KYT Annual Candidates’ Night:
Candidates for Town Election and Fire/Water District 1 and 2 Elections
Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 6:30pm
South Hadley Public Library Community Room
2 Canal Street, South Hadley
Know Your Town’s local Candidates’ Night 2024 will be held in person at the South Hadley Public Library. Candidates on the ballot for town-wide offices and Fire/Water District offices have been invited to participate. Based on the number of participants, there will be one combined forum on Thursday, February 22, 2024. Candidates for Town Election and District Elections are also invited to submit information about themselves to share with the public on our website. Write-in candidates will be offered an opportunity to introduce themselves at the start of the program and leave materials for voters at our information table. The forum may also be viewed live on local Channel 15 or at https://shctv15.com/watch-live and is also recorded for later viewing.
Video of the forum can now be viewed online (https://vimeo.com/916047883)
Know Your Town (KYT) is a local, nonpartisan organization that works to inform residents about local affairs. For information about participating in candidate events or to be added to our email list, email Martha Terry at: mterry@knowyourtown.org.
ELECTION DAY:
- Tuesday, March 5, 2024 | 7:00am to 8:00pm
All precincts and both Fire Districts vote at:
South Hadley High School, 153 Newton Street, South Hadley, MA
In-person voting for:
—Annual Town Election
—Massachusetts Presidential Primary Election
Sample ballots for the Town Election and Presidential Primary:
www.southhadley.org/1088/Sample-Ballots
—Annual Fire District 1 and 2 Elections - 2024 South Hadley Town Election and Massachusetts Presidential Primary
Voting by mail and early in-person voting are also available. For details about the Town and Presidential Primary Elections and voting: www.southhadley.org/elections. - 2024 Fire/Water District 1 and 2 Elections
For information about Fire/Water District elections and voting:
District 1: https://www.shdistrict1.org | District 2: https://www.shdistrict2.org
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CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Offices and candidates are listed below in the order of appearance on the ballot. KYT invites candidates on the ballot for town-wide offices in the Town election and for offices in the District 1 and 2 elections to submit information about themselves for this page to help voters learn more about those who seek to represent us. This page is updated as information is available, and statements are added as they come in. To submit information, email Martha Terry at: mterry@knowyourtown.org.
On the 2024 Annual Town Election Ballot
NOTE: If you choose to write in the name of a candidate on your ballot, be sure to also fill in the oval ‘bubble’ on the write-in line.
TOWN MODERATOR |Vote for One (3-Year Term)
John Hine, Candidate for re-election as Town Moderator
SELECTBOARD | Vote for Two (3-Year Terms)
Carol Constant
Candidate for re-election to the Selectboard
Thank you to Know Your Town for providing forums throughout the year to hear from the candidates and about the issues that impact South Hadley residents!
I am a candidate for re-election to the South Hadley Selectboard. In this role, I believe we accomplish more when we bring diverse perspectives together to solve problems or set policy. In the three years I have been on the Board, I have tried to do just that.
Over the many years I have lived in South Hadley, I have advocated and volunteered for the schools, for the arts, for young people, and for older adults. I enjoy working with others to create a vision and an action plan. Most recently, I have been active in South Hadley’s Age and Dementia Friendly Committee. The goals of this initiative come directly from the Town’s Master Plan and strives to improve the quality of life for every resident, whether young, old or somewhere in between.
My volunteer involvement gives me a unique perspective that supports and strengthens the work of our community. Please reach out anytime if you have thoughts or questions, cconstant@southhadleyma.gov.
Jeffrey Cyr
Candidate for re-election to the Selectboard
I have lived in South Hadley my whole life and have served on numerous committees, including 6 years on the selectboard. I think South Hadley is a great place to live and has a great diverse community.
