David Larcome, left, Shawn Neun, David Santi, Danielle Pipher, Tammy Legacy and Frank Morgano, all candidates for Roxbury office, appeared at the Roxbury Free Library for candidates night before the town meeting on March 2. Not pictured is Joan Leary. Photo by Sue Nevins, The Northfield News The Roxbury Free Library hosted a "Meet the Candidates" night last week to provide a forum for locals running for office to present their ideas and for the voters to ask questions ahead of Town Meeting Day.

Twenty citizens from Roxbury sat in a circle and introduced themselves, and refreshments were enjoyed, courtesy of Jane Valentine, Susan D'Amico and Danielle Pipher. While some candidates for contested positions were unable to attend, their focus and concerns are noted here with those of the meeting attendees.

School Board Candidates - The school budget has been a divisive issue in Roxbury for years and school board meetings will often have more citizens without school age children in attendance than parents. A recent meeting to discuss the future of the school was held which attracted at least 40 citizens who expressed their concerns. With incumbent Michelle Dickinson's retirement, there is one position open on this year's ballot for which two candidates are vying.

David Santi - A resident of Roxbury since 1979, Mr Santi, a specialist in the restoration of barns, has helped raise two children who have been homeschooled. He is a self-proclaimed fiscal conservative and "traditional Republican," referring to the historical frugality of the party. He has previously held the position of school board member and has donated his services to the school, and he is on the Ancient Roads Committee.

Mr. Santi sees his leadership ability as his strong point as a candidate. He is very much concerned about what he sees as the state government's plans for small schools such as Roxbury's. He warned the group, "The State is going to throw Roxbury under the bus. They're trying to fill up big schools at the expense of small schools." He is against school or district consolidation, observing that "we will just end up paying for someone else." If the state attempts force consolidation, Mr. Santi's plan B would involve turning the village school into a private, locallyfunded institution, which would not involve higher taxes, in his estimation.

Mr. Santi is concerned about the cost of education. "I want to bring quality way up and bring the price down." He wants to maintain the primary school in the village and believes that the town could save up to $200,000 if the seventh and eighth grades were returned to the school. Another issue is the cost of special education. Mr. Santi states that the federal government has not fully funded special education services since it started requiring "mainstreaming" (including these students in regular classes, with a one-on-one para-educator) in the 1970s. He insists that this is a large part of the school budget problem, stating, "The government is not paying for mandates...and we still keep taking it. We need to challenge the federal government's unfunded mandates. It has been a problem under both Republican and Democratic presidents and legislatures. No one wants to pay for what they require." In Mr. Santi's plan to "fight back," Roxbury would pay it's share of costs and when the federal government failed to provide its 30- 40% of the total costs, the school would put all special education children (without their individual aides) into a room with one teacher and include specialized toys and educational videos. The federal government would be contacted and told that the school would continue this practice until the mandate is funded at the federal level. Mr. Santi does not believe that the children would suffer academically and offers that they may even benefit from the situation.

A final issue that Mr. Santi reinforced was the importance of transparency. He does not believe that administration at the district level has been forthright with all budget information. He also is distrustful of the teachers' union, noting that a former village school teacher and negotiator told him that 'the union doesn't always do the best thing for the children.' "When we have transparency, that'll solve everything," he stated.

David Larcome - A resident of Roxbury for six years and the business manager for the Washington Supervisory East Union which includes Plainfield, Marshfield and Cabot, Mr. Larcome is also a husband and father, with a step-daughter at Montpelier High School. Mr. Larcome has been a self-proclaimed "community builder for 40 years" and has been a school leader for 15 years, during which time he has served as public school and substitute teacher, adult educator in a welfare to-work program and with the Federal Highway Administration. Mr. Larcome's wife is a teacher at the Village School.

Mr. Larcome believes that his three core values will contribute to the success of the school while keeping costs under control. He is a listener, noting that he routinely deals with teachers, community members and administration in his current job of Business Manager, which he has held for 6 years. His second core value is frugality. "I drive a small car and I live in a small house," he said and continued jokingly, "and my wife has to go out and buy me clothes." Returning to a more serious tone, he admitted that he voted against the school budget last year the first time around because of concerns over cost.

