EASTHAM — Dave Hobbs has served on several boards and committees since he and his wife moved to town in 2016. He joined the community preservation committee in 2018 and the taxation aid committee in 2020, and he has been a member of the T-Time Development Committee since 2021. He has been chair of the board of assessors and vice chair of the planning board since that year, too.
This year he’s running for a seat on the select board, where the job is “to put forward the plans of the people who elected you and to work for the people of the community — that is, everybody that lives and owns here.”
There are four candidates running for two seats in this election. Jerry Cerasale and Suzanne Bryan are running for re-election; Hobbs and his fellow planning board member Brian Earley are would-be newcomers.
Hobbs says that rising taxes are the biggest issue facing Eastham right now, though he adds that he realizes “Eastham is still not heavily taxed compared to Weston or Cambridge.”
Eastham’s residential property tax rate is $7.71 per $1,000 of a house’s assessed value. Weston’s is $11.10 and in Cambridge it’s $6.35. Last year, Eastham’s rate was $7.01, 324th among the state’s 351 towns. But assessments have risen as property values have risen on the Outer Cape.
In any case, Hobbs says, “the rise in taxes has had an effect on the population.” He says that people have moved away or had to cut back on food and medications because of taxes.
Some rising taxes are inevitable, Hobbs says, such as those that may come from financing Eastham’s anticipated $160-million wastewater project. “It’s an extraordinary amount of money,” he says, though it’s unclear exactly how various funding sources will play out. “We have to do these things, and we have to do them as economically and sufficiently as possible. Sometimes, you have to make the best decision in a bad situation. It’s more economical on a large scale to put in a sewer system than to have everybody improve the septic systems at their house.”
Hobbs has been visiting Cape Cod since he was a child. “My wife and I fell in love with Eastham when we were very young,” he says. “It’s like we grew up here, and we came back.”
His move to Eastham from Worcester came after he sold Swift River, his Palmer-based hydroelectric power company, to Maryland-based energy firm Eagle Creek. Hobbs says he wants to bring “the perspective of a small business owner” to town government. He gained familiarity with government through his job: “I dealt with town, state, and federal entities,” he says. “The regulations involved in hydroelectric power are astronomical, and they take a lot of know-how and skill to maneuver.”
Hobbs says that he doesn’t support the petitioned Article 9A on this year’s town meeting warrant. The article asks that the town hire an independent auditor to assess its tax policies before making any changes.
On the question of the residential tax exemption, Hobbs says he’s undecided. “I don’t necessarily want to give tax breaks to people who don’t need help,” he says. “That could create a very divisive situation, and I don’t want to divide the town. I would need to process the information to make the best decision for the people of the town.”
While he supports Eastham accepting the designation as a seasonal community under the new Affordable Homes Act, Hobbs isn’t ready to take on every policy option that acceptance would grant. “I think it’s a fact that we are a seasonal community,” he says. “What the town does with the designation is another story.”
To address the housing crisis in Eastham, Hobbs says he supports building affordable housing and workforce housing, especially for the purpose of retaining town employees. “It makes it very difficult for the town to hire for positions because potential workers don’t have a place to live.”
Hobbs says he developed a “calm and careful” decision-making sensibility while leading Swift River, one that was built on “considering all facets of a situation.” He says he especially values outside opinions on important topics: “I’ve been wrong many times, and I’m not afraid to admit that.
“I’ve never been a big political person,” Hobbs says. “But there’s a community here, and I want to help that community.”
