2 on board won’t seek re-election

HUDSON – With the election months away, two longtime selectmen announced Tuesday night that they will not be seeking re-election.

Selectmen Shawn Jasper and Ann Seabury both said during the board’s meeting that they will not run for another term. Both have served multiple terms on the board.

It was a difficult decision, said Jasper, who was first elected to the board in 1984.

However, lately he’s found himself in the minority position on the board too many times, Jasper said during selectmen’s remarks.

“I’ve always loved being a selectman,” he said. “I appreciate the confidence of the voters electing me four times.”

He also thanked the people who encouraged him and asked him to reconsider his decision not to seek another term.

Jasper also asked his fellow selectmen to pay attention to the call firefighter force, which he said is shrinking, and to look for ways to keep the force active.

Jasper was a call firefighter for 20 years before the board unanimously voted to fire him earlier this year at the recommendation of the Fire Department.

New policies have restricted the number of calls, call firefighters can go on, Jasper said.

“The board needs to take an active role in finding out what is going on,” he said. “There are policies in place that make it less desirable to be a call firefighter.”

Seabury also said she was not running during selectmen’s remarks, noting that she was announcing her decision with a “heavy heart.”

Looking back at her time on the board, Seabury said many of her goals had been accomplished, citing the completion of a new police station and highway department garage.

Efforts to expand the library, however, are still ongoing, she said.

The board’s other accomplishments, Seabury noted, were purchasing the water company, buying Lions Hall, where the senior citizens meet, and building a skateboard park.