Both mayor candidates plan for consolidation

By RICK COLLINS
The Patriot Ledger

BRAINTREE - Both candidates running for Braintree mayor feel the town could save money by consolidating positions and programs in a reshaped government.

Joseph C. Sullivan questioned the need for separate business managers for the police, fire and school departments, along with a town treasurer, tax collector, accountant and financial director.

“It’s quite a few people pulling the financial levers of the town,” Sullivan said during a meeting with The Patriot Ledger’s editorial board Thursday.

His opponent, Joseph F. Powers, who also sat with the board Thursday, called for establishing a centralized purchasing department as one way to help the town save money.

“If a program is not effective, it’s not efficient,” he said.

Powers and Sullivan, both longtime elected officials in Braintree, are vying to become the town’s first chief executive. Election Day is Nov. 6.

Powers, an incumbent selectman, has also served as school committee chairman, town clerk, and town moderator.

He argued that his private-sector experience is the biggest difference between himself and Sullivan.

A manager at Bank of New York Mellon, Powers says he will bring a business-based mind-set with him to town hall that emphasizes effective programs and customer service.

“In the business world, you do anything you can for a client,” he said. “There isn’t that mindset in government today.”

Sullivan is a former selectman, state representative and, most recently, executive director of the state Lottery.

He pointed to his record running the multibillion-dollar Lottery system, including three consecutive years of record profits. However, the agency ran into trouble in fiscal 2007, losing more than $10 million on the Star-Spangled Sweepstakes, and failing to return the expected amount of revenue to the state.

“The Lottery is still a profitable operation,” said Sullivan, who resigned midway through the fiscal year. “As (state Treasurer Timothy Cahill said) it’s a matured operation. Sometimes you don’t always hit your marks.”

Sullivan, 47, said a cornerstone of his first days as mayor will be a top-to-bottom audit of the town budget that analyzes spending as well as accounting for every tax dollar.

“A lot of people ask me, ‘Where does all the money go,’” he said.

Sullivan wants to focus some money on a town-wide beautification effort, highlighted by new landscaping at the Union Street rotary and intersection near Archbishop Williams High School, two of the town’s major gateways.

“The town’s looking a little tired; it needs some infrastructure improvements,” he said.

Powers said he will study whether requiring South Shore Plaza to establish a police substation in the mall would save the town money. He also pledged to build the Petersen Pool in East Braintree.

“(Not having built it yet) is a terrible way to treat someone who just wanted to give back to the community,” Powers said.

Rick Collins may be reached at rcollins@ledger.com.