Formerly Mattapoisett’s Administrator of Assessing for over a decade, Kathleen Costello is running for Select Board because she has a unique skill set that would allow her to make a potentially significant impact in an administrative position for the town, she said.

“I understand commercial development,” Costello said. “I understand municipal finance. I understand how it works.”

As town assessor, Costello participated in setting up the tax rate, documenting new growth and administering values, she said.

“Basically a complete oversight,” Costello said.

A Mattapoisett resident for over 30 years, Costello currently serves as executive director for the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers, a role overseeing the assessing processes across the state.

“I have a lot to do with the legislative process, testifying in front of both the House and the Senate for bills on taxation that are pertinent to our taxpayers,” she said.

While serving as town assessor, Costello said she was integral in the solar work and development that was done in Mattapoisett, which has “been very good” for town taxes. In the role, she did a lot of negotiating, Costello said.

“I feel like I have a strong skill set for negotiation for the type of things that we get involved in, with unions and police and things like that,” she said. “I think that I have a good ability to work through that.”

Costello also worked as a paraprofessional at Center School and Old Hammondtown School. She has an “inside view” of how the schools and how they run, and the experience gave Costello a good perspective on the “incredible work and commitment” of teachers and administrators in Mattapoisett and beyond, she said.

Given Mattapoisett’s demographics, the town needs to take a “hard look” at affordable housing, particularly for seniors, Costello said.

The town also needs to look at a senior means-tested exemption — a form of tax relief for older taxpayers — in order to alleviate a “pretty robust tax load,” Costello said.

“We need to look at ways to mitigate the growing tax burden, and I believe one of those is sustainable commercial development,” she said.

On the project to address Main Street and connecting roads, one which might result in the removal of several trees, Costello said she has not yet taken a “deep enough dive into the finances and the data and the impact and everything that's involved.”

Costello said she attended a Tree Committee meeting regarding the project and is “very open to listening to all sides of the issue.”

“The taxpayers vote you in,” Costello said. “You should be doing what the taxpayers want you to do.”