Candidate Profile: Joe Zora

Jun 3, 2020

Joe Zora isn’t afraid to call out things in town that he considers foolish.

He has heard of two bike path plans headed toward Wareham, and wonders “How many bike paths do we need in the same direction? It is absurd, ridiculous.”

The lifelong Marion resident and Old Rochester Regional graduate also says the board should carefully consider the impacts of housing developments in town, especially if Marion may not have the proper sewer infrastructure.

“The Planning Board seems to just rubber stamp this stuff. It has a big impact,” he said of the developments.

If the town must develop its remaining land, he would rather it be with solar panels because it doesn’t impact the sewer or the school system.

To improve the town’s financial standing, he believes that it should own its entire sewer system rather than connecting to Wareham’s sewer system.

He also thinks the town should keep any modifications to Route 6 very simple, mostly because “We can’t afford those costs.” The town

Zora also thinks “every time you turn around they change the zoning on Route 6 here.”

He finds that in trying to read the zoning ordinances, they “can mean a lot of different things.” However, he believes when the Planning Board interprets them for homeowners or developers, “everyone should get the same process.”

Though he attended Wentworth Institute of Technology and served in the Navy four years, Zora believes he is most qualified to run for office as an American citizen, veteran and taxpayer that has a right to run for office.

After school and his service, he worked as an electrical engineer at Sippican Corporation, which ran Sippican Ocean System for most of his career.

He retired two years ago, and has two daughters and four grandchildren in town.

One of them lives next door to him.

He loves fishing with his grandchildren and keeping busy with projects like fixing bikes or boats.