We have been fortunate to have a lot of our infrastructure upgraded and I’m looking forward to improving affordable housing, a new Mosier school and the expansion of Buttery Brook Park.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE | Vote for Two (3-Year Terms)
Danielle Cooke
Candidate for re-election to the School Committee
Thank you to KYT for the platform to re-introduce myself to South Hadley voters. I am a candidate for re-election to the South Hadley School Committee.
In my professional career, I am a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and work for a local consultation firm. Our agency sends me into schools to work with their most intensive students and neediest learners to find successful solutions for them to access their education and support them in the least restrictive environment possible. My familiarity with how schools and Special Education departments operate initially inspired me to join the School Committee in 2021 so that I could continue to be an advocate for our most vulnerable students, and bring a voice for the relevant programming and budgetary initiatives needed to support them here in town. I do still have the same vision as I look forward to serving in 2024-2027, but I’ve also joined other subcommittee opportunities with inclusive missions that I look forward to continuing working on; including my role as Vice Chairperson of the South Hadley Human Rights Commission, and my role as a member of the South Hadley Public School’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (DEIB) Committee.
John Witkowski, Candidate for School Committee
BOARD OF HEALTH | Vote for One (3-Year Term)
No candidate on the ballot for this seat
MUNICIPAL LIGHT BOARD | Vote for Two (3-Year Terms)
Ron Coutu
Candidate for re-election to the Municipal Light Board
SHELD is close to completing the process of updating our home meters to “smart meters” under the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project. Those meters will enable residents to better understand their electric usage and to take more control over costs in the future. We also will be completing the connecting of all of the fiberhoods in South Hadley in 2024.
The SHELD board represents the voice and will of the residents of South Hadley and are in place to help ensure costs are kept low and reliability and services are still high in quality. One of the next major projects, building a new headquarters for SHELD, may be one of the highest cost projects in our town’s history, we will need to work hard to keep costs low to reduce the impact on rates. My goal as a Board member will be to keep costs as low as possible in this and all projects.
I would hope that you would vote for me on March 5th.
Ron Coutu, 207 Lathrop Street, ronald.coutu@gmail.com.
No candidate on the ballot for the second Municipal Light Board seat
HOUSING AUTHORITY | Vote for One (3-Year Term)
No candidate on the ballot for this seat
BOARD OF ASSESSORS | Vote for One (3-Year Term)
Evelyn (Lynn) Masson
Candidate for re-election to the Board of Assessors
I moved to South Hadley from Littleton, MA, in June, 2018, and joined the Board of Assessors in July, 2018. I am a person that likes to be involved in whatever community I’m in. I had been a member of the Littleton Board of Assessors since the ‘80’s, during which time I earned my Assessor certification. After several years working in community organization and finance, I worked as Chief Assessor in Concord, MA, for several years until I retired in 2011. I continued on the Littleton Board until we moved here. Upon discovering there was a vacancy on the South Hadley Board of Assessors, I went through the application process and was appointed to fill the vacancy.
I enjoy working with my fellow members, and admire and appreciate our talented staff. I’d like to continue my involvement as a member of the Board of Assessors.
Thank you,
Lynn Masson (413-437-7671)
TRUSTEE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY | Vote for Three (3-Year Terms)
Mitchell Resnick, Candidate for re-election as a Library Trustee
Lanette Sweeney
Candidate for re-election as a Library Trustee
I’m Lanette Sweeney, running for re-election. This will be my second term as a library trustee.
I love my local library, and it is my honor and pleasure to serve our community on the library board. I’ve loved books all my life and am tremendously grateful for the life-changing role the library played in my life as a child. I loved taking my own children to library story times, and I still remember their delight when they could sign their own names to get their own library cards. I have a master’s in English Literature and a BA in Women’s Studies from SUNY New Paltz. I’m a former journalist, teacher, and college fundraiser; I now work as an editor, writer, poet, and homemaker. My wife and I have owned a home together in South Hadley for more than 10 years and have four rescue pets. Our local library has an excellent director and wonderful staff, which makes my work as a trustee easy, but if there’s anything you wish your library could provide that it isn’t now, I’d love to hear from you.
