Selectmen Chairman Alan Slavin is running for re-election for a simple reason: To pick up where he left off.

“We’ve made a lot of progress over the last three years and I’d like to continue finish up over the next three years different projects we’ve put in place,” Slavin said.

He said his priorities going forward are to stabilize the financial situation in town, to restore services, specifically the Library and Council on Aging and to continue to improve transportation options to residents.

One major project Slavin has been working on is getting a commuter rail station in Wareham. He said while there is a cost to the town associated with commuter rail, a station in Wareham would be a great asset to the town for economic development and boost home values.

“I firmly believe it’s going to happen within a year,” he said.

Slavin is also working on finding ways for residents to take public transportation west to Fairhaven, Dartmouth, Fall River and other communities where there are high concentrations of hospitals and treatment centers.

The town has seen deep budget cuts for a number of years, and Slavin said restoring lost services is one of his priorities going forward.

“I personally believe we’ve cut back too far,” he said, in regards to services.

Slavin is happy the Library has received an increase in town funding in this year’s proposed budget drafts and hopes it can reapply for state certification in the near future. He said to manage the budget issues the town needs to control expenses and look at ways to raise revenue.

Since the constraints of Proposition 2 ½ make it difficult to raise revenue through personal property taxes (and Slavin said a Proposition 2½ override is not on the table) the town must look at attracting and growing businesses to raise revenues. He said this requires putting in the groundwork and promoting a business friendly attitude, things that previous boards didn’t do.

“You want to make Wareham a place where people want to come and live, vacation and retire--a real sustainable community,” he said. “You have to have long term goals, five, 10, 20 years.”

He said that is what the current Board of Selectmen is working on, being proactive and planning far into the future. The Marriott Hotel, Wal Mart, Rosebrook facilities, Cape Flyer are all examples of assets that will bring in business to the town.

As far as controlling expenses, Slavin pointed out the town’s recent move to the Mayflower Health Group, which will provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings and provide future budget stability. Slavin also spoke about the possible cost saving opportunities by sharing services and equipment with surrounding towns.

“If you’re only going to use a piece of equipment for 10 percent of the year and there is a way to spread it out among the towns… everybody can share the cost.” he said.

Slavin also spoke about the importance of the board working as a whole.

“A single Selectman doesn’t have control over a lot,” he said. “You have to be able to sit and work with the four other Selectmen and the Town Administrator... you can sit there and say you want to do this and that but if you don’t have a consensus it’s not going to happen.”