SWAMPSCOTT — Five candidates will compete in the town election on April 26 for the two open seats on the Select Board.
MaryEllen Fletcher, Kimberly Martin-Epstein, Catherine Phelan, and Scott Saunders are the challengers and incumbent Polly Titcomb, board chair, is vying to retain her seat. Another board member, Donald Hause, opted not to run for reelection.
Fletcher, vice chair of the Finance Committee and a Swampscott resident of 34 years, said she decided to run because she was worried about the turnover in Town Hall and wanted to see how she could help with her experience as an entrepreneur and an employer.
“I love our town and the people in it. I’m passionate about community service, and I like to get things done,” Fletcher said. “I want Swampscott to live up to the expectations of everyone who’s chosen to settle here, and I plan to make that happen by helping to shape policy as a member of the Select Board.”
If elected, Fletcher would like to facilitate access to affordable housing, ensure resources for senior residents and improve the town’s infrastructure, especially as it pertains to seawalls, coastal protection and resilience.
She also named preserving reasonable property taxes; attracting and retaining a skilled workforce; preserving open space; preventing unreasonable and overarching development; restoring and maintaining existing school structures; and supporting the revitalization of small businesses among her priorities.
Besides serving on the Finance Committee for the last six years, Fletcher is a liaison to the Capital Improvement Committee and longtime Town Meeting member. She has served as chair of the Recreation Commission, chair of the Encore Food Assistance Program and a member of the Harbor & Waterfront Advisory Committee in the past.
Fletcher is also a board member of the Massachusetts Association of Town Finance Committees.
Martin–Epstein, chair of the Affordable Housing Trust, said she is running because she likes to participate in the management and governance of the places she lives in.
“I want to lend what I think will be a rational, calm and thoughtful voice to the discourse,” she said
Martin-Epstein works as an attorney concentrating in commercial and real-estate transactions with a special focus on affordable-housing development and financing. She is the only female equity partner and the managing partner of her firm.
If elected, Martin-Epstein said she would seek to understand the cause of residents’ anxiety and the real issues that the town has. She would like to look into the tensions between the town government and its various service providers and unions, and understand why a lot of organizations in the town that are supposed to have contracts don’t have them.
Martin-Epstein would also like to see more mixed-use commercial development downtown on streetscape level in places where people are already trying to congregate.
“I don’t think there is any reason for us to have any vague commercial vacancies in an area where people love to be downtown and love to patronize the stores and restaurants,” she said.
She and her wife, Peg, have lived in Swampscott for almost 14 years. Their two children attend Swampscott Middle School.
Phelan decided to seek a seat on the Select Board to get civically involved in the town, as she felt a sense of lacking transparency and communication.
“I do give the current Select Board a lot of credit for what they have tried to do during the pandemic. I know it’s a real uphill battle,” said Phelan. “People are just looking for more with regards to their town government.”
As a newcomer to the Select Board, she would have no commitments or obligations to anybody but the community, Phelan said.
She is hoping to inspire more younger civically-minded people in town to get involved in the town government and various committees, to dedicate time and energy to Swampscott.
“That is what is really important is that we are all using our abilities to the advantage of the community,” Phelan said.
Phelan is an in-house attorney at a retail and wholesale oil distribution company. Her husband, John, a Lynn Public Schools teacher, grew up in Swampscott and together they moved to the town in October 2014.
“He has definitely transferred his love for the Big Blue to me,” said Phelan.
Saunders believes he could help the town government share information and improve transparency from Town Hall to various committees. He has a background in journalism and works for a publishing house as an editor.
Currently, Saunders said, he is not in a position to be privy to the information that would show what exactly the present issues in the town are right now. He also would like to see less polarization in the community
“I really think that for such a small community of 15,000, we can do a lot better to work together for common goals,” Saunders said.
Saunders has been a Town Meeting member for six years. He closely follows the Select Board and a number of other town committees.
He previously actively campaigned for the new school and has been a strong supporter of the Rail Trail. His property abuts the Rail Trail and he believes it will be a safe way to get to the new elementary school, the middle school and the sports fields, in addition to the recreational benefits that the trail would provide to the town.
Saunders has lived in Swampscott since 2014. He and his wife have three young children, who are part of the Swampscott Public Schools.
Saunders has been a volunteer coach for the Swampscott Little League for the last six years as well.
Titcomb, chair of the Select Board, would like to continue serving on the board to complete the work she has started during her first term.
Titcomb is most proud of the Solid Waste Reduction policy the Select Board was able to implement. As chair, she has also initiated goal setting for the board to make sure everyone is on the same page about what the board is working towards.
Titcomb is working on finishing The Select Board Handbook, The Code of Conduct Handbook and The Board and Committee Handbook, which will outline rules, create clear expectations and help boards and committees to run smoothly.
If reelected, Titcomb is excited to participate in the Land Use Summit, which will take a comprehensive look at the issues of open space, housing and affordable housing, in particular, and the need for commercial development.
“I want us to be an inclusive community that is supportive of affordable housing,” Titcomb said, adding that it is important to identify appropriate locations for affordable housing in the town, taking into consideration schools’ locations and town congestion.
She also believes that the town should encourage commercial development, especially small businesses, and make it more affordable for them to stay as it offsets the residential-tax rate.
Titcomb wants the town to continue to do all it can to offer town staff inclusive, fair and sufficiently compensated quality of life.
Titcomb has a private law practice, specializing in children and family law and child-welfare law. She has lived in Swampscott for 10 years and has two children who go to Stanley Elementary School.
