Amherst Candidates 2013

[Dwight Brew]

Date of birth: February 20, 1954

Your background/education: Bachelors of Science Degree from the University of Connecticut (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science)

Experience/Occupation: IT Architect, Program Manager

Prior elected office:

• Amherst School Board (7 years, chair 3 years)
• Amherst Board of Selectmen (3 years)

Personal: Amherst resident for 30 years. Family: wife Carrie, children Jackie & Thomas

Priorities:

• Establish sound financial practices for Town government
• Develop a multi-year budget to address Town needs
• Communicate openly with the public
• Follow all regulations, Town policies and best practices concerning Town government and Town operations

Why are you running?

I believe I have and can continue to make needed positive change to the Board of Selectmen and overall Town operations because of my management and financial experience.

During my three years as selectmen, I identified numerous longstanding practices that needed change. Some of these practices included failing to comply with state law with our town audit, being significantly behind in our accounting records, and not adhering to town policies that could be financially beneficial. Although bringing these issues to the forefront has caused concern in the community, this was a necessary step to make sure each issue was properly addressed. Transition is never easy, but I will continue to push for change where required.

I will continue to work to make sure that the Board of Selectmen communicates openly and honestly with the public.

[Marilyn Peterman]

My name is Marilyn Peterman. I have lived in Amherst for 38 years where I raised my two children Jeffrey and Jennifer. I have been an active participant in community affairs for all but two of those 38 years. I have represented the Town of Amherst in many forums including in the region and the state. I have fought for the taxpayers of Amherst so that they are not treated any differently than other cities and towns in the State.

I am running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen in order to:

• Bring order where there is chaos.

• To bring transparency where there has been secrecy.

• To bring honesty and integrity where there has been the need to obfuscate and hide.

• To be proactive instead of reactive.

• To bring vision where there has been none.

• To begin the job of strategic planning by convening a committee of citizens with a broad range of perspectives and knowledge about the town.

• To look into creative ways to increase our tax base by meeting with the owners of our commercial- industrial land.

I am best suited to this position because I bring a sense of history and accomplishment to the Board. But more than anything, I bring experience.

Please cast your ballot on March 12^th for me.

[John D'Angelo]

Date of birth: November 17, 1954

Your background /education: BSEE from MIT ‘77; MBA from Tulane ‘85

Experience/Occupation: Management Consultant. I have considerable experience in designing and putting in place processes and procedures to ensure good controls on spending. I have also helped change the culture of companies and organizations that have earned a “trust” problem so that they could regain that trust.

Prior elected office: None

Personal: Hobbies: Golf, Scuba Diving, Skiing

Priorities:

1) get to the bottom of the current mess at the BoS
2) establish a culture of openness & transparency at the BoS
3) establish clear processes and procedures to follow in spending the town’s money—or enforce current ones if they exist and are adequate
4) make Amherst the preferred destination for people looking to live in this area

Why are you running?

Many times in my career, I have seen the corrosive effect the loss of trust and respect for leadership has on an organization. The motives of leaders are questioned, even in routine transactions, their judgment is questioned, and the inevitable “bad calls” any leader will make get blown all out of proportion. In our town government, the effect seems to show up in voters turning down any and all requests to spend money—a vote of “no confidence” in the leadership. We need to rebuild that trust, and we need to start now.

I am appalled by the current mess at the Board of Selectmen; the dump truck purchase, the Town Administrator suddenly being put on paid leave, and suddenly being brought back, with no (timely) explanation for either move, $11,000,000 in “accounting irregularities”. (Really? Aren’t the town’s books supposed to be audited every year?)

As a businessman, I would love to throw my support behind an outsider with the right background and skills to come in and sort the situation out. Unfortunately, none stepped forward. We are offered a choice between incumbent Selectmen and former Selectmen, so I decided to put my time and energy where my mouth was and run for office myself.

[Reed Panasiti]

Date of birth: June 5

Your background /education: Lea College, Health & Physical Education, Pepperdine University – Master Degree, Human Resources Management

Experience/Occupation: Facilities Manager, US Navy Retired

Prior elected office: Amherst Selectman 2006-2009

Personal: Married – Nancy, Children – Jennifer, Bradley, Jessica

Priorities: 

• Work closely with all town employees to develop a cohesive working relationship to foster trust, confidence and understanding.
• Develop a community action committee to attract new business to our industrial park.
• Work with local School officials to recognize, prioritize and consolidate any large scale budget items in order to reduce or maintain our property tax rates.
• Offer solutions that will enable us to maintain those traditions that have made Amherst a special place to live.

Why are you running?

