MILFORD – Milford voters will choose one three-year term selectman, two three-year term school boards members, and weigh in on warrant articles and school spending proposals Tuesday, March 8.

The polls at Milford High School will be open 6 a.m.-8 p.m.

Information below is taken from Milford’s 2022 Voter’s Guide. The full guide was mailed to Milford voters and is available online at milford.nh.gov.

Incumbent selectman Chris Labonte, the board’s vice chairman, is being challenged by Tim Finan and David Catanzano.

Now finishing his first three-year term, Labonte said in his Voter’s Guide bio that he has “Worked hard to create transparency, so that our residents can know how their tax dollars are being spent, this is something I will continue to work at. It’s important to create trust and understanding, and I believe this can done through transparency.”

Finan served on the Board of Selectmen from 2007-2013 and wants to return to help ensure that the town’s dollars are being spent wisely.

“We must be fiscally smart. While our first impulse might be to simply cut spending, we need to also seek out other revenue streams and stop depending on taxpayers to foot the bill every time,” Finan said.

“We must work with our state representatives to ensure we are getting our fair share of state revenue and that their costs are not downshifted to Local School 67.6% State School 7.9% Town 20% County 4.5% 2021 Property Tax Rate $ 20.15 Rate Breakdown Local 19 us. By doing this, I am confident that we can maintain the Milford we all love without breaking the (our) bank.”

Making his first run for the Board, Catanzano said his work experience as a manager in the restaurant industry “as prepared me to transition my expertise to a selectman role and represent my community to address the issues facing the town today. I feel that giving back is extremely important, and I have worked with several charities to help local communities.”

There are also two contested seats on the Milford School Board. Looking for a chance to continue his tenure on the Board, Michael McLean is being challenged by Noah Boudreault, John DeMarco and Jason St. Jean.

Incumbent Holleigh Ciardelli-Tlapa is not on the ballot.

Having served on the Budget Committee before joining the Board last year, McLean said he worked to “move funds that allowed two schools to get boilers replaced; pushed money back in maintenance budget, financial obligations paid early and saved the taxpayers around $1 million.”

“Our district had extremely high tensions when I joined the board. I spent time with Superintendent Michaud to express and set goals on the need to build relationships. These relationships have improved significantly and are still growing stronger today”

Boudreault said one of his primary goals is to promote a sense of community between the Board and the voters.

“My mission in this campaign and employment by the town is to be part of a team and community that’s sole purpose is to focus on our children’s education and in turn make their futures brighter,” he said. “The school board will provide me with the opportunity to see our children thrive and move our district forward without sacrificing freedoms or safety of any individual.”

DeMarco said he is “passionate about improving the state of our school district’s resources to support students. We are significantly understaffed to effectively support our students.

“This has yet to be addressed and is causing members of our community to seek schooling elsewhere. This is not the supportive school system I remember growing up in, and I intend to change it.”

St. Jean said his motivation comes by seeing “our schools facing many adversities right now, and I know that I can help. Like many people, I have faced adversity in my life and one thing that I have come to realize is that it’s not the adversity that defines us, rather how we face and respond to it. That lesson is what we teach our two kids, who are students in Milford.”

Other contested races include:

Checklist Supervisor, six-year term: David Delay and Bobbi Schelberg.

Library Trustee, two members, three-year terms: Jennifer Siegrist, Tracy Swisher and Dan Sadkowski.

Water-Wastewater Commissioner, three-year term: Eric Knott and Dale White.