Dunbarton voters will soon decide who will fill an open seat on the town’s three-member select board, choosing between two candidates with experience in town affairs.

Dana Lavoie and Ray Plante are vying for the position. Current select board member Justin Nault will not seek re-election.

Why are they running?

Lavoie has spent eight years on Dunbarton’s Energy Committee and currently serves as its chair. He played a key role in leading the transfer station’s solar installation and sees the select board as an opportunity to expand his impact.

“I would like to just expand my contributions and leverage my skills to a wider set of Dunbarton objectives, as opposed to just the Energy Committee that I’ve currently been very active on,” said Lavoie.

Having served on multiple boards, Lavoie said he’s learned how to navigate conflicts when differing perspectives arise, a skill he believes would be valuable on the select board.

“What you need to do is you need to take a fairly unemotional approach to those things, present the facts, present the pros, present the cons and then come to a decision,” said Lavoie. “It might be in favor of what you’re supporting, or it might be against it, but you need to support that decision regardless of where you stood on it individually.”

Plante, currently serving his first term as a state representative, has been a Dunbarton resident for eight years. He is a trustee of the town’s trust funds and has a 20-year military background, now working part-time as the Brigade Aviation Officer for the Army National Guard.

If elected, he said he would bring a well-rounded perspective to the select board, using his experience at the state and county levels to inform decisions at the local level.

“I call it the trifecta,” said Plante. “I think it’s great to be able to see all three of those perspectives, whereas somebody who’s just a Selectmen member wouldn’t be able to necessarily know what bill we’re talking about tomorrow in Concord and how that influences the voters of Dunbarton.”

Plante also said Dunbarton residents can count on him to always be available for their questions and concerns.

“I invite anybody to call me, text me, email me,” said Plante. “I think that’s important for any representative because, just like the word says, you’re representing your constituents, and you need to be able to have those conversations and relationships.”

The issues

Both candidates agree on one thing – Dunbarton’s rural charm is worth protecting, and they don’t want to see big-box retailers move in.

Lavoie is a strong advocate for small businesses.

“I would certainly encourage more small businesses if there was a way that we could enhance or encourage that with any town policies,” said Lavoie. “But I would strive to maintain that small-town feel of the Dunbarton community while trying to make it an affordable and pleasant place to live.”

Plante said he wants to preserve Dunbarton’s small-town charm while finding creative solutions to support its growing population and keep it affordable.

“Small businesses, mom-and-pop-owned businesses, anything that’s in the footprint of a single-family unit, I don’t see an issue with that,” said Plante. “But there’s nowhere possible here to have a strip mall or a McDonald’s or anything like that. I would be totally against that.”

State support for towns

Plante said he’d like to see the state take more action to address New Hampshire’s growing population, including allowing towns to subdivide lots under five acres to accommodate more single-family homes.

“The thing we need to do is allow our infrastructure to grow conservatively to support that, but at the same time, we need to make it affordable for the lowest income levels in the state,” said Plante. “Affordable housing is what I really want to see.”

Lavoie said he doesn’t have a specific opinion on how the state can better support towns.

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com