With less than two weeks until election day, candidates for various town boards and commissions fielded questions Thursday night on everything from town finances and school performance to youth outreach and sewer rates.

The candidates spoke to a few dozen people gathered at the Dudley Brown VFW in Onset Thursday during the Onset Protective League's annual Candidates' Forum. That included candidates in contested races for the School Committee, Board of Selectmen and the newly created Board of Sewer Commissioners.

Selectmen
Incumbent Selectmen Alan Slavin is running against resident Michael Frates for a seat on the Board of Selectmen. The duo fielded questions from the crowd mostly pertaining to where the town could raise revenues and where it could cut costs.

On ways to raise revenues/cut costs:

Frates said he was a proponent of merging services and consolidating buildings in town and "going green" as a way of saving money to then restoring some town services.

He mentioned creating a combined public safety building that houses multiple departments such as police, fire and EMS.

On the Marriott hotel, Frates was skeptical that it would be boon to tourism and the local economy. He did, however, say that the hotel might be used for "medical tourism" and that there should be a focus on the growing medical industry in the town.

"That's exciting. There are decent paying jobs there," he said.

Slavin said unfunded state mandates and incorrect state aid formulas hurt the town to the tune of millions of dollars every year. He said that the state mandates certain actions, but provides no way of funding for them, and that in state formulas, the high amount of expensive waterfront property and private roads adversely affect the amount of state aid Wareham receives.

Slavin has held meetings with surrounding towns and in the coming weeks will hold a public meeting with the state's Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito on the issues.

Slavin also spoke about the need to hire a purchasing agent for the entire town instead of leaving the purchasing to individual departments.

"When you have purchasing by different departments, if you don't centralize it all, sometimes you end up with waste and extra," he said. "That person would probably pay for his salary plus in the first year alone," he added.

Slavin also spoke about the large retail developments on Route 25 and 195 and the Marriott hotel as large revenue sources in the coming years.

"It's a slow process -- nothing is fast. There is no white knight coming down the road. We have to help ourselves."

On stemming drug abuse and engaging the town's youth:

Frates said the town needs to get the youth more involved, especially in town government. He said he works with people in the community in recovery and is also an active member in the YMCA.

"Our youth is falling apart," he said.

He said there are too many people who appear not to care about the youth anymore and would be open to any way the town could change that.

Slavin said that the Boys and Girls Club is expanding its programs and he is working with former Boys and Girls Club Director Barbara Sullivan on creating a new group that focuses on youth outreach.

He also mentioned the recent $550,000 grant that was recently given to the newly created South Coast Opiod Task Force, a group that Wareham belongs to. Any programs and services created via the grant will be accessible by Wareham residents.

On experience working with budgets:

Frates said he previously worked in railroad companies such as Amtrak and the Massachusetts Commuter Rail in labor management roles. He said he dealt with line item budgets in various railroad departments, including mechanical items, which he said was one of the most cost consuming areas of the railroad. He said he was not always able to stay within the budget.

Slavin said he went to school for accounting and worked as a budget analyst before running his own company.

In town government, he worked on the Capital Planning Committee creating five-year plans, and he spent the last three years as a Selectman.

"Municipal accounting is very unlike commercial accounting," he said.

To read more on Frates and Slavin, visit each of their profiles here and here.

School Committee

Incumbent Geoff Sweet and residents Judy Caporiccio and Julianne Cummings are the three candidates for the two School Committee seats up for election. To read more on the candidates see our profiles on them here, here and here.

On the increasing costs of special education and school choice:

Swett said that at 23 percent, Wareham is above the state average for special education students in a school district, which he said is 16 to 17 percent. He said his focus is on the state Legislature to uphold their commitment to fund a portion of these costs, as they rarely meet their stated reimbursement rate.

He said school choice is first and foremost a marketing issue and that the negative perception about the town and the school system needs to change.

Cummings said she is very passionate about special education students and knows many parents who raise students with these needs.

"I really don't know too much about it, but I do know there is a budget and it exceeds the amount it needs to be," she said.

In regards to school choice, she said she has spoken to many parents who for one reason or another are unhappy with the Wareham school system. She said she thinks something needs to be changed in the curriculum.

Caporiccio said that developing in-district special education programs is a cost effective way of dealing with the problem once multiple students with the same needs enter the district.

On school choice, she agreed with Swett that perceptions needed to change. She also said it would be important to find out what other schools are doing to attract to students to their districts.

Sewer Commissioners

There is only one contested race in the election for the five seats on the Board of Sewer Commissioners. That race is between Finance Committee member Dominic Cammarano and resident Susan Sweeney. Sweeney was not in attendance Thursday night. Event organizer Nan Miller said she left a voice message with Sweeney.

Cammarano said the EDU (equivalent dwelling unit) sewer rate system needs to change. Selectmen have been working for nearly two years and last fall decided to take the first steps toward moving away from the EDU rate system.

Currently, Wareham sewer users pay a flat annual $596 per EDU. A single-family home is charged one EDU, while a two-unit duplex is generally charged two EDUs. Businesses are scheduled similarly. For example, restaurants are charged one EDU per 12 seats; gas stations are charged one EDU per service island.

"The EDU system is a farce, it's a dinosaur," he said, explaining that only a handful of towns in Massachusetts still use it.

He said he aims to implement a sewer rate that is more rooted in fairness and equity.

Cammarano also said he was against unions.

"I believe unions hurt the quality of the workers," he said.

It is the town administrator, however, who is in charge of personnel issues and union negotiations, not the Sewer Commissioners.

The other four positions on the board will be filled in uncontested fashion. Capital Planning Committee member James Giberti is running for the non-sewer user three-year seat, Finance Committee member Donna Bronk is running for the sewer user two-year seat, resident Malcolm White is running for the at-large seat and Finance Committee Marilyn Jordan is running for the sewer user one-year seat.

The forum also allowed candidates in unopposed races to introduce themselves to the crowd and answer any questions. That included three incumbents; Deputy Moderator Joe Ashley, Assessor Steve Curry, and Wareham Housing Authority Board Member Bill Lockwood.

Also at the forum were two of the four candidates running unopposed for Sewer Commissioner seats, Jordan and White. Bronk and Giberti were unable to attend the meeting.

The town election will be held on Tuesday, April 7 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Visit the town website to find out where your polling location is.