Candidate Questions – April 2026 Select Board Election

Rich Adduci

Like many of us here in Needham, I treasure the outdoors and have been a longtime supporter of environmental causes.  If elected to Select Board, I would place a high priority in making sure our town continues to prioritize our focus on being resilient regarding climate change.  Climate change remains a very important priority because it impacts all of us locally here in Needham now and well into the future.  The floods of 2023, our wild winters, increased wind damage are just a few examples that require our town to work to plan and combat the impacts of climate change.  This is a critical step for any responsible town government, and I believe Needham has and continues to focus here.  Personally, at my home we do what we can to manage our carbon footprint by using electric powered home appliances where possible, I have driven an EV exclusively since 2016, and am a annual supporter of climate oriented charities and organizations including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.  Professionally, as a Global CIO I worked to reduce the carbon footprint of IT at the companies I served, by managing data center power and cooling usage, and selecting sustainable partners.

If I am elected to Select Board I will focus on practical local actions that improve resilience while also delivering value to our residents.  I would support continued investments in stormwater management and other related infrastructure along with drainage mitigation such as rain gardens and green space help our town ensure we are resilient to the continued impacts of climate change.  At the same time we need to be mindful that changes to support a sustainable environment need to be practical, extreme positions on this front can have unintended consequences and so I would advocate for taking practical steps forward while also making sure our actions do not cause harm to our businesses here in town or to us as individual taxpayers.  Our town has seen substantial increases in our property taxes over the past two years, and so like all matters regarding our environment we need to be careful that our policy decisions are sustainable and do not presume that our residents have limitless appetite to pay higher property taxes.

Bill Dermody

Addressing climate change is a priority for me.  I have seen its impacts firsthand through flooding, in my neighborhood, downtown, and at the Knights of Columbus. These events put real strain on our infrastructure and public health, and they are only expected to increase in intensity.  That is why it is critical to address climate change and act at the local level.

Cathy Dowd

Action to combat climate change ranks very highly on my list of priorities for the Town. We can see the effects of climate change all around is, and we urgently need to act. Even in the face of federal rollbacks of environmental protection, the changes we make locally can move us forward and make a real difference. I am proud that Needham has created a climate plan, adopted the Stretch Energy Code, implemented municipal energy aggregation, hired a sustainability director, and earned the designation of Climate Leader Community.

Rich Adduci

Preserving Needham’s tree canopy is important to most voters I speak with, and would be a priority for me as well.  Trees provide real environmental benefits including improving air quality, reducing heat, managing stormwater and are part of the character of our town.  I support the work of the Tree Preservation Planning Committee and believe we should carefully review their recommendations to make sure their proposed policies are practical and do not create unintended impacts to property value or the resiliency of our infrastructure.  Like with most forms of regulation, I am a proponent of measured use of regulation and avoidance of extreme positions which can create unintended adverse consequences to the residents of Needham.  With sensible regulation we can preserve our tree canopy while also avoiding creating the sort of overreach that we have seen on some topics here in town over the past three years.

Bill Dermody

I strongly believe that Needham’s tree canopy contributes to our quality of life, climate, and desirability of our town.  As a Select Board member, I will review the proposed tree protection changes and support regulations that are clear, enforceable, and effective without unnecessarily burdening our homeowners.

Cathy Dowd

We all benefit from trees. They provide shade, improve air quality, reduce carbon, act to control flooding, diminish noise, create privacy, and enhance beauty. It is in our collective interest to protect trees, especially mature trees. I support the work of the Tree Preservation Planning Committee to preserve as many trees as possible and to mitigate the damage when trees are taken down.

Rich Adduci

I have followed the work of the Large House Review Study, and personally attended their final public comment meeting where I provided public comment.  As I understand it, the goal of the Study is to reduce oversized homes, and I agree that since builders will build to the maximum allowed under current regulations we have seen some situations in town where homes were built on lots which are not well suited for their size or the character of the neighborhood.  I also believe that we must be careful not to overcorrect with regulations, and so I am concerned that the proposed 4 zoning changes represent an extreme set of changes which would adversely impact us as taxpayers and would also have a disproportionate impact on the property value of senior citizens who may want to sell their homes.  Several members of the Large House Review Study spoke at the Public Comment Meeting and indicated that they also did not support the 4 measures being proposed and that the proposed measures were the most extreme set of changes the group considered.  In my view we should move forward thoughtfully, addressing oversized homes on undersized lots, ensuring flat roofs are not allowed where they do not match the neighborhood’s homes, and ensuring home setbacks do not compromise the character of the neighborhood.  I believe that we should also look at other changes that would incent more small home development or remodeling these might include reviewing regulations regarding subdividing larger properties and multi-family structures….simply shrinking the size of new homes will not address the housing diversity and affordability issues that voters tell me are important to them.

