ERVING — Gerald Sykes III and Jacquelyn Boyden are vying for a three-year term on the Selectboard, as member James Loynd has opted not to seek reelection.
Sykes, 39, who ran as a write-in candidate for Selectboard in 2025, and Boyden, 63, who recently retired as the town’s principal assessor, are running in the only contested race on the ballot for this year’s town election, which will be held on Monday, May 4. Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Erving Town Hall, 12 East Main St.
Gerald Sykes III
During last year’s town election, Sykes earned 45 votes, but failed to defeat William Bembury, who garnered 65 votes. After taking some feedback about his campaign and making sure he pulled papers to be on the ballot, Sykes decided to run again.
He currently serves on the Cable Advisory Committee and the Erving Elementary School Council, and works as an electrician’s apprentice with Beckwith Electric. He has lived in Erving since 2023 and has six children.
Sykes said he wants to find opportunities to keep Erving affordable, and that he’s heard from fellow residents about their concerns over the cost of living in town, especially for seniors who are on a fixed income. This is one area of town government that Sykes feels has been effective, explaining how the town has always maintained a mindset toward affordability.
“I want to make sure that we do our due diligence,” he said, “and make sure that before we make any decision, that if we’re going to ask the taxpayers to take on an extra burden … it’s because there is no other choice; that we have literally exhausted every point first.”
He sees transparency as another area for improvement, saying that “more openness” could have quelled rumors surrounding the resignations of all four full-time patrol officers from the Police Department earlier this year.
Sykes said he works well under pressure and he learned how to navigate decision-making throughout his career, noting his crisis management experience as an environmental services technician working within a tight budget. He said he recognizes that decision-making should take into account any long-term fiscal impact on the town.
“I also understand that whatever decision gets a vote yes or a vote no, whether I’m right or wrong, is a long-term effect, even if it seems small at the time,” Sykes said. ‘This is people’s lives and money.”
Jacquelyn Boyden
Boyden, after serving as principal assessor for 27 years and now on several Erving boards and commissions, said she is ready to continue her service to the community.
“I’m looking at it from a public service point of view,” Boyden said. “I don’t have an agenda. I just want to be able to help out my community that I love, and there was an opening, and I have a skill set that would help.”
Boyden began her time in Erving town government in 1993 on the Erving Elementary School Committee. She’s continued her service on the Planning Board — a position she’s seeking reelection to this year — as well as the Recreation Commission and Board of Assessors, among other positions.
The time felt right to run for Selectboard, Boyden said. Now that she’s no longer a town employee, she said that she feels she can be a fair Selectboard member with time to dedicate to the position.
Boyden shared that she is open to growth in the town through new businesses to help diversify the tax base, and she feels the town does a good job of being transparent by recording and posting public meetings online.
As for improvements, she shared that Erving has been doing its best with the resources it has, and if there are any improvements she has in mind, it could be making Selectboard meetings more efficient.
As for what makes her a good fit for the position, Boyden explained she “understands the intricacies” of town government, especially in budget development and setting the tax rates, among other understandings of Town Meeting procedure and zoning bylaws.
“I’ve had, in a sense, 33 years of experience in municipal government in various aspects of town government,” Boyden said.
Uncontested races and a ballot question
Aside from the Selectboard race, the other positions on the ballot are uncontested. For School Committee, Planning Board and Recreation Commission, there are two seats with three-year terms available, but with one candidate on the ballot for each. Write-in candidates can win the seats for which no ballot candidates are running.
Other ballot positions include:
- Board of Assessors, three-year term — Jacquelyn Boyden, incumbent.
- Library trustee, three-year term — Linda Downs-Bembury.
- Town moderator, one-year term — Richard Peabody, incumbent.
- Erving Elementary School Committee, three-year term — Daniel Hammock, incumbent.
- Tree warden, one-year term — Glenn McCrory, incumbent.
- Planning Board, three-year term — Debra Smith, incumbent.
- Recreation Commission, three-year term — Kathryn Gaudet, incumbent.
- Board of Health, three-year term — Sally Delaney, incumbent.
Residents are also being asked to vote “yes” or “no” on the question, “Shall the town vote to have its elected treasurer become an appointed treasurer of the town?” Although voters at a Special Town Meeting in March opted to change the position from elected to appointed, the decision must be affirmed at the ballot box.
