Casavant Seeks Third Term, Cites Fiscal Discipline and 40B Milestone

SHREWSBURY -- March 6, 2026, Select Board member Beth Casavant made her re-election case in a candidate interview broadcast on Shrewsbury's community access TV on March 6, ahead of the contested May 5 municipal election. Casavant, a nine-year board veteran, cited the 2021 operating override stabilization fund as her signature achievement, telling interviewer Kelly Barner the board committed to stretching override dollars four fiscal years but is now in year six without drawing down the reserve, a result she called "intentional." She said she supported a moratorium on mixed-use development in the Route 20 and Lakeway overlay districts, pending state approval, and pointed to the town's recent achievement of the 10 percent affordable housing threshold under Chapter 40B as a new check on residential encroachment into commercial zones. The only new full-time positions in the proposed FY27 municipal budget are in police and fire, she said. No board action was taken; the broadcast was a campaign interview, not a formal meeting.