DeSorgher Running for Board of Selectmen

Dear Medfield Citizen,

I write announcing my candidacy for Selectman and seek your vote in the upcoming March Town Elections.

As a life-long resident of Medfield, I have been given much by the town and its citizens. As a strong believer in the view that “when much is given, much will be asked,” I feel an obligation to give back to my hometown and I now have the time, energy and ability to do so. 

Medfield provided me a safe environment in which to grow up and, because of countless volunteers, allowed me to participate in town sports and activities. I was given an excellent education in the Medfield Public Schools and graduation from Medfield High School enabled me to go on to college and receive both undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts. 

It was the citizens of this town who paid my salary for 35 years as a teacher in both the Blake Middle School and Medfield High School. That enabled me to purchase a home in Medfield and raise my children in that same safe environment. Medfield educated my children and enabled them to go off to college and in turn get good jobs and begin to raise families of their own.  My wife, Julie, and I currently live on Lawrence Circle.

For those who do not know me, my resume is below. Those who do know me, know of my commitment, time and service to our community. As a selectman, I would hope to:

• Develop a culture and practice of long-range planning; the town’s fiscal house should not be one of peaks and valleys but of a plateau of well-planned capital projects. Capital Projects need sustainability; energy efficiency and longevity.  The Board of Selectmen needs to be a proactive board that is out front on the issues and one that plans for the future.
• Settle the 10-year issue concerning the former Medfield State Hospital in a way that is environmentally safe and not a financial burden to the town.  
• Continue the commitment to educational excellence and providing citizens of all ages outstanding town services.
• Revive our Economic Development Committee to add to our industrial base with small clean industries like Electric Time. Almost all the tax burden falls on the residential homeowner. My opposition to the 40B project was due to the placing of residential apartments on one of the last remaining industrial zoned parcels in town. Medfield needs to get creative to lessen the tax burden on the residential homeowner, especially those on fixed incomes.
• Develop a regional plan for the traffic volume on Routes 109 and 27 as well as for local concerns surrounding school traffic and evening traffic at the intersection of South Street and Route 27. 
• Seek out and address neighborhood concerns and improve communications between the citizens and town government. Hold onto and improve the quality that makes Medfield, Medfield; the unique and special place that it is. We have something very special here. We need to hold on to it and pass it on to our children.

Sincerely,

Richard DeSorgher

                                          Richard P. DeSorgher

                                          13 Lawrence Circle

                                         peakfield@comcast.net

                                                 Awards

• Citizen of the Year by the Medfield Lion’s Club in 1986
• Citizen of the Year by the Medfield League of Woman Voters in 2000
• Citizen of the Year by the House of Representatives 12th Norfolk District in 2000
• Medfield Historical Preservation Award in 1997 and 1999
• AMVETS Department of Massachusetts Pilgrim Award for Public Service in 2002

                                            Town Service

• Chairman and member of the Medfield Board of Selectmen
• Chairman and member of the Medfield Park and Recreation Commission,
• Chairman and member of the Medfield Historical Commission
• President and curator of the Medfield Historical Society
• Medfield’s Official Town Historian
• Medfield representative to both the Norfolk County Advisory Board and the Norfolk County Finance Committee
• Member Medfield’s 325th Anniversary and 350th Anniversary celebrations
• Instrumental in the grass roots effort which saved the 1651 Dwight-Derby House.
• First chairman of the Dwight-Derby House Board of Directors
• Member, Medfield Downtown Study Committee

                                    Town Youth Involvement

• Student Council Advisor at Blake Middle School and Medfield High School
• Little League Baseball Coach
• Youth Hockey Coach
• Citizenship Counselor for the Boy Scouts of America for over 30 years.
• Medfield’s Youth Activities Coordinator
• Stephen Hinkley Memorial Swim Pond Director
• Founder of Medfield’s Mini Recreation Center
• Co-founder, member of the Medfield Youth Advisory Commission
• Voice of the Warriors, Medfield High School Football

                                    Service to Our Veterans

• Three times selected as Medfield’s Memorial Day Speaker
• Founder, Chairman of the Committee to Study Memorials—instrumental in the building of the War Memorials at Baxter Park, featuring a complete revitalization of the park and war memorials with the names of all Medfield residents who served in our wars
• Chairman of the town committee to restore the World War I flagpole in Baxter Park
• Member, Veterans’ Plaque Committee for WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War

                                             Involvement

• Volunteer for Medfield’s Meals on Wheels, service to the elderly
• Author: History of the Indian Attack on Medfield,  A History of the Peak House and History of the Town of Medfield 1887-1925
• St. Edward Church lector
• MEMO’s Discover Medfield History Day Trolley Tour conductor
• Columnist for the Hometown Weekly Newspaper and Medfield Patch