Michael McCoy, Newest Member of Charter Review Committee, 18-Year Resident

Selectmen appointed Michael McCoy to replace Mike Bouchard on the Charter Review committee at their September 21 meeting. Michael McCoy attended his first Review committee meeting in his new role on Wednesday, September 23.

During his interview before Selectmen, Mr. McCoy said he has lived in Groton for 18 years and currently works for Juniper Networks as a business analyst. Although he went to law school and earned a law degree, he does not practice law. Over the last 30 years, he has worked as a technical writer, a manager and as a director at various tech companies, he told Selectmen.

A number of years go, Michael chaired the NetDay committee in Groton, a committee responsible for wiring the Groton-Dunstable school making Internet access available to every classroom. He said, that at the time he was working for Sun Micro Systems, a company that was, "very big on empowering the schools, getting the schools interconnected."

He said, "We put together a committee, found donations, rounded up volunteers and installed somewhere north of five miles of net cable into the Groton School System."

He added that before moving to Groton he had been on the Finance Committee in the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He told Selectmen, "I have a track record of getting along with people, expediting and working through to success and meeting program goals."

Referring to the Charter, he told selectmen, "The Charter Committee is in some respects foundational for the town. But, at the same time it is not political."

Referring to the Charter, he said, "You want a document based on voter empowerment and government transparency. I think the Charter does a good job of doing that now. If there are any changes, I would like to see those two values as guiding principles."