Gardner Town Board

Two supervisor seats are up for re-election on the Gardner Town Board, but there’s only one race. Incumbent Glenn Dart is running unchallenged for his Supervisor 4 seat, but Ted Anderson has challenged incumbent Kevin Fleischman for the Supervisor 3 seat. 

Fleischman did not respond to our request for participation in the questionnaire, but below we introduce you to Anderson.

Ted Anderson, 70, is retired, and works part-time at Stevenson Pier Mini Mart. He is a high school graduate and is married to Sally with two adult children. He has regularly volunteered for golf outing benefits for DoorCan and is a gold donor on their wall. He now runs an annual fishing derby. This is their seventh year raising money for those with cancer who live within the town and have fallen on hardships. An eight-year cancer survivor himself, he also works with the Gardner Community Foundation. This is his first time running for a public office.

Why are you running? I’m running because I believe we need a change in Gardner, like following through on townpeoples’ complaints and getting back to them with timely resolutions.

What are the town’s top priorities over the next five years? I would really like to see a town park with a pavilion, dog-walking area and a gathering/picnic area for our community. I would also like to empower the community members to participate more at the town board meetings. It is important that the community is involved in many issues brought to the board.

Do you support merging the town’s first responders with first responders from the towns of Brussels and Union? I’d like more information and transparency on the intentions and expected results of this merger to properly represent my community if elected. 

Voters will be asked April 2 whether they favor borrowing up to $1,242,686 to fund broadband. Do you support this? I would love to see better internet here, but I am hesitant to support it much if it is going to be too costly for the town and landowners’ expected contribution. I have already heard of many people moving on to other providers that are more affordable and reliable. If it is relayed at the informational meeting that it will be cost-effective for the community, then I would support it. 

The town board has been looking into implementing zoning. Do you support town zoning, and why or why not? If you do support it, should the town or county be the primary governmental entity responsible for overseeing it? I believe we do need some zoning in our town and that should be the responsibility of the town to oversee. In addition, we could use some town ordinances as a part of the five-year plan.