ORANGE — Robert J. Stack has a diverse professional background.
He has been a police officer, an EMT supervisor, a staff manager for a telephone company and an airman in the U.S. Air Force for more than 30 years. And now he wants to add Orange selectman to his résumé.
The chairman of the Orange Finance Committee, Stack has developed a working relationship with all town boards and committees and he believes that gives him unique insight.
“We know the school department, at some point, will be requesting a feasibility study for a new school and we know the library would like a new library and the Fire Department would like a new fire station,” he said, “and these are all issues that I think will be coming up in the near-future that we’ll have to deal with and discuss.”
The town has scheduled a special election for Tuesday to fill the selectman seat vacated by Walter Herk on Aug. 31. Stack faces competition from Richard Kwiatkowski and Ryan Mailloux.
Stack, 64, said he has been asking questions about the plan to develop a $44 million, 63-apartment housing project for lower-income residents slated for downtown Orange. He said housing designated for people of low to moderate income could accrue hidden additional costs. For example, he said, people unlikely to own a vehicle typically call an ambulance in an emergency. This could add a new burden to the local fire and ambulance services.
Stack stresses he does not think negatively of low-income housing (he grew up in the Faneuil Housing Project in Boston) but thinks all potential associated costs should be examined.
“I do a lot of research,” he said. “Whenever an issue comes up, I do quite a bit of research on it.”