MERRIMAC — The five residents running for selectman made their cases to the town at a candidates forum Wednesday night.
First-term Selectman Ralph Spencer resigned his seat this summer and Ben Beaulieu, Bob Bender, Timothy Boyd, Genevieve Donahue and Chris Manni will be on the special election ballot to replace him Nov. 3.
Town Moderator John Santagate served as the moderator for the forum, which was televised live on Merrimac TV’s Channel 18 and will be made available on demand at http://173.166.104.124/CablecastPublicSite/?channel=1.
Beaulieu is studying communications and media at Merrimack College and was the student representative for the Pentucket School Committee.
He pointed to the recently completed police headquarters and the new middle-high school under construction as signs of a town on the rise and advocated for bringing new businesses to Merrimac.
“How about using the building behind Cozy Cleaners? How awesome would that be for our community to put a restaurant in or a brewery?” Beaulieu said. “There are numerous possibilities, not to mention the parking and the available jobs it would bring. How about the second and third floors of the North Shore Bank building? You could put studio apartments in that building. The location is optimal.
“The bus rides right past the building and into Haverhill,” he added. “Residents could commute via train into Boston. I cannot even begin to imagine the revenue that will bring in without even mentioning the tax relief. I want businesses like that in our town. Businesses with class and value that share the same ones as our community and our Merrimac.”
Bender is a retired assistant district attorney and has also chaired the town’s Zoning Board and Finance Committee. He was the town moderator from 1993 to 2019 and spoke of his love for his adopted hometown.
“You have witnessed me for over 25 years encouraging debate and discussion at Town Meeting,” Bender said. “I have led by pressing town officials to lay out their positions and take it to Town Hall. I did the same as an individual voter at the past two Town Meetings. I stood and spoke in support of police funding despite there being a Proposition 2½ override vote to fund it. As a selectman, I will continue to keep the public debate open to you.”
Boyd works as an embedded controls engineer, and although he has no previous municipal experience, the Hansom Drive resident spoke of his years leading various high school and elementary school groups as a student in the school district, such as the Pentucket Regional High School band.
“We need business, we need new business and fresh business,” Boyd said. “Innovative things that fit the culture of this town and give us new money. Because Police Chief Shears needs two new officers on duty at all times. Unfortunately, that was unable to happen. Because, rightfully so, the citizens of Merrimac decided not to override Prop. 2½ again. This is commonly an issue but we wouldn’t have to keep doing that if we just had business to support the ideas that we want to tackle.”
Boyd advocates expanding the Board of Selectmen from three members to five.
Donahue is a Finance Committee member who received her bachelor’s degree in business and management from Franklin Pierce College and is a paralegal. Donahue advocated for more commercial zoning and stressed the need for more transparency in municipal government.
“I am a part of this community just as much as everybody else,” Donahue said. “I would love to see the town become more involved with what is going on in the town. One of the biggest components of that is alleviating the false information that is out there on social media on both town platforms. I think a lot of people are misinformed and that trickles down to a lot of misinformation being managed. I want to make sure that everyone is well aware when we have Town Meeting and what the special orders represent.”
Manni was a member of the We Are Pentucket municipal ballot question committee and is an operations controller at Lindt & Sprungli USA.
Manni proposed that the town come up with a dynamic infrastructure plan while also vetting potential new sources of revenue.
“I want to create a Merrimac that will move forward for everyone,” Manni said. “We can accomplish this by mentioning the three steps that I have mentioned here: Creating town vision; pursuing those other sources of revenue; create that additional transparency and communication from our town government. As a selectman, if there is an opportunity to improve our community, I will not stay silent. Rather, I will engage the citizens on these proposals that I think they should consider. We can drive the process through the Town Meeting and into the ballot box.”
Voting in the special town election and presidential election will take place at Sweetsir School, 104 Church St. Polls open at 7 a.m.