Meet Your Candidates: Seekonk Election

Three candidates are running for one seat on the Board of Selectmen in the local election on April 4. The candidates are Town Moderator Michelle Hines, retired lieutenant in the Seekonk Police Department; TV9 Host Jeffrey Starr Mararian; and Housing Authority member Christopher Zorra. Selectmen Michael Brady is not running for another term. Profiles of the candidates follow.

Michelle Hines
Michelle Hines has served as Town Moderator for five years. She retired last year from the Seekonk Police Department as a Lieutenant after serving 32 years. Hines, who grew up in Seekonk, has been involved with the town since the early 80’s. She was a representative when Seekonk had a representative town meeting form of government.
Hines is running for the Board of Selectmen because she wants to continue to serve the town. “I like to be involved with Seekonk. I have the time and life experience and I think I’d be a good fit,” Hines said. If elected, one of Hines’ priorities will be to improve technology and keep it updated. “It’s important for all departments to keep up with technology and training,” Hines said. “We have a lot of great department heads that fight to keep their departments updated.”
Hines also wants to improve communication and get the community more involved. “I’d like to work on getting citizens of Seekonk more involved,” Hines added. Specifically, she would like to see more residents attend and participate in town meeting because sometimes there are barely enough people for a quorum, she says.
To encourage residents to attend, she has hosted a program on TV9 for years that runs prior to town meeting which explains the procedures of the meeting and reviews all the articles. She says she understands that some residents can’t attend the meetings. To help them stay informed, Hines wants the agendas and minutes of town board and committee meetings put on the town website.
Hines also believes the town website should be kept updated and current. “We should have a lot more things on the website than what’s there,” she said. She urges everyone to go to the polls on Election Day. “I want people to get out and vote,” Hines said.

Jeffrey Starr Mararian
Jeffrey Starr Mararian has written a contract which details what he plans to do if he is elected to the Board of Selectmen. He says he is running to complete this contract. The contract is outlined below. Mararian also said he is running because it is the last thing on his bucket list.
Mararian says if he is elected he will only vote for what is in the best interest of the town and not for any special interest group. He promises to run a positive campaign and pledges to only serve one complete term “free from any conflict of interest.” He will serve the taxpayers as an independent fiscal conservative and demand that the town always starts with zero-based budgeting. He also wants the budget presentations to be more specific so that residents have a better understanding of what they are voting on at town meeting. He also wants to lower the residential tax rate.
He will demand that all expenditures have publicly viewable receipts. He promises to never vote for a Proposition 2 ½ override. He will demand accountability, transparency and openness at all levels. He will advocate for hiring additional police officers, firefighters and rescue personnel. He supports bringing back the call firefighters. He will vote to eliminate the blue trash bags. He will support a charter revision.
He promises that he will not sit on any other board or committee while a member of the board of selectmen. He believes it would be a conflict of interest. “I promise to be a voice, not an echo. I respectfully ask for your vote, but more importantly, please go to the polls and vote for your choice as it is an honor and privilege to live in the United States,” Mararian said.

Christopher Zorra

Christopher Zorra has been a member of the Housing Authority for two years. He is a lifelong resident who is running for Selectman because he wants to get more involved in the future of the town. “I’ve been attending town meeting for years. I want to continue that commitment and help move the town forward,” Zorra said.
Zorra likes to stay informed about what is going on in town and regularly attends board and committee meetings. “A lot of people come to me looking for information because they know I pay attention,” Zorra said. Zorra says he wants to be a good overseer and support the town administrator. “I want to see that my tax dollars are spent wisely,” Zorra said. Zorra is also a board member of the Guardian Relief Fund, which provides grants, scholarships and financial support to veterans and military families in need in New England.
Zorra, who is 32, hopes he will inspire more people of his generation to get involved in town government. “Hopefully people will start coming out and voting and getting involved,” Zorra said. Zorra says he wants to be a voice of the people and bring a fresh perspective to the board. He believes that negativity among board members and between boards should be discouraged because it pushes people away and keeps them from getting involved. “We need to be more positive,” Zorra said.
Another priority for Zorra is the animal shelter. He says the project has been delayed long enough and he will advocate for construction to begin as soon as possible. “We have to come together and build the animal shelter,” Zorra.