File photo
By Dakota Antelman, Contributing Writer
Hudson – Select Board member John Parent said Jan. 25, that he won’t run for re-election when his term ends later this year.
Just under four months before town elections in mid-May, Parent’s decision is a sudden development in the race for open Select Board seats that only recently got underway.
“It’s been an honor and pleasure,” Parent told his colleagues and constituents, tearing up as he made his announcement.
A career of service
Previously, Parent was the longtime chair of the town Finance Committee. Prior to his election to what was then called the Board of Selectmen, Parent also occupied seats on the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, the Community Preservation Committee, and the JFK Middle School Building Committee. In 2013, he helped select Tom Moses as Hudson’s Executive Assistant.
Parent then won a spot on the Board in 2015. Over time, he’s since been chair of the Board of Selectmen, managed part of Hudson’s response to PFAS chemical contamination of its drinking water and served on a committee planning the eventual redevelopment of the old Packard Street Police Station, in town.
Now, he’s leading another Executive Assistant search committee to select Moses’ replacement as Moses retires.
“Never once did I ever get the thought that John had anything in mind but the best interests of this town in mind,” Select Board Member Scott Duplisea said of Parent. “John is above and beyond reproach.”
Choosing to step away
Parent won re-election, unopposed, in 2018. Shortly after that point, though, he said he made the decision to not seek a third term.
His absence from the ballot in May sets the stage for the second close Select Board race in Hudson in as many years.
Select Board candidates speak up
Dandrick Gelin is running again after coming within 41 votes of ousting Duplisea last spring.
He’s joined by Shawn Sadowski, a local machinist currently serving as both a volunteer member of the Finance Committee and as an appointed member of that aforementioned committee focused on the Packard Street Police Station.
While Parent won’t race to keep his seat, Select Board Chair Joe Durant has not confirmed whether he wants to run for re-election when his term also lapses, this spring.
If he does run, that would create a three-man race for two seats.
Politics aside, though, candidates and elected officials alike continue to praise Parent.
“It was a privilege to be on the Packard St. Reuse Committee with [Parent],” Sadowski wrote in a message to the Community Advocate, Jan. 26. “He made sure that all of the residents’ issues with the upcoming projects were understood. He brings a lot of knowledge on different subjects to any committee he is on.”
Sadowski elaborated, saying, “[Parent] is a good, fair man. You can disagree with him on a subject, have that discussion and he will still ask how your day was. That speaks volumes of a person’s character.”
Gelin echoed the sentiment in his own statement, before then nodding towards a message of change and youth in municipal government that has been central in his campaigns both last year and this year.
“He will be missed and his work has been very much appreciated,” Gelin wrote. “His departure gives Hudson an opportunity to bring about change for our community. Let’s take advantage and bring something new to the table.”
Click here for more Hudson news.
