BELCHERTOWN — Contested races for Select Board and School Committee will be decided at Monday’s annual town election, as newcomers campaign on the importance of conserving open space, distaste for the Hampshire Council of Governments, and best ways to use the town’s $50 million annual budget.
“We are in a growth mode,” Select Board member Nick O’Connor said at a Candidate’s Night May 10. “We built over 70 houses last year. That is in large part why the budget is where it is at today.”
O’Connor is one of four candidates competing for two seats on the Select Board; incumbent Ronald Aponte and challengers Gail Gramarossa and Amy Clegg are also seeking the three-year term.
O’Connor is confident in the town’s financial standing and future growth, but wants to see less reliance on a rainy day fund to cover operating expenses. He said Belchertown has “outgrown” the services offered by the HCG.
“I’m concerned about how if the HCG were to go defunct the small communities would be able to compensate and cope with that,” O’Connor said. “Primarily that’s where my concerns are, the leadership of the HCG.”
Aponte said he was ambivalent about whether Belchertown should leave the Council, and would follow the will of the voters. He played a key role in the crafting of the original Community Plan and agrees it is due for a revision.
A founding member of the Belchertown Community Aid Network, Gramarossa said her 18 years on the Board of Health make her a good fit for the role.
“I feel like I have significant experience in town government,” Gramarossa said, adding that she is “willing to learn, willing to do the work, willing to be trained and willing to be a voice for people who may not feel that they are represented right now.”
She hopes to start conversations about senior care, how to combat the opioid addiction epidemic, demographic changes in the community and the rising cost of living.
“I think the town has grown, I think we’re facing some additional kinds of issues that weren’t around ten years ago that we may want to take a look at,” Gramarossa said.
Clegg did not attend the Candidate’s Night.
Three candidates are running for the one-year term seat left vacant by the resignation of former Select Board member William Barnett: Brian Gibbons, James Quirk and Edward Boscher.
“I am not a politician, and I will never be a politician,” said Quirk, host of “Town Talk” on Belchertown Community Television. “I believe I am very independent with no attachments to an agenda, another person or another group.”
A local business owner and Navy veteran, Gibbons said it is important the town reinvest in capital projects to “ensure maximum efficiency in order to reduce the rate of increase for future spending.”
“We work really hard to find solutions that move the community forward,” said Boscher, an Air Force veteran and member of the Finance Committee. “I have a solid understanding of departmental priorities having listened to them for the past four years and I have extensive Belchertown budgeting experience.”
Three candidates are running for two three-year seats on the School Committee: Ruby Bansal, Lamikco Magee, and Joshua Wallace. While Wallace, a Northampton school resource officer, talked about school safety at last week’s Candidate’s Night, Bansal talked about educational quality and the role of technology in the classroom.
“I ask a lot of questions,” said Bansal, a member of the Chestnut Hill Community School and Swift River Elementary school councils. “I’m a scientist by training,” she said. “I collect information analyze and listen to all sides before making decisions and drawing conclusions.”
Magee did not attend the Candidate’s Night.
Polls will open at 8 a.m. at Belchertown High School, and remain open until 8 p.m.
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@gazettenet.com.