Athol Selectboard candidate Jon Costa focused on public safety, infrastructure

ATHOL – Jon Costa is hoping the second time, not the third, will be the charm as he runs again to fill an open seat on the Selectboard.

Costa was one of four candidates who ran in last September’s special election to fill a vacancy on the five-member board created by the resignation of former member Andy Sujdak. The contest was won by Bill Chiasson, who had previously served on the board.

Costa believes that more time should be spent promoting economic development in town.

“I think we need to do something to revitalize Main Street,” he said. “We have to bring Main Street back somehow, to bring in more businesses.”

Costa does have some experience in municipal government, having served on the Selectboard in Petersham four decades ago. A native of Petersham, Costa worked for the town’s Department Of Public Works before taking a position at Union Twist Drill. When the Athol company closed its doors in the mid-1980s, he went to work for Petersham Oil. He later worked for the state Department of Transportation as a maintenance supervisor and remained there until his retirement. He has lived in Athol for the last 24 years.

Costa said his time on the Athol Fire Department’s Staffing and Facilities Committee has given him insight into the issues faced by the public safety agency.

“I was also a volunteer firefighter for 27 years in Petersham,” said Costa. “I believe I know what the firefighters are going through; these people are working a lot – a whole lot….They don’t just go out on fire or ambulance calls, they help maintain the fire station, speak with kids at all the schools in town, provide safety tips in meetings with senior citizens. They do a lot and we need to see what the town can do to support them.”

Costa said serving on that committee and attending meetings of other town boards and committees “give me more insight into what the town needs – the money issues. I think we should be going after as many grants as we can and trying to be creative in securing funds for the things we need.”

Costa said he has been generally satisfied with the job the public works crews have done over the winter. Most people, he said, don’t understand the difficulty of keeping roads clear in the unusually cold conditions seen in New England in recent weeks.

“I worked for MassDOT for 27 years and I was a supervisor for 20, and I know salt doesn’t work in these temperatures,” he said. “People can’t expect to have perfectly bare roads all the time.”

He did say crews might get an earlier jump on storms as they approach but added that, with predictions of a tight budget for FY27, the town needs to examine every possible strategy for providing the DPW with the funds needed to keep Athol roads, and municipal infrastructure in general, safe for the public.

Costa reiterated what he said during his first campaign for the board last September: “There are some things that you absolutely need to run a town; you can’t just go in and start cutting funds without knowing the impact.”

Housing is another issue on Costa’s priority list, and supports efforts to promote private investment to renovate vacant buildings and turn them into housing.

Athol’s Annual Town Election will take place on Monday, April 6. Polls at Town Hall will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Joining Costa in the race to fill two seats on the Selectboard are incumbent Brian Dodge, Russell Raymond, Margot Parrot, and Alex Blake Jr.