hello and welcome to the channel seven teams town meeting television and another in our twenty nine thousand candidates forums on this show what was done select board candidate gordon same alair vying for a two year term on the wilson select board it's a pleasure having your company here this evening if you have a question directly for gordon you're welcome to call us at eight six to three nine six six gordon your opening statement as to why you're running for the west and select for sure first thank you for having me this evening wanted to channel seventeen for hosting this event league baseball i've also coached willis in central school basketball participated in the fourth of july committee ran a free throw contest for many many years also in the scores table seaview high school for the boys and girls basketball program  and i'm currently an active member of the board of civil authorities very excited and motivated to serve the town of wallace and i've heard that statement served a couple of different time to see me and i certainly am proud to do that i think my  history and will listen is to help any neighbor any time i like to preserve the way of life that i grew up in and will list and hopefully propel that into the future i'm an active listener i go by facts  and i'm always interested in people's perspectives and that's why i'm running this year very good a reminder if you have a question for gordon the number to dial is eight six two three nine six six we'll get into our round robin question and answer period here and i go on i want to kind of just start off with the fact that you're running unchallenged for this position do you think that speaks more to a the fact that people are happy that you are the candidate or is that a just the fact that nobody stepped up to run against you is is there an apathy element here you think i'm very hopeful that people are all happy that i'm running like i said i've been a town resident all my life my parents were active community members and i'm just very happy that the town is having this opportunity for me to run being on a post certainly does have me you know thinking about  why someone else maybe wouldn't want the seat but i offer another fresh perspective i think the select board currently has done a very nice job i'm hopeful to educate myself along with the other members to serve the town of wellston what do you see as the top level i would work diligently so that these departments have what they need for resources to actually administer those services to those that need it i realize that manageable in the town budgets certainly a challenge  but anybody that has ever needed any of those types of services especially emergency services can attest to the importance and the high value of those my second issue would be definitely property taxes we still own a large piece of property in williston and that's always my bottom line on what i'm going to be paying only for taxes and i think you know being the second lowest tax region in county certainly speaks to the current select board on the great job they've done by sharpening their pencil i certainly would be an advocate responsible and planning not only where but when we do that growth is invaluable i think it's a big piece of the puzzle for our town and the longevity of where we're going you know i certainly want to take careful consideration to what the towns will look like in ten or twenty years and continuing here on this public safety issue do you actually support then the bond issues for the two new fire trucks for the for the village i do  speaking to the kids that were here earlier i think it's vital that the town has the equipment that they need i heard earlier that it's actually a reduction of educating myself as i go along in this campaign that we do have what we need for equipment because you know there certainly could be emergency services that are needed at opposite ends of the town at the same time and having those key pieces in place on not only personnel but equipment is essential and then to move on  the town budget are you in support of the fiscal year two thousand and twenty budget as it's written now you know i think the increase is i think a little over three percent and you know i heard the word inflation we all look at that as well and that's a little over two percent so i think there's a balance there where we need to be fiscally responsible but we also have to make sure the town's getting the services that they need and i think that the planning that's been in place has been on the right path thus far and i'd like to  be a part of that direction you had mentioned growth as one of your key topics that has you running for select board are you satisfied with the economic development of the town of williston particularly in the age  of amazon with the big box stores what do you see as the future and what do you think the town should be sort of looking ahead to yeah you know i think that's that's one that's always on people's minds we'll shop on line from time to time but i think there's something to be said where people can actually physically go into a store tangibly you know physically touch something and shop and browse you know i heard a former candidate tonight say you know the experience of different things it's not just about local shops but you know restaurants and other activities that the town can offer i think is really important not only to our young people but the residents that have lived there for you know a long period of time do i know what's going to happen  i don't i don't have a crystal ball but certainly i think you know if we have some open discussion about what's currently in place what's going to be staying hopefully when things do leave what do we do in that capacity to help support that change  do you have any ideas in terms of you know what the city should be the town should be offering i mean it's for me for an outsider perspective it seems to be a shopping destination rather than a tourist destination  there's any mitigating tourist attraction to draw people other than retail yeah i'm going to go back to the to the open space piece and i think you know