Meet the Candidates

What Did They Say

John Boulais
South Main Street

John Boulais did not submit a Candidate Statement.

Brigitte Ruthman
Dodd Road

One of my most impressionable memories from childhood is of my father motoring off in our 1965 Volkswagen Beetle aiming for some meeting on an odd midweek night after he finished work. Raised in Chicago and on the family dairy farm in Spooner, Wisconsin, he was passionate about soil and water conservation and was a consummate conservationist at large. A World War II veteran, he instilled in me and my two brothers a love of country, community, strong work ethic, and a responsibility to give back.

I have been certified for more than 40 years as an emergency medical technician and for nearly that many years have been involved in the fire service, both working professions that I cannot imagine having lived my life without. In my younger years I served as an interior/haz-mat firefighter in Litchfield County and remain a member firefighter in Salisbury. I worked for many years at Lime Rock Race Track Fire Rescue as a paid EMT/FF and have served as an EMT in Vermont, Massachusetts (including Sandisfield), and Connecticut. I currently answer emergency calls 24/7 in Norfolk and Colebrook.

I bought land and moved to Sandisfield after restoring a large portion of the former Joshua Smith and later Thomas Dodd farmland, beginnning in 1996, and moved from a couple of towns over in Salisbury in 2004 to a log house I fitted together with two friends. Cattle and poultry now occupy the land saved from house lots.

Three years ago, I stepped up to fill a vacancy on the Board of Health and have, since then, learned much from our inspector and from extensive classroom training in Pittsfield and Holyoke. I'm currently Chairman of the Board of Health.

We are privileged to have a very skilled and responsible inspector in Jason Dragonetti to work with and advise our effective three-member board about rules and regulations that are sometimes clear and sometimes require careful interpretation. To my own great surprise, I look forward to meetings and challenges that can seem overwhelming to homeowners. Each case is a puzzle needing unravelling for solution, rather than obstacle building.

Sandisfield, like much of South County, is a beautiful place and under development pressure that requires now more than ever responsible oversight. I am proud to live and farm on 100 beautiful acres that I love dearly. I have and if re-elected will continue to serve with honesty and integrity on behalf of the Town.