Cavaco Plans 2013 Run for Selectmen Board

Seekonk Board of Selectmen Chair Francis Cavaco is continuing his tradition of early candidacy announcements. The board chair pulled papers this week from the Town Clerk's office to run in the April 2013 election.

"I'm not a candidate to wait to go chase papers," Cavaco said. "I don't do the 'will he run, will he not run.' There's no playing around."

Cavaco also announced his candidacy for the April 2010 election in October.

"I have work to do for the town that I have not completed," said Cavaco when asked why he was running. "There are still things that need to get done in this town, and the fixes can't always be done quickly."

An example of something that took time, Cavaco said, was for the town to get Chapter 70 state funds that it was owed. He said an announcement would be made at tonight's selectmen meeting that the town will be getting $900,000 over three years if the state revenue is available after an effort by himself and others.

Something Cavaco wants to accomplish in a new term would be to get state legislation passed so that state lottery aid only goes to cities and towns that sell tickets. He said it is unfair that communities that don't sell tickets get to collect the money.

Cavaco was first elected to the board in August 2008 when he defeated former Selectman and Fire Chief David Viera in a special election to complete the term of Carol Bragg, who resigned and did not publicly state a reason for her decision. Cavaco was elected to his first full term in April 2010 when he defeated former Selectman John Turner.

Cavaco's seat is the only one up for renewal next year.