Cakounes, Piekarski To Run For Select Board

HARWICH – Leo Cakounes and Peter Piekarski have taken out nomination papers for the April 9 special election to fill the unexpired term on the select board created by the resignation of board member Mary Anderson.

Cakounes, a former Barnstable County commissioner, was the first candidate to announce his intention to seek the unexpired term. He took out nomination papers on Dec. 26. Piekarski, a former selectman and vice president at Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod, took out his papers on Dec. 29.

The successful candidate will serve as a select board member for 43 days. Anderson’s three-year term was scheduled to expire on Tuesday, May 21.

Cakounes said he plans only to seek the unexpired term only and will not be a candidate for the three-year select board term that will be on the May 21 annual election ballot in May.

“I have some good experience and can help the select board get ready for town meeting,” Cakounes said. ”I can hit the ground running.”

Piekarski, who fell three votes short in the annual election in May to incumbent Donald Howell, said he will be taking out nomination papers for the three-year term as well.

“When elected, I anticipate working with the current board members on any last minute/pending items required for town meeting,” he wrote in an email. “Additionally, I anticipate using this time to familiarize myself with the board members, town administrator and issues or items that are forthcoming. The additional 43 days can only assist with my preparation for the full term.”

Select Board candidates deciding to run for the unexpired term have until Feb. 16 to obtain nomination papers, which must be submitted to the town clerk’s office by Feb. 20. Based on whether a candidate is also planning to run for the three-year term, there could be a parallel nomination process to follow. Nomination papers will be available for the three-year term on the board on Jan. 16 and must be filed with the town clerk’s office by April 2, a week before the special election is held.

Cakounes, a local cranberry farmer, said his experience serving on the finance committee and capital outlay committee and his active participation in town meetings will help with working on the budget and town meeting articles to be placed before voters this spring. He noted that his service in the executive branch of Barnstable County, and the Assembly of Delegates, the legislative branch of county government, are additional benefits.

“I think I’d make a good interim selectman,” he said.

Cakounes said he was on the fence on whether a special election should be held. Had he been on the select board or asked to sign the petition calling for the special election, he would not have supported either, he said, citing the cost of the special election.

There are a lot of elections coming this spring, including the presidential primary election, and it could be confusing for voters, Cakounes said. It’s a lot to ask voters to come out and pick a select board member for five or six meetings, he added. Candidates running in the special election and the annual election would also have to file two financial reports with the state, Cakounes said.

“I also don’t like the concept that a person can win [the special election] and can run for the three-year seat as an incumbent in the May election,” said Cakounes.

In all likelihood, Piekarski said, he would have supported calling a special election immediately upon Anderson’s resignation. However, there are several factors that would need to be considered, including the approximately $25,000 price tag for the special election being one of them, he said. The current working relationship of board members and pending matters, including budget messaging and contract negotiations, would have also factored into the decision.

“A 43-day term is not ideal,” said Piekarski.

The goal of the interim select board member should not be to seek to change policies in that short period, Cakounes said. He would be “strongly advocating for Open Meeting Law training,” especially for board chairs and members. He said he has observed countless violations. By way of example, he cited two instances at select board meetings where topics not on the agenda raised under “public comment” have received lengthy discussion, including from the board and individual members, before the topic was tabled.

Cakounes said he is not going to actively campaign for the seat and does not want any monetary contributions. He might do a makeover of former political signs he used when running for the county commissioner position, he said. He requested that registered voters come forward and sign his nomination papers.

“Because I’m focusing on the interim seat, I want the voters to turn out and ask me to do it,” Cakounes said.

Piekarski served as a selectman from 2005 to 2008. He was a candidate for one of two seats on the select board in last May’s annual election. Jeffrey Handler garnered 1,376 votes for one seat, and Select Board member Donald Howell took the second seat with 1,013 votes to Piekarski’s 1,010 votes.

“My goals for the three-year term are fairly simple,” Piekarski said. “I would work with the existing members to focus on the town meeting-approved budget along with an eye on future budgets. Keeping Harwich affordable for life-long and fixed income residents is extremely important to me.

“Additionally, I would strive to improve communication, collaboration and effective agreement with boards and committees, both elected and appointed. Furthermore, I will hold myself and other board members accountable for an open, transparent and fair form of town government.”