Anthony Scarsciotti’s main goal, if elected, would be to help bring more business and tourism to the town of Wareham.

The retired East Coast operations manager for AT&T is running for one of two seats on the Board of Selectmen. He first moved to Wareham in 2002, and has been involved in various roles within town government, serving as a Town Meeting teller for the past decade, and on the Planning Board for eight years.

But Scarsciotti is ready to take a more active role in government, because “I see what’s going on there, and I see all the different items that come up, and all the different problems that we are trying to work out. I would like to get more involved in it.”

Scarsciotti wants to increase the town’s revenue, but does not want to do it through raising taxes on residents. Rather, he wants to bring more business and tourism to town.

He acknowledged that the current Board of Selectmen “do the best they can with what they have,” but said that he believes they are “a little slow,” and need to pick up the pace, to show prospective businesses that Wareham is a town that can thrive.

“We need to go after the big stuff, and get the best bang for our buck from them,” Scarsciotti said.

He also believes the “very nice beaches” in Wareham and Onset can entice tourists to the area.

“They can come, maybe stay overnight in a B&B … and utilize our beaches and restaurants there,” Scarsciotti said.

When revenue increases, Scarsciotti said, the town can spend more money on other institutions he sees the town “skipping over … when we are budgeting.” Among these is the Wareham Free Library, the police department, and municipal maintenance.

“We are a border town with the Cape – we have the highways there, and we need to make sure we are covered,” Scarsciotti said of the need for a larger police department.

“And the library. … The library is a … wonderful place, and we really need to publicize it and see that we get people going,” he continued.

Scarsciotti said he would like to see the library’s hours increase, eventually getting both the main branch and the Spinney Memorial branch in Onset not only back to full-time hours, but the library system recertified.

The library was decertified in late 2014, following severe budget cuts by the town that led to reduced hours. Because it is not certified, the library cannot receive state aid to help with the budget cuts. Currently, the main branch is only open three days per week, racking up a total of 23 hours, while the Spinney branch is open for two, for a total of 10 hours.

“The library is a wonderful spot for kids to go after school, and for older people to go and read,” Scarsciotti said.