Power plant energizes Walpole candidates

Town officials, candidates and residents have predicted Saturday's election will be one of the most competitive for the town in years.

The most heated race has become the one for a seat on the Board of Selectmen. Al Crosby, Eric Kraus and Cliff Snuffer all will vie for that one spot.

For Planning Board, five candidates are running for two seats. Hopefuls John Murtagh, Richard Mazzocca and James Paul Taylor will look to unseat incumbents John Conroy and Robert Hirshom.

Taylor is also running for School Committee along with Susan Flynn Curtis and Andrew Zitoli to fill the two open seats on the board.

Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Precincts 1 and 2 vote at Old Post Road School; Precincts 3, 4 and 5 at the high school; Precincts 6, 7, and 8 at Fisher Elementary.

The primary issue surrounding the election has been a 580-megawatt power plant proposed for South Walpole.

Of the Selectmen and Planning Board candidates, all but one has spoken out against the power plant.

Planning Board Chairman John Conroy has stayed unbiased on the issue, saying it would be inappropriate for him to come out one way or the other.

Prompting several candidates' runs has been the complaint that Walpole citizens have been forced to fight countless noxious industries trying to come into town over the years, not just the power plant.

Crosby has stated he is for bringing the right industry back to Walpole to create jobs and revenue.

Both Kraus and Snuffer stated that Walpole needs to be well "branded" and "sold" in order to bring in good, clean business.

In March, the Planning Board backed Article 2 of the Special Town Meeting - a measure to make an initial step in keeping noxious industry out of Walpole.

Conroy, an architect of the bylaw rewrite, said he was disappointed the article didn't pass.

Murtagh and Mazzocca have reported the failure of Article 2 has, at least in part, fueled their runs for the board.

Hirshom, who also worked on the rewrite, was hesitant to vote in favor of the article as a Town Meeting member, because he felt it may hurt potential good businesses already in town. As a Planning Board member, however, he gave his approval of the article so it could be voted on by the full 150 members of Special Town Meeting.

School Committee candidate Curtis said she would bring her passion for public education and business acumen to the board.

Zitoli wishes to get involved in Walpole's budgetary process after spending a lifetime as an educator. He currently serves as the principal of Millis Middle School.

Taylor, who is running for both Planning Board and the School Committee, said he'd prefer a seat on the school board, if he were elected to both. He is running on a platform of cutting school spending.

Town Clerk Ron Fucile said he's expecting a large turnout for Saturday's election.

He predicts 50 to 55 percent of registered Walpole voters will make it to the polls. His prediction is based on the already high level of absentee ballot voting.

"This one has an issue near and dear to people's hearts," Fucile said, speaking of the power plant. "There's a very heated amount of discussion going around one central position."

Last year's election drew just over 30 percent of voters, he said. Even that total was above average because of the override referendum that appeared on the ballot.

On a town election day with good weather, Fucile said, Walpole will generally average around a 25 percent voter turnout.

The three heavily contested races and unusually high number of candidates running for Town Meeting seats will naturally serve to create higher turnout as well, Fucile said.

Town Moderator Jon Rockwood, Town Assessor John Fisher, Sewer and Water Commissioners John Spillane and Roger Turner, Library Trustees Paul Cesary and Janyce Goba, and Housing Authority member Aldona Stas will appear on Saturday's ballot uncontested.

Keith Ferguson can be reached at keith@walpoletimes.com.