Planning for Mattapoisett’s future is Selectman Paul Silva’s number one goal.

Since he first sat on the Finance Committee, Silva has helped the town set aside $2.2 million  in a “rainy day” fund. Going uncontested into his second term in the 2012 Mattapoisett Town Election, he hopes to do more of the same.

Silva, who grew up in New Bedford and spent summers in Mattapoisett with his parents, moved back to town in 1985 with wife Phyllis and son Jared.

As the vice president of a cable company, Silva spent a lot of time in transit until he retired in 1989.

“I was complaining about my taxes one day and my brother said to me ‘you’re not doing anything, why don’t you go find out why the taxes are what they are.”

Silva followed his advice, began attending Finance Committee meetings and was eventually asked to join the committee.

“The town was, as a whole, being run responsibly,” he said. “There were some areas that needed improvement, which was planning for the future. We were getting by year to year, but I didn’t think there was a lot of planning.”

Silva, who became committee chair, said the town’s stabilization fund was too low. With the committee, Silva helped the town set aside more funds each year with the view of saving ten percent of the town’s overall budget.

From the finance committee, Silva moved to the Old Rochester Regional School Committee. With 65 percent of the town’s budget going to schools Silva said, “I wanted to really understand ORR’s budget.”

Silva said the committee’s excess and deficiency account was at a deficit the year he joined, putting the school in jeopardy if an emergency expenditure hit. By the time he left, Silva said he had helped the committee saved $500,000 in the fund.

Taking the information he’d accrued on budgets, Silva ran for the Board of Selectmen and won.

During his first term, Silva continued his future-focused mission by developing plans that would lead to long-term savings for the town.

The responsibility for paying Mattapoisett employee’s health insurance was 75 percent for the town and 25 percent for the town employee when Silva joined, but he knew an even split would save the town thousands of dollars.

For existing employees Silva said, “I didn’t feel it was fair to take something away from somebody when they came 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago and were planning their retirement and future.”

So Silva’s bifurcation plan started with new employees. He said the plan saved the town $5,000 a year per new employee with $30,000 saved the first year.

“It isn’t an immediate fix to the problem, but I’m always looking towards the future. If we can slow the bleeding down, then let’s do it.”

Silva, using his cable background, also encouraged the town to take over their own town meeting recordings, formerly done by ORCTV.

“I feel that open government is very important and every meeting, if possible, should be covered so people can see what’s going on,” he said.

“I’m a firm believer that the more information you give people, the more educated they become. When that happens, they make the right decision even on emotional issues.”

Moving forward into his second term, Silva said, “The big goal would be to put a 10 year capital needs plan together and the means for which it’s going to be supported. If we don’t plan for it, it’s going to be a major issue.”

Silva said no matter what he wants to “continue to make sure that we stay financially stable.”