1. Education: reverse the slide in student performance

   1. Complete the transition to inhouse school busing to restore our basic ability to get kids to school on time and prevent the rising education damage from late buses and the expensive remediation this causes.

   2. Expand pre-K to handle all 4-year-olds in the city to cut the very expensive cost of downstream educational remediation. This expansion would use space at the old Marian High School and/or the Farley school to provide classrooms.

   3. Boost compensation for classroom aides in the school system by 20% to solve the current critical staff shortage, cut the use of more expensive outside contractors, and help boost student performance by strengthening classroom support.

   4. Fund these improvements by returning taxpayer funded support of the Framingham Public Schools (FPS) budget back to the sound level it was at before the Mayor took office and made all his cuts. That means restoring support to the FY22 level adjusted for inflation, lowballed at 1.5% annually, as shown in the green curve in the chart on the right. The Mayor shifted $18 million from education funding to the city general fund to boost city cash reserves to make it look better for the the recent Moody's credit review. If that $18 million was shifted back at the rate of $4.5 million/year for the next 4 years, the schools funding would be largely properly funded during the next Mayoral term. [NO NEW TAXES WOULD BE NEEDED FOR THESE MAJOR SCHOOLS IMPROVEMENTS]

   5. Expand Keefe Tech by adding more space to handle the 300 kids currently on its waiting list, boosting job opportunities for kids with a High School education and solving the capacity problem at Framingham High School in the least expensive way.

   6. Expand the Thayer program in the high school, which serves students who have had difficulty succeeding in a traditional academic program, by moving its campus from the small building on Lawrence St to the former Marian High School or Farley. This move would also help relieve overcrowding at the High School. [THIS WOULD BE A NO COST MOVE, OR COULD BRING IN ADDITIONAL CITY REVENUE BY SELLING THE THAYER BUILDING]

   7. Get parents into the educational loop so they know better how their kids are doing.

2. Infrastructure

   1. Attend to maintenance for roofs, roads, water & sewer in a timely manner, so we don't build a backlog as we have right now, which stands at more than $400 million. [THIS WOULD BE A BIG COST SAVER, AS DEFERRED MAINTENANCE IS VERY COSTLY]

   2. Fill the many vacancies in the Department of Public Works, so we use inhouse crews to do roads and water & sewer repairs, rather than expensive outside contractors. [THIS WOULD SAVE MONEY]

   3. Fund infrastructure projects by moving the city pension liability payoff date from 2030 to 2040, freeing up $10 million/year for capital investment. [THIS IS A MAJOR WAY TO ACTUALLY LOWER WATER & SEWER BILLS AND FUND ACCELERATED MAINTENANCE WITH NO NEW TAXES.]

3. Environment

   1. Complete the Climate Action Plan in the first 2 months of 2026. This effort has gone on for 4 years with no product in sight.

   2. No new solar installations have been started in 4 years. All 4 existing solar installations were approved and funded in March or July 2021, before Sisitsky took office. Rapidly expand solar installations on school roofs and in school parking lots to beat the December 31, 2027 deadline when federal solar credits disappear. We need to ramp up to 10 solar installations every year. [THE UTILITY SAVINGS WOULD FUND THE SCHOOL ROOF REPLACEMENTS]

   3. Ramp up curbside composting to cut the trash stream by 40%. [THIS WOULD SAVE $700,000/YEAR]

   4. Focus on better tree management across the city, to preserve trees, and expand tree canopy, especially on the southside, to reduce summer temperatures there by 10 degrees and eliminate heat islands. We can jump start tree planting by aiming at 1,000 trees in the first year of my administration.

   5. Adopt the Opt-In Specialized Building Code which requires newly constructed buildings to not use fossil fuels, or use fossil fuel systems but be pre-wired for hookups of heat pumps and electric appliances and install solar panels where the solar aspect is suitable.

4. Zoning, Residential Development & Neighborhoods

   1. Develop reliable impact assessments for each development to make sure that the city makes money. Impacts on the water & sewer system, the roads and the schools have to be included in Planning Board review of all projects. [THIS WILL 100% CERTAINLY INCREASE THE REVENUE STREAM OF THE CITY FROM NEW DEVELOPMENT]

   2. Oppose rezoning the Nobscot Edgell/Edmands parcel for high density development of the kind J&Co are seeking at 15 units/acre. 

