HADLEY — As the Select Board continues to examine the future of ambulance service for Hadley residents, four of the five candidates running for office at the April 10 town election agreed that a thorough analysis should be done before any long-term decisions are made.
At a forum sponsored by the Hadley Mothers Club in advance of the election, incumbent Joyce A. Chunglo and newcomer Christian M. Stanley, who are seeking the two, three-year seats and David J. Fill II and Jessica F. Kem, who are running for one, one-year seat, outlined some of their priorities. Some of the key points included keeping the public informed about town business, preserving the tax rate, services and community values, and improving infrastructure and municipal operations.
Isaac T. Ronke-Golding, who is seeking one of the three-year seats, was absent.
Chunglo, who has served on the board for the past 15 years and is seeking her sixth term, said she wants the best ambulance service for Hadley residents, and appreciates what Amherst Fire Department delivers.
“We’ve been very pleased with their responses and how they respond to our town,” Chunglo said.
Stanley said he wants to know how much it would cost to have a new provider and the different scenarios for ambulance service, which he calls a “complex issue.”
Amherst has a track record of good service offering advanced life support, Fill said, and thus he cautions against jumping to a private service.
“For now, staying with Amherst Fire Department is our best bet for the foreseeable future,” Fill said.
Kem said if the town had a finance director who could dig into the numbers, that would come in handy to inform her decision.
“I think this is a situation where that goal would be very useful,” Kem said.
Chunglo noted accomplishments during her tenure on the board, including formation of the Community Preservation Act Committee, implementing the meals and hotels taxes that provide money for capital expenditures, establishing the Department of Public Works, getting a new water treatment plant built and replacing water lines on Route 9.
She praised Police Chief Michael Mason for reducing overtime costs in the department, while adding liaisons for the schools and senior citizens, and Fire Chief Michael Spanknebel for enhancing the fire department and being able to cover the town for 12 hours and seven days a week.
“We’ve really expanded the public safety and that’s the most important thing,” Chunglo said.
Stanley, who came to Hadley in 2009 and owns Valley Malt, said he wants to champion the senior center and library building projects, and also to solve challenges by identifying common ground. This includes how to better support the fire and police departments and dealing with an aging infrastructure.
Having viable family farms and agriculrural-based businesses is critical for Hadley’s future, he said, but so is modernizing government with information technology and finance director positions, and looking for economic development opportunities that fit within the master plan.
“I think I bring a fresh perspective, entrepreneurial skills to the table that would be really great for the Select Board,” Stanley said.
Fill, a native of Hadley and U.S. Air Force combat veteran who founded an aviation consulting firm and is also a federal agent for Department of Homeland Security, said in a challenging financial time, Hadley should examine how government works and whether there are efficiencies that would preserve the tax rate.
He described using a commonsense and cutting edge approach to implement new programs and give public safety the resources it needs, as well as making sure improvements, such as information technology, are acted on immediately. Fill stressed that being open with the public will be a priority.
“I’m a big fan of open and frequent communication,” Fill said. “I’d like to see improved communication with modern media, along with Hadley Media.”
Kem, director of the writing center at Amherst College, wants to engage in a process of how to plan for changes and enrich the future of Hadley.
She said she would focus on priorities identified in the master plan, preserve working farms, focus growth strategically and support local businesses, and keep town resources in the heart of the community with the new senior center and library.
“If elected, I will work to find and create opportunities for meaningful engagement for a broad range of Hadley residents,” Kem said.
Incumbent moderator Brian C. West, who has held the position for four years, is being challenged by D. Dina Friedman for the one-year position.
While West said his main work is to efficiently run Town Meeting sessions, it’s the appointment powers that he feels are most critical.
“Probably the most important job of the moderator is you pick the Finance Committee and the Long-Range Planning Committee in the town of Hadley,” West said.
This takes a lot of thought and it’s not easy to find people to serve, even though it is vital to the day-to-day operations of town.
“It’s been a challenge,” West said. “As a moderator I’ve ran into a real hard time finding qualified people for the Finance Committee.”
Friedman said she has been a regular participant in Town Meeting for 20 years and contends that she can make improvements to the annual and special sessions.
“The reason I’m running for moderator is because I love Town Meeting,” Friedman said. “I love seeing pure democracy in action.”
She said her focus will be on process, including enforcing time limits for presentations and having an independent time keeper so discussions become more efficient and useful.
“I’d also like to see video projection at Town Meeting so people can follow articles and amendments,” Friedman said.
Friedman suggests orientation sessions prior to Town Meeting so people are more willing to speak at Town Meeting and make it a more pleasant experience for all.
Emma M.H. Dragon and Gerald T. Devine are running for a three-year vacancy on the Board of Health. Incumbent Jennifer Gould is not seeking re-election.
Devine is seeking to step from the Select Board to the health board after holding a variety of roles in recent years, including as moderator and a member of the Long-Range Planning Committee. Dragon, a registered nurse and EMT since 2007 in her sixth year working at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, wants to add to her responsibilities that have included handling emergency medical care during federal disasters in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico last hurricane season.
Devine said volunteering is important. “It takes everybody to make a town run right,” he said.
He said he would address two main issues — the epidemic of opioid overdoses and the possibility that Hadley could be affected by the cost of indigent funerals, and the pending adult-use marijuana laws.
“I believe I have valuable institutional knowledge that should be helpful to the Board of Health,” Devine said.
Dragon said she has five major objectives: to improve the board’s processes and procedures and increase use of technology; offer support to the police and fire departments for development of updated emergency medical service; educational forums for opioids; collaboration and team building within the public schools; and bringing medical knowledge and the history of the town.
“I look forward to being able to serve the town of Hadley in the Board of Health position,” Dragon said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.