Two Running for Selectman's Seat in FloridaBy Noah Hoffenberg
iBerkshires Correspondent
11:41AM / Saturday, May 02, 2009
FLORIDA, Mass. — Two lifelong residents and experienced water workers have their sights set on the same seat on the Board of Selectmen that's up for grabs at the town election.
The selectman's race is the only one the ballot. Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, May 4, at the town office on Route 2.
Richard LeClair
LeClair, 53, of Stryker Road, was born and raised in Florida, and has been completing the final two years of a three-year term that was vacated by former Selectman Ray Burdick.
Divorced with two grown children, LeClair works as a mechanic for TransCanada, a power company that owns the hydroelectric stations along the Deerfield River.
He was a selectmen from 1990 to 1999, and calls himself an independent voter. LeClair said he'd like to continue his service to the town by remaining on the board.
"I've lived in town all my life. I became involved to try and help out, and I think we've done a pretty good job. The school system is very good. Our services are on par with pretty much everybody else I believe. We've kept our taxes low," said LeClair. "We have a pretty good town here. I think everybody in town can be proud of it."
He's serving currently on the three-member board with Chairman Neil Oleson and member Ron Briggs.
While stopping short of saying he was in favor wind power, LeClair noted that the town did vote to support Hoosac Wind, the $45 million wind turbine project slated for Bakke Mountain in Florida and Crum Hill in Monroe, which is currently held up in the state Appeals Court.
"I'd like to see the town move forward," he said. LeClair said, if re-elected, he'd try and keep taxes low and services maintained. "I'm just trying to do the best I can for the town and the taxpayers, and to still make sure we have the services.”
Bradley O. Furlon
Furlon, 39, of Whitcomb Hill Road Ext., is the chief operator and district manager for the Hoosac Water Quality District, which operates the waste-water plant for Wiilliamstown and North Adams. Also a lifelong resident of Florida who eventually moved to the house next door to where he grew up, Furlon is a lieutenant in the Florida Volunteer Fire Department, where he's been a member for 24 years. His father, Louis, was also a selectman in town.
This run for selectman is Furlon's first bid for public office.
"I just want to bring new ideas, a new perspective. Town office is pretty much everything I do in a daily routine with the district," said Furlon, who's married with two daughters, both of whom attend Gabriel Abbott Memorial Elementary School.
Furlon said he's learned a lot from overseeing the district plant, with its $1.6 million annual budget, nine employees, and equipment and facilities worth more than $29 million. He's also overseen a riverbank restoration to the tune of $1.1 million, and obtained $928,000 in grant funding to help pay for it.
Furlon noted that his job at the district is 24/7, 365 days a year, just as would be the case if he were to be elected as selectman. Furlon said he wouldn't have any problem handling the task, especially because he feels he has strong backup at the plant.
He is neither completely for nor against the wind project, but is eager to learn more about it. If elected, the independent Furlon said he would use his experience at HWQD for the benefit of the town.
"All my experience that I've learned at the district, living in this town and seeing what goes on my whole life, I've got a pretty good idea about town politics. I've become very knowledgeable about budgets, about employees and employee issues, and just dealing with different firms, different divisions, dealing with [conservation commissions] from either Williamstown or North Adams, dealing with the City Council, dealing with the selectmen. I've become very informed with what goes on, because I'm in it every day."
Contact Noah Hoffenberg at hoff1013@gmail.com. |
