Natick Select Board, School Committee candidates address hot topics at online forum

"Incumbent Select Board members Kathryn Coughlin and Bruce Evans took part in the forum, while challenger Kathryn Kelly was not able to attend. School Committee incumbents Cathi Collins and Elise Gorseth took part, as did challengers Dr. Donna McKenzie and Jaymin Patel.

Questions for the forum were submitted by members of the public and edited by Natick Report staff, which moderated the event.

Select Board candidates fielded financial, social, and environmental questions, with Coughlin and Evans frequently echoing each other’s responses and adding on to them.

On the subject of concerns about federal cuts and possible further changes, Evans cited concerns related to funding of the Rte. 27/9 interchange improvement project that’s getting underway as well as environmental projects. Though he did state his faith in state and local government teams and said “we need to work together to push back when it doesn’t make sense.”

Coughlin acknowledged “grave concerns, and the concerns are far more than just losing grant funding,” though she did cite the need for federal funding on the dam removal and park improvement projects that would need to be replaced if it didn’t come through.

“A greater concern I have about the impact that’s happening at the federal level is the economic uncertainty. We’ve seen the markets roil—that impacts our pension funds, that impacts our town’s investments, and that also impacts our local businesses’ ability to make decisions in a time of economic risk.”