Housing, finances top issues in Brewster Select Board race
Here is a closer look at the candidates for Select Board:
Age: 60
Education: bachelor's degrees in nursing and public health, UMass Amherst; master's degree in nursing administration and health policy and doctorate in nursing,
Employment:
Political experience:
Other community service:
Why are you running? What most motivates you?
I believe I can make a positive difference in Brewster's future, and I have the skills and competence to serve effectively as a member of the Select Board. My values motivate me. I believe in public service. I served our nation for 26 years in the
What is the most pressing issue in your town, and how would you address it?
Brewster has interrelated issues that we all must address. One of the most pressing is insufficient housing. To address that, I support changing our town bylaw to permit accessory dwelling units. I support creating a municipal housing trust to make it easier to develop affordable housing while we maintain town oversight. I think we need to evaluate how our current zoning may impede creating more housing, and we need to work to achieve our 10 percent state requirement for affordable housing. But we need not just affordable housing, we need rental housing.
How do you differ from the other candidates? What sets you apart?
As a
Benjamin deRuyter
Age: 40
Education:
Employment: lab technician, UMass Amherst, 1999-2000;
Political experience: Brewster Finance Committee, 2012; Brewster Board of Selectmen, 2013-16; ran for state
Other community service: president of board of directors,
Why are you running? What most motivates you?
Local government in my mind is where the rubber meets the road. The Select Board,
What is the most pressing issue in your town, and how would you address it?
It's not the sexiest answer, but I think that it really is about the fiscal condition of the town, because we can't address any of the other things without coming from a strong place financially. When the town goes to the trouble of generating a five-year financial forecast and that document suggests that we have very big deficits two to five years out, that tells me that we need to have a real serious conversation. On the Select Board there are all different skill sets that each member brings, and I was definitely seen as the go-to finance person. I think that's going to be really important as we try to resolve the deficits that are projected.
How do you differ from the other candidates? What sets you apart?
I think my experience in town government sets me apart from the candidates. My experience on both the
Age: 36
Education:
Employment: founder and owner,
Political experience:
Other community service:
Why are you running? What most motivates you?
I'm at the point in my life where I said, "It's time to get more involved." I have the time, and I have the energy, and I also feel like I have a ton to offer. I want to be a voice for, basically, a disappearing demographic on the Cape, which is young adults 30 to 40. And I feel like I can be a voice for the working-class people that are kind of in the trenches, grinding it out so they can live here. I'm not a retiree. I'm not the old guard. I have a different sense of urgency with regard to the planet, with regard to people, with regard to the way things are.
What is the most pressing issue in your town, and how would you address it?
The one thing that if we put a lot of time and energy into would have a domino effect and would help set the tone to start fixing other problems, to me, is housing. If you give someone the opportunity to buy a home in Brewster, that's going to affect everything from small business to the tax roll. So, to me, housing is something that I'd see as the biggest opportunity to put our time, energy and resources into because if we figure that out, it's going to possibly influence all these other problems we're seeing.
How do you differ from the other candidates? What sets you apart?
I'm a farmer on
Age: 67
Education: bachelor's degree in government,
Employment: revenue officer for
Political experience:
Other community service:
Why are you running? What most motivates you?
I think the motivation part is I've always been interested in government and how it works to help people. You run into people in the grocery store or wherever and they say, "If you have a minute I've got a problem I want to discuss with you." The intention is to take it to the town and see if we can get a resolution. Those are things that I like to do. I want to help lead where we go. I convinced the board that it was time to hold a special town meeting to discuss the new fire station, and I helped to sell it. I've had a positive impact on the future of the department and hopefully on the lives of so many people who, in their hours of need, will call, and this department will respond.
What is the most pressing issue in your town, and how would you address it?
Housing -- from the perspective of trying to help folks who can't afford to stay in their home, older folks whose pensions or
How do you differ from the other candidates? What sets you apart?
I think the thing that sets me apart is experience. I've got a college degree in it. I've got active duty in doing this since the early '70s. My hometown at the time, Randolph, after having a summer internship in
Age: 47
Education:
Employment: advocate for
Political experience: interned in
Other community service: volunteer teacher's aide and counselor,
Why are you running? What most motivates you?
I don't believe the present board adequately represents the demographics of the town, and I feel I can provide some of the missing representation along with new perspectives and creative ideas to deal with challenges that the town is facing. I have an eagerness to give back to Brewster. It's the town I grew up in. It really, quite literally, saved my life when I had my accident. The amount of support that the town has given me in being able to really start again with a new, fulfilling life -- it's heartwarming.
What is the most pressing issue in your town, and how would you address it?
I would have to say the lack of affordable housing is probably the most pressing issue, and that feeds into the sustainability of the town. Without affordable housing, young families aren't going to be able to afford to stay here, and that impacts our business community and the opportunities for new small business to come in. It also impacts how we can care for our senior population, because the people that we need to work in nursing and assisted living, certainly lower-level CNAs and personal care attendants, they certainly can't afford to live here and work in those lower-level jobs. I think there's some common-sense zoning changes that could be done, including accessory buildings, whether it's a small in-law house or caretaker-type dwelling, and zoning to allow businesses to have living space above the business.
How do you differ from the other candidates? What sets you apart?
The big difference is that I have the ability to devote all my time and energy to the board. I have the luxury of being able to treat this job as a full-time job, so I can really dig into the issues that are facing the town. Another thing is that I lived almost the first 20 years of my life as a fully physically able-bodied person and then, since my accident, the experience of living with a disability intersects quite closely with the issues that face the senior and elderly population. So I think that for my age I actually have a further insight, more insight than someone my age normally would have, on the issues that the senior residents of Brewster face.
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