Grafton Select Board candidates: Lisa Rice

Lisa Rice likes to ask questions. Sometimes they bring her to places she didn’t quite expect.

Back when the town was considering a new Grafton High School, her questions about funding led her to the Finance Committee, where she ended up serving for seven years. She pops up at Town Administrator Tim McInerney’s public meetings and peppers him with questions.

She was already planning to run for Select Board — but in May. Select Board Chairman Bruce Spinney’s unexpected resignation, to pursue the opening of a retail marijuana business in town, left the last seven months of his term wide open.

“I was surprised it came so soon,” she said. “I was already going for it in May, and I’m still going to go for it in May, no matter what the outcome.”

Oct. 29 is the special election to fill Spinney’s seat. Running for office wasn’t on her mind when the Auburn native moved to Grafton 15 years ago with her husband and two daughters.

“I’ve always believed in giving people a voice,” Rice said.

At times, literally. She started her career in public access cable, eventually transitioned into business and technology, and ended up at monster.com. After spending time as a stay-at-home mom, volunteering at South Grafton Elementary School turned into working as a substitute teacher and “within two years, I had a masters in education and I fell in love with the reading.”

Rice now works for the Grafton schools as literacy coordinator. That role has led to questions over whether she might have a conflict of interest on some Select Board topics but — as usual — Rice has done her research.

“Since January, the board has discussed 231 topics,” she said, glancing at some notes. “I would have had to recuse myself six times. That’s just 2 percent of the business that comes before the Select Board.”

Rice said she would come into the position ready to work, given her work on the town’s budget over the years.

“I don’t think someone has to join the Finance Committee to understand the finances in this town, but there is a learning curve and whoever wins has to show up and really work over the next few months,” she added.

One item she wants to work on? Communication. The town needs to do a better job educating voters. With two kids in college, she knows this first-hand — she’d like to see more of an outreach to Grafton High graduates on how to obtain absentee ballots. The town also needs to do a better job on its social media, posting to Twitter as well as Facebook.

“People have a lack of trust in the government and the Select Board and the lack of transparency is a big cause of it,” Rice said. “Misinformation is a big concern. So is the idea that the Select Board is divided. I don’t see myself in either one of the camps. I see us as one town, and everyone has opinions that are valid.”

Marijuana has often come up in her talks with voters. Retail marijuana is now a reality, and Grafton has the opportunity to not only bring in this new business, but also ensure its residents are educated about it.

“At $300 an ounce or so, kids aren’t getting it from the marijuana dispensaries,” Rice said. “I imagine, at the heart of it, parents are concerned about their kids, so let’s educate them.”

Rice would like to look into hiring a grant writer for the town, with tangible, quarterly goals.

“People in Grafton are the customers of the town,” Rice said. “We need to make sure their money is being spent effectively.”