Five Vie for Two Seekonk Selectmen Seats

One incumbent and four challengers are running for two three-year seats on the Seekonk Board of Selectmen in this year's election. Voting will take place Monday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at .

The candidates are incumbent Dave Parker, former Selectman David Viera, Gary Sagar, Robert Blanchard and Nelson Almeida. Attleboro-Seekonk Patch gave a questionnaire to the five candidates. The responses can be found below in alphabetical order by the candidates' last names.

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Name: Nelson Almeida

Age: 34

What do you do for a living? I'm self-employed running a heating business.

What has your involvement been in town government and/or activism? Government wise I haven't had much involvement. I was active with school activities

How long have you lived in Seekonk? What keeps you here? I've been living here in Seekonk for the past five years. What keeps me here is a great school system, friendly people and the safeness of our town.

Why are you running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen? I'm running for selectmen to give our residents the opportunity to have someone with no personal agendas and who will work for the people and our town. 

What makes you qualified to be on the Board of Selectmen? What makes me qualified to be a selectman is that I offer transparency, honesty and consistency.

What are the top three issues in Seekonk and how do you plan to address them as a selectman? The top three issues I see in our town are lack of teamwork, too much friction between boards and low interest in our residents at town meetings and with voting. I will bring transparency to our residents. I will work as a team player so that less friction will be present between boards and the board I hope to sit on. 

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Name: Bob Blanchard

Age: 76 years young

What do you do for a living? I am a partner in a computer software development company that specializes in developing software solutions to nonprofit organizations, human service agencies and municipalities in the expertise of programmatic and fiscal systems.

What has your involvement been in town government and/or activism? I attend Board of Selectmen meetings whenever possible and participate in the Community Speaks portion of the meetings. I served on the Capital Improvement Committee for three meetings, but when I elected to run for the Board of Selectmen, it was required that I resign. I was active in the formation of the Seekonk Youth Hockey Association and was coach and statistician.

How long have you lived in Seekonk? What keeps you here? I have been a resident of Seekonk for 40 years. I have enjoyed those years. I like the community and the people, and plan to spend my remaining years here.

Why are you running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen? Prior to this year, I worked out of the Boston area and did a lot of traveling and could not be counted on to be available for meetings. Now that the commitment to my business is becoming less demanding on my time, I feel that I can devote the time that I feel will be required to be a positive participant in the management of our town.

What makes you qualified to be on the Board of Selectmen? As a successful business owner and manager, I have the skills and experience necessary to move issues forward in a timely manner. I will refrain from interfering in the day-to-day operations of the departments. I will contribute positively to effective management of our town. If the voters of Seekonk elect me, I can and will work with each member of the Board of Selectman, other town boards and committees and citizens with respect and professionalism as a team so that together we can help guide our town of Seekonk through this current unhealthy economic environment.

What are the top three issues in Seekonk and how do you plan to address them as a selectman? Managing revenue and expenses through sound administrative polices and directions. Moving forward with the Senior Center/human services and the North and South end fire facilities projects.

We need long-term budget planning of expenditures to effectively spend taxpayers' money. This can be done with a long-term capital plan that bundles and rolls into projects over time.

I will make recommendations to citizens based on my option, along with reasons for my decision so that every voter can make an informed choice at the polls. I will promote unity within our town government by developing partnerships among departments, boards and committees, and offer up an honest and respectful approach when dealing with all boards, committees, and residents who have concerns or issues. I will be a good listener to everyone I communicate with.

I will be proactive to promote growth in the business-zoned areas of our town. The business community provides strong revenues to our town.

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Name: David S. Parker

Age: 67

What do you do for a living? Retired

Business Background 

• 15 years in store management  (Sears Roebuck)
• 15 years in store management (Home Depot) 
• Owner of Oscars Hardware (six years)

What has your involvement been in town government and/or activism?

Town involvement

• Boy Scouts, Troop 1 (six years) 
• Narragansett Scout Council (two years)
• Founder of T-ball Little League in Seekonk
• President of Farm League (two years)
• President of Little League (one year)
• President of Band Parents (two years)
• Vice president of Seekonk J.C. S (one year)
• Co-founder of Save a Pet
• Founder of Save a Pet auction (over $200,000 raised in 20 years)

Civic involvement

• Elected RTM member (three years)
• Elected to Charter Formation Committee
• Chairman of Seekonk Personnel Board (three years)
• Elected town moderator (12 years)
• Elected moderator, Water District (12 years)
• Elected selectman (three years)

What makes you qualified to be on the Board of Selectmen? See above.

What are the top three issues in Seekonk and how do you plan to address them as a selectman? The top three issues are the Senior Center, fire protection in the North and South and more involvement by citizens in town government. Let's elect people who have the skill set to get the job done, not those who say they will. I believe I have earned your support and hope I can count on it on Election Day. I will not let you down.

