Candidates’ Night forum in Chester on Tuesday Feb. 17

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On Tuesday evening, Feb. 17, the Town of Chester will host an opportunity for voters to meet and hear from candidates running for seats on  the boards of the Whiting Library and Green Mountain Unified School District as well as the Chester Select Board. The candidate forum will take place upstairs in the Town Hall,  beginning at 6 p.m. and will be moderated by Frank Kelley.

While some towns may not have enough people willing to serve on such boards, Chester is fortunate to have candidates for every office and even four contested races.  Those are:

• Select Board – Two 1-year seats – Lauren Fierman, Steve Mancuso, Tim Roper, Kelly Spaulding
• Select Board  – One 3-year term – Arne Jonynas, Jerry Ucci
• Green Mountain Unified School District Director – Two 3 -year terms – Patricia Benelli, Jeff Hance, Jerry Ucci
• Green Mountain Unified School District Director – One 1-year of an unexpired 3-year term – Jesse Bailey, Randy Miles

According to Town Manager Julie Hance, the evening will begin with candidates for library trustees followed by GMUSD candidates. And the six candidates for two Select Board seats will close the evening. All of the candidates have been given some starter questions that will be followed by questions from the audience. Candidates will have set time limits for responses and it will be up to Kelley to keep the forum moving. Since the retirement of Bill Dakin as Town Moderator after four decades, Kelley was appointed to fill in until the town meeting vote. This will be his first outing as moderator.

The Chester Telegraph is working on its “Meet the Candidates” article which gives readers a chance to compare candidate’s views and ideas in each election’s contested races. That will be published later this month.

Housing Commission meeting for the evening moved up

Normally, the Chester Housing Commission would be meeting on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m., but that gathering has been moved to 5 p.m. to accommodate the candidate forum. The commission’s regular meetings are on the third Tuesday of each month.