By Dakota Antelman — [email protected]
A final flurry of candidate forums ahead of Tuesday’s town elections included emotional moments and debate over long-held traditions.
In a political season that some say is more competitive and cutthroat than usual, hopefuls tackled issues including MCI-Concord redevelopment and cell coverage. They also faced questions about endorsements, diversity, and Trump administration cutbacks.
“There’s a lot at stake in this election,” Select Board hopeful Paul Boehm said near the end of a DEI Commission forum.
Endorsement questions
Boehm, Elizabeth Akehurst-Moore, current chair Mary Hartman, and Joe Laurin are vying for two seats on the Select Board.
The other contested race features School Committee incumbent Alexa Anderson and newcomers Sandeep Pisharody and Michael Williams in a tangle for two open spots.
Candidates started their latest gantlet on March 25 with a Council on Aging discussion. One hot topic: whether candidates think it’s appropriate for sitting officials to endorse in races for a seat on their panel.
Hartman and outgoing School Committee member Cynthia Rainey told The Concord Bridge that those endorsements break a norm meant to ensure collaboration among elected officials.
At the COA forum, Hartman, Boehm, and Akehurst-Moore said that if elected, they would not endorse. Laurin, who’s backed by current Select Board member Cameron McKennitt, declined to make a pledge. (McKennitt has also endorsed Akehurst-Moore.)
In the School Committee race, Pisharody and Anderson defended endorsements from their elected backers. Anderson — whose School Committee colleague, Tracey Marano, is also her campaign manager — said she would work with anyone and that suggestions to the contrary are “not accurate.”
Williams — who saw most of the sitting School Committee line up with his opponents this spring — said if elected, he would not endorse potential colleagues.
Federal fears
Select Board candidates said the town must be prepared for federal cuts under President Donald Trump. For School Committee, Pisharody said leaders will face “tough decisions” if Trump’s plans to dismantle the Department of Education mean less funding for Concord schools.
Anderson earned applause when she said the schools are “resoundly (sic) ignoring the [Trump] administration’s perspective” on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
On the same question, Williams touted local control over curricula but said Concord must repair a “loss of trust” between district officials and families of students in the METCO voluntary school integration program.
Not ‘the right tone’
A day after the COA event, Boehm choked up while discussing antisemitism and other hateful acts during the DEI forum, including bigoted graffiti at Concord-Carlisle High School. He said he understands schools are limited in what they can say about disciplinary issues, but these incidents “can’t be swept under the rug.”
In a heated election season, several candidates have asked Concordians to help “turn down the temperature.” At the DEI forum, Laurin took responsibility for some of the heat.
The writers of a recent letter to the editor criticized Laurin for having written in his own August 2024 letter that DEI leaders were “mouthpieces” who used “bullying tactics” in the debate over naming the new middle school.
At the forum, Laurin conceded his letter had not conveyed “the right tone.” He said he stood his support for compromising on the school naming, “but maybe the way I did it was wrong,” he said.
Amenities building
On Monday, parent-teacher groups held a final candidate forum at CCHS.
All Select Board candidates pledged support for the proposed $1.85 million amenities building that will go before Town Meeting later this year.
Boehm, who serves on the Community Preservation Committee, acknowledged that the CPC chose not to accept a late application to help fund the project. He said committee members backed the proposal on its merits but rejected the request because they didn’t have time to change their policy on late applications. (Though he explained the majority decision, Boehm was in the CPC minority and voted in favor of accepting the application).
Photo: Dakota Antelman/The Concord Bridge
Boehm described the issue as a “procedural stumbling block.” But Akehurst-Moore argued the hurdle “could have easily been overcome.” She spotlighted Community Preservation Act money that remains unspent after the CPC decision.
“To go to the town for money when the money is sitting there is a little bit appalling,” she said.
Laurin criticized the process, which included a one-year delay after the Finance Committee and Select Board balked at an initial proposal in 2024.
“Ground should have been broken already,” he said.
Debate about debates
Beyond the forums themselves, DEI Commission plans were the center of a March 18 open meeting law complaint to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Concord resident Elizabeth More alleged the commission broke state law by planning the event without discussing it at a public meeting.
More attended the commission’s meeting on March 25 and spoke during the public comment period. Though she didn’t mention it in her formal complaint, More said she couldn’t find other examples of town commissions hosting candidate forums.
She also flagged a potential conflict of interest: DEI Commission member Joe Palumbo volunteers for Williams’ campaign.
Approached by a Bridge reporter after the DEI forum, neither Palumbo nor Williams said they saw a conflict; Williams said he got no special treatment.
Town counsel was scheduled to draft a response to More’s complaint following the March 25 meeting. More will have the chance to appeal if she wishes.
DEI Commission co-chairs Rose Cratsley and Nancy Brown told The Bridge they weren’t trying to give any candidate an unfair advantage. “We just want [voters] to be informed and engaged,” Cratsley said.
