Select Board Candidate Jakes Calls for Capital Planning Overhaul and Fiscal Discipline

STOUGHTON — March 20, 2026 — Select Board candidate Laurie Jakes outlined a platform centered on fiscal restraint and improved capital planning in a March 20 interview on Stoughton's community access TV program "Lioness and You on the Watch." Jakes, a university fundraising professional and PTO vice president who led advocacy for the town's recent elementary school debt exclusion, told host Lisa Lyons that Stoughton must begin planning now for a new middle school and police station to avoid the deferred-maintenance crisis that forced the school project. On the Visiting Nurse Association enterprise fund — set for dissolution at the May town meeting and transfer to a public health department at an estimated cost of over $500,000 annually — Jakes declined to take a firm position, saying she first needs utilization data. She called the town website "not very good" and said she would support recording all town manager-convened working groups for public viewing. Candidate Don Dino was originally scheduled for the same program but canceled at the last minute.