11 June, 2015
Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito who took part in the Hopkinton 300th anniversary opening ceremony was back in Hopkinton to meet with Town Manager Norman Khumalo and other local business and government leaders as part of the "Building Stronger Communities" tour. Lieutenant Governor Polito is the Chair of "The Community Compact Cabinet" which serves to strengthen partnerships in all cities and towns across the state.
The Lieutenatnt Governor spoke with HCAM News about the meeting; "The goal today was to have a conversation on where Hopkinton is and how the state can be a better partner." Lt. Governor Polito mentioned that one of the goals of Hopkinton is to improve the commercial tax base since Hopkinton is largely a residential community.
Lt. Governor Polito spoke of how the state is working on becoming a better partner with local communities such as Hopkinton; "We need to really watch unfunded mandates, regulations and barriers to growth in a community like Hopkinton." Governor Baker and Lieutenant Governor Polito would like to see the Community Compact program spread across the state; "I wanted to make that available to Hopkinton because their already achieving a high level of management here and just challenge them to do a little bit more, raise the bar in terms of best practices and see if we can be a better partner by providing some resources in helping them achieve that goal."
Polito mentioned that the program could help put Hopkinton in line for larger grants for infrastructure improvements and various other needs. "We want to make sure we are reaching all of the communities in our commonwealth in every part of the commonwealth, not just the big cities but the smaller communities, the midsize communities like Hopkinton and really just build that relationship between state and municipal government."
To hear more, watch the interview below.
