Warren Select Board candidates Gene Bifano, Harvey Blake, and Michael McGuirk pitched their candidacies to current board members and the public at a forum on April 8.
After this year's Town Meeting, two seats on the five-member select board remained vacant. The existing board, including chair Devin Klein Corrigan, vice chair Camilla Behn, and Kalee Whitehouse, must fill those seats promptly.
Candidates were invited in alphabetical order to make their pitch. Bifano discussed his corporate career, long-term residency in Warren, and extensive volunteerism. He is a former mayor, EMT, firefighter, and constable. Blake, who moved to Warren in 2022 after a career in corporate finance, now serves on the Warren Volunteer Fire Department. McGuirk, a 10-year resident of Warren, has previous municipal service experience in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is retired from the physics department at MIT.
Following the candidates’ remarks, the board asked questions, followed by questions from the public in the room. Behn asked the applicants why they were seeking public office now, instead of running at Town Meeting, where candidates are generally elected.
Bifano explained that he and his wife were out of town at Town Meeting, watching their grandchildren. Blake said he decided to run because no one else stepped up. McGuirk echoed the sentiment.
Whitehouse asked the candidates about their priorities and what they loved about Warren. McGuirk said he is interested in working on the town’s plans to build a new town garage on Vaughn Brown Road.
“One of the things I love about Warren is that people seem to have enough,” McGuirk said. He noted that crime is low, and over the past decade, he has had only one item stolen from his car.
Blake’s priorities include the Sugarbush Access Road pedestrian path project and the new town garage.
“The beauty of the town takes my breath away,” Blake said.
Bifano also mentioned the town garage as a priority, noting that the town road crew needs a functional place to work. He also highlighted issues with speeding and housing, suggesting that Vermont should follow New York’s lead by requiring housing developers to designate some units as affordable.
Corrigan asked the candidates about what makes for a productive select board environment. Blake said, “Trust, mutual respect, being prepared, thoughtful, and concise.”
McGuirk added, “What he said.” Bifano agreed, adding, “What he said, and open, respectful discussions.”
Corrigan also asked who the candidates would be working for if appointed to the board. Bifano said he would be working for “the people,” and acknowledged that he can be difficult to work with, and had had strife in the past working with the public.
McGuirk said he, too, would be working for “the people,” while Blake agreed but added that it would be important to seek out and engage with people he didn’t regularly interact with.
Residents were invited to ask questions, and Rocky Bleier asked the candidates what they would do about “the huge income disparity in Warren.” He also inquired about housing and taxing inequities.
Blake acknowledged the complexity of the issue, noting that part of his current work involves developing housing at a farm in Sudbury.
McGuirk agreed that income disparity is a challenge, saying, “I’m not sure the town of Warren has the ability to solve income disparity in the town. There’s a limited amount that we can do about it.”
Bifano framed housing as a regional issue rather than a town-specific one, suggesting that Warren work with neighboring towns, such as Roxbury and Granville, to address housing, since these towns are within a reasonable commute to Warren.
Following the forum Corrigan said the board does not have a specific timeline on appointing new members.
“We believe there are other interested parties and may hold another forum, meaning we may choose one or two or none from last night,” Corrigan said. The issue will be revisited at the next board meeting on April 22.
