About Dan
Proven leader in our community, fully invested in Sharon’s future
I grew up in Newton, MA in a family of six. My father was self-employed and my mother was a volunteer in our community and a pioneering founder of our city’s recycling program. Through them I learned the value of hard work, civic engagement, and standing up for what you believe in from a young age. I attended Colgate University where I studied Environmental Biology and Economics. Later, I returned to academia to earn my master’s degree in Economics from Tufts University.
In my professional life I have worked as an educator, coach, environmental consultant, and investment professional – most recently as an equity research analyst at an investment management firm in Boston.
My wife, Cathy, and I moved to Sharon from Boston in the summer of 2012. When we looked at homes in Sharon for the first time, it was one of those warm late spring days when everyone was out picking strawberries at Ward’s and everyone else was playing at the lake – the decision to make Sharon our home was sealed. We have since filled our home with a trio of daughters, now aged 8, 6, and 4. It is through them that we have truly been able to connect with the wonderful people in this community.
With the arrival of our first daughter, I became a stay at home dad and proudly carry on that role today. My family joined the MOMS Club of Sharon where we made lasting friendships with so many other young families in town, and I volunteered as MOMS Club Treasurer for two years. With a brief overlap, I joined the town’s Finance Committee when they were looking for new faces in 2017. And now, here we are today.
I love this town. It is the play dates, school drop-offs and pick-ups, summer concerts at the lake, local running and triathlon races, grabbing a bite at Angels, and town meetings over the years that create a connectedness that I could not have dreamed of when we moved here. My family is blessed to have found this wonderful community.
It’s been my honor to serve as Chair of the Finance Committee for the past three years, having served five years in total as a member of the committee. In addition to providing financial oversight to the Town, the Finance Committee is a central hub where all matters that come to Annual Town Meeting must pass through for review before making its recommendations in the Town Meeting Warrant. In reviewing all Town budgets and Town Meeting articles over the past five years directly with the department heads and article proponents (and opponents), I have developed a deep understanding of how our Town works.
The Finance Committee that I chair has been a rock in helping to navigate Sharon through the fiscal challenges of recent years, including financing the new High School and the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging with budgetary surpluses, improved reserves, and a robust financial position. I am very proud of the work we have done and continue to do.
In addition, for the past five years I have served as a Finance Committee representative on the town’s Priorities Committee. Working alongside representatives from the Select Board and the School Committee, our responsibility is to set operating budget limits for the three major budget sectors under the purview of each board. While this committee only meets a couple times a year, the role it serves is critical to our town. My position on this committee has always been to work collaboratively to meet our Town’s needs while setting operating spending limits within a sustainable long term range.
Last fiscal year, Priorities did not allocate to the full Proposition 2.5% levy increase in an effort to provide some tax relief. In the current budget cycle, we have been able to kickstart the process of funding free full-day kindergarten in schools, an initiative that I fully support, and an important step forward in making education in Sharon equitable for all.
Embarking on the journey of a lifetime, namely raising a family of five in Sharon, I have become profoundly connected and invested in our community to the point where public service and community building is the way of life. I fell in love with this town through family friendships forged along the way. I also became instantly fascinated with our Annual Town Meeting process and found myself drawn into what I view as an engaging, community-centric style of government
At this time, the Town needs someone to step up to the Select Board. My experience and understanding of town workings and finances makes me uniquely suited to step right in and lead in this capacity. Personally, I think it will be a rewarding way to stay involved and continue to serve our community.
Sharon is on the right track and there is much work to do and many opportunities ahead to shape our future. We have tremendous and unique assets in our people and our natural resources that make Sharon a truly wonderful place to live. Through thoughtful stewardship and with an eye for constant improvement and optimization, we can continue to move Sharon forward, building an even stronger community for all of our residents.
