Chester voters hear from candidates in contested races

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC

About 35 Chester voters turned out on Friday night to hear candidates running for contested seats on the Select Board, school district board and Trustees of Public funds address issues and why they want to serve.

Moderator Bill Dakin introduced the candidates and asked each group some questions before allowing members of the audience to stand to ask their own questions. Jerene Slivinsky, candidate to be a trustee of public funds went first. The other candidate, incumbent Shirley Barrett was unable to attend the session.

Trustee of Public Funds: One 3-year term

In response to Dakin’s questions, Slivinsky told the audience that she is a “numbers person” who has done financial work for years, but now that she has retired she can do more in the community. The Public Funds are both the bequests of individuals for particular purposes (education and poverty relief, for example) and the interest those donations have earned over the years.  The trustees control the investment and the spending of those funds.

Slivinsky said she understands that the job is to make sure that the funds are used appropriately according to the wishes of the donor but is disappointed both with the few number of people who show up for the trustees’ annual meeting and in the low growth of the funds.

She said she would like to “bring fresh ideas and new perspectives” to the job and noted there has been tension between the trustees and Select Board over the use of funds. Slivinsky said establishing policies and procedures could help with that.

Chester Select Board: Two 1-year terms

Lisa Rufa, Tim Roper and Arianna Knapp are vying for seats on the Select Board. Rufa was unable to make the meeting due to a work issue. (Rufa sent The Telegraph answers to Dakin’s questions and you can read them here.) Dakin asked Roper and Knapp why they wanted to serve.

Knapp, an incumbent who was elected last March, said it took her six to eight months to learn and engage with the job, but that she began to care deeply about the issues. She said that there hasn’t been enough time to see those issues through.

Roper, who currently serves on the Planning Commission, said he and his wife moved to Chester in 1993 and that he also cares deeply about the town. He noted that this Select Board works well together and he believes he can work with the members.

Asked what were the biggest issues, both Knapp and Roper pointed to affordable housing and a sustainable economy for families to move to Chester. Both also support the work of the town’s new Housing Commission.

In response to a question of how they would promote the business sector, Roper pointed to the work that the Planning Commission has been doing to streamline the permitting process for business.

Both candidates mentioned marketing Chester with Knapp suggesting looking for the gaps in the sort of businesses needed in town. She mentioned inviting companies and making sure they understand what they get with being in Chester. Knapp said the town is phenomenal in the services, the resources and community it provides, but those may have to be cut if they don’t bring more businesses into town and one way to do that is to tell the world.

Also on the topic of growth and taxes, Roper said that in spite of inflation, the Select Board has done a good job of reining in the growth of the budget “but the ultimate answer is grow the grand list (the tax base) to generate more tax revenue.”

• You can learn more about the Chester Select Board candidates in The Telegraph Q&A. Just click here.

Green Mountain Unified School District Board: Two 3-year terms

All three of the candidates standing for election to two seats on the GMUSD board – Tuckeman Wunderle, Casey Leahy and Randy Miles – attended the Candidates Night.

Wunderle said he was born and raised in Chester and is the product of both Chester-Andover Elementary and Green Mountain High. Noting the two vacancies, he said he felt a social responsibility to fill the need.

Leahy, pointing to his two children in the school system, said his family lives here and aren’t going anywhere. He admitted that he didn’t have a really good understanding of the workings of the school system but he has “skin in the game” as a parent and a taxpayer. He added that he likes to jump straight into such work.

Miles, who has attended a number of school board meetings over the past 12 months related to the question of the Chieftain school branding, said that the board has had its ups and downs but is now on an upward curve. He said the board has to work as a board and learn to work with facts.

Dakin asked the candidates what was they believed were the biggest issue facing the schools. Leahy pointed to the decline in enrollment and the increase in costs. Wunderle said that fiscal issues and cooperation are “incredibly important.”  He also noted that some of the board’s meetings in the last year have been tumultuous, and believed that there’s a lack of trust between the school board and the community.

Miles said he thought the board needs to work together and “learn to work with facts.”

All three candidates agreed that the education funding system is complex and all admitted that they didn’t fully understand it but believed that the board needs to be fiscally responsible.  Wunderle and Leahy both spoke of the problems created by Act 127, which was intended to help poorer districts or those with other challenges such as a large population of special ed students. Instead it has resulted in spending that endangers the entire education fund.

Recent tension among board members prompted questions about how to work with people you disagree with and whether candidates can support results of votes that don’t go their way. Leahy said he has been involved with difficult union negotiations and that the key is to focus on the mission, which is education.

“Focus on the goals and come together to find compromise, that’s the deal,” said Leahy, “You can’t win everything in life, you have to be able to work and move forward.

“We are not here for ourselves but to serve the community,” said Miles. “Listening is a strong point for me.” He also said that when your point doesn’t prevail, “you take that and let it go…move on…can’t dwell on it.”

Wunderle said that people having personal views is part of being American but “…it’s a problem when it gets in the way of coming to a solution.” Regarding being on the losing side of an issue he said, “If it’s happening, it’s happening, you have to move forward.”

• You can learn more about the GMUSD board candidates in The Telegraph Q&A. Just click here.
• A video recording of the Candidates Night is available on SAPA-TV.