The race to fill John Waterman’s seat on the Marion Select Board will be contested by at least two candidates, and both are presently serving on other adjudicatory boards in town.
On Monday, Carleton “Toby” Burr Jr. confirmed to The Wanderer that he is running, and on Tuesday, Marion Town Clerk Lissa Magauran confirmed that Burr pulled nomination papers on the first possible day. Dr. Ed Hoffer announced his candidacy on January 19 and has Waterman’s endorsement, but he had yet to pull nomination papers as of Tuesday at 3:36 pm.
Nomination papers became available to candidates for municipal elections on Tuesday in Marion and Rochester and on Monday in Mattapoisett.
Burr is a member of the Marion Marine Resources Commission, and Hoffer is chair of the Board of Health and also serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Burr told The Wanderer that he has been interested in running for the Select Board for 20 years but that the time is right because his son Tucker Burr is now running Burr Brothers Boats Inc., the family business.
Toby Burr made his announcement on Facebook: “At the urging of good friends, I throw my hat in the arena. I seek to be elected to the Marion Select Board. I think the time is right. I care deeply for our town. I am very familiar with our local government. The issues are complicated. As a longtime businessman, I know the strength of working with others to create proper solutions. I think I can do a good job. I would appreciate you vote in May.”
One issue facing Marion that Burr and Hoffer agree on is the need for market-rate housing to add ratepayers to town water and sewer and thereby ease the burden on the average taxpayer. “To me, the main issue is the town’s fiscal position,” said Toby Burr, identifying overly high water and sewer rates and a high tax rate as problematic. “We want to keep it a small, friendly, affordable town.”
To accomplish that, said Burr, the town needs to bring in people who are not necessarily going to require a lot of services. Everyone connected to town government seems to understand that to mean more market-rate housing and small businesses are needed.
“We want to focus on growing the town’s revenues, not through rate increases, but through the small growth of market-rate housing and business. They don’t require money and services, and they pay taxes,” he said. “We want some market-rate housing, (but) we want to stay a small town too. We’ve got to balance those.”
Burr identified the future of the soon-to-be-vacated Lockheed Martin property as the biggest cog in that wheel. “We want businesses in there,” he said. “We’re trying to keep Marion affordable.”
In Rochester, Select Board Chairman Brad Morse told The Wanderer he is running for reelection, and Town Clerk Paul Dawson confirmed on Tuesday that Morse has pulled nomination papers. David L. Hughes has pulled papers in Rochester to keep his seats as constable and on the Park Commission.
As of the end of the business day on Tuesday, Mattapoisett Select Board Chairman Jordan Collyer had not pulled papers for a reelection bid.
Also pulling papers in Marion was Open Space Acquisition Commission Chairman John Rockwell, both for his reelection bid and for a seat on Marion’s Planning Board. Both Chairman Will Saltonstall’s and member Joe Rocha’s terms are up this year.
By Mick Colageo