Stu Sklar, Tom Phillipou vie for one open seat
Stu Sklar, who said last week that he would run for the School Committee as long as no one with the same views as his own came forward, brought his nomination papers to Town Hall Tuesday; a few hours later, so did Tom Phillipou. Sklar, sounding cheerfully resigned, said Tuesday he hadn’t spoken to Phillipou and didn’t know if they share the same views or not.
A six-year resident of the town and father of two children, Sklar was recently appointed to the Sububuran Coalition, an organization, he said, that “fights for more state aid to schools.” His goal, if he is elected, will be to maintain the schools and improve state aid. Sklar has worked in sales in the past; at present he is a stock trader who stays home with the kids.
Tom Phillipou, who is currently a member of the Board of Health and is running unopposed for a one-year unexpired term on that board, decided to run for the School Committee, he said, because he “felt that something has to be done to stop this disrespect toward our students, educators, and taxpayers. Everybody needs to give a little” to resolve the current teacher contact dispute, he said.
Phillipou has been in town for more than 20 years, is a Harvard EMT, and is married to Harvard school nurse Ramae Phillipou. He called the state Ethics Committee on Tuesday, he said, to see if that fact would constitute a conflict of interest and was told that he would have to recuse himself only from a salary discussion that involved his wife.
Phillipou said he will serve on both the health and the school boards if he is elected to the latter. “One meets on Monday nights and one on Tuesdays,” he said. “I can handle it.”
Margaret Grogan, a Bromfield special education secretary for 11 years who moved to the elementary school to work as an aide a couple of months ago, submitted her papers Monday to run for the open seat on the Park and Recreation Commission being vacated by Royall Cregar. Grogan has been active in a number of Park and Rec’s activities over the past several years. Her son is in his eighth summer as a beach worker; the Grogan family lives on Pond Road and so, she says, “has a vested interest in the beach” as well as in the soccer fields; and she has been treasurer of the teen center, in which her son is also involved, for the past few years.
Grogan’s son is Sean Doocey, a college freshman who serves on the Board of Health; he encouraged her to run for Park and Rec, she said. “He believes in being active in town.”
“This job is just a good fit for me,” Grogan said. “It falls into things that I’m interested in.”
