Candidates for the Wareham Fire District's upcoming election, despite a low turnout of under 10 audience members, gave reasons for why voters should vote for them at Candidates Night on April at the District's headquarters on 2550 Cranberry Highway.

The Wareham Fire District is holding their upcoming election for the Prudential Committee and for the Board of Water Commissioners on Saturday, April 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., also at the District's headquarters.

There are two open seats for three-year terms on the Prudential Committee, which oversees the finances of the Wareham Fire District. The Wareham Fire District includes the Wareham Fire Department and the Wareham Water Department.

There are four candidates for the 2 Prudential Committee seats: incumbent Elizabeth L. Pezzoli, incumbent Ron Enos, Kenneth A. Baptiste, and Cara M. Pillsbury who is running a write-in campaign for the spot.

There is one seat for a three-year term on the Board of Water Commissioners, which oversees the operating budget of the Water Department and ensures the safety of the water supply.

There are three candidates vying for that seat: incumbent Theodore S. Hatch, Frank X. DeFelice, and Lynne Burroughs.

Read on to learn about what the candidates, all with their unique backgrounds and experiences, had to say about what they offer the two boards with their candidacy.

The candidates give their pitches: the Prudential Committee

The night started off with audience member Gerald Barrows Sr. noting that all of the candidates for both elections were sitting on the panel except for Prudential Committee write-in candidate Cara Pillsbury, who was sitting in the audience.

Moderator Jane Donahue, who was standing in for Marybeth Fernandes, the clerk/treasurer for the Wareham Fire District who usually hosts Candidates Night but was in Boston for the birth of her grandchild, said that out of respect for the candidates who pulled papers on time Pillsbury was not allowed to sit on the panel.

Pillsbury affirmed Donahue's statement and replied that "out of respect for the candidates...I shouldn't…sit up there."

Pillsbury is a newcomer to the race for Prudential Committee. The co-owner of Community Mini Storage on Cranberry Highway, she has stressed her small business experience and her desire to bring new ideas and new insight to the table as attributes of her candidacy.

Pillsbury has also said earlier that health issues related to her son delayed her in submitting her candidacy.

The remaining three candidates; Pezzolli, Enos, and Baptiste, all have years of experience working with the Prudential Committee. Baptiste, formerly an on call firefighter for 34 years, was an elected member of the Committee from 2005 to 2011. Pezzolli, a former newspaper reporter, has been on the Committee for the past 9 years for a total of 3 terms. She is running for her 4th term in office.

Enos, a business executive with the large national telecommunications firm Altura, has been on the Board for the past 3 years.

Pezzoli, the candidate with the longest years of experience on the Committee, said that she became concerned about overspending and the lack of oversight in finances while covering the District for various newspapers.

She contrasted the previous lack of oversight with her time on the Committee during which "decisions have always been based on the taxpayers ability to pay for everything that is purchased," Pezzolli said.

Pezzolli also added that she worked with Fire Chief Robert McDuffy to "devise a plan for buying, spending, and spreading out purchases so we don't buy everything all at once."

Looking to the future, Pezzolli said, "space is going to be a problem" for the Wareham Fire Department. Pezzoli mentioned that the Fire Station on Main Street in central Wareham was not big enough for all of the fire trucks that utilize it.

The irony with the Main Street location, Pezzolli said, is that even though previous studies have found the location to be ideal because of its proximity to the different areas of Wareham, those studies do not take into account that the location is in a flood plain.

That has became an issue as recently as last year when Hurricane Irene stormed the Northeast.

Voters in the Wareham Fire District approved during their annual District Meeting on April 9 to spend $1.2 million to purchase land located on the intersection of Routes 28 and 195 for the eventual development of a new fire station.

Enos, a 40 year resident of Wareham who has been Vice President of the eastern division of the telecommunications company Altura for 21 years, said that enjoys the business world but sees his current work in the public sector as part of a transition.

"Phasing in the public experience actually really helped me," Enos said.

Enos listed his accomplishments while on the Committee over the past 3 years. Those accomplishments include 2 clean annual audits, the creation of a policies and procedures manual, the creation of job descriptions for positions across the entire District, and the implementation of a capital improvement plan, amongst others.

Enos explained that the capital improvement plan tries to maintain District assets that start to decay. "We’ve done a really good job over the last three years of repairing things in need of repair," Enos said.

Enos said that, especially considering the growth the town is facing, he would like to "ensure the district is…fiscally responsible in the future."

Baptiste, proclaiming his identity as a regular citizen who lives "paycheck to paycheck like most people in the District," said that he would like to continue the work for the District that he did when he served from 2005 to 2011.

Baptiste made note that he increased the frequency of District audits during those years.

For the most part, Baptiste kept his introduction short and straightforward. "I'm not a [special] person, I don't have a college degree…I'm not going to make empty promises to people that I can't deliver."

Audience member Barrows asked the candidates for the Prudential Committee what they would like to see implemented in the Fire Department.

Pezzolli alluded to the new fire station as a project that would address the needs of space and be good for District employees and taxpayers.

Enos responded that he took a long term outlook to the future of the District, adding that as the District grows in population "we need to plan accordingly and be ready."

Baptiste, referring to his experience as a firefighter, said that making sure firefighters have functional and modern equipment was a major concern for him.

"I want to see the guys come home after their shift to their families," Baptiste said.

The Board of Water Commissioners

The candidates for the Board of Water Commissioners, incumbent Theodore S. Hatch, Frank X. DeFelice, and Lynne Burroughs, kept their introductions short and to the point.

Hatch started off his introduction stating the importance of protecting the town's drinking water and having a long term outlook to reaching that goal. "You never get a second chance to protect our water," Hatch said.

Hatch has been on the Board for a total of 15 years, and listed his accomplishments as maintaining a stable rate for water consumption, expanding the water service area, creating a mission statement for the water department, and reserving land for protection of wells, amongst others.

Lynne Burroughs, a newcomer to the field, said that her main concern was keeping the water chemical free.

Burroughs said that her concern comes from personal experience - her daughter is allergic to chlorine and can not drink the town water.

Burroughs said that the public is aware of the "pros" of adding chemicals to the water, but they are not aware of the "cons." She added that schools no longer add fluoride to their water, and Europe disallows it completely.

"I would like chlorine free, clean, affordable water," Burroughs said.

Frank DeFelice, a building inspector in the town of Eastham for the past 11 years, said that there is a lack of transparency in how the Board of Water Commissioners operates.

"I don't believe the Water Commissioners do work for the taxpayers," DeFelice said.

DeFelice was concerned about betterments, or charges to residents when their properties are "bettered," such as by the addition of a water line. DeFelice said that he did not agree with how betterments are calculated by the Board.

Wareham resident Liz McDonald expressed concern to the candidates about how rates for water consumption are charged and whether a sliding scale could be implemented.

Hatch, a current Commissioner, said that they have a flat charge for consumption of up to 4,000 cubic feet of water. Hatch said that the Department of Environmental Protection mandates a minimum consumption fee because it guarantees public utilities money for operating their system.

Hatch said that 62% of the District's customers come under that minimum consumption fee.

Above the 4,000 amount, a sliding scale is used, Hatch said.

The candidates for the Board of Water Commissioners closed out the night by encouraging people to vote in the upcoming election.

"Your water is important, putting out fires and public safety is important," Burroughs said.

"It would be better if more people did get involved," added Hatch.