Selectman Peterson Seeks Reelection to ‘Continue the Work that has Begun’

Osler “Pete” Peterson has been a member of the Medfield Board of Selectmen for the past 12 years but has been committed to public service much longer.

“My mother instilled in me this idea of public service,” Peterson said. “She was always very active everywhere that she lived and we lived in a lot of different places but everywhere that we lived she found something that she was active in.”

Inspired by his mother's work and his coming of age in the 1960s, "when politics was at the forefront," Peterson said he was always interested in the public process, which sparked his desire to get involved.

After 12 years as selectman, Peterson still has a desire to be involved and is running for reelection against challenger in the March 26 Town Election.

For Peterson, he's running to continue the work he has done over the past 12 years and was inspired to do 23 years ago when he moved to Medfield.

“The minute I moved to town [in 1989], I actually sent a copy of my resume to town hall and said I just moved to town, here is who I am and if you need anybody to do anything I’m here to help out,” Peterson said.

The town handed Peterson’s resume back and referred him to its “talent bank form” to fill out.

“I was a little surprised,” Peterson said of the town’s process. “It’s still the old talent bank form that is used today. It’s kind of a clunky way to do it unfortunately.”

That experience, coupled with the difficulty of finding information in the town, propelled Peterson to run for selectman in 1999.

“At that time, you couldn’t find out what the agendas were for the Board of Selectmen,” Peterson recalled. “You had no way of knowing when your issue was going to be talked about at a selectmen’s meeting and you just had to rely on the selectmen’s office to let you know that your issue was going to be discussed.”

Peterson disagreed with the town’s approach and attempted to do something about it.

“I didn’t think that it was a very good way to be doing business,” Peterson said. “I thought people should have an opportunity to know what’s coming up and see the agendas ahead of time and to have the whole Board of Selectmen be a little more transparent.”

And so Peterson ran for an open seat in 1999, but his campaign for a more transparent government fell short.

“I ran and lost … I wasn’t successful,” Peterson said. “I ran against Paul Rhuda – Paul and I both ran and Paul beat me. I didn’t know Paul before so I got to know Paul through the election and I like Paul. It was a nice process.”

The next year, John Harney announced he was retiring from the Board of Selectmen and Peterson ran again and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I have been a selectman since 2000,” Peterson said. “What I found out was it is such a steep learning curve, there is so much involved in the job.”

And while the learning never stops, the experience gained over time typically makes a selectman better.

“As I’m thinking about it, what I realize is that I know way more now after 12 years than I did after five years,” Peterson said. “And I look back at the things I’ve done in the last three years and they’ve helped the town way more than the things I did the three years before that.”

In his 12 years as selectman, Peterson has been focused on improving the town’s transparency by making information more attainable and open to the public.

“I remember trying very hard to get our agendas online ahead of time and I actually got Ann [Thompson] and Paul [Rhuda] to vote that we would close the agenda on Friday and then we would make that agenda available for the upcoming Tuesday because I had that personal frustration of not knowing what was coming up,” Peterson said.

In addition to working with the town to publish more information on its website to make it more accessible to the public, Peterson created a blog, Medfield 02052, “a couple years ago” to share even more information about the town he sees as a selectman.

“[The blog] came about because my recognition as a selectman is I saw a lot of information that people in town never saw and my frustration that there was all this information inside the town house that wasn’t getting out to the people,” Peterson said.

Over the past three years, Peterson points to the work of the town’s energy committee and the Lyme Disease Study Committee to highlight improvement in the town.

“In last three years, we’ve [seen the work of] the energy committee save the town 20 percent on our energy costs and reduced the carbon footprint of the Medfield,” Peterson said. “We’ve started the Lyme disease study committee, which is culling the deer and educating people on how to be safe [and aware of Lyme disease].”

In fact, it is the work of the energy committee and Lyme disease committee that reminds Peterson why he’s been a selectman for 12 years and why he’s campaigning for reelection this month.

“Three years ago, I came very close to not running,” Peterson said. “I just became very frustrated and tired. I almost didn’t run for reelection. I’m so pleased that I did, now, because in the last three years, the things that have happened have been great. I just love the energy committee and love what the Lyme disease committee has done. The Bay Colony Rail Trail Committee – there are just things going on that are really cool.”

As for what Peterson hopes to accomplish over the next three years if reelected Monday – “let the work begun continue.”

“[I’d like to] just making the government as professional as possible in terms of how it functions and reports to the people,” Peterson said. “I would like the people to get more information. … I’d like there to be a better educated population at Town Meetings. Either they’ve had the information at hand or access to the information that’s going to be voted on ahead of time so they’ve had time to think about it and not just rely on recommendations from the Warrant Committee and the Selectmen.

“We live in the Information Age and the more we can get online, the more we can get available to people so they can get it when they want to. I think it’s wonderful that the selectmen meetings are available on demand now [on Medfield.TV’s website].”

What Peterson Enjoys Most About Medfield

As a resident of Medfield for 23 years, Peterson has been very active – experiencing  (and enjoying) nearly all the town has to offer.

“Medfield is a very family-friendly town,” Peterson said. “It’s really a family-focused place. I had a blast being a soccer coach and spending time with my daughter. Ironically, I coached basketball too and that wasn’t as much fun because I don’t know as much about basketball.

“There’s a lot going on. I always thought the quality of life in Medfield is the sum of many small things going on and that there’s just enough of those small things that makes it really enjoyable and interesting.”

What Peterson Enjoys Most About Being a Medfield Selectman

Peterson said over his 12 years as a selectman, he has enjoyed serving the town’s residents and improving the well being of the town.

“I enjoy seeing things change and some improvement,” Peterson said. “I enjoy seeing things get better.”

Medfield’s Town Election will be held on March 26 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Center at Medfield. To view Medfield Patch’s voter’s guide to the election,

Log on to Medfield Patch Friday, March 23 for a closer look at Athanasiadis’ and Peterson’s take on issues the town is facing and Monday’s election.