Housing, finances top issues in Brewster Select Board race

May 20--BREWSTER -- Brewster voters will decide four contested races in the annual town election Tuesday, including a five-way race for two open seats on the Select Board, and will face one ballot question. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at Brewster Baptist Church, 1848 Main St.

Here is a closer look at the candidates for Select Board:

Mary Chaffee

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, University of Maryland; law degree, University of Massachusetts School of Law, Dartmouth

Employment: U.S. Navy Nurse Corps officer, 1983-2010; retired naval officer

Political experience: Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, 1998-2001; director, Navy Medicine Office of Homeland Security, 2001-04; politics educator for American nurses to improve quality of patient care, 1999-2012; Brewster Board of Health, 2011-present; Massachusetts Women's Bar Association Task Force on female genital mutilation, 2017-present; Brewster's delegate to Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, 2017-present; co-editor and author of textbooks and articles on policy and politics

Other community service: Habitat for Humanity after Hurricane Katrina, in Biloxi, Mississippi, 2007; marine mammal rescue, International Fund for Animal Welfare, 2011-12; baby bird rehabilitator, Wild Care Cape Cod, 2011-12; Beautify Brewster spring road cleanups; Audubon Society osprey monitor, 2012-present; bird-banding station volunteer, Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, 2017-present

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 Navy. I now serve Brewster on the Board of Health and Assembly of Delegates, and serving on the Select Board would let me serve Brewster in another way. I go to sleep at night and I ask myself, "What did I do today to make a difference in someone else's life?"

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 Navy nurse, I had two roles, one was as a clinician and the other was as a military officer whose job was leadership. I'm the only candidate who is a nurse. For many years I cared for patients, and now I'm engaged in activities where I care for my community. I believe I'm the only candidate with policy and political experience at the local, state and federal levels. I'm the only candidate who's a military veteran. I bring an excellent work ethic. I've handled strategic planning, personnel issues and budgeting, and I have a research background. Serving on a Select Board, even in a small town like Brewster, is a complex role with legal, financial, public safety and social justice implications, and I believe my background and experience would permit me to serve effectively.

Benjamin deRuyter

Age: 40

Education: Nauset Regional High School; bachelor's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology and Master of Business Administration, UMass Amherst

Employment: lab technician, UMass Amherst, 1999-2000; Chiliad Inc., 2000-01; currently own Aqua Bar and 1620 Brewhouse in Provincetown as well as three commercial properties, Whalers Wharf, Aquarium Marketplace and the "New Art Complex" on Commercial Street.

Political experience: Brewster Finance Committee, 2012; Brewster Board of Selectmen, 2013-16; ran for state Senate in 2015 but dropped campaign in spring 2016

Other community service: president of board of directors, Community Development Partnership; treasurer, Cape Rep Theatre

Why are you running? What most motivates you?

Local government in my mind is where the rubber meets the road. The Select Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board are making the decisions each and every day that shape our lives. I saw that in action when I served prior, and I very much want to be in that conversation once again because I think that it's so important for us to contribute back to our local communities in one faction or another.

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 Finance Committee and Select Board will be important. The fact that I've been a business owner, I've been self-employed for almost my entire life, I understand what it means to be fiscally responsible. I understand what hard work entails. I have a solid reputation for working hard for the town. It certainly doesn't hurt to have grown up in town and to be raising my three kids in town. Those facts alone demonstrate how much Brewster really does mean to me and to my wife.

Lucas Dinwiddie

Age: 36

Education: Nauset Regional High School; bachelor of science in crop science with minor in sustainable agriculture, California Polytechnic University

Employment: founder and owner, Halcyon Farm, 2009 -- present

Political experience: Brewster Vision Advisory Group, 2017-present

Other community service: Community Development Partnership, 2012- present; Beautify Brewster cleanup

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 Cape Cod. There are not many people that are dedicated to actively growing food for their community with regard to this group. I'm definitely going to bring a unique perspective with regard to ecology and small business, what it's like to be boots on the ground running a small business in Brewster at my age. My age sets me apart. I think we've learned from this last national election that people are hungry for something else, and I'm not saying I'm a Trump supporter, but this idea of experience. People are sick of experience when it comes to politics, myself included. I'm looking forward to basically reigniting people's trust in government, so they can look to the board and say, "That's my neighbor up there."

James Foley

Age: 67

Education: bachelor's degree in government, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Employment: revenue officer for Internal Revenue Service, 1973-1983; owner and founder of Foley Medical Supply in South Yarmouth, 1983-present

Political experience: Randolph Conservation Commission, 1971-74; Randolph Board of Health, 1972-83; Brewster Board of Health, 1992-96; Brewster Select Board, 1996-99 and 2004-present

Other community service: Kiwanis Club, 1989-present, served as president for four years

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 Social Security incomes aren't going up to maintain the costs, and those who would like to move into something smaller and they're worried about costs. I think we've got to have more affordable housing for older folks. There are not a lot of young folks who can afford to stay on the Cape, because the prices of homes are exorbitant .... yet we need them here to do the services.

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 Boston with the Department of Natural Resources, thought that it would be a good fit to put me on the Conservation Commission. At the time I was going to school at UMass Amherst. It gets in your blood. I'm out there a lot. It's what I do. It's a commitment. I've been doing it for decades. I'd like to continue to do it.

Laurel Labdon

Age: 47

Education: Nauset Regional High School; bachelor's degree in political science and public policy with concentration in Third World development from University of Colorado

Employment: advocate for Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled, 2004; manager for The Studio on Slough Road, 2006-15; currently self-employed doing freelance web design and public relations, mostly for artists and disability causes

Political experience: interned in Colorado for former U.S. Rep. Patricia Schroeder, 1990; advocated for stem cell research and Medicare prescription drug funding, 2004 and 2006

Other community service: volunteer teacher's aide and counselor, Orleans Elementary School, 1996-2004; helped plan Brewster Bicentennial, 2003; established nonprofit, Ms. Wheelchair Massachusetts Foundation, 2005; honorary chair of Sail Cape Cod, 2013-present; volunteer, Stony Brook and Eddy elementary schools, 2014-15; Figawi charity organizations and disability awareness programs in local schools

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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