At the candidates forum Tuesday night, Eric Ward and Adam Wool, who are competing for an open seat on the Select Board, fielded questions that ran the gamut of local concerns—town finances, climate change, government structure, Alltown Fresh, and more.
About 45 people signed in for the forum, which was held on Zoom and was co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Harvard and the Harvard Press. League board member Meg Bagdonas opened the forum with a welcome and a reminder that the special election will be held Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Hildreth Elementary School. “Please note, it’s Wednesday, not Tuesday,” she emphasized.
Each candidate made a short opening statement. Then they turned to questions that had been submitted in advance by the public, and later to questions from the Zoom audience via the program’s chat function. All questions were presented by moderator Susan Flicop, from the League of Women Voters of Wayland.
The first question was a broad one: “What is your experience working collaboratively on civic issues? And can you give an example where your involvement made a difference?”
In response, Wool cited his experience as a state legislator in Alaska. He said the state university was very important to the community he represented in Fairbanks. “I worked diligently to improve the university, to improve its funding. … I rallied the community and had many meetings with the municipal government, the city, the borough, and different university support groups.”
Answering the same question, Ward spoke of his time on the town Finance Committee. For the first couple of years, he said, “I was still learning my way around things.” But after he became vice chair and then chair of the committee, he said, “It was clear there was a lot of tension … between different committees and boards, different departments, and the finance process in general. I spent a lot of time having one-on-one conversations with people to try to understand the different perspectives. … And I think I had pretty good success at that.”
Later questions revealed the two candidates agreed on quite a few matters. For example, both agreed fiscal challenges were the town’s greatest problem. And both also said solving that problem would require a long-term effort, extending well beyond fiscal 2027.
Both men also said Harvard had missed an opportunity with Alltown Fresh. “We should be more pro-business, welcoming more businesses like Alltown Fresh,” Wool said. Ward agreed, “We need to be looking more proactively … to show that the town is enticing for businesses.”
A difference on Devens
One area where differences appeared in the two candidates’ responses was the future of Devens. Asked whether Harvard should resume jurisdiction over its original portion of land in Devens, Wool said, “I think most people in Harvard would love to have jurisdiction over the land in Devens.” But he noted that MassDevelopment is not currently cooperating with planning efforts. “I think the state really has the majority of power over this, and until they relinquish that power … we’re sort of hypothesizing.”
In answering the same question, Ward considered a different angle: “I think a really important piece that we need to make sure we are covering here is to understand what the people who are currently living in Devens also want. … We need to ensure that we are engaging with them.”
The full forum was recorded and can be watched through the Harvard Media Cooperative. Several topics at the forum—such as the predicted budget deficit for fiscal 2027 and climate issues—overlapped with those the candidates discuss in the Press article “Select Board candidates respond to three questions on voters’ minds,”.
