GRANVILLE – Christopher Bouwer is challenging incumbent Ted Sussman in the race for Select Board representative in the election this Monday at the Granville Town Hall.
Living on Beech Hill Road in West Granville for most of his life, Bouwer attended the Granville Village School and proceeded to attend Westfield Vocational High School. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Vermont Technical College in 2009, Bouwer began to do handyman work around the local area before working as a subcontractor for his father’s construction company. Now, the 32-year-old does architectural design.
Currently serving on the Lion’s Club and having helped the boy scout troop when it existed, Bouwer doesn’t have any experience on any boards or committees in town. Despite that, Bouwer became aware of the open seat on the Select Board and thought it would be an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“It would be a great way to give back to the community that has given so much to me and my family,” said Bouwer.
If the resident of Beech Hill Road happened to be elected by town-voting residents, he already has some ideas that he’d like to see become a reality. Bouwer’s Beech Hill Road property abuts another piece of property that has been abandoned for several years and is in the town’s possession. Historically, Bouwer’s parents have shown interest in acquiring the land, but it remains abandoned.
Select Board challenger Christopher Bouwer. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
The hope from Bouwer is to find a way to produce some revenue from that abandoned property and other similar structures throughout town. He also pointed out the old West Granville schoolhouse at the end of Beech Hill Road, which Bouwer said was a selling point to his parents when it was a working school as the young Bouwer could walk right to school from his home. With buildings like the property abutting his home, and the old schoolhouse being abandoned, he would love to see them repaired and either used for something or sold in order to bring in more revenue for Granville residents.
“The town’s not getting taxes off of them,” said Bouwer. “It’s fallen to such disrepair, I’d love to see something done with them.”
Bouwer would also like to create a chamber of commerce in Granville where small businesses and entrepreneurs could form an organization to work with one another and create a network.
“Granville is full of entrepreneurs,” said Bouwer. “I would love to see that happen.”
An important issue in town that Bouwer wants to solve is the gap that he sees between town officials and the residents. Discussing the many current vacancies on boards and committees, he would love to help more residents become a larger part of the town government. He noted that five or 10 years ago, he never would have thought he’d be trying to serve on a board.
“It’s time to get to that point,” said Bouwer. “It would be great to get more involvement from the townspeople.”
An additional challenge that Bouwer would like to tackle if elected is improving the Granville Harvest Fair that takes place every fall. Believing that the number of people in the community invested over the years has dwindled, Bouwer would like to see that number increase in order to keep the great tradition going strong for many years.
“Not that Granville doesn’t have its fair share of residents that go, but we do draw a lot more from out of town, which is great,” said Bouwer.
When the polls open in Granville on Monday and voters need to choose one person to elect on the Select Board, Bouwer is hopeful that residents will understand what he could bring to the town.
“The people of Granville are looking for change,” said Bouwer, adding that that the cycle of how things have always been run in town needs to change. “I’m eager to see the changes made for Granville that it desperately needs.”
Regardless of the result of the election, the challenger still wants to make a positive impact in the community.
“Win or lose, I’d still like to be very much involved in the town,” said Bouwer. “I’m just trying to do my part.”
