Let Roxbury be unified

My wife and I moved to Roxbury in 2017 after many years of admiring its farms and landscape. I was for many years an avid Roxbury Road Race Series participant, giving me the chance to see lots of the town as I raced along, up and down Roxbury’s many hills.

We were initially wary of how nonpartisan the town elections and government were. Of course, there’s really very little to be partisan about education, town management, zoning, wetlands and public safety. The ethic was to do the right thing, to not be defined by party affiliation. That energy was widespread in the town and it was and is good.

One of our first town gatherings was a Roxbury Land Trust get together. It was at that meeting we understood that the town had an active group of people who wanted to retain the beautiful natural open spaces and farmland.

Fast forward to 2021. There is an election to decide who will become the new first selectman and second selectmen, after 24 years of bipartisan support for Barbara Henry.

I want Roxbury to continue to be the place that values problem-solving and nonpartisan governance. I believe Patrick Roy as first selectman will provide that kind of leadership. He is an ardent defender of unity as is his running mate Kim Tester. Both have a wonderful history of town commission and board membership so they understand the issues at a deep level and have proven who they are. They don’t have labels, unlike the other first selectman candidate who professes to be a “libertarian”; they just want to serve the needs of Roxbury.

Vote for Patrick and Kim; they have earned our trust though their actual performance in Roxbury. Mark W. Zerbe, Roxbury