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Name: Gary S. Sagar

Age: 57

What do you do for a living? Owner of Sagar's Services Inc. and Kraze Korlacki Speed Equipment Inc., retired captain for the .

What has your involvement been in town government and/or activism? I graduated from Seekonk High School in 1972 and was a member of the Seekonk Call Fire Department from 1972 to 1980. I have been an active attendee at Town Meeting since 1975. I was appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals in 2000 and elected by my colleagues as vice chairman since 2003. I was appointed in 2009 by the Board of Selectmen and town administrator to assist the fire chief with fire station locations in the town. Also in 2009, at the request of the town administrator, I organized a group of building professionals to evaluate building options for a Senior Center. My background in government and the private sector sets me apart from the other candidates. My complete biography is available at www.blanchardsagar.com. 

How long have you lived in Seekonk? What keeps you here? I have lived in Seekonk for 54 years. The quality of life is good. It is where I have my roots.

Why are you running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen? I am running for selectmen with the energy, enthusiasm, background and commitment to make Seekonk a better place for all. I will work to form a team with all town officials that will plan and prepare for the future. We have a great community with many good people and resources. As a member of the Board of Selectmen, the chief policy-setting board, I will work with others to chart a course that distinguishes our wants from our needs and recognizes the difference while planning and preparing by priorities accordingly.

What makes you qualified to be on the Board of Selectmen? I have extensive experience working in government as an employee, unpaid consultant and member of regulatory boards, which includes preparing and managing budgets. This experience when included with my business and philanthropic resume establishes my qualifications as the most qualified candidate for the Board of Selectmen. 

What are the top three issues in Seekonk and how do you plan to address them as a selectman? Our lack of planning has resulted in the need for major capital expenditures of our infrastructure. We must develop a comprehensive plan to update or replace our physical assets, including the allocation of resources to pay for them, while balancing the other needs of our community. We must evaluate the overall operations of our government and look for any area where we may consolidate our services.

When elected, I will request within 30 days the convening of a Quad-Board meeting (Selectmen, School, Finance and Capital Improvement), to initiate a process to evaluate consolidation of any finance and administration, maintenance and legal services for potential savings. I will also advocate evaluating the current structure of our town government, using the survey by our Planning Board in the recent Town Census as a guide to determine its efficiency and effectiveness going forward.

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Name: David F. Viera

Age: 60

What do you do for a living? I am a retired Seekonk fire chief, but to keep busy I now drive a rock quarry truck for S.M. Lorusso & Sons/Bristol.

What has your involvement been in town government and/or activism? I've been involved in many facets of town government, starting with RTM (Representative Town Meeting), Seekonk call firefighter, full-time Seekonk firefighter, Seekonk fire chief for 13 years, member of the Planning Board and past member of the Board of Selectmen.

How long have you lived in Seekonk? I have lived in Seekonk for 60 years.  

Why are you running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen? I am running for selectmen for several reasons. First and foremost I feel that the people of Seekonk need to be heard and I am willing to advocate for them. Secondly, over the past few years it appears that the Board of Selectmen have separated themselves from the reality of what we are faced with in these economic times. I feel with my experience, I can bring reality to the board and not allow checks to be written that we can't cash. In addition, I am running for selectmen because we need people in office who are not going to make promises that can't be kept.

What makes you qualified to be on the Board of Selectmen? My experience in budgeting both at the department level, as fire chief and overall budgets at the town level as a past member of the Board of Selectmen has given me the insight to determine between the needs or merely just the wants. My experience has given me the overall ability to manage what we have and make it work.

What are the top three issues in Seekonk and how do you plan to address them as a selectman? The biggest problem facing Seekonk, in my opinion, is finances. The town needs to decide and prioritize where best to spend the available monies without spending frivolously. As a member of the Board of Selectmen, I would cut spending where possible and shift monies to the areas of need.

The second issue I see is the lack of transparency within the town, specifically town government. We need to be transparent in all our financial situations. When budgets are built, they should be built from zero base and not built by adding 2 percent or 3 percent of an existing budget. And the third issue within Seekonk that I see is the lack of respect within the Board of Selectmen amongst board members and citizens as well. I would like to bring respect back to the board and I would like to open the lines of communications between boards and commissions. 

I would like to see the taxes be controlled so that it is affordable for young people to live in town as well as for the elderly on fixed incomes. Also, to work hand in hand with the School Committee to address and accomplish their needs when at all possible. I would try to maintain the style of living that we have become accustomed to in Seekonk. I would also like to enhance senior programs to accommodate the needs of our senior citizens. And last but certainly not least, I would like to ensure that the services rendered to the citizens are the same and equal from the South End to the North End.