BY MATT HERSH

After the filing of a petition warrant to change the Salem Zoning Board of Adjustment to an elected body rather than appointed, several members are saying they would not run for a position.

Dan Norris, the vice-chairman of the board, said if voters change the member process, his name will not likely appear on the ballot.

“I haven’t thought enough about it yet,” he said.  “But I’m strongly inclined not to run.”

Including Norris, three of the board’s five members said they might not run for election.

The planning board, which became an elected body last year with its first elections to take place this March, voted on Tuesday, Jan. 9, not to support the citizen’s petition to change the zoning board’s status.

Despite the contention of officials, the petition started by former planning board alternate Ron
Giordano will still appear before voters in March.

Since the zoning board has the unpopular task of sometimes denying projects, Norris said voter influence could negatively affect the process.

“We need to focus on a narrow set of legal criteria,” he said. “There’s no room at all for public opinion or popularity with respect to projects.”

Norris said he fears that elected members would be too worried about making unpopular choices that might affect re-election.

“Popularity is inherent in the process of campaigning and running for election,” he said.  “Those factors will definitely come in to play.”

Similarly, James Randazzo, who has sat on the board for about a year, said he doesn’t anticipate running for a position.

“When folks back you in a campaign, there could be too much pressure (to make project decisions) from a voting standpoint,” he said.

Planning board members are facing a similar situation as the March elections approach.
Several current members said they don’t plan on running for the same reasons Norris and Randazzo cited.

Adam Webster, who was the planning board’s chairman until last November, expressed concern that boards that go from appointed to elected could soon have an entirely freshman roster.
Inexperienced boards could be a liability to the town, he said.

Still, Giordano said the petition is the best thing for the town, citing what he sees as corruption in the appointing process of the boards.

“We’re giving people the opportunity to change the process,” he said.  “We need the diversity of regular people on these boards.”

Giordano’s petitions have been criticized by officials, who said he’s trying to get back at the town for not granting him a seat on the planning board.

In response to these claims, Giordano said he won’t run for election in March, but he’s baffled at planning and zoning board members who are refusing to as well.

“If these people who are on the boards now are crying foul, run and help new people learn the process,” he said.