June McMorrow, Westford Resident

To all of Westford’s voters,

Now, more than ever, we need strong leadership in our Town Hall. 

With the imminent departure of senior municipal employees, Finance Director, Dan O’Donnell and Information Technology Director, Mike Wells, we face a concerning exodus of competence from our town government. With these impending departures, we lose intricate knowledge of Westford’s fiscal and Information Technology issues and skill at managing overall town operations. 

I reflect on the recent hires who are still learning their jobs while navigating Westford’s very real fiscal challenges. These include the retirement of Town Manager, Jody Ross, just over 2 years ago with Kristen Las now filling that role. With the loss of our Assistant Town Manager, Eric Heidemann, we now have 2 Assistant Town Mangers filling that role, Jeffrey Morrissette and Mike Edwards.

With the departure of Superintendent Everett “Bill” Olsen from the Westford Public Schools, we now have Christopher Chew filling Bill’s very big shoes. 

With the recent retirement of Mike Targ, we observe Mike Dennehy, as he steps into his position and manages the day to day operation of the Westford Fire Department.

And with the upcoming retirements of longtime employees, Christine Collins our Tax Collector and Paul Starratt our Chief Engineer, these additional departures will only further add to the vacuum of knowledge and experience at Town Hall.

At this juncture in time, we need someone with critical thinking skills who has the ability to make complex executive decisions as we move forward into FY2027. Meghan O’Connell, a veteran Biomedical Engineer and Heather Fitzpatrick, with a professional background in accounting and finance along with nine years of service on our Finance Committee are the obvious choices for my family. Please select Meghan O’Connell and Heather Fitzpatrick as you cast your vote for Westford’s Select Board.

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