Weise will be involved in a community discussion about the town’s future.
Melissa D. WeiseWARE – Selectmen Melissa D. Weise is seeking another term in Ware's April 11 annual town election in hopes of working on the immediate financial difficulties facing Ware and also broader questions related to what she sees as a former mill town in search of a new identity.
Ware like many communities, is facing budget reductions largely because of the impact of the economy on local tax revenue and a shrinking of state aid, which funds a significant portion of the town budget.
To cope with this situation, Weise said she wants to continue looking for greater efficiency in town departments and their spending and also attract more businesses which could share in the overall tax burden.
She also feels that these fiscal concerns and other aspects of town and community life are tied to the town re-defining itself in this period after much of the manufacturing base has moved and the demographic composition is shifting.
“I think that Ware is still searching for its new identity. We know what we were, but we haven’t figured out what we want to be,” Weise said.
“We were a mill town. Everybody talks about that as the good old days. We can’t go back to that, but we can make our future great,” she said.
Attracting more business and professional families to Ware are goals Weise believes in to strengthen the town, but she believes there should be a townwide discussion as to whether to focus on tourism or retail or other business models.
Bringing a town planner into this work is important, Weise said, and she is pleased that steps are being taken toward that goal.
Weise also said she feels the Board of Selectmen has been doing a better job in the past three years of working well with the School Committee and the business community.
Weise, 30, has been a resident of Ware for the past five years.
She works as a clinical therapist and coordinator of programs for chronically mental ill adults at Valley Human Services and also teaches at Holyoke Community College and Asnuntuck Community College.
She has a bachelor’s degree in social science from Washington State University and a master’s degree in social work from Boston College.