ATHOL — This week’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen was Mitchell Grosky’s last as a member of the five-person executive board at the head of town government.
“At this time in life I had to take stock of what my responsibilities are to the town and my family, and decide … what I want to do with the rest of my life,” Grosky said of his decision not to seek re-election.
Grosky served a year on the board, appointed to finish the term of Susannah Whipps Lee after her election to the state House of Representatives. A longtime teacher and principal in the district’s elementary schools and middle school, Grosky remains on the Athol Royalston Regional School Committee.
Grosky said he supposes people will accuse him of viewing the town through rose-colored glasses, but he sees nothing but good in the town’s future.
“I can’t imagine a town like this doing more than we are currently trying to do,” Grosky said.
People tend to be cynical about politics, Grosky said, but his time on the board restored his faith in local government, he said.
“I don’t think they realize how much people up here care,” Grosky said. “I don’t think anybody ever made a decision on any basis but what was best for the town.”
Grosky said he believes the town is heading in the right direction, and sees particular encouragement in the willingness of residents to vote for a new elementary school, and in the work new administrators are doing throughout the district. Michael Leander is the district’s newest hire, picked to helm the new elementary school, and Grosky is effusive in his praise of his former middle school colleague.
“If you had children, this is the principal you would want for your kids,” he said.
Board members thanked Grosky for his service and said he has been a pleasure to work with.
Grosky took time during the meeting to thank his wife, Anne, town employees and all the volunteers he said are working toward a bright future.
The annual town election is April 4, with William J. Caldwell of 15 Haven St. running uncontested for the open seat on the Board of Selectmen.
You can reach Chris Curtis at: ccurtis@recorder.com