   3. Work with the Nobscot community to reach a plan for that parcel which meets with their approval. That could include making the parcel open space. Let the community decide what is best.

   4. Protect neighborhoods generally from over-development.

   5. Push development of a plan which integrates downtown with the Farm Pond area.

   6. Promote development which favors more low cost, affordable housing.

   7. Make open space management a key factor in all decision making.

   8. Encourage more formal development of neighborhood groups, such as those already in Nobscot, Saxonville and Coburnville-Tripoli to better protect neighborhoods and give more  useful organized community feedback to government.

   9. Expand the Planning Board to include at least one architect to improve development outcomes.

5. Economic Development​

   1. Expand the Framingham Economic Development Corporation members to include the Mayor.​

   2. Ensure that the EDC has the right resources to function properly.

   3. Help create an updated economic development plan for Framingham.

6. Planning & Financial Management: bring best practices to bear

   1. Update the city strategic plan every 6 months to ensure it is a useful guide to progress, with clear goals and priorities.

   2. Bring in the state Division of Local Services to do a top to bottom financial review of the city's operations.

   3. Reform the entire cityside budget process to align with best practices as exemplified by the school district budget process. That includes monthly reporting to the City Council on budget spending including end of year projections, to ensure that spending is on track and any emerging problems are rapidly identified and handled.

   4. Engage the option of moving the city pension liability payoff date from 2030 to 2040 to free up $10 million/year to invest in solving the major problems in the city. This would not impact retirees. [THIS WOULD HELP THE CITY SOLVE PROBLEMS SOONER AND LOWER DOWNSTREAM COSTS] 

   5. Provide quarterly reporting to the City Council on the state of city infrastructure and progress towards annual goals.

   6. Ensure that property taxes keep pace with typical inflation, so we don't erode the workforce and services.

   7. Push for more rapid development of the Saxonville Mills Building as an arts/commerce/recreation center.

   8. Push as hard as possible to change the management of the Metrowest Medical Center from the Tenet group, which seems committed to running this facility into the ground.

7. Senior Services​

   1. Increase support for senior services to keep pace with the growth of the senior population.

   2. Increase the income limit for property tax deferral and water & sewer discounts to $72,000 from $60,000.

   3. Increase the senior water & sewer discount from 25% to 30%. 

   4. Change the reporting structure for Senior Services so it is no longer under Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs, but is a direct report to the Mayor.​

   5. Conduct a major review of Senior Services, focusing on health, housing and transportation, with the objective of improving and expanding services.

   6. Implement the recommendations of that review.

8. Community Center

   1. Greatly improvement the planning and management effort:​​​​​

      • Reduce the unwieldy size of the advisory committee from 25 to less than 10.​

      • Investigate community centers in surrounding municipalities to gather information on what makes them work well.

      • Improve the survey by expanding the free form input section.

      • Explore if the pond access of the building could allow development of summer swimming and a beach.

      • Produce a set of requirements from that effort, including the results of the survey.

   2. Use part of the building to expand pre-K capacity for the school district to finally include all 4-year-olds in Framingham.

   3. Use part of the building to accommodate the High School Thayer program as needed.

   4. Use part of the building to expand Senior Services as needed.

   5. ​Finalize the planning options based on all of the above efforts, complete with costs for each option.

   6. With community support, bond the remaining development required. A small debt exclusion could be feasible here, and allows the community to weigh in. 

9. Communications​

   1. Improve communications to all groups, including:​

      1. City Council​

      2. School Committee

      3. Boards & Committees

      4. Departments

      5. Community

      6. Business sector

   2. Special attention has to be paid to the impoverished flow of information to the City Council which has been left in the invidious position of being kept in the dark on important matters, or excluded from considerations they should be involved in. Basic reporting on the state of education, infrastructure, environment, workforce and more has never been done at a level which would allow the City Council to function properly.​

   3. A major focus, central to good communications, is the role of truth in driving discussions of issues central to the improvement of Framingham. There has been way too much hiding of the real state of affairs, to avoid the uncomfortable but necessary debate which is critical to the development of a healthy municipal culture which encourages city staff and the community to speak out on what needs to be fixed and how that can be done.

   4. End the practice of city administration obstruction of Public Records Requests.

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