Monday, October 26, 2015

Franklin Candidate for Town Clerk - Paul Cheli

Paul Cheli and I met to talk about his campaign for Town Clerk. This is the summary of our discussion.

FM - What is your Franklin story?

Cheli – As a third generation Franklin resident I have seen many changes to the Town of Franklin. I am a graduate of Franklin High School as well as my wife and children. I am a graduate of Dean College, and Lesley University. 
My passion for the community has been exemplified by volunteering for many boards and committees. For the last 20-25 years I have been elected to the Town Council for three terms and the Board of Health. I was appointed to the Library Board of Directors, Franklin Housing Authority as well as the Charter Review Committee. The Charter Review committee recommended moving the Treasurer-Collector and the Clerk’s position to appointed positions. The voters decided to have the Clerk’s position remain elected and the Treasurer-Collector position be appointed. 
I was also appointed to the Water and Sewer Task Force, Land Use Committee, and currently serve on the Franklin Advisory Committee, which consists of residents and sitting Councilor’s as well as the Town Clerk. This committee’s role is to solicit recommendations and concerns from the community and explore and expedite courses of action, concerns and recommendations to the Town Council. 
I have worked in town for many years as a bio-tech executive and a business manager for a law firm. I relocated a manufacturing company to the Franklin Industrial Park and that experience, along with the legal business, allowed me to understand the role of business in our community and led to my involvement and work with the local Chamber of Commerce. My membership in the Franklin Rotary Club allowed me to work within the community for charitable events, scholarship fund raisers and support for our senior citizens.

FM - What do you see as a challenge for the position of Town Clerk?

Cheli – The Town Clerk’s position is a gateway to the community and as such should provide direction and answers to all that seek the town’s services. It is imperative that the clerk have a good understanding of resources and public officials and be able to direct new and existing residents and new and existing businesses to appropriate personnel for disposition and resolve of their interests. 
We can look at customer service. There can be an emphasis on the hours of operation that are more conducive to the working folks by having more evening hours and or by appointment evening hours. Current technology should be reviewed. The clerk’s position is heavily mandated by the state and should allow opportunities to increase the use of technology to make best practices more streamlined and more accessible to the general population. 
Records retention and storage is a large element of the Clerk’s position. There may be opportunities for adding a more private sector approach as with the legal field for records retention and storage. The Clerk’s office may not be able to go paperless because of legal requirements but much of it should get streamlined. 
It is important the general population take an interest in the voting process. I would like to see the Clerk’s office engaged in voter involvement and more convenience for voter participation. Current voting practices need to be reviewed and updated.

FM - What do you bring to the position that would set you apart from the other candidates?

Cheli – The clerk’s position offers a unique opportunity to bring my knowledge of the community, local government and officials, and of the history of Franklin. I am a performance driven Operations Executive with a history of success leading high growth, transitional, and startup operations. I have been diligent and resourceful in uncovering opportunities to improve operations, motivate teams and to create collaborative environments that yield high productivity. 
The Town Clerk’s position would embody my passion for the community as well as utilizing my experience in municipal government and the private sector. I look forward to continuing my efforts to listen and learn from the Town’s residents, businesses and administrators and to maintain and promote Franklin as a local community that remains a great place to live.


If you have any follow up questions for Paul, you can contact him via email at clerkcheli@gmail.com

You can also visit his webpage http://paulcheli.com/


Noteworthy: This information is intended to help the Franklin voters when we all head to the ballot box on November 3rd. The interview candidates have had an opportunity to review the text before publishing to ensure the accuracy of our discussion.

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