Bill Dermody

 I attended the Large House Committee’s public hearing, and I observed limited support for the current proposal. There is more work to be done to build consensus on a path forward. We need to ensure that any proposal does not unduly burden our residents or negatively impact property values. I am open to adjustments; however, they must reflect the concerns raised during the public process.

Cathy Dowd

The concerns about excessively large houses are real, and they include drainage, shadows, and the changing character of neighborhoods. The Large House Review Study Committee (LHRSC) has done thoughtful work in recommending zoning changes to address these concerns. After considering the LHRSC’s recommendations, the Planning Board has decided to advance zoning articles on set-backs and height to this May’s Special Town Meeting and to defer consideration of lot coverage and floor area ratio to a future town meeting. I support the Planning Board’s balanced and cautious approach. While the concerns about large houses are serious, it is also true that many people rely on selling their homes as their retirement nest egg, and we should be careful about making changes that could reduce home values.

Rich Adduci

I support the goal of reducing waste and limiting the use of unnecessary plastic in our town.  The evidence on the environmental and health impacts here are clear and warrant action.  Still we must be careful that the changes we make are practical and will make a difference.  Many towns have banned all plastic water bottles only to find that the alternative containers are either much more expensive or that the alternative material is not really any better environmentally.  I feel there are smart steps that we could take which would make a difference for our town, without adversely impacting our businesses, these include:

– Banning the sale of small capacity water bottles (often called light bulb bottles)

– Banning use of plastic cutlery, since wooden / bamboo or other sustainable alternatives are now available at a price point similar to plastic cutlery

– Banning the use of carry out containers which cannot be recycled

In pursuing these changes I would work to form a partnership with our town’s businesses to ensure these changes can be implemented practically and do not have unexpected consequences.  

Bill Dermody

I support both townwide and statewide efforts to reduce single-use plastics in Needham.  I would also consider targeted measures, alongside broader waste-reduction initiatives such as improved recycling, composting, and public education. We must involve our local businesses in these discussions so that we may obtain their input and understand the real-world impact to ensure thoughtful solutions.

Cathy Dowd

Plastic is bad for the environment and dangerous to human health. I strongly support Needham’s bylaws, which restrict single-use plastic bags and require restaurants to ask customers before providing plastic cutlery with their take-out orders. As alternatives to other plastic items become more available and affordable, I look forward to supporting future policies to address the problem of plastics.

Rich Adduci

Needham has taken many meaningful steps in recent years and I appreciate the work of the Climate Action Planning Committee, our Sustainability Coordinator, as well as others who have helped move these efforts forward.  As a Select board member, my focus will be on continuing to make progress in a way that is measurable, practical, and aligned with our town’s needs.  This starts with listening to you, our residents, partnering with our businesses, and other stakeholders to ensure sustainability efforts are supported, workable and are measured.  I would prioritize efforts to improve energy efficiency in town buildings, I would strengthen stormwater and infrastructure resilience, and I would work to prioritize ensuring that equipment purchases include evaluation of the envioronmental impact, along with the acquisition operating cost and useful life of those purchases when making decisions.  Major purchasing decisions should provide transparency to residents via a clear side by side analysis.  We should also tackle areas where our town can leverage our buying power to provide improved costs for our residents and also deliver environmental benefits.   A simple example here would be curbside trash and recycling pick-up where today we have several firms that offer this service in our town, this leads to excessive noise and air pollution along with increased traffic in our neighborhoods.  We could instead select a single town-wide service that can provide curbside pick-up at a lower overall cost, while also eliminating the redundant garbage trucks that clog our streets, create noise pollution, and pollute our air.

Bill Dermody

As a Select Board member, I will continue to support sustainable practices that are fiscally responsible, data-driven, and balanced to ensure environmental progress without unintended economic or community impacts.

Cathy Dowd

I am very proud of the measures that Needham has taken to address climate change, and I believe we have institutionalized sustainability for the future. For example, because we have adopted the Stretch Energy Code, future building in Needham will be climate-friendly. Because we have earned the Climate Leader Community designation, we will be able to compete with only 28 other communities for grants to fund future climate projects. Our sustainability director is always on the hunt to improve our sustainability practices, and I look forward to considering her ideas in future.