MARCUS PHELPS
SOUTHWICK – Marcus Phelps hopes to continue his service to the town as Town Moderator and is seeking election to the position June 9.
Phelps has served Southwick for over 15 years in various roles, including a members of the Conservation Commission, Planning Board, 250th Anniversary Committee and the Board of Directors of the Southwick Historical Society.
Phelps was Southwick’s Town Planner for five years, retiring in 2012.
Phelps is running as an Unenrolled (Independent) candidate and pledges to meet the new challenge of holding Town Meetings under the COVID-19 guidelines. Phelps said he plans efforts to increase voter participation in Town Meetings and to make responsible appointments to the Finance Committee.
“This will include improved communication on the importance of Town Meeting and holding a public Town Budget Forum early in the budget development process to better inform voters,” he stated in a written release. Phelps is a Southwick native and grew up on Congamond Road, attending local elementary schools. After graduating from Westfield High School, he studied forest management at Paul Smiths College and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from UMASS – Amherst in 1968. In 1995 he earned a Master of Regional Planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Phelps enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1968, served on active duty as a naval officer during the Vietnam Conflict and was stationed on the USS Kearsarge (CVS-33) and the USS Cacapon (AO-52). After completing active duty, he continued a career with the USDA Forest Service that lasted for 36 years. During this time, he worked as a forester, budget coordinator and forest resource planner.
Phelps is a trained and experienced meeting facilitator in both team and large public involvement settings. In 1999 he returned to Southwick and shortly after applied his natural resource skills by serving as a member of the Conservation Commission. Starting in 2007 he was employed as the Southwick Town Planner for five years and is currently serving as vice-chairperson of the Planning Board.
Phelps and his wife Barbara, a retired public school teacher, have been married for 51 years and live in a historic family home located on Depot Street. They both are members of the Westfield Evangelical Free Church and enjoy researching family history, home gardening and traveling to visit their two adult daughters who live in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
As an independent candidate, Phelps said he “will represent a diversity of interests through his maturity, integrity, use of effective communication skills and a caring leadership style.”
Phelps encouraged anyone interested in learning more about him to contact him by email at [email protected] or 413-569-3381.
