After three terms on the Rochester Board of Selectmen, Naida Parker says she’s comfortable making the tough decisions.

Parker, also Town Clerk since 1984, is running unopposed for her seat on the board. She was first elected in 1999, but took a break after two terms following the passing of her husband Jack. In 2009 she successfully ran again for Selectmen.

“It was good to step back for a while because sometimes when you’re in that position you need to reassess what you bring to the table,” Parker said.

A native of Boston, Naida and Jack moved to Rochester in 1977.

“We wanted a rural place to live and Rochester was a lot of open space,” she said. “After growing up in the city it was absolute heaven.”

Before she was Town Clerk, Parker also served as secretary to the Marion Board of Selectmen and in the Rochester Assessor’s office.

With the board, Parker has supported the Planning Board’s plans for limited commercial rezoning in the area of Dexter Lane and Marion Road in the center of town. The incentive, she said, is to attract limited businesses to the residential-zoned area.

“You need to take little steps to where you want the big picture to be,” she said. “If it was limited commercial it would be easier for business to go through the special permit process.”

As Selectman, Parker has had to deal with “four tough economic years.” Last October the Selectmen and Town Administrator Richard LaCamera met with all town departments to discuss probable cuts for next year.

“We all had to make sacrifices but budgets are tight so what do you work around?” she said.

Making the tough decisions is something she is comfortable with given her experience in town government, Parker said. When asked why she ran for the board Parker says it can be summed up in one word – guilt.

“It’s very good to be sitting on the sidelines telling people what they should be doing,” she said. “It’s easy to tell people how to do things and harder when you’re making the decisions. Since I have strong opinions, I thought I should either run for the board or sit back and shut-up.”

Parker says she enjoys her time on the board and appreciates the open forum of Selectmen meetings where the public can come and voice their opinions.

“We can disagree but we’re not disagreeable,” she said.

“We can each go into a meeting with one idea, talk about it and the finished product becomes three ideas merging together. It’s really good to have a board that works well together and respects one another.”