As the April 5 election approaches, two have submitted papers for the Select Board seats formally occupied by John George, Jr.

Joel Avila, chair of the Planning Board, and John Haran, a member of the Finance Committee, are vying for the position.

Last summer, George was sentenced to 70 months in prison for embezzling thousands from the taxpayer-subsidized Southeastern Regional Bus Company. George stepped down from the Select Board last April.

In May 2015, the four remaining Select Board members were split on what to do about the vacant seat. A special election was considered, but the estimated cost of doing so was between $18,000 and $25,000. With a 2-2 vote, the idea was shelved.

In late December, Select Board Chair Shawn McDonald, who is also up for reelection this year, announced he would be running again. McDonald has served two terms on the Select Board, and, according to town documents, he is running unopposed.

McDonald said the major issue the Select Board will have to monitor in the years ahead is declining revenues and increasing expenses. The issue is already on the minds of town officials. The Select Board has already met with the School and Finance Committees for joint meetings to discuss the town’s financial future.

“We have to try and maintain the good financial practices that we have and see if there’s anything we could improve upon,” said McDonald.

“On the books right now, we have some major projects coming up,” he said. “One of them is the police station, the library, the Tucker Road reconstruction and looking at the Route 6 corridor west of Cross Road.”

During his next three-year term, he hopes to look into establishing a maintenance department for the town, similar to the schools. The aim would be for in-house staff to handle maintenance work rather than relying on outside contractors.

“The school department has saved tons of money by having their staff licensed. There’s no reason why the town can’t do it,” said McDonald.

John Nunes and Christopher Oliver of the School Committee are both up for reelection this year. Three people have submitted papers for the two open positions: Nunes, Oliver and Kyle Ross.

Town election day is April 5. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those who wish to register to vote in time for the April election must do so by 5 p.m. on March 16.

For more information, contact the Town Clerk’s office at 508-910-1800.