Three candidates are seeking positions on the Marion Planning Board as incumbent Sherman Briggs, Jerry “Rico” Ferrari, and Norman Hills are vying for two open seats in the May 17 annual Town Election.

Voting is Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Benjamin D. Cushing VFW Post on Mill Street.

Briggs, a lifelong Marion resident, said his extensive local knowledge has served the Planning Board well.

Originally, he ran for the Planning Board in an effort to make sound development policy.

“One of the reasons I got on the planning board, was to try and slow down the regulations, and try to work a little more common sense into what we had,” he said.

Often, when new businesses consider coming to Marion, or when property owners seek to repair damaged properties, either through fire or neglect, town bylaws hamper progress.

“To get through a lot of the bureaucracy, and to get through the bylaws, and regulations - it’s a long hurdle, and that’s lot of the problem,” Briggs said.

Recently, Briggs’ run for the seat has been affected by an ethics violation. Briggs paid a $7,500 civil fine to the States Ethics Commission for work his company, Sherman E. Briggs Excavating, performed at Tabor Academy. As a Conservation Commission member, Briggs voted to issue an Order of Conditions that authorized Tabor to install saltwater tanks.

Ferrari, a town resident since 1994, said his focus is on developing a master plan for Marion.

A Capital Improvement Planning Committee member, Ferrari said collaboration is key between that board and the Finance Committee. He believed long-term planning should fall under the Planning Board’s authority.

“What I believe is the Planning Board can’t do it alone,” Ferrari said. “ They all need to collaborate to continuously attempt to shape the course of events with some foresight, with some systematic thinking.”

Development benchmarks should be set for the next five, 10, and 20 years, he said.

Ferrari is a retired sales director of telecommunications at Alcatel-Lucent, and has served on the Town House Committee. He also is a member of the board of directors for Old Rochester Community Television.

For candidate Norman Hills, there’s no reason the town can’t develop a master plan.

“We’ve got the talent, the experience, knowledge, and historic perspective, to review the changing requirements and develop viable options to town meeting decisions,” Hills said. The town’s previous long range planning document, known as The 2015 report, is now seven years old.

“We seem to struggle with day to day efforts, year to year. Small problems get delayed, and become big problems,” Hills said.

In 2003, Hills moved to Marion with his wife, who was born in town. His background includes 21 years in the Navy as an engineering duty officer, and described himself as “a mechanical engineer by education, and a program manager by experience.”

Locally, he has 10 years of experience on the Conservation Commission, where is the representative to the Community Preservation Committee. Additionally, he is Chair of the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, and is a founding member of Marion’s Energy Management Committee.