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Date: 6/17/2020
SOUTHWICK – In Southwick’s annual Town Election on June 9, the current Select Board Chair Russ Fox and newcomer Celeste St. Jacques secured victories for the Select Board and town moderator positions over Charles Colson and Marcus Phelps, respectively. Fox won by a count of 652-233 and St. Jacques won by a 537-356 margin.
Fox, the incumbent member of the Select Board, said he was happy the town decided to vote him to continue his role with the board. “To me it’s a great honor that the town has confidence in my leadership ability to do a good job for our community. I certainly appreciate their vote of confidence,” he said.
Fox said one of his larger goals moving forward is to continue to live up to the number one place to live review the town received from The Republican’s Reader Raves survey. “That’s something that I hope we all continue to strive to get that vote of confidence again that the Town of Southwick is the best place to live in Western Massachusetts,” he said.
In the short-term, he said he was excited to see how residents reacted to the budget at Southwick’s Annual Town Meeting on June 16. “I think it’s a fair budget and addresses several major issues. So, I hope that we get that passed so we can do the repairs to our fire station and to supplement our Chapter 90 money to continue to work on roads in Town,” he said.
While the ongoing pandemic halted the town’s progress, Fox said he hopes it is just a stop gap before the Town continues its growth. “We were headed into a very good position before the pandemic hit and I’m hoping that as we get out of this pandemic that we’re able to pickup where we left off and continue on our promising path,” he said.
One of the current challenges the town faces is resolving the financial disruption COVID-19 has caused across the commonwealth. “It’s not just about Southwick, all municipalities are facing this issue. What we have to do is find that fine line of providing the necessary services of providing to our community, but at the same token don’t get to a point where people can’t afford to live in the community,” he said.
As a part of the current plans to reopen, Fox said that he was hopeful the town would be able to open the Town Hall in a limited capacity before the end of June.
While Fox has served as the Select Board chair for his most recent tenure with the Board, he said they will likely rotate the positions.
He said, “After the Town Meeting, usually our next full meeting we reorganize, and it’s done with a vote of the board. I’ve always been a big proponent of rotating the chairmanship whenever possible. Most likely Mr. Moglin will be the new chair, Mr. Deedy will move up to vice chair, and I will take over the clerk’s position.”
He added that he is happy with the current Select Board and how well they work together. He said, “I have a great board I work with in Mr. Moglin and Mr. Deedy, two very hard-working individuals and the Town of Southwick is very fortunate that we have those two gentlemen on the board right now. Working together we’re able to make some tough decisions.”
Fox said he was happy to see some new faces run for positions in the town, and win some of the races in town, including Celeste St. Jacques, the town’s new moderator. “She took that challenge on and she campaigned hard. I think it’s great because know we have someone who has never been involved, doesn’t have any bias, and just wants to do good for her community,” he said.
Fox said he hopes St. Jacques’ election encourages residents to run for elected positions. He said, “When people see Celeste getting involved, I think that might encourage other people to get involved, that’s something we’ve been try hard to do the past couple of years. We’ve been criticized for electing the same people every year, but the reason that happens is you don’t have someone stepping forward.”