By Patrick Adrian
[email protected]
CLAREMONT — Four Claremont residents, including two city planning board members and one elected school official, are vying to fill the vacant seat on the Claremont City Council.
The four candidates — Dale Girard, Matt Mooshian, Michael Sanborn and Heather Whitney — filed applications to fill the council seat recently vacated by Abigail Kier, who announced her resignation last month due to her family’s relocation to Washington, D.C.
The Claremont City Council plans to interview the candidates and make a selection at the next council meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
Here is some information regarding each candidate for the vacant city council seat:
Dale Girard
Girard is the owner and operator of Golden Cross Ambulance in Claremont and a city resident for over 50 years. He currently serves on the Claremont Planning Board and on the Airport Advisory Committee.
“I feel we are making progress in Claremont,” Girard told the Eagle Times on Tuesday. “But we really need to keep working on our infrastructure and with our city manager and department heads to keep the tax rates down but also make progress in the community, which can really be a double-edged sword [to balance].”
Matt Mooshian
Mooshian is a mental health professional and co-founder and coordinator of Rural Outright, a LGBTQ+ support and advocacy program operated by the TLC Family Resource Center in Claremont. In 2018 Mooshian helped launch Rural PRIDE in Claremont, recognized as the first LGBTQ+ PRIDE event in the Upper Valley region, and received the Greater Claremont Chamber of Commerce’s Presidential Award for Young Professional of the Year.
Mooshian also serves on the Claremont Planning Board.
“I believe that our community holds the power to write our own story, and I believe that Claremont holds endless potential,” Mooshian said in a written statement. “I want to serve on the city council because I want to harness that potential and be part of writing the next chapter for Claremont — a chapter of revitalization, prosperity, and equity. I believe that together we can build a movement to change the conversation around what is just and what is possible, and together we can keep Claremont moving forward.”
Mooshian has received endorsements for the council position by several residents, including former councilor Kier and two state legislators, Rep. John Cloutier and Rep. Gary Merchant.
Michael Sanborn
Sanbord is a retired Claremont police officer and Army veteran. In 2019 he authored “A Cop in a Small City: Examining Mission and Integrity”, a book about his experiences in the police department and his reflections about long-standing systemic problems in America’s police departments and ways that departments must evolve, both structurally and philosophically.
In a phone interview with the Eagle Times, Sanborn said he considers himself more “a doer than a talker,” but with retirement he finds himself with time now to engage in public meetings and serve.
“I don’t have any agenda,” Sanborn said. “I just want to do what’s best for the city and the residents.”
Heather Whitney
Whitney currently serves as the vice-chair on the Claremont School Board. The Eagle Times attempted to reach Whitney for a comment but did not receive a reply in time of publication.
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