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Date: 5/5/2022
SOUTHWICK — Voters in Southwick will decide on May 10 whether to re-elect incumbent Joseph Deedy to the Select Board or to elect first-time candidate Jason Perron.
Deedy has been on the Select Board for three terms, and currently serves as chair. He is the nominee from the town’s Republican Caucus.
Deedy is the owner of Moolicious Farm in Southwick, and is the president of the Southwick Civic Fund in addition to his work on the Select Board.
In the wake of last year’s controversy over plans by Carvana to site a large automobile sales processing operation on former agricultural land along College Highway, Deedy commented that some of the numbers Carvana gave in their pitch to the town didn’t make much sense to him, but that the project could have potentially provided at least some tangible benefits to the town. He said that he would have liked to have seen the tax revenue from the project be applied to something visible to residents, like road improvements or common infrastructure.
Deedy said he typically tells voters to look at his track record from his nine years on the Select Board when they are deciding whether to vote for him.
His opponent, Jason Perron, is not enrolled in any political party, but has described himself as conservative-leaning with viewpoints from both sides of the political aisle. Perron has been an officer with the Westfield Police Department for 24 years, and has previously been in the Department of Defense and U.S. Air Force.
Perron has said he is running for the Select Board seat to bring a fresh perspective to local governance. After the political backlash of 2021, he said he wants to give residents the chance to make the changes they claim they want.
Perron originally was in favor of Carvana last year, but as he learned more about the project he changed his mind to oppose it. He has said he wants development and growth in Southwick, so long as it is with the right types of business and recreational opportunities. Had Carvana been proposed for a different location in town, he said it may have worked out better for them.
May 10 ballot
In addition to the Select Board race, the May 10 ballot will feature 12 other seats, all but one of which are uncontested. Voting is 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Southwick Senior Center.
The Community Preservation Committee is the other contested race. Republican caucus nominees Beth Lynn Thomas and John Cote, and Democratic nominee Christopher Pratt, are seeking to fill two open seats on the committee. Pratt had previously served on one of the appointed seats on the committee, but was removed by the Select Board last year.
The School Committee has two seats up for re-election for three-year terms, with Republican nominees Jonathan Schantz and Patrick Jubb running uncontested. Jubb was appointed to his current seat on the committee by the Select Board after Jeffrey Houle resigned in August.
Also running without opponents are Republican nominees Dean Horacek (Board of Assessors, three-year term); Norman Albert Boucher (Cemetery Commission, three-year term); Kelly Mangini and William Terry Jr. (two positions as constables, three-year terms); Patricia Odiorne (Dickinson School trustee, three-year term); Jessica Boldyga (Board of Health, three-year term); David Spina (Planning Board, five-year term); Joanne Horacek (Housing Authority, five-year term); Edward Charles Johnson (Water Commission, three-year term). For two three-year seats on the Board of Library Trustees, Democratic caucus nominee Tammy Ciak-Bissaillon and unenrolled candidate Cynthia Ann Warner have no opponents. There were no nominees for a three-year term on the Parks and Recreation Commission. It could be filled by a write-in candidate.