Meet Middleboro Select Board candidate Mark Germain

MIDDLEBORO — Select Board Chair Mark Germain aims to use his years of municipal experience and “gut-instinct” negotiation skills to serve a third term on the board.

He previously worked three years on the finance committee, and has served as chair of the Select Board for four of his six years on the board. 

As chair, Germain runs the weekly Select Board meetings and said he takes it upon himself to be “very involved” since he deals with town business seven days a week. 

“There seems to be an awful lot of pressing issues on a daily basis, if not a weekly basis. That takes a lot of time and a lot of communication,” Germain said. “I enjoy it.”

Germain said he is a “man of action” and his approachability and team mindset he uses with the current board and broader town departments helps them work together as a "complete unit.”

If reelected, Germain said he would commit his institutional knowledge and history on the board to better build the future of the town.

“I am the senior most member at this current time on the Select Board, and there's a lot of things changing that we need to remember how we got here and why we made the decisions we made,” Germain said.

In his view, housing affordability, clean drinking water and overdevelopment are the top three issues facing residents. 

Germain said one of his major achievements lies in settling the MBTA lawsuit against the state over housing compliance. The MBTA district, the lawsuit had claimed, could have cost the town nearly $200 million and added 1,471 housing units.

“We pushed very hard. I like to think that I was a big part of going to the State House and advocating for our town,” Germain said.

Germain said his methodology in negotiating is a "little more aggressive” than others, noting that fighting the state was something he will “never” forget.

Germain said he and board members raised the cost of drinking water, sewer rates and trash removal services in town to cover town expenses related to those services. 

While he said the rise in rates was “unpopular” from the view of some residents and previous boards, he noted that the decision allowed the town to fund expenses for new water-related developments and fund needed equipment and vehicle replacement.

“We have to do what we have to do. Other boards before us didn't raise the rates because it wasn't popular, but the end result didn't help us,” he said.

Germain said he enjoys “the art of negotiations.” He said he is proud of the jobs and economic growth that stem from the Tax Increment Financing agreements he helped negotiate with companies Indus and Rexa. The agreements incentivize businesses to move to an area through incremental tax increases over a number of years.

He said negotiating with commercial developments that bring in jobs and additional tax revenues are his way of approaching affordability.

“I look at all the pieces of the puzzle and what fits best for our town as a whole, is it long term solutions? Is it a temporary solution? And what's the big overall benefit of our economic growth?” Germain said.

Germain said he is “all in” on Middleboro and attends community events including awarding area Eagle Scouts —  wearing the dog-bite safety suit during the canine demonstration at National Night Out — and various community recognitions and family-fun town events.

“I think that I pull no punches. People see how I run a meeting. People see the way I treat the public respectfully. You can expect exactly what you see on Monday night in the future,” he said.