During a point in the conversation, Mr. Larcome held up the Vermont Education Law Book and observed that he works with this manual every day. He cited similarities between Roxbury and Woodbury in northern Washington County and the fact that other small schools are experiencing the same issues as Roxbury. Some of these schools have carried out studies and Mr. Larcome said he has been tracking these trends and will bring this knowledge and experience to the School Board. (At last year's Town Meeting, the voters rejected funding a study of options for the village school, and at the recent School Board meeting, the board reiterated that they would have to do the study themselves. Some residents volunteered to help and the Board said this option would be considered.) Mr. Larcome further noted that he had recently testified before the Vermont legislature at a House Committee on education and will be testifying next week before a joint Senate and House committee.

When asked what they thought were the current School Board's weaknesses, Mr. Larcome stated that the Board, "needs to take more leadership and be less likely to just do what the Superintendent says. " Mr. Santi added that "there has been a lack of consistent board members and too much change. We need members who will be there." He believes that a more experienced board with more time will give leverage to the school "to break away" when the state tries to consolidate.

Another concerned resident noted the high turnover rate of village school staff. Mr. Santi observed that "we need people who will deal with people at a good level." He referred to former Superintendent Dave Potter as someone who was transparent and worked well with staff. Mr. Larcome answered by saying that turnover was "the nature of the beast. Cabot has had four principals in five years. When the team is not well-organized, when the team isn't working together, the whole system fails. It won't be easy."

Another resident was concerned about the fact that classes such as art and music often get eliminated when voters want to cut budgets and wondered if that can be avoided. Mr. Larcome noted that he is frugal, but if something is worth the cost, he'll be in favor of it. However, he noted, "elementary teachers have a lot of arrows in their quiver," referring to the fact that they are often trained to teach a variety of subjects, because of the nature of their jobs. (Middle and high school teachers tend to specialize in one or two areas, for which they must be certified by the State. Consequently, they are only permitted to teach in these subject areas of certification.) "Being able to offer art isn't dependent on having an art teacher," he stated. In the past, the village school has had a parttime volunteer music teacher.

The two candidates, who had a friendly rapport throughout the meeting, acknowledged that over the years, they have spent hours discussing these topics with each other and agree on many of them. Mr. Santi commented, "Never before have I run against someone who is a big part of my plan," referring to his thoughts about tapping into citizen Larcome's expertise if Santi wins the election. Mr. Larcome also said that his opponent had "a lot of good ideas." One resident attending the meeting said that he wished there were two slots open on the school board.

Selectboard Candidates - There are three candidates running for two positions, a one year and a three year post.

Frank Morgano - A resident of Roxbury for six years and current chairman and incumbent, Mr. Morgano was a territorial manager for insurance industry for 42 years and is married with one grown child. He has been on the Selectboard for three years, two years as chair and is also on the Planning Commission. Mr. Morgano is running for the oneyear position.

Mr. Morgano emphasized two important goals he has for the Selectboard. He acknowledged the importance of not exceeding the town budget. He informed the residents that there was over $16,000 in surplus this year, mostly due to the fact that the initial budget had been rejected by voters, which led to a layoff in the road crew.

Mr. Morgano also focused on the need for attention to infrastructure, including bridges, culverts and roads. "The most visible responsibility of the Selectboard is infrastructure," he noted. During his current term as Selectman he has initiated a "Five-Year Plan" to consider the infrastructure needs in Roxbury. No plan, he said, had been in place prior to his election. He informed the group that the state had pinpointed one bridge in particular, identified only as Bridge #15 by the state, which needs some attention. Mr. Morgano said that he has spoken to Gene Sevi, Roxbury resident and Professor at Norwich University, regarding the use of Norwich engineering students to do surveys on area bridges. (The town has benefited from the work of the students on previous projects, including the library addition.) He observed that the safety of the townspeople is of the utmost importance and infrastructure needs to be addressed to ensure this safety.