I am running once again for the selectman position because I now have the time and energy to help lead Amherst into the future. I believe Amherst is a great place to live, work and raise a family. My wife and I made the right decision 16 years ago to retire here after the military. Our goal was to find a community where we could be involved. We raised two great kids who enjoyed everything Amherst had to offer. From Fourth of July and Memorial day parades, Halloween trick or treat in the Village, and Holiday Tree Lightings. Both enjoyed a great education through the Amherst school system and now are out on their own with successful careers. My wife Nancy has worked as the elementary school nurse for 15 years and we co-owned the Homestead Grocery & Deli for 6 years. I have been involved with the community in some form or another for those 16 years. I have served on the Fourth of July committee for many years and served on several boards and committee. These diverse experiences have helped me appreciate Amherst from many perspectives. I am dedicated to our community and my goal is to help see Amherst maintain the traditions that make it special. I will strive to facilitate the growth of our town in a positive direction for our citizens today and in the future.

[Allen Merriman]

Date of birth: 1963

Your background /education: B.S. Engineering Purdue University. MBA Purdue University

Experience/Occupation: 20+ Years Management Consulting to Industry and Federal and State Governments, including regulatory analysis, strategy, operations, organization and change management. Senior Manager for technology and telephony firms, including solution development and implementation, sales, and major account management

Prior elected office:  None, but I am a trail steward for the Amherst Conservation Commission and my wife is an active volunteer at Wilkins School and for the Amherst PTA

Personal: Married to Lori Mix for 14 years. Children Everett and Anya are at Wilkins School

Priorities:

• Improve transparency and access to ZBA issues and decisions
• Build on the reasoned, fact-based discussions and decisions of the Board

Why are you running?

I’ve thrown my hat in the ring for three reasons:

This is a great town, we love living here, and I wish to contribute more  Member of the Zoning Board of Adjustments  is a role in which I can contribute effectively, having an appreciation for the need to respect personal property rights, balanced with maintaining the character of the town, respect for neighbors, and the potential for increasing the property tax base

There is clearly an opportunity for improvement in town government, especially as it relates to openness/transparency of town operations.  

We moved to New Hampshire, and to Amherst in particular, for the quality of life.  And I can tell you we have found that quality of life to be outstanding.  I want to do my part to maintain or even improve this quality of life, which does not always mean attempting to keep things exactly as they are, because stasis ultimately leads to decline.  What it does mean is striving to maintain the proper balance between growth, the character of the town and personal property rights.

I am convinced that we can strike this balance while productively resolving several ongoing issues in the town regarding land use.  There are a number of issues in the community that are impacted by zoning, including the need for recreation fields and the opportunity for new businesses and the associated property taxes.  

As a management consultant, I will bring a broad set of relevant skills to this position, including mediation and facilitation; operational and process improvements; and analysis and problem-solving.  Each of these skills would contribute to resolving long-standing issues and those which will undoubtedly arise in the future.

Attendance by current members of the board also appears to be a problem, as evidenced by the difficulty in achieving a quorum at the February meeting, at which only two members and two alternates were present.  Perhaps my opponent Mr. Rowe, for instance, has his hands full serving in the State House and really doesn’t have the time to devote to his position on the ZBA.

Zoning compliance and adjustments are difficult enough for property owners without placing the additional burden on petitioners of potentially having to attend multiple sessions and restate their case.  I would suggest that some new blood on the Board would help to overcome this apparent lack of attention and seriousness.

If I am elected to serve on the Zoning Board of Appeals, I will be attentive to the needs of the town and its residents and be devoted to achieving the appropriate balance of property rights, town character and growth.

[Robert Rowe]

Date of birth: June 18, 1932 

Your background /education: Business, law and legislator background with a BBA from the University of Pittsburgh and JD degree from Suffolk University Law School 

Experience/Occupation: Corporation marketing until 1970, then practice of law in NH until 1990, then elected member of the NH House of Representatives

Prior elected office: Zoning Board of Adjustment, NH House of Representatives 

Personal: Married 

Priorities: As a member of the ZBA my priority is to follow the state and local laws in making a determination on applications for zoning relief and administrative appeals.

[Peg Bennett]

Date of birth: Old enough to take the job seriously and young enough to keep it fun!

Your background /education: University of NH, BA in Communications

Experience/Occupation:  Previous – project management, curriculum development, sales, marketing, hiring, and finance.  Current – property management

Prior elected office: Amherst School Board, 2 terms (ASD Ways and Means, 2 years –appointed)

Personal:  I am married and I have lived in Amherst for 23+ years. I have two boys.  One is a senior at Souhegan and the other is a freshman.

Priorities:

1. building responsible operating budgets
2. providing the resources we need to deliver exceptional education in 21^st century classrooms
3. being approachable, flexible, and accountable

Why are you running?

I am proud of the things I have accomplished on the board so far and I want to continue making a contribution to the strategic direction of the district. .  I am running as a team with Lucienne Foulks because our experience is needed to maintain the momentum of the board and I believe it is in the best interest of the community.
Thank you!

[Lucienne Foulks]              

Date of birth:  My birthday is in May and I’m a Taurus.

