Candidates Square Off

Candidates Square Off For Board Of Selectmen, School Committee

CHATHAM — Three candidates for a seat on the board of selectmen, and three residents vying for two positions on the school committee, made their pitches to the public in a candidates’ forum last week. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters, the event took place at town hall. The annual town election is next Thursday, May 15.

Board of Selectmen

The three men seeking to fill the seat vacated by Douglas Ann Bohman on the board of selectmen, Stephen Buckley, Michael Onnembo and Leonard Sussman, were the first candidates featured in the event. Sussman told voters he would draw on his experience as a member of the planning board and other town committees, helping him make sound decisions “based on facts, not fears.” Working on the town’s zoning bylaw and other planning board tasks, he said he has a keen interest in preserving the town’s special qualities. Sussman described himself as a hard worker, someone who “bears no grudge against the town for some personal past injustice.”

Onnembo pledged to bring “common sense decision making” to the board of selectmen, drawing on his career experience working in construction and real estate sales. He said he plans on retiring sometime this year from a current job with the town of Harwich, where he serves as a field appraiser. In 2003, Onnembo had a public battle with the Historic Business District Commission over plans to expand his home on Route 28. Onnembo said, despite what some people might expect, he thinks the HBDC is running well given its current membership. “I have seasoned a little bit,” he added.

Buckley said he is a product of Chatham, having attended school here before going to college and launching a career as an environmental engineer for the federal government. Having worked in that capacity, he said he understands “the whole mechanics of government” and knows how to get things accomplished. Having spent a number of years living in “suburbia,” Buckley said he has a clear perspective of what makes Chatham special.

Onnembo has been a vocal critic of the police station-annex project, and asked his opponents whether it makes sense to spend money on a police station which he said is too large, and town offices which are less efficient than they would be if they were under the same roof as the rest of the offices in town hall. “In my opinion, those two buildings will eventually be ending up near the $20 million mark,” Onnembo said.

If he could turn back time and make it so, Sussman said he would have built a consolidated town hall at the Main Street School, “but that day has passed.” As it stands, the design review task force has “done a good job” finding ways to make the two buildings more efficient together, and he will support the request for additional funds for the project at town meeting.

Buckley said the PD/Annex project is flawed because of an original lack of planning. “The actual design they presented was not satisfactory,” he noted. And because of what he called “negligence” in not anticipating public confusion over the project, “that extra year is going to cost us $700,000.”

Asked his opinion on the best way to create more affordable housing in town, Onnembo said the town should focus on acquiring existing properties for conversion to affordable units, rather than using undeveloped land to build new units. The town should also encourage residents to bequeath their homes to the town as part of their estate planning, allowing the town to create affordable units there.

Buckley said the planning board has been working on zoning measures that encourage affordable housing creation, “but I think we’ve skipped a step.” Not all of the units to be created will count toward state affordable housing quotas, he said. The town should expand efforts to develop units in the industrial zones, and to create units for middle-income workers.

As planning board chairman, Sussman said he has been working on affordable housing initiatives for months. He said the current set of zoning revisions up for consideration at town meeting represent a few good first steps. “There’s no guarantee that these new measures will succeed, but they are more promising than the old laws from 2004 and 2005, which have failed miserably,” he said.

On the matter of whether the finance committee should have a greater role in creating the annual town budget, Buckley said he thinks the town should consider revising the charter to make the group an elected body. “The idea that one person can appoint unilaterally a whole committee doesn’t sound quite democratic enough to me, as far as accountability goes.”

Sussman said there should be more collaboration between the finance committee and the board of selectmen and the town manager when it comes to budget preparation. “They are institutionally a sharp group and I think they deserve a more influential seat at the table,” he said. Preparing the budget is a difficult task, especially during tough economic times, he said.

Onnembo agreed that the finance committee should take a more active role in creating each year’s spending plan. In 2004, Onnembo said there was a difference of opinion on whether the community center should include a swimming pool, and the finance committee didn’t weigh in on the matter. “How the selectmen vote, they vote. It’s almost guaranteed,” he said.

In terms of economic development, Buckley said Chatham should follow the lead of Harwich, which welcomed BackOffice Associates to South Harwich, a company that provides “nice, clean, professionally paying jobs.” The town needs to recruit similar companies to Chatham, Buckley said.

Before trying to create more economic opportunities, the town first needs to decide whether it wants a year-round economy, Sussman said. “I’m not sure we know that yet,” he said. “We would have to break bonds of nostalgia for the good old days when, in September, come Labor Day, you could lie down in the street and nobody would run over you.”

Onnembo said Chatham will never become a haven for high-tech businesses, and to preserve the town’s character, more emphasis should be placed on supporting existing industries. “We should definitely be helping the fishing fleet and the shellfishing industries,” he said. One way residents can do so is by supporting dredging projects, Onnembo said.

School Committee

In the race for one of two seats on the school committee, four-term incumbent Jeffrey Dykens is challenged by school council member Susan Linnell and Campari’s Bistro owner Brian O’Keefe. A recurring theme in the forum was the possibility that dwindling enrollments may someday prompt Chatham to seek some form of regionalization with another school district. All three candidates said they are receptive to that idea.

In fiscal year 2010, the schools will face a new financial challenge when expected expenses rise above the projected revenues from School Choice students. Asked how the town can best address the anticipated shortfall, Dykens said the town has had a very stable tax rate in past years, without any big requests for the school budget. To meet the challenge, the district will continue to max out its School Choice revenues and look to control expenses wherever possible, and may look for ways to seek private funding through a school foundation. But in fiscal 2010, Dykens said “we will be looking to the town for more dollars,” possibly through a Proposition 2½ override.

O’Keefe said if a serious shortfall becomes reality, he would make a suggestion that might be unpopular. “I think we may have to regionalize, not only for financial advantage, but from an education standpoint,” he said. “We’ll be able to offer more advanced classes because we’ll have a lot more kids.”

Linnell agreed that regionalization is an option, since per-pupil School Choice revenues have not grown since the program began. Chatham’s municipal contribution to its school department is the lowest of any town on the Cape, “which probably shouldn’t be so if we want to continue with our school system being as great as it is,” she said.

On the topic of regionalization, Dykens said it can be a “very polarizing word,” but there are ways Chatham can collaborate with other districts, short of full regionalization. By sharing resources, Chatham can offer a better education for its students while realizing savings, he said.

O’Keefe said regionalization would have “a huge positive effect,” on local students by improving educational opportunities and by fostering more athletic competition. “I think the kids need to experience that,” he said.

Linnell said she is open to suggestions about regionalization, but the key focus should be on improving students’ educational experience by adding advanced classes and athletic opportunities. “I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes,” she said.

Asked why he wants to be reelected, Dykens said he is proud of the Chatham schools, “and I want to see that continue.” During the upcoming financial challenges, Dykens said he has financial acumen to lend to the discussion.

O’Keefe said he’s running because he has experience in starting up new companies, and enjoyed helping those companies grow. The Chatham Public Schools are also at a stage where they are ready for growth, he noted. “I think I would be a great asset,” he said.

Linnell said she is seeking a seat on the school committee because she has a family history of public service, and as a school council member she helped form the schools’ strategic plan and helped select principals. In the upcoming years, Linnell said she wants to see those planning efforts and investments come to fruition.

In the only other election on the May 15 ballot, Whitney Burr is uncontested in seeking reelection to the Chatham Housing Authority. Polls will be open at the Chatham Community Center from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

5/8/08