Shawn Neun - A lifelong resident of Roxbury, Mr. Neun is an electrician and is married. He has been serving on the Selectboard since the resignation of former board member Michael George in the fall. He has also worked on the Ancient Roads Committee. Mr. Neun is running for the three-year position because, "I want to be involved in key decisions. I'm trying to make a difference." He also wants to get more residents involved, especially those in East Roxbury.

One of his concerns is an aging fleet of town vehicles and what that will cost to the taxpayers. "There is equipment that's over 20 years old," he noted. "There are going to be some hard times," he continued, "but I have broad shoulders and I can handle this job." In times of surplus, though, he wants input from town residents on what to do with their money. The importance of saving money is at the forefront of Mr. Neun's mind and he notes that saving what seems to be small amounts in many different areas will amount to large sums in the long run.

Tim Martin - A resident of Roxbury since 1985, Mr. Martin is a mechanic and has operated Tim's Auto since 1988. Mr. Martin has been on the Volunteer Fire Department for 24 years and has been the Fire Chief for 11 years. He is married with a son at Norwich University and a daughter at Northfield High School. He is running for both the one-year and the three-year positions because he couldn’t decide which to choose. “Let the people decide,” he states. Mr. Martin was unable to attend the Candidates' Night due to a previous family commitment but was interviewed the next day.

Mr. Martin observed that the most important goal for him as Selectman would be to get the most for the taxpayers’ money. “The town budget shouldn’t be run any differently than a business. Accountability is important.” He cited his experience with keeping to a budget in the Fire Department. In terms of town equipment, he said that it needs to be maintained and replaced, but this shouldn’t necessarily always involve brand new items. He also noted the need for a gravel program which he says is lacking, due to the fact that the town always runs out of funds.

When asked about their position on the issue of Ancient Roads in Roxbury, Mr. Morgano noted that he wanted to avoid lawsuits and that it would depend on the ramifications of each case. Mr. Morgano also noted that the Ancient Roads committee, after completing two years of research, has found no issues that would concern either the town or landowners, though he did note that the deadline is 2015 for any Ancient Roads concerns to be raised. Mr. Neun said that town right of ways should be kept open as trails and that he was only in favor of pursing Ancient Road battles if "it will serve a good purpose and help the town." Rediscovered ancient roads could be reclassified as trails as long as it doesn't affect too many people, he said. Mr. Martin recalled that previous Selectboards have thrown up roads to requesting landowners without public consideration. He also agrees with Mr. Neun that no roads should be given up and should instead be reclassified as hiking trails.

Library Board of Trustees - Danielle Pipher is running unopposed for a one-year term as Library Trustee. She has lived in Roxbury for four years and has been volunteering monthly at the library with her husband. She is interested in increasing community and school involvement in RFL and looks forward to working with teachers in the Village School. As a teacher herself, she sees this as a strength that she will bring to the library. Ms. Pipher works for several non-profit organizations around the state and is involved in grant writing with these groups. She is also a participant in Roxbury Roots, a local food and community organization and is an avid gardener.

Town Clerk - Jack-of-alltrades incumbent Tammy Legacy is unopposed on the ballot for Town Clerk, School Treasurer and Tax Collector. She has been Town Clerk since 2007, School Treasurer since 1998 and Tax Collector since 2003. Ms. Legacy has been a resident of Roxbury since 1985. She is married with three grown children. In addition to her work at the Town Office, Ms. Legacy is also second Vice President of the Vermont Municipal Clerks and Treasurers Association (VMCTA) and is on the Board of Directors of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT).

Auditor - current auditor Joan Leary is running unopposed for a three-year term.

Other candidates running unopposed who were unable to attend Candidates’ Night are:

Lucinda Sullivan (Town Moderator and School Moderator), Anne Maxham (Town Treasurer and Collector of Delinquent Taxes), Sally Archer (Lister), Steve Twombly (Town Agent), Chris Dorer (Library Trustee – three years).