Rebecca Bialecki reflects on nine years of service to Athol community

ATHOL – After nine years as a member of the Selectboard, Rebecca Bialecki will attend her final meeting when the five-member board meets Tuesday, March 17.

Bialecki, 65, has been open in her decision to not seek reelection due to health issues.

“I’ve been very public. I have a rare genetic condition. It’s a form of neurofibromatosis, and my form is the rarest of those…..There’s no cure,” she said. “I’ve gone through two different clinical trials at MassGeneral; the last one was going every three weeks for an infusion, which was hard to do.”

Before settling down in Athol almost 11 years ago, Bialecki and her family had lived in several communities, including Boston, Rutland and Orange. As a member of the North Quabbin community, Bialecki worked as vice president of community health at Athol Hospital. She had also worked for a number of years at the North Quabbin Community Coalition.

Bialecki said she decided to run for the Selectboard in 2017. In a race that featured five candidates for two open seats, more than 1,800 voters went to the polls to elect Holly Young, who was the top vote-getter, and Bialecki.

“A lot of people think you have a lot of direct power over things, and you don’t,” said Bialecki of being a member of the board. “But you also work really hard to be a selectman.”

Asked of any accomplishments during her time on the Selectboard, Bialecki – while pointing out that the board’s work is a group effort – cited moving the town’s emergency dispatch center from the Uptown fire station to the police station.

“It makes the most sense to have it not all at the Fire Department,” she said. “The way the transition took place was perfect.”

Growth in Athol’s population and economic development has had a significant and positive impact on the community, she added.

“At about the time I came on board, there was also a turning point when people decided to vote to support the town investing in itself,” she said. “So, they voted to support the senior center, they voted to support the library. Those are things that a town that has some confidence in the future will do, unlike some of our neighbors.”

Bialecki also spoke to the role which the board played in Athol’s recent economic turnaround.

“I think our board, and all the people who have served during the time I’ve been on, have worked really well with the Finance Committee, which is another critical committee for our town,” she said. “Ken Duffy, as a leader, is a positive. Ken and I working together have been a great team.”

Bialecki said she is proud of the way the board, during her time as chair, handled the $3.5 million in ARPA funding that went to Athol during the pandemic. $300,000 in these funds was used to supplement home heating assistance to low-income families.

The effort to re-purpose a number of Athol school buildings which had been closed is also something she pointed to as a highlight of her time on the board. The former Pleasant Street School has become home to the business incubator LaunchSpace, while the former Bigelow and Riverbend schools are being transformed into 53 units of senior and mixed-income housing.

“To see those projects coming to fruition at the end of my term is amazing,” she said.

Asked about the possibility of running again, Bialecki said, “I never say never, but I really am determined that I’m done. I think nine years is a good run and it’s time for somebody else to pick it up.”