For those who haven’t already voted by mail, I urge you to vote to re-elect David Cole to a position on the Westport Planning Board. I served with him on the Planning Board for a number of years and learned from that experience to appreciate and respect the important role of that Board and David’s contribution to it.

I believe that he is clearly more qualified and certainly better suited to be a member of the Planning Board than his opponent, Manny Soares, Jr. According to the New Bedford Standard Times, April 19, 2015, Manny Soares operated an illegal materials stockpiling and crushing operation in Dartmouth for many years that threatened the public water supply and caused significant legal expenses for the town.

Two further articles on these matters appeared in the Standard Times on August 25, 2015 and on November 5, 2018. Soares’ company, Granite City Crushing, Inc. was closed down by court order on June 29, 2019.

Mr. Soares currently operates an excavating business based in Westport that could present potential conflict of interest situations when considering proposals coming before the Planning Board.

For these reasons, I urge fellow Westporters to re-elect David Cole.

Marc A Derego

Westport