Newly elected Board of Health member Tom McMahon said he did not know what to expect heading into the June 20 election.
But the message the town’s voters sent could not have been clearer.
McMahon’s vote total of 2,937 exceeded the combined total of the two other candidates vying to succeed outgoing chairman Todd Belfbecker, relatively recent transplant Dr. Tom Massaro (1,021 votes) and Belfbecker’s father, Dr. David Becker (1,618), himself a former Board of Health member.
“I definitely think [the voters] want answers about the transfer station situation,” McMahon said, noting that it was by far the most discussed issue on the campaign trail.
McMahon reiterated that he hopes the board has not gone too far down the road with a project that falls short of the one that voters originally approved.
“We need to understand all of the impacts of every design and their financial ramifications and bring them to the town,” he said.
Beyond the transfer station, McMahon said he heard of voters’ concerns about substance abuse and mental health as he campaigned. Even during election day, McMahon said he was approached by voters with ideas on those fronts.
“There are so many smart people in town,” he said. “We are a board of three representatives, but we should be using the ideas of the whole community to get the best outcomes.”
