Overview:
Jeffrey Raymond, a retired firefighter and paramedic, is running for the remaining 19 months of the unexpired term of former Selectboard member Andy Sujdak in the upcoming Special Town Election in Athol. Raymond, who has served eight years in the U.S. Air Force and 34 years in the fire service, wants to give back to the community he now calls home. He also drives a school bus and serves on the Monty Tech School Committee. Raymond's priorities include bringing more industry to town, maintaining infrastructure, and being mindful of spending habits.
ATHOL – Voters have four candidates to choose from to serve out the 19 months remaining on the unexpired term of former Selectboard member Andy Sujdak, who resigned his seat in April.
Among those running in the Sept. 8 Special Town Election is Jeffrey Raymond.
Originally from Webster, the 64-year-old Raymond has lived in Athol for more than 20 years.
“I’m retired from the Athol Fire Department,” he said. “I worked there full-time as a firefighter/paramedic there. I was actually one of the first two paramedics they had. Before that, I worked for Wood’s Ambulance.”
Raymond is also a veteran, having served eight years in the U.S. Air force.
“After I got out of high school, I worked for a couple of years,” he explained, “then realized I needed to refocus and I went into the Air Force, where I worked in electronics.”
If I can make somebody’s life a little bit better – the satisfaction of achieving that goes a long way.
Jeffrey Raymond
After his time in the military, Raymond said he worked in the field of electronics, including some time in an engineering lab, until the company he worked for was bought out and relocated to the North Shore.
“I commuted for about three years before I decided to change gears,” he said. “I had been a call firefighter since I was 17 and decided it was time to become a full-timer. I did 34 years in the fire service, as a whole.”
Raymond said he wants to give back to the community he now calls home.
“Athol has been good to me,” he said. “The community of Athol is very nice. For the most part, it’s peaceful, quiet, and anytime I have to interact in the community, people are very nice.”
Although retired from the fire service for 12 years now, Raymond keeps busy driving a school bus, transporting Sterling students to and from the Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School in Fitchburg. He is also Athol’s representative on the Monty Tech School Committee.
“I have basically been a public servant all my life,” said Raymond. “Eight years in the Air Force, 34 years in the fire service; I’ve always been serving the public in one way or another. I like helping people and when I serve on boards and committees, my goal is to help the community as a whole, and I enjoy doing that.”
When first approached by people who urged him to run, Raymond said he at first demurred “because I’m enjoying myself on the School Committee a lot. But I think I can do both.”
Asked about his motivation for running, Raymond said, “I enjoy helping people, doing things for people. If I can make somebody’s life a little bit better – the satisfaction of achieving that goes a long way.
“Athol’s doing pretty good,” he added. “What I would like to see is more industry come to town. One thing where I think the country fell behind is we stopped building stuff. When you look at the country as a whole, the communities that do well are places that have opportunities to put people to work. Losing Starrett’s would be terrible; the people who work there are really talented people.
The candidate said it’s important to spend on the upkeep of Athol’s infrastructure in order to avoid the more expensive alternative of having to replace the town’s physical plant with new, more expensive infrastructure. He added that the spending done by the state Legislature has become problematic for the cities and towns, impacting property taxes.
“People can only afford so much,” said Raymond. “We have to be more cognizant of our spending habits.”
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.