody buying beer and wine and that will help us with advertisements," Greige said. Greige plans to hire more staff, and provide them with in-person alcohol training before selling alcohol. The license comes way of Wine Gallery, …

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Keegan's $85M Plan Makes Few Moves, Boosts Library

The town administrator presented a $95 million budget to the Board of Selectmen Thursday evening.

  Town Administrator William Keegan unveiled Thursday evening his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2013 that amounts to more than $95 million. The operating budget for the town would eclipse $85 million under Keegan’s plan. "Overall it is a balanced budget," Keegan said. "This is really a community on the move. There are a lot of exciting opportunities." The town continues to work on sources to save money, including its ESCO project with Siemens to save on energy costs and health care reform with town employees. Commercial and residential property taxes represent 80 percent of the revenues the town as state aid will remain flat for the next fiscal year. The state will provide even percent of the town’s intake. "The reliance on property …

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Sarah MacDonald Wins Business Award for MassBio Work

The selectman earned a first ever Chief Marketing Officer of the Year award.

Transparency Theme of Short-Term Goals for Dedham Selectmen

The board set out their goals for the next year at a meeting Thursday.

Dedham selectmen called upon themselves to become more transparent over the next year as the board set their goals for the next year. The board already has made steps toward publishing how tax revenue in town with the Solutions Task Force taking charge. Town Administrator William Keegan and selectman Sarah MacDonald are both committee members. “People want to know what they are paying for,” said selectman Carmen Dello Iacono. “[Taxpayers] want to understand. They are like sponges.” The Solutions Task Force is thinking of a graphical representation of the financial health of the town and how taxes are being spent using a four-page pamphlet. Selectman chair Jim MacDonald said the pamphlet would be similar to the state effort to put the …

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Library Bid Process Criticized by Dedham Selectmen

A library trustee sought a bid for a five-year plan, a job usually reserved for full-time town employees.

Selectmen took aim Thursday night at the process the Board of Library Trustees took to secure a bid for a five-year study. “I know as a Board of Selectman I wouldn’t be calling doing [requests for proposals] for the Town of Dedham,” selectman Jim MacDonald said to library trustee Michael Chalifoux. “You can’t do a procurement. You’re not a town employee.” Chalifoux said he used his personal email to seek bids for an expert to prepare a five-year plan and library vision, and when only one of three people returned the bid, Chalifoux moved forward with bringing on the sole bidder. A contract to secure that bid is on hold, as it has to go through Town Administrator William Keegan’s office first. Keegan indicated Thursday that he is hesitant to…

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Letter to the Editor: MacDonald Thanks Voters, Campaign Supporters

Selectman Sarah MacDonald won her re-election bid in the town election on April 9.

Dear Dedham Voters,   I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to you for re-electing me to the Board of Selectmen. I am proud of what the board has been able to accomplish in the last three years and look forward to continuing that work.   To my amazing campaign team, your hours of effort on my behalf did not go unnoticed. I could not have done it without your advice, opinions and hard work. To anyone who held a sign, hosted a coffee or sent in a contribution, thank you from the bottom of my heart.   To my fellow candidates, thank you for a great race, based on the discussion of issues and centered on our collective dedication to Dedham. Your contributions to this town have not gone unnoticed and I look forward to working with…

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Dedham Votes 2011

Incumbents Reign in Race for Dedham Selectmen

Sarah MacDonald and Paul Reynolds earned big victories Saturday over three challengers.

Three years ago the Board of Selectmen received fresh blood when Paul Reynolds and Sarah MacDonald swept all seven precincts. Saturday was more of the same in Dedham. MacDonald took the ticket with 28.3 percent of the vote with Reynolds taking 27.9 percent of the vote.  "I am very excited to have the voting public say that the work Sarah and I both have done, in concert with the other board members, is something that they want to see continue," Reynolds said at his campaign party. A new 3-year term will give Reynolds an opportunity to work on projects he wants completed, he said. For instance, he will push for the town to build an intergenerational community center and make "physical improvements" to both of the town's libraries.  The co-…

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Paul Reynolds

1:54 pm on Sunday, April 10, 2011

I'll give myself a "D" too - for "Dedicated" to addressing the needs of our entire town - and the needs outlined in Dedham's 2009 Master Plan. Refer to page 197-199 for the long list of infrastructure/facility needs - to understand why this Board of Selectman is dedicated to finding ways of attending to long overdue needs that provide critical services. Ultimately, the BOS can make …   more ›

Dedham Votes 2011

Reynolds, MacDonald Re-elected to Board of Selectmen; Ryan, Butler Walko Win School's Race

Dello Iacono won the contested seat on the Parks and Recreation Commission

Sarah MacDonald and Paul Reynolds each won all seven precincts in Dedham's town election as they both earned three-year terms on the Board of Selectmen. Challenger George Panagopoulos finished third with 1,155 votes, Robert O'Connell received 523 votes and Sabino "Citizen Sam" Celata received 268 votes. When Reynolds and MacDonald ran for the first time, in 2008, Reynolds received 32 percent of the vote and MacDonald received 28 percent. In this year's race, MacDonald received 28.3 percent and Reynolds received 27.9 percent of the vote. Current School Committee chairman Tom Ryan will serve another three years on the board. He received 1,935 votes. In a battle for an open seat, Susan Butler Walko beat John Maida by 700 votes. Maida will …

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Dedham Votes 2011

Dedham Voters to Decide Three Contested Races Saturday

Dedham voters will decide two seats for Board of Selectmen, two for School Committee and one contested seat for the Parks and Recreation Commission.

Voters will get a chance to settle a two-month campaign at the polls Saturday as candidates in three contested races will see if the hours of holding signs, debating and talking issues will pay off. Two seats are up for grabs on the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee while one seat on the Parks and Recreation Commission is under contention. Three years ago two new faces - Sarah MacDonald and Paul Reynolds - stormed into the Francis O'Brien Meeting Room by sweeping each of the seven precincts. Now they face two newcomers - Robert O'Connell and George Panagopoulos - and perennial candidate Sabino "Citizen Sam" Celata.  Candidates have spent the better part of three debates dissecting the Dedham Square Improvement Project, including …

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