Thursday, January 25, 2007 Older Editions

Two more for selectmen's race

By Brian Messenger

A handful of residents have already announced plans to run for town moderator. Now a half-dozen have joined the race for two open seats on the Board of Selectmen.

Including the three announced candidates for School Committee and the two residents who have taken out papers with the town clerk for an open position on the Andover Housing Authority, there are 16 names that could potentially appear on the ballot for the annual town election March 27.

Residents have until Feb. 6 to return their papers to Town Clerk Randy Hanson, making their candidacies official.

Jerry Stabile, 47, of Blueberry Hill Road, took out election papers to run for selectmen last week. He was joined by Frederick Livingstone Jr., 49, of Lovejoy Road, who took out papers on Tuesday.

Married and with four daughters, this will be Stabile's first time running for public office.

"I think Andover can do better," said Stabile of why he is considering a run.

Citing a growing gap between the town's management, employees and unions, Stabile said, "It's unnecessarily costing taxpayers. Rather than sit back and watch, I think I'm at the point in my life where I have the time and the passion to jump in and get involved."

Currently a senior vice president at a software development company in Woburn, Stabile graduated from Boston College with a degree in business administration and played Division 1A football there on scholarship.

After moving to Andover when he was 4 and growing up in the town's school system, Stabile moved away after college. He relocated here again in 2000, and has resided here ever since.

Livingstone, who has lived in town for seven years, is married and has three children. He has degrees in architecture from the Wentworth Institute of Technology and engineering from Northeastern University, and also took business classes at New York University, he said.

The owner of both a home building, addition and remodeling company based out of Andover and an Internet commerce business, Livingstone said he'll be running this spring as a fiscal conservative.

"The town's in a very sensitive financial position these days. It needs fiscally conservative management and oversight, and that's what I bring to the table," he said.

Calling his experience of running his own and others' businesses an asset, Livingstone said "there's a direct correlation and crossover" between that experience and helping to run a town like Andover as a selectman.

"I think we need to bring some more definitiveness to the board ... more purpose. That's a challenge because of the fiscal times we're in," Livingstone said. "That's what I bring: the ability and the desire to make the tough decisions without concern for the ulterior motives. Just doing the right thing."

Livingstone looked forward to a competitive race.

"The more candidates that put their name in the better it is for myself," he said. "It's actually kind of exciting. Once the race heats up, people will truly see the difference I bring."

Stabile also looked forward to the run-up to the town election.

"I am excited about the race," said Stabile. "I think at the end of the day it's going to be a great experience."

"I've been following the issues as an observer," Stabile said, noting that a few of his goals as a selectman would be "to continue to improve the town's services, the infrastructure, improving the experience of the town employees; doing that in a fiscally responsible way in the interest of the taxpayers."

Stabile said he'll work to establish a "collaborative working relationship" with town management, employees, union members and residents.

"I want to listen to everybody and make sure they get represented in an equitable (way) as far as the Board of Selectmen is concerned," said Stabile. "I'm in the process of doing all my homework right now.

"I think what I'll bring to the board is a demonstrated track record of leadership and results with management."

Stabile said the current prevailing attitude with those who oversee town affairs is costing taxpayers and the community at large.

"I sense there's a us-versus-them mentality that's expanding," he said. "It's a good time to get involved and see if I can bridge that gap."

Stabile and Livingstone will likely join Mary Carbone, Don Robb, Joseph Leone and incumbent Selectmen Chairman Alex Vispoli in the race for two open seats. Current Selectman John Hess will not seek reelection.

For School Committee, incumbents Dick Collins and Deb Silberstein likely will run alongside challenger Robert Coffill, while for town moderator David Samuels, Sheila Doherty, Eric Nadworny, Kenneth Ozoonian and Lawrence Morse have taken out papers. The two potential candidates for the Andover Housing Authority seat are Jan Burkholder and Justin Ward.