Candidate Frank DeFelice wants to hear people talk about Wareham, but right now he doesn't like what he's hearing.

Wareham has "had a bad name, not in the last few years, but previous to that. When you said you lived in Wareham, there was a derogatory remark," said DeFelice. "What I want is to help Wareham have a better name, and it very well could, because we have plenty to work with in this town."

He says that he sees untapped potential for generating revenue in this town.

"It's a growing town, the town has a lot to offer," DeFelice said. "Bring in more tourists. Make Wareham more visible."

DeFelice is running for a three-year seat on the board against incumbents Cara Winslow and Steve Holmes, and fellow challenger Patrick Tropeano.

He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Health, and previously served two terms on the Board of Selectmen in Milton, New Hampshire.  He has served as building inspector in Eastham for 15 years.

This is his fourth run for a seat on the Wareham Board of Selectmen.

DeFelice says that in Milton he and his fellow board members worked together to improve the local economy, and if elected he'll try to do the same in Wareham.

"The town needed money, so the board and myself, we put together a piece of commercial land that the town owned, and developed it into a commercial piece of property," said DeFelice.

According to him, this increased the tax base "big time," and helped generate revenue for the town.

"I would say that was one of my greatest accomplishments there," he said.

DeFelice says that he will bring a level of experience to the board that will help him to serve the town effectively. He explained that he works closely with all town departments in Eastham, and did the same in Pembroke, where he spent two years as a building commissioner.

"I've worked in separate towns for 15 years, so I know how towns operate," DeFelice said.

DeFelice says he also wants to help the town avoid lawsuits.

"Who's responsible for [recent] wrongful terminations that cost the town … in lawyer fees?" he asks. "That's one of the things I will try hard not to have."

Another concern of his is hiring competent town employees at reasonable prices.

"If I was there, believe me, Myles Burke would not have gotten the job," of Director of Inspectional Services said DeFelice.

Burke was fired by the town after failing to obtain official building certification from the state in the allotted 18 months after he was hired.

DeFelice says that he is pleased with the performance of some members of the current board, but he sees room for improvement.

"They're not letting people know exactly how deep the [financial] hole is," DeFelice said. "Transparency is a problem in Wareham, even with the board we have there now."

DeFelice says he also isn't thrilled with the occasional awards ceremonies that are held during Selectmen's meetings.

"They waste an hour giving awards out. … It's fine to give somebody an award," he said, but noted that he believes that Selectmen's meetings are neither the time nor the place.

Serving as a Selectman "takes a lot of time out of one person's life," DeFelice said. "I want to spend that time doing things that are worthwhile for the town."

DeFelice graduated from the Wentworth Institute of Technology with an associate's degree in Applied Science in 1972. He grew up in Canton, but spent his summers at White Horse Beach in Plymouth, and says he visited Swift's Beach frequently.

After college, he moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida,where he ran a construction company, and then moved to Milton, New Hampshire, where he did the same.

DeFelice and his wife of 38 years, Patricia, have lived in Wareham for approximately seven years.

DeFelice considers himself to be a pretty outspoken guy, and says running for political office doesn't mean he's going to stop voicing his opinions.

"Probably one of my bigger problems is I tell it the way it is. Some people get insulted by it, and they shouldn't," says DeFelice.  "The truth comes out of what I'm saying. …I don't expect to change that one iota on the Board of Selectmen."