The Rochester Council on Aging’s candidates’ forum on Monday night at the Senior Center introduced attendees and the town to the contenders in three races that will be decided at the May 25 Town Election.
Incumbent Selectman Brad Morse is facing a challenge for reelection from Adam Murphy, the deputy harbormaster for the Town of Marion. Veteran incumbent Rochester School Committee member Sharon Hartley is being opposed for reelection to a three-year term by local parent Melissa Anne Goneau.
Jason Chisholm, Gregory Hardy and James O’Brien are competing for the Rochester School Committee seat that veteran board member Tina Rood vacated last year. Chisholm is the current appointee filling the seat. The election is for a two-year term.
Morse introduced himself at the podium by noting his experience in town government, his eight years as a selectman preceded by 12 years on the Planning Board.
The board he has served on has proposed important projects, he said, and it has hired full-time town officials to help the town move forward more efficiently. In answer to an audience question, he said the current board is considering using the federal ARPA funds that the town will receive for projects at the Highway Department. He elaborated the board is looking to build new fire and police station quarters, but ARPA funds require that the project be shovel ready “and we want to get the plans just right,” he said.
The current board, he said, is also keeping an eye on the proposed 212-unit, 40R development being planned in Rochester, and it is keeping a tight handle on the proposed MBTA mandate that towns near their new stations require more housing. The board is watching closely to make sure this new regulation does not affect Rochester too adversely.
Murphy, the son of Murphy’s Auto owner Michael Murphy, said he has joined his father’s business but has also worked on the Marion Fire Department for 10 years and the Marion Police Department for another 10 years.
While on the Fire Department, Murphy helped successfully join the department with the ambulance service. He is now a Marion Police patrolman and deputy harbormaster, where he helps with budgeting. He said he would bring all the experiences he’s learned in his careers – teamwork, management, budgeting, seeking important grant funding – to the job of Rochester selectman.
He emphasized that he is particularly skilled at helping the town through changing public safety regulations. “There is no longer an opportunity to hire a reserve police officer,” he said. “The experience they need is different now. My first-hand knowledge of this police reform gives me the experience to guide the town through these tough times.”
Hartley noted she has devoted her entire working life to education, from being an elementary school teacher at Rochester Memorial School and a principal on Cape Cod to serving on the local school board for 18 years. She said she believes in service and responsibility and wants to continue to help keep the Rochester school moving forward.
Her challenger, Goneau, introduced herself as a mother and grandmother of students in the Rochester schools who has concerns about the way school systems across the state are being run. She said she would find ways to take control back from state mandates. She said her main issue on the school board will be paying close attention to what curriculum gets approved and how and whether it is funded. “I want to be a voice against things that come at us from the back door,” she said.
The current holder of the two-year school committee seat, Chisholm, spoke via a Zoom call due to a professional commitment. He introduced himself as a sales manager for a Boston company who considers Rochester his adopted home. A native of Bedford and the son of military parents, he described himself as a man of high moral character who wants to keep working on the issues that affect the schools.
His wife is from New Bedford, he said, and they have 14, 10 and 8-year-old sons.
Chisholm said he wasn’t looking to join the committee until being asked to fill the recent vacancy because of his involvement in a local nonprofit. Now he wants to keep his involvement on the school board going strong. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and I look forward to working cooperatively to get it done,” he said.
Hardy, a fellow contender for the two-year seat, said he has lived in Rochester since 2016 and has two children at the Rochester Memorial School. He emphasized that he would be a strong voice for parents and the community, “for the safety and well-being of all students.”
Hardy singled out when in February the school committee “refused to listen to the opinion of parents,” he said. The committee had received the results of a survey that showed 80 percent of parents wanted to make the wearing of facemasks optional. Still, the committee voted that night to totally lift the mask mandate, he complained. “They wouldn’t listen to the voice of the community,” he said. “I will be a strong voice for the parent and medical freedom.”
O’Brien is the retired superintendent-director of Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School. He said he has lived in Rochester for 27 years. He noted he has spent over 35 years in vocational school education and retired seven months ago. He said he wants to join the Rochester School Committee now because he wants the students whose lives have been disrupted emotionally and academically by the Covid pandemic to get the extra help and support they need. As a school member, he would strongly advocate for that increased support.
By Michael J. DeCicco