SOUTHAMPTON — The three candidates vying for two open seats on the Southampton Select Board spent Monday evening sharing their visions on how to bring financial stability to the town, while also making their case for a seat on the town’s chief executive body.
The candidates seeking a three-year term on the board are incumbent Stephen Thor Johnson, newcomer Doug Hamel and Charlie Kaniecki, who previously served on the Select Board.
The Monday forum hosted by the Southampton Parents and Teachers Organization aimed to give residents a chance to hear the candidates speak before the town election on Tuesday, May 19. In addition to the Select Board race, voters will be asked if they support a $1.9 million or $2.5 million Proposition 2½ override. There are also new candidates for several other town bodies, including three newcomers running for School Committee: Michelle Desrochers, Kathryn Savarese and Ashley Stone.
Select Board candidates
Johnson has served on the Select Board for one, three-year term, after moving to Southampton during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, he has also served on the Board of Assessors, Greenway Committee, Housing Authority, Affordable Housing Trust and Open Space Committee. Now retired, Johnson worked for several different conservation and land-use planning nonprofits.
“The very fabric of the Valley is in my bones,” Johnson said. “I’ve learned so much about municipal governance, but I really need to hear more from the folks of this community because it’s clear that we’re in excruciating period of economic and social transition, and we have to have good dialogue about that.”
Hamel currently serves on the Finance Committee, as a representative to the Community Preservation Committee. Hamel works as a public accountant and said his personal values focus on strong schools, dependable town services, fiscal responsibility and honest local government.
“We’re in an important moment for Southampton. The decisions we make today will help shape the type of community we remain,” Hamel said. “Our residents deserve leadership that brings people together around their shared values and connects us when facing difficult decisions.”
Kaniecki has lived in Southampton his whole life and previously served on the Select Board, Board of Health and several other committees. Kaniecki worked in public health as a district health officer for the state of Massachusetts for the last 20 years of his career before retirement. Kaniecki said he helped increase handicap accessibility, secure grant funding and more the last time he served on the board.
“I’ve been involved in all levels of the town government for all these 50 years,” Kaniecki said. “I look forward to working with everyone, listening to everyone and move this forward.”
Budgeting, priorities
All three candidates favor the full override amount of $2.5 million.
Hamel said that while budgeting, it is important to remember that each resident has different experiences, some finding certain town services more important than others. It is important to consider how decreases in current services change and create future financial challenges, he said.
Hamel said the biggest challenge, and also opportunity for Southampton, is to ensure the town has an engaged and informed community.
“I think it’s our responsibility to make sure that taxpayers can connect with every available resource,” Hamel said. “We need to make sure that residents that are financially impacted have every available resource to help mitigate those costs.”
Johnson agreed with Hamel, saying that there are people with a wide variety of circumstances and each needs to secure any tax break they are entitled too. As for budgeting as a whole, Johnson said it is a challenging task and equity needs to be considered across the board.
“My grandfather was a country doctor, my father was a minister. Questions of equity are what run through this (my) life story and they’re not simple,” Johnson said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about fairness and equity across all citizens.”
Responding to other challenges facing Southampton, Johnson said the town needs to balance immediate expenses with long-term planning.
Kaniecki said he agreed that residents need to consider how decisions made now will impact the town in the future. When budgeting, he said it is important to consider continuity in government and that there are certain services that need to be provided.
As for the override, he said, “It’s a time to sit down, it’s a time to reflect, it’s a time to realize is this override a priority for the greater majority of the community, for the greater good? That becomes a question for each and every one of us as we go through it.”
Kaniecki said aside from the budget, deteriorating infrastructure including buildings, bridges and roads, needs to be a priority.
