MARBLEHEAD — The Select Board appointed members of the new Traffic Safety Advisory Committee at its last meeting. After extensive reviews of their resumes and letters of interest, Select Board members interviewed 11 candidates and selected the three they felt were most equipped with the skills they were looking for.
Select Board Chair Erin Noonan voted for David Kucharsky, Gary Hebert, and Rick Smyers from the outset, as the three would go on to be the eventual winners. She explained what her mindset was going into the process and what she was looking for out of the interviews personally.
“The experience that Gary Hebert and David Kucharsky both have with traffic planning and mitigation strategies and their professional backgrounds stood out to me the most,” Noonan said. “That type of professional background and experience, I think, will be invaluable.”
She added that the third elected member, Rick Smyers, compliments Kucharsky and Hebert well with his bicycling knowledge and collaborative capability.
Smyers satirically admitted a bias toward cycling safety due to his experience but emphasized the importance of hearing from the community what it believes are the biggest concerns that need to be addressed.
“I don’t really think it’s the role of members of the Committee to have an agenda,” Smyers said. “I think it’s more to field the request of the community and help to prioritize and figure out what makes sense… we’re here to help advise based on what the community wants.”
Kucharsky expressed his satisfaction with the Select Board’s interview process. He has previous work experience in traffic with Hebert in Lexington and Salem. They were also both involved in the Complete Streets prioritization plan for Marblehead. While he is new to working with Smyers, Kucharsky reinforced the theme that his experience with cycling safety development will help balance the Committee.
“I know the work that Rick was involved in with the off-road bike trail in Green Street Woods,” Kucharsky said. “It’s impressive, and he’s certainly had that experience now of working with other town departments and staff.”
Kucharsky’s initial goals for the Committee are to hear from the town what changes and improvements they want to be implemented and, in turn, find out what the Committee is capable of realistically accomplishing.
Resident Dan Albert played a large role in making TSAC a reality, as he originally proposed the bylaw at May’s Town Meeting. Despite not being selected to serve on the Committee this year, he plans on remaining involved and serving as a resource as the Committee undergoes its early stages. He urged the Select Board and other authoritative positions in town to empower TSAC to its full ability.
“You now have seven months to prove that you’re going to get this right,” Albert said. “And if you don’t get it right, I have already written an amendment to the bylaw and showed it to the police chief a year ago, and I said, ‘this is what I want and what this committee should be’ after massive amounts of research into effective committees around the state.”
