By CHRIS LINDAHL
@cmlindahl
Daily Hampshire Gazette
SOUTHAMPTON — Candidates for the contested Select Board, School Committee and Board of Health seats will face voters’ question at a forum from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday in the first-floor conference room of Town Hall.
The town election is from noon to 8 p.m. May 4.
Incumbent David McDougall, Shannon Cutler and Charles J. Kaniecki are seeking two three-year seats on the Select Board. One is currently held by Edward J. Cauley, who is not seeking re-election.
Incumbent Joseph Moynahan, Margaret Larson and Tammy Walunas are running for two three-year seats on the Hampshire Regional School Committee. Current board member Kimberly Schott is not seeking re-election.
Jeffrey M. Dugas and Charles D. Kaniecki are competing for a three-year seat on the Board of Health.
The forum is sponsored by the Southampton Democratic Town Committee.
“I really think it’s an opportunity for voters to hear firsthand about who’s the most qualified and who maybe supports their viewpoints,” committee chairwoman Janet Cain said.
Candidates will be asked to answer up to six questions each. About half of those questions will preselected by volunteers and given to the candidates prior to the forum. Cain said those questions were submitted by members of a town-wide email distribution list — “some Democrats, some not” — she runs. “It really is a bipartisan event,” she added.
Cain said the questions for Dugas and Kaniecki include how the Board of Health must fulfill its duties in selecting a new health agent. That position has been vacant for most of this year.
Questions for the School Committee candidates include how the town can provide a quality education while also maintaining growth in the community given how much money the town spends on education at Hampshire Regional.
People attending the forum also will be encouraged to submit questions for the candidates Monday night. The most common questions submitted will then be asked, Cain said.
Ray Drewnowski of Holyoke will moderate the forum. Drewnowski formerly lived in Easthampton and works as a health care union representative. He has served on the Easthampton Housing Partnership Committee and the Easthampton Fair Housing Committee, Cain said.
“I just wanted to pick someone who understands what local governments are all about,” Cain said.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at [email protected].
