South Hadley hosts candidate forum for upcoming election

Date: 4/7/2021

SOUTH HADLEY –  The organization Know Your Town of South Hadley and South Hadley Community TV (SHCTV) gave residents a chance to get to know candidates for the upcoming town election through a televised forum.

The April 1 forum took place on SHCTV prior to the April 17 election. Dalton Zbierski, who is a journalist for the Town Reminder, which is owned by Turley Publications, was a guest moderator for the evening. The first part of the forum gave residents in uncontested races an opportunity to introduce themselves to voters. Candidates among uncontested races include the residents

•Jessica Collins who is seeking a position to the Board of Health

•Evelyn Masson who is seeking a position on the Board of Assessors

•Mitchell Resnick, who is seeking a position to free public library trustee

•Timna Tarr, who is seeking a position to free public library trustee

•Lanette Sweeney, who is seeking a position to free public library trustee

•Bradford Hutchinson, who is seeking a position to the Planning Board

•Michael Davis, who is seeking a position to the Planning Board

Candidates for contested races were then given the opportunity to give a brief two-minute introduction and were then asked questions submitted by the public

Jeff Cyr, incumbent candidate and current chair of the Selectboard gave an introduction first outlining his experience and accomplishments. Following Cyr was candidate Trevor Baptiste, who was relatively new to the community having only lived in town for a year and a half. The third candidate was Carol Constant who said she had lived in South Hadley for the majority of her life. The last candidate for Selectboard was Rene Sweeney, who said while she initially moved to South Hadley to attend Mt. Holyoke College she had lived in several places in the Pioneer Valley, including South Hadley for several years.

The candidates were then asked a series of questions submitted by town residents. One question was regarding the town’s decision to not have early voting despite the state making it possible. Cyr said he believed that the town had made a decision prior to the state’s decision and guidance for early voting was released. Baptiste said while he couldn’t speak to why the town didn’t have early voting, he felt passionately about early voting and civic engagement being upheld. Constant said she was in favor of early voting and was also not sure why the town didn’t have early voting. Sweeney said her understanding after watching Selectboard meetings she was that the legislation passed by the state wouldn’t have given the town time to allow for early voting and she felt it was important to ensure early voting was accessible.

The next question was regarding climate change. Cyr said he was in favor of the town taking steps to combat climate change. He added that he believed the Conservation Commission was in place to protect the community’s resources. Baptiste said he felt the community should up their game with regard to climate change and he felt South Hadley was in a unique position with their natural resources. He said he’d be willing to look at creating a new municipal department for climate change. Constant said she felt this was an important topic, but she was unsure how she felt about starting a new department. Sweeney said she’d spoken to residents who had lived in Wellesley and had a unique system, which she thought was interesting.

The last question was regarding South Hadley’s two fire departments and combining the fire districts and water and resources. Cyr said he believed this was not a Selectboard decision and the responsibility of each district to combing. He said the districts were looking at sharing services, but the people would need to vote on the topic. Baptiste said while it would be good for the districts to combine, it was again not a Selectboard decision. He, however, said there would be benefits to combining districts and he felt the Selectboard could make a path for residents to vote on the issue. Constant said they were separate entities and she felt it was up to the districts to work on. She said “it would be great” to reduce the cost of having some duplication. Sweeney said it would be complicated to combine them and agreed it was not a Selectboard decision, but having the two districts cooperate would have added benefits.

School Committee candidates then gave a brief introduction beginning with candidate Danielle  Cooke, then Jennifer Matos, Brian Morris and finally Roxanne Sprague. The candidates were then asked about school choice and if they supported the program. Cooke said she supported school choice and she felt this program made South Hadley more diverse and a more unique place. Matos said she also would welcome children that wanted to come into the district. She added she wanted to work with families who had left the district to get them to return. Morris also said he supported the program and felt it brought in revenue for the school. However, he said standards for South Hadley needed to be raised to attract people to enroll in the district. Sprague said she too supported the program, and given the district’s success she wasn’t surprised that other students wanted to come into the district. While the enrollment in the district was down she felt they needed to do what they could to attract students.

When asked about overturn in leadership and working with the new superintendent Cooke mentioned a new assistant superintendent position and  four teachers. She said she was looking forward to a new superintendent and his strengths to continue evaluating the budget. Matos said she was excited to welcome the new superintendent and wanted to understand the turnover to avoid the continuing pattern. She added that she wanted to ensure that people coming into the district were equipped, were well trained and reflected the diversity in the community. Morris said he felt teachers needed to be offered a fair wage and benefits package and this, in turn, would increase staff retention. Sprague said she agreed with Matos and investigating why some leadership roles have been left would be important to ensure that the same thing didn’t continue to happen. She added that it would be important to focus on the new leadership to ensure they would provide a long term tenure.

Candidates were then asked their feelings about the School Committee’s actions regarding the school year. Cooke said she was glad she wasn’t a part of the gut wrenching decisions the committee was called to make this year, and she agreed with the decisions they made in prioritizing safety even if it was too stringent. Matos said she applauded the efforts of the School Committee. Matos echoed what Cooke said in regard to assessing children, and said the teachers and parents were best at assessing children in the community while working with other resources in the community, such as administrators. Morris said it was a challenging year and he was supportive of the committee’s decision and commitment to safety. However, he said he felt it was difficult for him to accept that South Hadley remained closed to high needs students as surrounding communities were opening. He said the district needed to rely on teachers and parents to assess children. Sprague said she advocated for early, safe return and the committee did the best with the resources they had. She added that there were many resources such as teachers and counselors to assess the needs of children in the district.

When asked what they felt needed to be done to be inclusive with regard to race and facilitate racial and social equality,  Cooke said she felt as though electing Matos would be beneficial for the community. She said she was happy with the work that was being put in place, but they needed to ensure the community carried forward with that work. Matos said as part of the racial justice task force, one of the huge benefits was having “messy conversations” and she wanted to open dialogue for teachers and students. This, she said, included equipping and educating teachers as well as having conversations within the entire community. Morris said he felt that creating dialogue in addition to education of oneself was crucial in this. Additionally, he said increasing awareness and developing a plan was essential. Sprague said she felt that it was the job of the committee to ensure families had equal access and providing an atmosphere of acceptance. She said moving forward all parties needed to have difficult conversations and reflect on oneself to ensure they could move forward.

Another contested race includes the Board of Health with candidates Christine McKiernan, Johanna Ravenhurst and Adam Sprague. The last contested race includes the Municipal Light Board with candidates Gregory Dubreuil, Peter Mcavoy, Carl Cameron and Joel Patruno.