Former Andover Select Board Chair Dan Kowalski has been more active in local politics since last month’s Town election, suggesting he may be gearing up for a run to return to the board in 2024.
“I have become more vocal recently because I’m really getting concerned about the affordability of living in Andover,” Kowalski said Wednesday. As for next year, “I’m not sure what I am doing at this point. I still have all my old signs, so time will tell.”
Select board members Annie Gilbert and Christian Huntress are the two members up for reelection next March. Both Gilbert and Huntress said they had not made any decisions about whether they would run for reelection. Huntress, whose company did design work for the Town before being elected, said he would not resume that work if he steps down.
“Regardless of what I choose to do next year, I don’t plan to provide design services to the Town of Andover after my time with the select board is over,” he said in an email Friday.
Kowalski, 55, was first elected to the board in 2012 and served two terms. He opted not to run for reelection in 2018. Kowalski is planning to amend Article 7 Monday’s Annual Town Meeting, so Andover can’t use additional room in its state-mandated tax levy capacity for capital projects. At Tuesday’s select board meeting, he spoke on several issues during the public comment period, and criticized the Town’s efforts to promote Town Meeting and other events.
Kevin Coffey, who fell short in his bid to unseat incumbent Select Board Member Laura Gregory in the March election, also said it’s “too soon to decide.” The March election was Coffey’s first time running for elected office.
“I will continue to work on some of the big issues through channels other than direct Select Board responsibility and see how things develop,” Coffey said. “The fact that an unknown newcomer lost by only 89 votes to an entrenched, well-supported incumbent tells me that there remains a huge itch for change in Town that needs scratching.”