Your background/education: B.A. Sociology, M.Ed. Counseling University of NH

Experience/Occupation: Guidance counseling, special education and program management

Prior elected office: Amherst School Board 2010-2013

Personal: Married with 3 sons ages 17, 15 and 9  Resident of Amherst for over 30 years

Priorities: 

• Accountability at all levels of education
• Preparing our students to compete in a 21st Century global arena. 
• Fiscal responsibility and efficiency of resources and personnel

Why are you running?  I am an action oriented and resolution focused person.  I have spent the last three years developing positive and productive working relationships with our teachers, administration and my fellow board members.  I am running as a team with Peg Bennett because I believe that the consistency of our board and our ability to continue working toward our district goals and developing a strategic plan will serve the best interests of our students and taxpayers.

[Michael Costolo]

Date of birth: 1972

Your background /education: I hold a BS in Physics from The Pennsylvania State University where I received the Outstanding Physics Student award.  I also hold a MS in Materials Science from The University of California at Santa Barbara where I studied at the Institute for Polymers and Organic Solids under Professor Alan Heeger, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry while I was his student at the Institute.  

Experience/Occupation: I am a Principal Scientist at Physical Sciences Inc. in Andover, MA.  Prior to moving to Amherst I was with DuPont's OLED display division in Santa Barbara, CA.

Prior elected office: Nothing public.

Personal: I am married and we have two children.

Priorities:  I don't think anyone will be shocked to learn that math and science education are important to me.

Why are you running?

I am running for a seat on the Amherst School Board for a few reasons.  If you talk to people in town about our schools, you quickly find a few themes, mostly cost and quality, that have been their concerns for a while now.  There are some real questions in peoples minds about accountability as well.  I have already made public my plans to address these issues by establishing clear goals, whose accomplishment the administration can be held accountable for.  These goals will also be used to prioritize our spending choices so that we can spend more efficiently without sacrificing educational quality.  My decision to run makes this election competitive, the first competitive Amherst School Board election in some time, and gives the voters of Amherst the choice to start making the changes we need.

[Richard Lefebvre]

Date of birth: 2-3-31

Your background/education: Bachelor Business Administration

Experience/Occupation: Retired

Prior elected office: None - Several volunteer appointments

Personal: My wife, children and I have enjoyed the beauty of our town since we moved here forty-three years ago. Its colonial character has been preserved by concerned citizens who appreciate our town heritage and have worked tirelessly to maintain it.

Priorities: My intention is to continue my efforts toward maintaining the unique quality and character of Amherst.

Why are you running?

I am running for Cemetery Trustee so that I can continue to serve the Town in a manner that will provide assistance in accomplishing a fitting and attractive resting place for residents and their loved ones.

[Peter Bergin]

Date of birth: 5/10/1944

Your background/education: St. Francis College, Pa Babson College MBA

Experience/Occupation: Self employed sales/marketing

Prior elected office: State Representative, NH Legislature 14 years (7 terms) 1996 to 2010

• Chairman & Member Amherst ZBA 1988-1994 
• Chairman & Member of Amherst Trustees of the Trust Fund since 1994
• Chairman& Member of Amherst Cemetery Trustees since 2001
• Bean Foundation Trustee 5 years
• Amherst Fire Department 30 years
• Amherst Citizen of the Year

Personal: Resident of Amherst 40 years. Married to Ann C. Bergin 2 married daughters

Priorities: Building Forestview Cemetery

Why are you running? As a current Trustee of the Amherst Cemetery Trust, I am pleased to run again, to offer my services to the town, so that we can continue the planning of the building of Forestview Cemetery which has been our biggest project over the last several years.  The agreement with the Amherst Recreation Department for use of Cemetery Fields ends September, 2014. The state of NH has stated: RSA 289:2 requires every municipality to provide one or more suitable cemeteries for interring the deceased people within its boundaries.  

In 2014, the land will become a cemetery and construction for Phase One will start.  The Trustees have been working with a landscape architect and engineering firm.  We now have a Master Plan for the Cemetery and are in the process of firming up Phase One which will cost approximately $165,000.  In addition we are in the process of filing a petition to determine the amount the NH Superior Court will allow us to use, from accrued interest. The Trustees are not allowed to use principal.  It is our hope that 2/3 of the cost will come from the Amherst Cemetery Trust Fund and the remaining third from the Town.

For experience, I have served as a Cemetery Trustee since 2001 and Chairman since 2004.  During that time, we have installed new fencing at Meadowview Cemetery, removed trees that were safety hazards, or otherwise caused problems with upkeep; we have employed a maintenance person working to improve the appearance of the cemeteries, and prepared for the 2014 Forestview construction.  In addition, we have had a flat budget for the last several years.

In running for re-election, I offer my experience, diligence and knowledge of the RSAs to carry out my fiduciary responsibilities as an Amherst Cemetery Trustee. I ask for your vote on March 12.