Gray Looking to Bring Business Sense, Watchdog Attitude to Foxborough’s Board of Selectmen

Over 20 years ago, a familiar friend in Wrentham told John Gray he was moving to Foxborough.

“[Bill Yukna] said he was leaving Wrentham and moving to Foxborough,” Gray recalled. “He gave me about 10 to 20 good reasons why he was moving to Foxborough.”

Yukna’s reasons were so compelling that Gray was convinced Foxborough was the place to raise a family with his wife, Kathy.

“This is a unique town where neighbors know their neighbors, kids know their kids,” Gray said. “There’s still neighborhoods where kids can go out and play with each other. I think that’s the part of town that is fragile but is worth being vigilant to keep that in place. … One of the nicest things about Foxborough is you could head down the street to run a five-minute errand and take two hours because you’re running into people you know and can talk about things.”

Twenty-four years and three children - now adults - later, Gray remains an active resident in Foxborough, serving on the town’s Advisory Committee for eight years – twice as chairman – and currently running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen for the second time in a decade.

Gray said time constraints during his first campaign hindered him at the polls.

“I was doing two things at the exact same time,” Gray said. “I started my company [Biomedical Structures of Warwick, R.I.], that took a lot of my time, so honestly, I didn’t have a lot of time to throw myself at the campaign. Back then, there were four people running for one seat … that was before we moved to the five-member board.”

Ten years later, Gray says the one thing he can give now is a lot more time.

“For the first time in a decade, I actually have some time,” Gray said. “It really comes down to time. I know a lot more people [than I did 10 years ago]. The campaign has been well received and people are willing to help out. People are actually making donations, which is something that is wonderful.”

Gray recently sat down with Foxborough Patch for a Q&A about his campaign and why he’s running for selectman. Here’s what he had to say:

Patch: Why are you running for selectman?

Gray: It’s interesting. My brother called me and he said when you run for selectman there’s no upside and plenty of downside. He asked the same question, ‘Why are you running’ and I said, ‘I really like Foxborough. It’s a real community. It’s not a quiet suburb where nobody knows each other. We all know each other and everyone is passionate about the issues.’ I worry sometimes about what Foxborough is going to look like 10 years from now.

The reason I’m running is I’m trying to improve the look and the quality of life in Foxborough. And also maintain that unique culture that we have.

You’ve seen with some of the issues over the past year-and-a-half the outpouring of passion. That disturbs some people but to me that is the healthiest thing in the world. A lot of communities, people have never been to a Town Meeting, they don’t know what’s going on. They move along and pay their taxes and that will continue forever but here in Foxborough we are somewhat unique.

I think sometimes our passion to the outside eye looks messy but the results are actually really good. On AdCom our role is to ask difficult questions and it is our budget to present. We get lots of input from the town manager and various boards and the process is not quiet and it shouldn’t be. At the end of the day we present a plan to the town that we’ve packaged up and make it look nice but the background noise is really quite a process.

I don’t really want that to change and I’m glad the DNA of Foxborough is that we are a passionate group. At the end of the day we may disagree but the town knits itself back together and presses on.

Patch: Do you share in that passion?

Gray: Yeah. I ask the questions on AdCom I believe the taxpayers want asked and as a selectman my goal is to ask difficult questions and probably get difficult answers but ask the questions that need to be asked. If not, why are we there?

Patch: Are you looking to institute change to the current board or are you running to hold a seat at the table?

Gray: Anybody can have a seat at the table. I know the budget well; I’ve been handling it for years. People that are currently on the board are nice people. They give their time and are dedicated to the town. Sometimes I think their style might be different from mine but I have no problem with that. The things that I’m proposing to bring to the Board of Selectmen is a sharper, more critical eye for the folks sending their money to Town Hall.

What are they getting for their money? I want some demonstration of value. That comes from taking a look at the budget and asking, ‘Hey, why do we do this?’ Is there another way to do it? Is there a way to bring more technology into the picture?

I run a business and we can squeeze a dime out of a nickel if we have to and in the town we do a lot with a little. If we’ve been running the town the same way for years my role is to come in and ask, ‘Why?’

I’m not proposing to restructure the town … just to ask questions.

I have to give [the current Board of Selectmen] credit to give their time and it’s a lot of time with no compensation and endless criticism. I applaud them.

Patch: What do you bring to the Board of Selectmen?

Gray: I bring a business perspective and that is to drive value out of every dollar we are going to spend.

Patch: What are some issues in town that have your attention (what are some of the local issues you care about)?

Gray: One thing I recognize and one thing I’m hearing from senior citizens is the town of Foxborough is getting older. What does that mean?

I know there’s a change. People want to stay in their houses longer. I recognize that there will probably be a need for other types of services to be determined that will affect an aging population.

