Southbridge town councilor vying for open 6th Worcester District state House seat

SOUTHBRIDGE - After a 26-year career in the U.S. Marines, David Adams opted for the civilian life after leaving his last assignment in Westover Air Force Base, settling in Worcester County where he met his wife. They live with their blended family in Southbridge.

After casting around for next steps after retiring in 2013, he taught college in Oklahoma for a time and history at a local Catholic middle school. Adams later accepted a position in Oxford as the veterans agent and he also threw his hat in the municipal government ring and was elected as a Southbridge town councilor in 2018.

Now, after more than five years serving the residents of the town, seeing to infrastructure repairs and attracting new businesses, Adams is looking to move into the vacant House of Representative seat for the 6th Worcester District.

One of two Republicans already on primary ballot

Adams is one of two Republicans who have already been certified by the Secretary of State and will be included on a primary ballot Feb. 6. The winner will move on to the special election scheduled for March 5. There is yet to be a Democratic challenger for the vacancy.

Adams will go head-to-head with Dudley selectman John Marsi in February and any other Republican candidate who can be certified in time to run for the vacant seat. The opening was created when former Rep. Peter Durant, R-Spencer, was elected to fill a different vacancy in the state Senate. That unexpired term was created when former Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, resigned to accept a position as the director of rural affairs for Massachusetts with the Healey/Driscoll administration.

While his primary opponent may enjoy high-profile endorsements, Adams said his campaign is about the residents and the voters in the community. He is relying on his record as a town councilor, his work as a veterans agent, his work on the different municipal committees he has served and on the support of his community to usher him into office.

“I promise to keep listening, assure transparency and work hard,” Adams said. He is also assuring voters he will not become complacent in office. “I can bring my experience in Southbridge into the Statehouse.”

Instrumental in revitalizing the Veterans Council of Southbridge, Adams directed the refurbishing of the city’s World War Memorial Park.

“It started as a project to collect the World War I plaques and monuments scattered around the city and move them to the park,” Adams said. That collection effort turned into a $120,000 project, with new benches, a flagpole, accessibility and all accomplished with private funds. The council’s next projects are Dresser Hill Memorial Park and Oak Ridge Cemetery.

“We are working on public land, with public funds, donations and financing from nonprofit organizations,” Adams said. The project, Adams said, requires working carefully with stakeholders to ensure complying with different funding requirements and restrictions.

That ability to balance public and private is what he hopes to bring to the Statehouse if he is elected to finish out the unexpired term.

Local leadership with creative ideas needed

“We can’t expect the state to solve all our (municipal) problems," Adams said. Local leadership, Adams said, must find ways to address pressing local issues: education, infrastructure failures, the influx of migrants, support for first responders, accessible and affordable health care and mental health care before looking to the state.

“But the state must help. It has a bigger purse than we do,” Adams said. He points to the Wells School conversion project as a way for local leadership to meet state mandates. “We kept its historical character while converting it to private apartments for 55-plus residents.”

As councilor, Adams has worn different hats serving on the planning and economic development committee, as the council’s chairperson and vice-chair, and as chair of the Department of Public Works Committee.

Most recently on his plate was how to address the town’s solid waste collection after the departure of Casella and the shuttering of the landfill, a facility that brought millions into Southbridge yearly in royalties.

“We had to find the funds to pay for curbside collection,” Adams said.

Adams was first prompted to run for office after seeing the condition of his community’s roadways, sidewalks and communication systems, and how the infrastructural failures prompted the exit of local businesses.

“There was a waterfront property (on the Quinebaug River), American Optical,” Adams said, explaining he saw its redevelopment potential. “The town council didn’t want to have anything to do with it.“

Giving back and service to community

Adams sought help from a mentor and ran for a position on the council. Assigned to the Planning and Economic Development Committee, Adams brought a business to the area to rehabilitate the abandoned mill building, relocating Green Meadows, a cannabis business, to Southbridge.

Residents approved the move to allow cannabis into Southbridge in a nonbinding referendum by a large margin.

“The company, founded by the grandson of Gen. George Patton, rebuilt the whole mill,” Adams said.

At 53, Adams has earned bachelor's and master's degrees in ancient and classical history, and has been married to his wife, Natalie, for 14 years. Between them, they share five offspring, with the youngest at 22.

“I never thought I would join the Marines,” Adams said, admitting that leaving the service was a difficult transition, but not one that he regrets. He does miss the camaraderie, however. Serving veterans in Oxford and through the Veterans Council helps him stay connected.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: David Adams certified for February primary; will face Dudley selectman