Tewksbury Candidate Profile: George Ferdinand For Board Of Health

TEWSBURY, MA — The Town of Tewksbury's Annual Town Election is on April 1.

The offices on the ballot for this election are: Select Board, School Committee, Planning Board, Board of Health, Board of Library Trustees, Housing Authority and Moderator.

A sample ballot is available online.

Here is more information about the upcoming election.

Patch is profiling some of the candidates. Here, we learn more about George Ferdinand, who is running against Katlynn Bugda Gwilt for the open seat on the Board of Health. Incumbent Charles Roux is not seeking re-election.

Ferdinand served on the board from 2016 to 2019. Each term on the Board of Health is three years.

Candidates were sent questionnaires and filled out the answers.

George Ferdinand

Age (as of Election Day)

61

Office sought

Tewksbury Board of Health

Family

Patty works at Family Care Center in South Tewksbury

Education

Graduated for Wilmington High School. Attended both Northeastern and Wayne State University.

Occupation

Spent 37 years in the auto industry. Retired with 24 years with Chrysler Corporation as a United Auto Worker. Currently work part-time for the Council on Aging as a van driver.

Previous or current elected or appointed office

• 2016 appointed to the Visioning Committee
• 2016-2019 elected to the Board of Health
• 2022 appointed to the North & Trahan School Reuse Committee

Why are you seeking elective office?

• The open seat was occupied by Charles Roux. I have the same no nonsense, get to the point style that he has. The BOH needs that going forward.
• The BOH with regard to regulations I see "the fewer the better," and more local control with regard to state and federal mandates

Describe the issues that define your campaign platform

• Regulatory: Continued update of regulations.
• Funding: Continued lobbying of town manager to hire a full-time grant writer. If unsuccessful, find an experienced grant writer that would write a few voluntarily.
• Enforcement: The repeat non-compliant offenders need to be sent a stronger message to abide by the regulations. I am that kind of messenger.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post ?

Experience, experience, experience and experience.

• Life experience, four decades of it.
• Worked on multiple boards and the others members can attest to our positive relationships despite our differences.
• Have served as an elected member of the Board of Health with a record of not pleasing everyone.
• Attended multiple annual town meetings. The next one of which I will have submitted a third article to be voted on to the pleasure of the voters in attendance.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Our last campaign for the Board of Health consisted of four goals:

• Transparency
• Regulatory
• Accountability
• Compliance

They were all achieved by working together:

• Transparency: Within 2 months, the meetings previously only available on disc and by request were on YouTube. Also within 18 months, our town had use on three access cable channels.
• Regulatory: Regulations were updated by 38 percent during the three-year period
• Accountability: During our campaign, approximately 20 residents mentioned that they never were responded to by the department on a concern that they had. During the next three years, not one resident informed me of a non-response from the Health Department.
• Compliance: Within seven months after the election, we met the Lowell Sanitation mandate for every food establishment having a certain grease trap. With the help of the town engineer and legal counsel, we were able to secure two other options for facilities which produced less grease. Lastly, 98 percent of the food establishments became compliant.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

In closing, our campaign is focused on:

• The fewer regulations the better
• More local control
• Tired of mandates over individual chosen compliance with a focus on the regulatory function and not a Centers for Disease Control spokesperson