Selectman candidate Ben Bailey, a retired technological entrepreneur moved to Rochester more than 30 years ago. Now he’s ready for a leadership role.

“I want to have a conversation and get people to think about things,” he said.

Bailey also believes the town government could use more transparency and better communication.

To combat these problems, Bailey thinks the town has to start using more modern forms of technology to get information out.

“We currently only post the legally required notices for town meetings, and those are tiny little advertisements that are printed,” he said. “...We need to have a town-managed Facebook page, a website we can actually update…an opt-in email list.”

Bailey said the website would cost $2,500 to fix. He also volunteered to forego his first year’s selectman salary, $4,100, and his health benefits, $15,000, to go toward social media updates and IT improvements.

Bailey believes that his five years on the Planning Board have given him a good introduction to the workings of town government.

“I got to learn how the decisions are made,” he said. “...It gave me the opportunity to find out what it’s like to come up with a bylaw and see it all the way through to Town Meeting.”

He also said in order to be a good leader he’s learned people need to feel like what they’re doing is important.

“Folks in town government should know that they are engaged in making people’s lives better,” Bailey said. “Nobody gets rich in town government.”