Ann Marie O'Neill - Announces Intention to Run for Town Selectman

It is with a great sense of pride and commitment to public service that I announce my candidacy for the vacant seat on the Board of Selectman. My name is Ann Marie O’Neill and together with my family we moved to Stoneham 16 years ago. I grew up in neighboring Wakefield and my husband, John, grew up in Melrose. We have 3 children who are students in Stoneham Public Schools - my oldest, Meaghan, graduating this year, Molly a junior and Mairead in Grade 7. All of my children have been presented with wonderful opportunities within the school system and I am excited to work with the School Committee and to help foster the continuing improvements to our most valuable assets, our school system. I love Stoneham and have often said that despite the many challenges Stoneham faces you would be hard pressed to find a nicer place to live. I am proud to be from Stoneham and I want to take this opportunity to give back to our wonderful community.

Stoneham is a great town and I firmly believe that our stakeholders, the people of Stoneham, deserve more. Over the past few years I have watched the towns surrounding us move forward while Stoneham remains stagnant. It is time for Stoneham to harness its resources and change our reputation as not being a friendly place to open a business. It is vital we embrace smart business growth and attract investors to Stoneham. It is vital to our future that we rebuild a reputation as a great place to live so we can reclaim competitive property values and provide potential homebuyers a vibrant community to invest their life savings. We need to stabilize our own infrastructure so that current employees will want to remain employed in Stoneham while we attract the best and the brightest to our pay rolls within our community and in our schools. We need to develop a five year business plan with well-defined milestones. As a town we should consider investing in a Town Planner. Millions of dollars in grant money each year is going to communities other than Stoneham because we don’t have anyone to apply for them. Finally we need to build a community of respect for one another. 

During the last 20 years of my career I have been able to adapt to fiscal job challenges, recognize downturns and adapt to economic changes. For 11 years I was employed by the investment firm of Scudder Stevens and Clark as a Vice President of Technical Training and Human Capital. When the company was purchased and my division was transferred to Chicago, I sought more flexibility for my children so I became a Real Estate Agent and enjoyed a successful career for 10 years. A few years ago, I decided it was time for a personal change and entered the field of healthcare in a support role. Over my career I have consistently been able to recognize areas that need improvement and I have developed solutions. I have been able to build a reputation of trust and integrity.

I have been involved in numerous volunteer positions and have always given of myself to the school, Girl Scouts, CCD, Stoneham Music Parents and various other organizations. Likewise, my husband has been very involved in youth sports and other volunteer positions. It is important to both of us that our children also stay active and volunteer their time.  

I would like to put that to work for the community I love. I respectfully ask for your support and I hope you will consider voting for me on June 25th.