CHESHIRE, Mass. — Edmund St. John IV is running for selectman to advocate for Cheshire and help move the town forward.

 

"I am dedicated to this town, and I want to advocate for the people in town," St. John said. "I'd like to create a collaborative community. Not just neighbor to neighbor but department to department and town to town."

 

St. John, who is a local attorney, has served as town moderator and is chairman of the Cheshire Master Plan Committee. St. John has also served on the Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee since 2011.

 

He said he decided to run because he wanted to be able to do more for the town he has lived in since the age of 10.

 

"I have been wanting to get more involved in the community in different ways, and ... I wanted to be able to do more to serve the town so this was the next logical step," he said. "Especially when it comes to the master plan ... we are putting all of this time and effort into creating this master plan and I want to make sure it doesn't just gather dust on a shelf."

 

St. John added that he may not have the same experience the current seasoned board members do, but he believes coming to the board with new eyes could be a benefit to the town. He said a fresh approach may be needed to resurrect old projects.

 

"I don't want to take any idea off the table," he said. "Just because we may have through about it in the past it doesn't mean we can't look at it again and see if there is a new way to approach some of the issues we see in town."

 

St. John said he thinks the biggest issue facing Cheshire is demographics and one of his goals would be to make Cheshire an attractive place to move to.

 

"I want to make Cheshire a more attractive place for families of all generations to come to," he said. "Especially for families of my generation and younger. If people are moving I want them to come to Cheshire."

 

St. John added that he wants to make the government more accessible and integrate online permitting. He said he wants to update the town website and make it more useful for residents.   

 

St. John said he also wants to invest into the community.

 

"I want to effectively utilize town resources and I don't want to look at it as spending but investing money in our community," St. John said.  

 

St. John will be vying against E. Richard Scholz for the seat being left vacant by longtime Selectman Paul Astorino.

 

The election is Monday, May 1.