Patrick Tropeano is seeking re-election on the Board of Selectmen. This would be his third term on the Board, and he has served on many other boards and committees in town, including the Finance Committee, the Middle School Building Committee, the Sewer Facility Upgrade Committee, and others.

Although Tropeano was born in Weston, he grew up spending summers at Swifts Beach and moved to Wareham in the 1980s.

“I try to do the best I can for the town,” Tropeano said. “I never make decisions for political reasons — ever.”

Tropeano said that over the past six years, the town has gotten its finances back into shape, and done such a good job that the Department of Revenue now uses Wareham as a model for other towns that are struggling.

“Right now, the finances of the town are in very good shape,” Tropeano said. “Now that doesn’t say that we have enough money, because we don’t. We don’t have enough money to do everything we’d like to do.”

Tropeano said that he and the board are working to find new revenue sources for the town, including revenue from businesses and the marijuana industry. Tropeano said that Proposition 2 ½ hasn’t worked well for Wareham because the town’s property values have always been low, and were especially low when the proposition was passed in 1980. 

Another financial stressor is the fact that the town pays out more than one million dollars in “school choice” funds each year as part of the state law that allows students to attend out-of-town public schools.

“That’s a problem we’re all gonna have to work on at some point,” Tropeano said. “The schools can’t do it themselves. They’re going to need help from the government.”

About a new police station, Tropeano said that the project is a priority but that the town should look for ways to finance it without going into debt.

He said that more senior housing and senior work opportunities are another priority.

“Over the years, I’ve learned what selectmen do,” Tropeano said. “The first thing we do is put out fires. The second thing we do is try to lead the town in a direction.”

Now that the town has achieved financial stability, Tropeano said his priorities are bringing in new revenue and helping the school district fix the problem of losing money to school choice.