Folks have mentioned to take a look at the resources going towards the senior center and Council on Aging. I think the town did a great thing by building the Council On Aging building and it is so well used that they are almost outgrowing their space. It’s on my radar to try and understand the changing dynamic and understand as Foxborough grows older and people want to stay in their houses we need to figure out how we are going to handle that.

Patch: What are your thoughts about the Downtown?

Gray: The downtown area has been a concern forever. … I would imagine there’s businesses that could have a regional reach and another retail store in Foxborough Center might just attract more folks to Foxborough. I’d be an active proponent to reach out to companies that might have a regional reach to try and locate in Foxborough Center and that could potentially be a magnet for other companies. Right now it looks tired.

Patch: What are your thoughts on what to do about Town Hall?

Gray: It’s the face of Foxborough to most people. When folks from other towns come and see our Town Hall they see that it looks tired and dated. We’ve got plans from Bill Yukna, Kevin Paicos and Dick Heydecker to deal with it. It always comes down to priorities and it doesn’t make the cut.

I’d be an advocate for a better, more presentable Town Hall. I think there’s going to be another plan that the current building committee with Bill Yukna and Dick Heydecker are going to put together. Something good will come from that. …

We are still paying for a lot of buildings. We just took on the library, we just finished the high school project, we are about to embark on the Burrell project and you wonder if now is the right time.

I’m not in favor of going out and asking the taxpayers for another debt exclusion. I think we may be able to allocate some funds to improve what we have while we are trying to figure out where we are going to go. I would like the Town Hall to stay right where it is. It belongs in the center of town. I like the look of it and it fits in with a New England town.

Folks have looked into leasing space. I don’t know. To me, New England towns have nice public buildings. I like the building the way it looks. I know it doesn’t function very well.

We’ve got some smart people in town and I think they’d be able to figure it out. If it is going to be the front door of Foxborough we really should try and make a better impression.

Patch: What’s the single most important issue in town you are concerned about?

Gray: Taxes are creeping up. You wonder with folks getting older if it is going to allow them to stay in their houses. Taxes are always a concern.

Patch: How do you view the town’s relationship with the Kraft Group?

Gray: I don’t know the Krafts personally. I’ve never met Bob Kraft. I think I met Jonathan Kraft in passing 20 years ago. But they are a business in town. It’s like Invensys, they are a business in town. Businesses get up every morning and they try to provide jobs and make money and that’s what they are supposed to do. It’s unfortunate when the question of gaming in Foxborough was presented it caught a lot of folks off guard and that’s where the passion came out.

Folks have asked me can you work with the Kraft Group and I said I can work with any business. You’ve seen Robert Kraft, he’s a very benevolent guy and he’s done a lot of great things for the town. We can have a dialogue with them and say, ‘What are your plans?’ We can say as a town, this is our vision and how can they come together.

I see what growth is going on up there [at Patriot Place] and there’s a lot of retail stores. Imagine if there’s a software company that locates across the street and they operate Monday thru Friday … that would be great. But these are the kind of things the town and the Kraft organization can have a reasonable discussion on and I think they’ve always been respectful of the folks in Foxborough. It’s been a good relationship.

What other town has an NFL franchise in their backyard? We’ve found a way to make it work. It hasn’t always been easy but at the end of the day I think we’ve come to accept we have an NFL franchise in our town – a small town. As far as the selectmen, I would have an open dialogue with the Kraft Group.

Somebody asked me if I have any animosity toward the Kraft Group and I said, ‘No, I don’t know them.’

All I know is we had a passionate outpouring a little over a year ago and they are a business. The same holds true to the folks at Invensys and the folks that run the Commons restaurant. They all have interests. We have a lot of apartment buildings. All you have to do is say, ‘What are your plans?’ And this is what the town would like and you can marry the two together. It’s really not that difficult.

Patch: Why should residents vote for you on April 30?

Gray: Two things come together. One is my experience on AdCom where I understand from the inside [the town’s finances and issues]. It’s great training for anyone that wants to hold another elective office in town. I also couple that with being an entrepreneur.

I know the value of good jobs in your community and I can bring both of those together. I can bring that perspective to the Board of Selectmen and understand how to read a balance sheet and understand what a tax rate means to the taxpayer and I can articulate that.

I still have this, ‘Where is Foxborough going to be 5-10 years from now’ mentality. If I can take those two perspectives … sort of a businessman as well as a civil minded individual and bring those two perspectives together I think that makes for a great selectman.

Gray is running for one of two open seats on the Board of Selectmen against current members James DeVellis and Lynda Walsh. The annual town election is scheduled for April 30.

“I’m looking forward to the process,” Gray said. “Lynda Walsh has got a strong team, Jim DeVellis has got a strong team. I’m sort of the outsider trying to break in so I’ve got a little bit more work to do.”