In January of this year, Mr. Thomas Coen, AP Government teacher, applied for a position on the Board of Supervisors.

“When a supervisor resigns, the state has specific procedures that are to be followed. Last January, the Board of Supervisors announced the vacancy. Interested people had a set time to send in an application. The Board then chooses 3 people to interview. After the interviews, they vote on who they wish to serve. That person serves until the Special Election. They chose the November General Election as the date for the special election,” Coen said.

He has believed in serving his community since he was younger, and says that it is very important to be involved and be there for those in need. He enjoys helping people and there are so many ways he can do that on the local level.

“I was first elected to Town Meeting at 19. At 20, I was asked by the Town Manager to chair the Fair Housing Committee for my town, creating the policies and practices to ensure everyone would have equal access to homes and apartments. This had to match federal and state laws.  The plan our committee created became the model for the state,” Coen said.  Before getting appointed [on the Board] I served for four years on the Planning Commission. That body works on zoning and growth issues. I enjoyed working on the Comprehensive Growth Plan for the county—setting where we what the different types of growth,” Coen said.

Mr. Coen looks forward to serving in this position and helping the county out in any way possible such as setting the budget and tax rates, decide on zonings and where items should go, addressing transportation needs, the schools budget and building construction as well as police, fire and rescue.