ADAMS, Mass. — The Maple Grove Civic Club held its annual and well-attended candidate forum on Sunday afternoon with those running for selectman and other town boards at the Polish National Alliance.
The three people running for the three-year seat being vacated by Selectman Jeffrey Snoonian spoke at the forum, with the first being Elizabeth Bushey.
Bushey, a political newcomer, talked about her past as a salon worker in Cheshire and the individuals she met along the way who have made a difference in her life. She said she has taken on many different jobs throughout her life.
When asked how she would handle the pitfalls in education funding for as well as the conflict between the School Committee, Adams and Cheshire, she said the first on her list would be not to close Plunkett or build new.
"I believe that the buildings are made of cement and I think C.T. Plunkett himself would come back and haunt us himself. Why would we change something that is here?" she said. "We want to build a brand-new building up there ... we don't have enough money for the buildings and we don't have enough to pay the teachers."
Bushey said she was also concerned with youth drug use and town leaders actually representing the people.
When asked about tax increases, she said she wants to bring industry back to Adams and keep taxes flat.
"A flat rate, I know it's not a good thing to do," she said. "But I think in a town this size with not a lot of people we need to flat rate them all."
Christine Hoyt, who said she was raised in central New York State, moved to Adams in 2005.
She spoke of her work at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, Berkshire Community College, ProAdams and the Youth Center.
She said she wants to focus her efforts on revitalizing the downtown area.
"There is a lot of opportunity and I want to make sure I am sitting at the table and have a say," Hoyt said. "I want to make sure things continue to progress ... and celebrate the businesses that are successful here."
When asked about increasing taxes, Hoyt said she wants to research the best practices of similar-sized communities.
"What you will learn about me is that I like to do a lot of research, and I don't make decisions lightly," she said. "I want to get the facts before diving into the tax rate and the history of the increases."
As for education, Hoyt said both Cheshire and Adams will have to continue to make tough decisions but need to work together.
"These last 18 months have been tough on both towns ... and I don't know if we are done making tough decisions," Hoyt said. "I think now more than ever we need to rely on each other and our regional partners so we can move all of our communities forward."
The last selectman candidate to speak was Cassie Witek, an Adams native. Witek said she has worn many hats in her life.
"I have been a cashier, a clerk, a banker, a radio salesperson, project manager and lastly an EMT and one constant has been my heartbreak for the town of Adams," she said. "In town, we all know what it feels like to tell our kids to get out of this area as soon as they can and make something of themselves but we owe it to our kids and our town to create a future where we no longer have to say that."
Witek said she is not a politician and will speak with a loud voice for the people and is saddened by how taxes have increased while services and quality of life in Adams have decreased.
"We have beautiful rivers but we can't fish out of most of them, we have a beautiful downtown but most of its buildings are empty, our kids have inadequate schooling and we can't even keep the town hall doors open five days a week," Witek said. "Yet we pay more and more in taxes year after year."
She advocated for selling the Memorial Building or finding a new use for it and attracting sustainable businesses to the downtown.
Witek added that she wants to tear down blight that drags down property values.
When asked about increased taxes, she said the town needs to do more to attract business and grow the tax base.
"We need new growth and we need things downtown and we need to do more," she said. "We had clothing stores downtown and all kinds of things ... I have been here my whole life and have seen things close."
Current Selectman Joseph Nowak, who is a club member, thanked all the candidates and said he was happy a woman will be on the select board that currently is entirely men.
"I said this when I became a selectman I was hoping that we would have more women run for a position on the board and I think a woman will bring a different perspective," Nowak said. "As a selectman, I would like to thank all three of you and putting your name in the ring and I look forward to working with whoever is the winner."
Assessor George Haddad, who is the incumbent and running unopposed, also said the assessor's office is charting every property sale and the conditions in which the property was sold and if it was above assessed value.
Myra Wilk, a former selectman who is running for moderator unopposed, said she will be in charge of appointing five Finance Committee members and promised to appoint people without a political agenda who will be active on the committee.
Michael Mucci Jr., candidate for town representative on the Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee, said he is originally from the Boston area, has a civil engineering degree, a master's in business administration and moved to Adams with his wife in 2005.
He said he works for Allegrone Construction, a multimillion-dollar masonry restoration company with 30 employees and with unions in New York State and Massachusetts.
"I am very familiar with union negotiations, construction contracts, employee insurance programs and running a business," he said. "I think I manage the organization like a team where the whole is greater than the parts. I use that in sports, I use that at work and I like to use it throughout life and want to bring that to the school committee."
Mucci said he has also been active in youth sports and volunteers his time to help coach Hoosac Valley Foot Ball.
Mucci said he is concerned with rising costs in the district and decreasing enrollment and revenues.
"I want to make sure my two boys ... are getting the best education possible while maximizing the tax dollars of everyone in this room and I feel like we have a long battle ahead of us," he said. "…We fight over these brick and mortar structures while our children's education and programming are not flourishing."
He advocated working together to better education as a county and invest in programming and teachers instead of cutting year after year.
"Every year, we keep cutting programs and staff to try to stay under the levy capacity ... I think we need to find better ways to spend our money and stop cutting," he said. "We need better programming to keep kids in the district and we need to offer a better choice than out neighbors."
Mucci will run against longtime School Committee member and incumbent Regina Hill, who could not make the forum because of a scheduling conflict.
Last to speak was Cynthia Bird who is running for a parks commissioner against incumbents Scott Cernik and Jacob Schutz.
Bird said she has been involved in youth sports for more than 18 years and has children in the softball programs as well as basketball.
She said her main focus is to make sure all of the parks are safe and are in good condition.
"My concern has always been the safety of the parks, and I have witnessed the deterioration of Russell Field while Renfrew gets more and a fence goes up around it," she said. "I am more concerned about where we have things to do for our kids especially with programs multiplying."
Cernik and Schutz and any others running did not attend the forum. Outside of the three races, no other town seat is being contested.
The election is Monday, May 1, at the town garage.