the acquisition of you know the catamount forces is a step in the right direction you know we as i said currently our family still owns quite a bit of acreage and we're proud of having that open space so i think having a plan in place where we can develop some things that are more outdoor  people in general and youth and old that can enjoy that where it's not something where you always have to go to purchase something and there is no always a fee attached to things obviously that's kind of the world that we live in but if there are some opportunities that would just get people maybe out into the fresh air i love technology but i would also like to advocate to step away once in a while and get out in the environment enjoy it or go as we talk about growth for the town of williston of course infrastructure is a key part of this are you happy with what the select board in the town in general is doing to handle infrastructure maintenance costs as well as preparing for any future catastrophic event like we've seen maybe in or and in the city brewington with water mains breaking etc yeah i think over the course of time you know i think the select board has done a good job of looking at that you know we have reserve funds in place you know i think ted and terry and he would mention that there is money set aside for if there's a catastrophic event that does happen you know i think our local sales tax that we have is also another fund that can be you know i think fiscally responsibly shifted depending on where the need is i think the town has some very nice foresight of what's going to be needed to be fixed and when and i think you know whether it's paving of roads whether it's new bike paths so that folks can get out and actually ride a bike and or walk without having to use their own transportation or public transportation those are key things that i think that would be in place to help with that the other piece is the development that does happen right now and i think that you know the impact fees that are being having to be paid by new developments  particularly just for specifically infrastructure are key to our development target just a reminder if you have a question for gorgon are you can dial in ask that question directly at eight six two three nine six six we're going to move on here to a question regarding the opiate epidemic that's impacting so many communities across the country as well as across our great state are you comfortable with the effort that the village of the town is making do you think that the select board should play a stronger role in trying to combat this challenge and its impact on our communities i thing it's a very worst worry some problem and i don't i when things do happen what are we going to do with her partnering with the howard center i think that's a rather step in the right direction it's an epidemic for sure i don't think people really realize that it's in our backyard and not somewhere  burlington or another state i think it has to be recognized and i think we have to get out in front of it to face it head on i think a lot of folks have dealt with this at a personal level and that was echoed here earlier tonight by some  stories that were shared and i do think it's a crisis and i certainly do think we can do more as a town but certainly just as individuals it's everyone's problem and i don't think we're doing enough our final question here before we get to your closing comments here and this is one that's very close to us here at channel seventeen it has to do with funding for public access channels later this year the f c c is considering doing away with the rule that requires cable subscribers to pay a franchise fee that the actually funds public access channels like channel seventeen those public access channels employ over one hundred people in our great state moving forward do you have an idea or  thoughts on the permanent funding for public access programming going forward you know i don't mean to be honest you know i'm pretty infin teil in this campaign that's something i need to learn a lot more about but i do think that this  is a vital piece where we can get our candidates and you know present our messages to the voters to the town of williston specifically what we would do or what i would do if i was elected to the board you know i think having a venue like this evening to just a spot you know check on some key points that are current issues or upcoming issues is huge and to be able to come to channel seventeen this evening however it is funded i hope that that is kind of evolves into a way to keep it going because i think it is  very precious and getting the message out very good gordon similar a pleasure having you on the show this evening you are sixty second closing comments for your two year term candidacy for will so i just wanted to speak to the  done throughout my life and will list and i'm a lifelong resident i'm a farmer i'm an educator as my primary position and i'm educator at heart as well so that's twofold i love to work with my hands i love to work with my brain  that is something that i think really would bring a nice fresh perspective to the select board i would really like to have the opportunity to really shape the direction of our town not only for policy but for modeling what good representation good listeners i want of facts about other people's perspectives i appreciate the time and i urge folks to come out and vote on march fifth and i hope i have earned at least you an opportunity to look at me this evening and your vote on that day thank you very much for having me gordon saying a letter thank you so much for joining us this evening best of luck in your candidacy takes a lot of courage to be willing to put your name on a ballot to face those constituents on election day reminder that early voting has begun you can contact your local town clerk pick up your ballot request a ballot complete it and mail it today and then a reminder to join us for complete election night coverage beginning at seven pm on tuesday march fifth right here on channel seventeen for all of us a town meeting television on that kelly thank you for watching