Healy and Viera Take on Zorra for Select Board

Former Fire Chiefs Michael Healy and David Viera are running for the two open seats on the Seekonk Select Board in the April 1 town election. Healy and Viera are challenging incumbent Chris Zorra. Profiles are below.

Michael Healy
Healy surprised many people when he resigned from the Select Board last November, just a few months before his term was due to expire. Healy explained he had been dealing with “a very personal family issue.” “I just felt it was the right thing to do because I wasn’t being fair to the other members of the board because I wasn’t focused on my position as Chairman,” Healy said. “I would think that anybody would agree that family comes first before anything.” Now that the issue has been resolved, Healy feels he has “a lot more to offer  the town.”

Healy is concerned about the businesses which have closed on busy Route 6. There are also a number of building projects, including a new Department of Public Works facility with a $31 million price tag, as well as a new Public Library.

“It needs strong leaders to make the right decisions for the community,” Healy said. “I feel that I’m one of those people who can do that based on my work history in the town.”

Healy was a member of the Seekonk Fire Department for 35 years. He retired in 2019 but returned a few months later when the town was struggling to find a new Fire Chief. “I helped them through the beginning of the Covid pandemic,” Healy noted. “I stayed for another year.”

Healy encourages more residents to apply to serve on boards and committees in town. “At the very least, just please come out to vote. Come to town meeting.

Express your concerns. Then, as a (Select Board), we have a better understanding of what the people of the town want. I will work with anybody for the best interest of the town of Seekonk because it’s not about individuals, and not about personal agendas, it’s about doing the right thing for the town of Seekonk.”

David Viera
David Viera previously served three terms on the Select Board in addition to serving as Fire Chief. He has also been involved in several committees through the years.

Viera is not pleased with the direction of the town and wants to see change. Inflation, increased property taxes, and other expenses are impacting everyone. “We need to give the people of this community some relief,” Viera said. “People are barely making ends meet. We’re bleeding. We need to stop the bleeding. We’ve got employees who are leaving on a regular basis and that’s expensive.”

Public Safety has seen a lot of turnover in the past few years, especially the Fire Department. Viera said it costs the town money to train firefighters. Watching them leave to pursue opportunities in other towns is frustrating to witness.

Michael Small, the former Fire Chief in Falmouth, is running the department on an interim basis. Viera says that makes no sense when there are qualified members of the fire department who would be suitable to lead. Appointing someone as Deputy Chief would help determine whether or not they could serve as Fire Chief, he noted.

Viera supports a fire station in the south end of town. The Select Board voted not to put the proposed $11 million project on the Spring Town Meeting agenda. “We need to let the people decide,” Viera said. “Those residents deserve the same protection as everybody else.”

Viera acknowledges the need for a new Department of Public Works facility as well as renovations to the schools. 

“We need to sharpen our pencil, Viera added. “We need to prioritize. Let’s think more realistically, let’s think inside of the box instead of outside of the box.”

Chris Zorra
Chris Zorra is running for a third term on the Select Board. Building a new Department of Public Works facility is one of his top priorities.

The deteriorating conditions of the Seekonk Public Schools has been a topic of discussion. Zorra feels spending millions of dollars to build a new school would be too much for taxpayers to support. “I support (the school department) applying for grants (including funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority,” Zorra noted. “I don’t think (the town) can come up with $200 million or whatever it’s going to cost for a school.”

Zorra is feeling positive about the direction of the Fire Department, which had faced staffing shortages last fall as well as the retirement of Chief Sandra Lowery. “Hopefully we can bring on 11 or 12 (firefighters) per shift,” Zorra said. “Right now, the Captain (Adam Dalessio) is doing a good job of running the department.”

Zorra is proud of the completion of the new Animal Shelter and the improved communications with the School Department.

The debt exclusion to pay the town’s share of the new Tri-County Regional Vocational High School is on the April ballot. If it is rejected, Zorra said there would be “drastic cuts” because the money will have to be taken from the operating budget.

Zorra notes he has always been attentive to the needs of the residents: “I listen, I respond. I don’t have issues with anyone. I get along (with fellow board members). We’re not necessarily friends but we respect each other.”