Our View: Randi Potash

Chatham should count itself lucky to have four residents willing to run for a single seat on the select board in the May 14 annual election. Of the four towns The Chronicle covers, only one other has a contested race for the select board, with two candidates seeking a single seat in Brewster.

 As last week’s forum demonstrated, there’s not much difference in the policy positions of the four Chatham candidates. One, however, has the experience and skill set that this particular board can use: Randi Potash.

 A defense attorney and current chair of the zoning board of appeals, Potash is a trained mediator, and if there’s one skill that is likely to come in handy on the current select board, it's mediation. The board has shown more division in recent discussions than in the past, with consensus seemingly harder and harder to reach. The candidate also has extensive experience in local town government. She has not only navigated the fraught waters of the zoning board’s comprehensive review of two affordable housing projects — one of which is still in process — she also served on the bikeways committee and the human services committee. With housing and other social issues topping policy discussions, that experience will help inform the board’s decisions. Also helpful in lending perspective is her past service as the town’s delegate to the Barnstable County Assembly.

 Chatham will be well served with the addition to the select board of Randi Potash.