Forguites files for House seat

The soon-to-be retiring Springfield town manager has filed paperwork to run as a Democrat for the open Windsor 3-2 seat in the Vermont House.
http://eagletimes.villagesoup.com/p/forguites-files-for-house-seat/1196540

News Sports Obituaries Op/Ed Social Lifestyles A&E Calendar eEdition Photos Special Sections Subscribe Forguites files for House seat By Chris Garofolo | Jun 12, 2014 Share on facebook Share on print Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 0 SPRINGFIELD — The soon-to-be retiring Springfield town manager has filed paperwork to run as a Democrat for the open Windsor 3-2 seat in the Vermont House. Robert “Bob” Forguites, the town manager since 1998 who plans to retire by September, said Wednesday he will seek one of the two House seats currently held by longtime incumbents Alice M. Emmons and Cynthia Martin. Emmons, D-Springfield, has filed for the seat according to the 2014 primary election candidate listing on the Vermont Secretary of State’s office as of Tuesday morning. Martin, also a Springfield Democrat, is not included on the candidate listing and said she is not seeking re-election. Forguites, 75, announced in April he will work full-time until the end of September and plans to schedule a “graceful exit” by the end of December. He has been overseeing the search for his replacement with the town selectmen. “It wasn’t anything that was in my mind when I made the announcement to retire, but two or three people spoke to me about it and said they thought that Cynthia was not running and maybe I should consider it,” he said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for 50 years, but the opportunity wasn’t there.” Forguites took over as the interim manager in May 1998 after serving for years as comptroller. He was hired as the full-time Springfield manager a few months later and has put in more than 20 years with the municipality. He has lived in Springfield since 1978 and worked for a local bank before entering municipal government work. If elected, he brings years of experience working within a Vermont town and has an extensive knowledge of Springfield’s needs to the state level. “I just think it is something that I would be interested in doing. There are certainly going to be challenges; how health insurance is going to get paid for is going to be a big challenge and there are a lot of other challenges, but I feel I have some knowledge of it because of working here in town government,” Forguites added. “It isn’t anything that I will be focused on now, I’ve still got a job.” Stephanie Thompson, the Springfield Selectboard vice-chairwoman and director of the town’s family center, planned to enter the race as a Democrat/Progressive but had to pull out for personal matters. At this time, no other filings have been received by the elections division of the Secretary of State’s office.