Feel free to email me at lanettesweeney@gmail.com.
Timna Tarr, Candidate for re-election as a Library Trustee
Neal Broome, Candidate for Library Trustee
PLANNING BOARD | Vote for Two (3-Year Terms)
Bradford Hutchinson, Candidate for re-election to the Planning Board
Robert Watchilla
Candidate for Planning Board
I am a candidate running for one of two open seats on the Planning Board. I’ve called South Hadley my home for the past two years and currently serve as an Associate on the Zoning Board of Appeals. As a young professional, I have over three years of Planning and Zoning Experience. I was the Director of Planning & Community Development at the Town of Ware for 2 years and I currently work as a zoning/land use planner in the Amherst Planning Department. With my work experience, I bring a wealth of knowledge on zoning, land-use permitting, development trends/patterns, site plan review, and the subdivision control law.
If elected, I will use my experience to the benefit of South Hadley and its residents. My countless hours of plan review, code review, and zoning research will allow for me to review site/building plans & proposals in a critical manner. As a practicing Planner, I look to shaping a future that would benefit the residents of South Hadley. I am an advocate for attracting more business to Town while easing strict zoning requirements to be more friendly to businesses trying relocate to Town. I believe that new development (whether commercial or residential) should be thoroughly vetted in order to protect the health & safety of residents, to preserve the small-town character of South Hadley, and to help South Hadley grow in a smart & controlled manner. I am always open to hearing from you regarding general ideas, concerns, or even if you wanted to ask a question.
Feel free to reach out to me at: rwatchilla@gmail.com.
TOWN MEETING MEMBERS
Each precinct has eight Town Meeting seats with 3-Year Terms on the Town Election ballot; in some precincts there may also partial terms on the ballot to be filled. There are separate ballots for each of the five precincts.
Sample ballots listing Town Meeting candidates can be viewed at:
www.southhadley.org/1088/Sample-Ballots
NON-BINDING BALLOT QUESTION on South Hadley Fire/Water Districts
This year’s Annual Town Election ballot also includes the following non-binding question:
Shall the voters of the Town of South Hadley vote to petition the Prudential Committees of the two Fire/Water Districts to take whatever actions are necessary to complete a merger of Fire/Water Dist #2 into Fire District #1.
This Yes or No question appears at the bottom of the ballot.
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On the 2024 Annual Fire/Water District Election Ballots
District 1 and 2 elections: 7am to 8pm on March 5, 2024 at South Hadley High School
2024 District 1 Election Candidates
MODERATOR | Vote for One (3-Year Term)
John Hine, Candidate for District 1 Moderator
PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE | Vote for One (3-Year Term)
Mitchel Malinowksi, Candidate for District 1 Prudential Committee
Kurt Schenker, Candidate for District 1 Prudential Committee
WATER COMMISSIONER | Vote for One (3-Year Term)
Robert Authier, Candidate for District 1 Water Commissioner
Pauline McClaflin
Candidate for District 1 Water Commissioner
My name is Pauline McClaflin. I am running for a position on the Board of Water Commissioners. I have some experience being a board member for other establishments and have familiarity with its responsibilities. I am a retired educator and longtime property manager. I have been a resident of South Hadley for over 33 years and have been in attendance at more than 90% of our District’s meetings over the last 2-3 years. I feel that my experience and knowledge of our community, combined with my attendance at most meetings, give me background needed to support our District. As a Board member, I will ask questions, make educated decisions, and support our community members based on my understanding and knowledge of its history.
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2024 District 2 Election Candidates
MODERATOR | Vote for One (1-Year Term)
Carlene Hamlin, Candidate for re-election as District 2 Moderator
PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE | Vote for One (3-Year Term)
No candidate on the ballot for this seat
WATER COMMISSIONER | Vote for One (3-Year Term)
Danny Luis, Candidate for District 2 Water Commissioner
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