Adams Candidates Push Last-Minute Campaigning
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From door-to-door canvassing to meet-and-greets on Park Street, the candidates — Michael Taber, Jason Hnatonko and Michael Ouellette — are doing everything they can to garner votes during the crucial last days.
"The weather isn't cooperating much but I'm going to continue talking to people," said Taber on Saturday while taking a break from introducing himself to residents at the town dump during bouts of rainy weather. "I'm going to go door to door. I'm going to have sign holdings ... We've just got a lot going on."
Ouellette said he'll be on Park Street on Sunday with his family and at the polls as soon as they open on Monday.
"I plan on being there all day," Ouellette said.
Hnatonko, a self-proclaimed leader, plans on launching a last-minute, get-the-word-out campaign, complete with phone calls, home visits and sign-holding events in the downtown.
Campaigning for weeks, all three candidates have been working to set themselves apart from the pack, focusing primarily on issues of economic development and town revitalization efforts.
"The support I have is because people think I can do a good job and they have confidence in me," said Ouellette. "I think I can make stuff happen if I'm on the board."
Resting on a platform that calls for internal restructuring, Ouellette said he strives to help the town "get its ducks in a row."
"What I'm really trying to do is get prepared before all the projects and initiatives get under way so we can handle the execution of these new projects. I want to do work on the inside first," he said.
Naming the Greylock Glen development as an "absolutely critical priority," the retired General Electric/General Dynamics engineer and land developer said his motivation for joining the board is to facilitate true and lasting change.
"It's time we do something here and I really want change. Once we've fixed what we need to do the inside, we'll go after other things," he said.
For Hnatonko, success on Monday means putting into action the plan that he has to diversify the town's tax base.
"A lot of people have come up to me and said they liked what I had to say," said Hnatonko, who works at Macy's in the Berkshire Mall and at Rite Aid. "I might be the only candidate with a very specific plan."
The longtime Adams resident said bringing in a diverse amount of small businesses — each with a different targeted clientele — is the key to avoid the threat of a Proposition 2 1/2 override.
"Adams should be a leader in being an attractive location for new industry," said Hnatonko.
Saying people have been responding well to his ideas, Hnatonko hopes words will turn into action if he makes it onto the board.
"I have a plan and I have a vision and that's what separates me from the other two guys," said Hnatonko. "I don't make empty promises. I'm not a 'yes' man. I'm looking to help out where I can."
Taber, who has been a presence at various meetings around town the last few months, puts taxes at the top of his priority list calling for the town to treat "town budgets like family budgets."
"Prioritize and stick to it. Only live within your means," he said.
A Pittsfield middle-school teacher, Taber is particularly concerned about education issues and promises to bring his unique experiences from within the educational system to the board.
"Education is my big issues and people know that. There's a lot that can be done in our schools," Taber said.
Win or lose, all three of the candidates are interested in making a difference, whether its through politics or another medium.
"If I don't win, I'll still want to be a part of making change. If the board said 'Let's have a volunteer committee,' I'd consider taking part in that," Ouellette said.
Hnatonko said he hadn't considered the possibility of not winning quite yet.
"My intention is to run this time. What happens in three years is another thing," he said.
For Taber, failing to take the seat on the board will not stop him from staying involved.
"This is not about just running for selectman. This is about making a difference," he said.
The only race on the ballot this year is the three-year seat for the Board of Selectmen. The seat has been vacant since Myra Wilk resigned from the board last June; the town has been making do with only four selectmen on the five-person board.
Polls will open on Monday, May 5, at 7 a.m. at Adams Memorial Middle School.
