I am Forbes Farmer and I’m running for selectman for the Town of Rindge.

I am fiscally responsible and will only support expenditures that are essential and within the taxpayers’ ability to pay. I believe in transparency. I do not believe in micromanagement, but I believe in accountability. Issues like policy, pay raises and expensive equipment need to be planned for, researched and reviewed.

I will work  with the other members of the Select Board to maintain the affordability, safety and peacefulness of the town where my children grew up and where I have lived for 50 years. Both my boys graduated from Conant High School and my wife, now deceased, was the elected overseer of welfare for Rindge for many years.

Years ago, I served as an alternate on the Rindge Budget Advisory Committee and the Rindge Zoning Board of Adjustment, and I was recently on the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School Board for over three years. As a School Board member, I looked for ways to tighten the budget. In making decisions, I use research and common sense and am willing to compromise.

Holding a doctorate in sociology, I taught criminal justice, social work and research courses at Franklin Pierce University for 45 years, where I also managed the budgets and supervised the faculty and staff in six academic departments. I also served as the faculty representative on the Rindge Town-Gown Committee.

If elected, I will do my best to see that the police, highway and fire departments, along with the administrative office, are run efficiently and effectively. I will insist on a very frugal town budget. I will fulfill the responsibilities of the selectman position with integrity and political independence, and will keep an open mind.

Forbes Farmer

Rindge