Incumbent John Demaggio is running for his fourth term on the Planning Board and has lived in Rochester for 17 years.

Demaggio said that his background working for the United States Navy and in the telecommunications field have helped him in his role on the Planning Board, specifically when it came to potentially building a cellphone tower in town.

“When I was in that field it had to do with building infrastructure and, of course, it had a lot to do with towers and real estate and things like that,” he said. “So I was able to bring a unique perspective in that regard.”

Although Demaggio said he would prefer if the majority of Rochester remained farmland, he is not opposed to exploring new potential developments.

“Over the last 15 years, I've seen a lot of projects come to fruition and a lot of projects that didn't come to fruition,” said Demaggio.

Demaggio said that one of the projects he has worked on, a 40R affordable housing complex off Cranberry Highway, has gone through a number of stages including being stalled due to the Covid-19 which he said he hopes to see get started again.

“I know a lot of people may not like the high influx of people because now you're adding a lot of people to the tax and you potentially could add a lot of kids to the school, but I don't think it's going to end up being that way,” he said. “It's a good way to get lower income people into town.”

Additionally, Demaggio said that he hopes to see Rochester leave the Green Communities program.

“Stretch codes — those concern me,” he said. “I don't care for them and I don't think it's a good idea, I think it's way too restrictive”

Demaggio said that he enjoys Rochester’s sense of community.

“You drive through the cornfields you still see occasional cows and horses … there's always a lot of bicyclists because there’s not much traffic so the small town feel is definitely still there.”

DeMaggio is facing challengers Ben Bailey and Dennis McCarthy for one of two seats on the Rochester Planning Board in the town election on Wednesday, May 24.