Bernard Roderick Runs For Fairhaven Selectman

Fairhaven residents will have four choices for Selectman when they vote in the Annual Town Elections on Monday.

Among them will be Bernard Roderick, the former Superintendent of Fairhaven Public Schools.

Roderick spoke with WBSM’s Phil Paleologos Roderick discussed the possibility of the Environmental Protection Agency forcing the town to pay up to $20 million to reduce nitrogen emissions in Fairhaven Harbor.

He says town officials need to enlist the help of Congressman Bill Keating and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey saying that while thy won’t be able to stop the EPA, it will take figures with that type of federal clout to make the situation more manageable for the town.

“I wouldn’t expect the issue to go away,” said Roderick “but I think that if we have the right people involved and helping us that we can negotiate that down and make the fiscal impact on the town much less.”

Roderick also discussed the Rogers and Oxford School buildings saying that while the Oxford school is likely to become senior housing it has been much harder to get someone to take over the Rogers school.

After two potential deals to sell the building fell through Roderick said the town should considering holding it to the property and re-purposing it for other uses.

“The town hall is basically bursting at the seams and we could move some of the lesser functions just down the road two blocks, no problem there,” said Roderick “we have a wonderful heritage in Fairhaven and we have so much artwork and history that we could make part of it a museum.”

When it comes to the possibility of new fire and police stations Roderick said he isn't sure whether or not they're needed but he says it's an issue the town should take a serious and careful look at.

“I haven’t had the opportunity yet to sit down with the chief of both departments,” said Roderick “I think they favor it, but I really want to make sure that we can make the case ‘is it really needed first’ once we do that though then we can get into some deep discussions on that.”

The Annual Town Election is held on Monday.