Reed Won’t Seek Third Term On Select Board

ORLEANS – From the beginning, Andrea Reed said she would be a two-term select board member. Now as her second term draws to a close, she’s keeping to her word.

Reed, whose current term expires in May, said Monday that she will not seek re-election to a third term on the select board. She said the time has come for someone new to come forward and serve.

  “My not running again, it’s to create room for somebody else. It’s not about me,” she said.

But in the days since nomination papers for the May 19 annual election became available on Jan. 20, one new candidate has already emerged. Mary Wright has taken out papers to run for one of the two seats up for grabs on the board.

A member of the planning board, board of water and sewer commissioners, the wastewater advisory committee and the Orleans Citizens Forum, Wright said the timing is right for her to make a run for the select board. 

“When I retired a couple of years ago, I had time to think about being more active in town,” she said.

After beginning her career doing “research work” in Washington, D.C., Wright earned her master’s degree in public nonprofit administration. She spent 13 years working in municipal bonds and worked for a number of nonprofits including the Conference Board and Jobs for the Future. She also worked for the Society for Human Resource Management, where she ran an apprentice program for people looking to start careers in human resources. 

“Her previous professional life is so accomplished,” Reed said of Wright. “I’m thrilled. I’m sure she’ll do a better job than I ever have done.”

If elected, Wright said she would like to see the town focus on economic development. That includes helping shape Orleans into the economic hub of the Lower Cape, a goal she said is outlined in the recently updated local comprehensive plan.

“Unless we do some things around creating additional opportunities for people of all backgrounds and all ages, we’re not going to get there,” she said. “How is it that we think about commercial development, retail development, arts development? How do we find the place for those businesses to flourish?”

Mefford Runyon, who also is reaching the end of his current term in May, has taken out nomination papers for a fourth term on the board, although he said Monday that he does not anticipate actively campaigning this time.

“When I’ve been there for three terms, people know what I do and what I believe in,” he said. “I don’t think there’s much more to say.” 

However, Runyon said he would participate in any forums or debates that might be organized around the May election.

While he said he’s spent much of the past year weighing whether or not to seek re-election, Runyon said he’s excited to help the board follow through on a number of ongoing initiatives. Those include working to help adopt a partial property tax exemption for the town’s year-round homeowners, the construction of a new fire station and the town’s ongoing sewering efforts.

“I think all of these things have made progress,” he said. “There’s been traction.”

Housing will also continue to be a focus for him if he’s re-elected, he said.

“Housing at this point has reached a place where maybe some alternative approaches are available,” he said. “I think the days of the big, huge rental complex are over. Finding other ways to do this is really the next challenge.”

Runyon said he still enjoys serving on the select board, especially with the influx of new staff that have joined the ranks of town government in recent years. But he also voiced support for newcomers such as Wright throwing their hat in the ring.

Wright, meanwhile, said she will focus in the coming months on making herself known to local residents, boards and organizations.

“Meff is a known quantity. People know who he is,” she said. “I think my name is not as well known in town. So even if there is not an opponent, I guess I would say my opponent is apathy. So my thought is I have to run this campaign as though there is somebody else out there. I have to run it because I want people to get to know me and feel ‘I know who she is.’”

Looking ahead, Reed said after nine years on the planning board and six on the select board, she’s promised herself a “sabbatical year” away from local government. 

“It’s been a lot,” she said. “It’s been a long 16 years.”

But as her final term nears the end, she said she’s happy with what she and her fellow select board members have been able to accomplish during her time on the board. She said she’s also happy with the collegial way in which she and the rest of the board have been able to work with one another.

“We didn’t always agree, but because we’ve been serving long enough together there was tremendous respect,” she said. “That really made it a different animal. We’re really all working for the public good.”

Nomination papers can be picked up at the town clerk’s office in town hall. Candidates can seek election or re-election to the select board (two three-year terms), board of health (two three-year terms), Orleans Elementary School committee (two, three-year terms), Nauset regional school committee (one three-year term), Snow Library board of trustees (two three-year terms), Orleans Housing Authority (one five-year term) and constable (one three-year term, one two-year term). 

The last day to take out nomination papers is March 27, and the last day to return signed papers to the town clerk’s office is March 31. Candidates must obtain the signatures of at least 40 registered Orleans voters in order to be on the ballot. The last day to withdraw submitted papers is April 16.