CHESTERFIELD — A seat on the Planning Board is the only contested race in Monday’s town election, which takes place from 12-8 p.m. at the Community Center, 400 Main Road.
Although no one is listed on the ballot for the one-year term on the Planning Board, incumbent Carol Rhine is running as a write-in candidate, as is Eileen McGowan.
Rhine was appointed to the board last year, and she’s running to fill out the term she was appointed to.
“The Planning Board has a lot of input into the future of the town,” Rhine said.
Rhine noted that the board drew up a draft cannabis bylaw this year, and she said that she hopes to continue working on the bylaw. If reelected, she also hopes to write a statement from the Planning Board on climate mitigation.
Rhine has lived in Chesterfield for 18 years, and she said that while she’s interested in growth, preserving the rural nature of the town is also important to her.
A retired nonprofit consultant, Rhine’s clients included Greenpeace and UNICEF.
“I traveled the world doing that,” she said.
McGowan said that she sees development pressure coming up from Northampton, and that she would like to be on the Planning Board to respond to that and to preserve the rural nature of the town.
She’s also interested in protecting Chesterfield’s Historic District.
McGowan said that she’d like to seek input into the Planning Board’s work from residents and the members of other committees.
She’s also interested in videotaping or audiotaping the meetings to post them to the website, and to continue the Zoom option for the public. “That way we get input from more people,” she said.
McGowan is a retired geology professor, although she does still do some teaching part time.
Two open positions — a two year term on the Hampshire Regional School Committee and a three-year term on the Chesterfield-Goshen Regional School Committee — have no one running for them, which Town Clerk Sandy Wickland said is not unusual for the town. She said school committee positions are often difficult to recruit for.
All other positions have candidates running for them unchallenged on the ballot.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.