This article has been updated with more information about each candidate.

Smart development, affordable housing and the proliferation of solar energy in town were some of the hot topics of the night at Wareham’s Friday, April 26 candidate forum.

Candidates running for one three-year and one two-year Select Board seat, two three-year School Committee seats, and one three-year Sewer User Sewer Commission seat pitched themselves to voters at the Multi-Service Center and to voters watching WCTV from home.

In the race for one three-year seat on the Wareham Select Board, former Select Board member Brenda Eckstrom is running against Alternative Energy Committee Chair Sherry Quirk.

In her opening statement, Quirk told voters that she is a “listener.”

“I approach everything in a disciplined way, not putting out fires or being reactive, instead anticipating and planning,” Quirk said. “I’m tough and will not be pushed around or bullied.”

Eckstrom said in her opening statement that she is an “outside the box” type of thinker and that there needs to be “more voices” in town government.

Quirk said the “town has done a really good job of trimming the budget,” but what the town faces now “is the need for some large expenditures.” Quirk believes that enabling the town to grow revenues is “a major priority and I think the most important issue facing us.”

For Eckstrom, a “huge issue” is that less than 100 people showed up to the most recent Town Meeting, she said. She added that there are communication issues within the town government. She reiterated the need for “more voices” and that no single Select Board member should have outsize authority.

“There is no ‘I’ in Select Board,” she said.

On the topic of development in town, Quirk said that while it is important to entice new business to Wareham, the town should “work on trying to attract the right kind of growth and business to this town.”

According to Eckstrom, there has been a “real issue” with growth lately. She added that there is a discrepancy between residential and commercial property values.

“Residents are subsidizing businesses right now,” said Eckstrom. “I don’t think that’s fair.”

On the topic of solar energy in Wareham, Quirk said the town needs to “engage in smart solar development” and that she “would argue” with the idea of cutting down trees in favor of ground-mounted solar developments.

Eckstrom and Quirk agreed on this issue.

“We need to … do everything in our power to make sure we have control over [our land],” said Eckstrom. “We need to prevent trees from being cut down.”

Eckstrom said that affordable housing is her “biggest passion.” She said she authored a bylaw regarding affordable housing that has not been implemented by the town.

“We can say all we want about what needs to be done, but if those in power don’t have an inclination to help, nothing gets done,” said Eckstrom.

According to Quirk, “Wareham is doing a lot already to support the need for affordable housing.” She noted that affordable housing is important for the younger generation looking to become first-time homeowners and for older residents who may not have the resources they need to live as they have all their lives. Quirk encouraged “good, smart development of affordable housing.”

For more on each candidate, visit warehamweektoday.com.

In the race for one two-year seat on the Select Board, Onset Cape Verdean Festival Association President Deneen Rose is running against former Wareham Courier Editor Sarah Corbitt and former planning department intern Jared Fredrickson.

In his opening statement, Fredrickson told voters he is running “because of Wareham’s future” and because “it’s time for a new voice” and “new perspective” on the Select Board.

Corbitt said she’s running because she has come to know the people of Wareham as “some of the smartest, funniest, kindest, most generous and most hardworking people I’ve ever met,” and that she wants to “serve” the people.

Rose told voters she’s running because “Wareham is not just a town, it’s a village.” She said she’s “here for the community, here for the veterans” and is here because “the town and the community are the people we need to speak, and we need to listen.”

The three candidates largely agreed on supporting smart business development in town, the need to protect Wareham’s forests in favor of ground-mounted solar developments, and that affordable housing is a priority in town.

To learn more about each candidate, see their candidate profiles on warehamweektoday.com.

The forum also included three candidates running for two three-year terms on the School Committee. Incumbents Geoff Swett and Apryl Rossi are running for reelection against challenger Eckstrom.

Swett said students meeting reading expectations is “by far the most pressing issue” faced by the school district.

Almost 60% of Wareham fourth graders are not meeting reading expectations upon leaving Wareham Elementary School, according to Swett.

“That’s a dramatically high number, and it’s incredibly significant,” he said.

On the use of technology in schools, Rossi said students today are more likely to gravitate towards a “technical space.”

“As important as I feel technology is, I think we need to be careful and mindful about the ways that we’re teaching our kids how we use it and using it safely and appropriately,” she said.

Eckstrom said her “biggest concern” is making sure “the children are being taken care of.”

For more on the three School Committee candidates visit warehamweektoday.com.

Finally, in the race for a seat on the Wareham Sewer Commission incumbent Jim Giberti is running unopposed for a three-year seat as a non-sewer user. Meanwhile Eckstrom and incumbent Sandy Slavin are running for one three-year seat as a sewer user.

Having been a Sewer Commissioner since the board was formed in 2015, Giberti said the “sewer enterprise as a whole is a very complicated operation” with a learning curve that makes experience on the board beneficial.

Slavin, in regards to fee assessments for sewer usage, said the board has “to come up with something that’s more equitable for people.”

While most towns in Massachusetts set fees based on water usage, Wareham is unable to do so with the water information currently available, according to Slavin.

Slavin also said the town needs to reduce the amount of nitrogen it is discharging into the Wareham River.

In regards to sewer fees, Eckstrom said there is a “base rate” that Wareham has to have and “cover.”

She said the board needs “more aggressive voices to speak up for sewer users.”