GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

Experience and persistence are skills the incumbent Ward 5 councilor says he brings to the table, while the challenger for his seat said West Gloucester residents need a councilor who will restore their faith in city government.

Councilor Walter Peckham points to his two years on the council, saying he pushed to have the outlying fire stations open full time following the death of a Lanesville woman in her home last year and is working with the Magnolia Neighborhood Association to monitor a development on a 50-acre plot off Magnolia Avenue.

Challenger Philip Devlin promises to establish greater communication with his constituents than the councilor by holding more ward meetings and making sure DeMoulas, which has proposed a grocery store off Concord Street, delivers on its promises of infrastructure upgrade.

"I'm going to communicate a lot better," said 34-year-old Devlin, a Blossom Lane resident. "I want to rebuild confidence and rebuild communication lines that haven't been there, to reconnect the ward."

"It boils down to I've been relentless in pursuing obstacles in the past to get things accomplished," said Peckham, 48. "Experience counts for a lot. I've learned how to get things done."

Both Devlin and Peckham want to push the mayor and the council to find the money to keep open all the outlying fire stations, including Bay View and Magnolia, which have been subject to periodic closure since September.

"A few years ago, they said there's no way to make that happen, but it did," Peckham said. "Unfortunately it took a tragic series of events, and we don't want to see a repeat."

Devlin said if the city cannot find the money itself, it should find other options to cover Magnolia for fire and medical emergencies.

Two major developments in West Gloucester - Magnolia Reach duplex development on the former Kennedy property and DeMoulas' Market Basket off Route 128 and Concord Street - and their environmental impacts top the list of Ward 5 issues, along with the fire station.

Both candidates said a change in the Magnolia Reach proposal by Abbott Real Estate Development, from 21 single-family homes to 42 duplexes, could raise resistance from the neighborhood association, which negotiated with former owner Carter Hill Associates to reduce its original 72-home proposal to 21.

The project could also create serious drainage issues because of the unstable earthen West Pond Dam just south of the proposed development.

"There's a lot of concern here," Devlin said. "There are wetlands back there, and the West Pond Dam. We want to make sure the environment is preserved as much as possible, that it's impacted as little as possible."

West Pond Dam, which holds back the half-mile wide West Pond on a hill above Magnolia, is privately owned and has gone through a series of cloudy disputes that has left its ownership in question.

Without certainty over ownership, neither the state nor the city has acted to shore up the dam, despite its status as a certified and lingering threat to public safety.

As at Babson Dam, trees have grown on West Pond Dam; the roots could become weakening flaws should the trees be cut down or blow over or fall in times of heavy rain.

More than three years ago, Sen. Bruce Tarr got more than $400,000 from the state to repair the dam, but the money was never claimed due to the problems over its ownership.

Peckham, who said upon election in 2005 that his first goal would be to fix the dam, said he is continuing to work with Tarr to solve the riddle of how to reinforce and repair it.

"For 30 years, people have been trying to get repairs to it," Peckham said.

As for DeMoulas, Devlin said the city must make sure its promises of sidewalks and sewer upgrades are realized.

"One of the first things I want to do is set up a ward meeting with residents and with Market Basket so they can hear the exact details," he said. "They can express their concerns and hear details - and vice versa with Market Basket - and what their plans are and what they can do to help the city."

Peckham agreed. "How are they willing to help us improve our community as new neighbors?" he said.

Both candidates said during a forum at Magnolia Library on Oct. 10 that they support tax relief for developer Sam Park, who wants to build a multiuse complex containing a hotel, an assisted-living facility and shopping and restaurant space.

Devlin, a lifelong Gloucester resident, is an executive chef at a private club, a job he said gave him experience in customer service and managing personnel.

Peckham, also a lifelong resident, ran his own piano restoration business until he was evicted from his workshop at 72 Rogers St. for allowing rent to back up. His former landlord, Marshall Dana and Sons Management Co. of Newton, was owed $11,500 in January, when it obtained a court order from Judge Richard Mori banning Peckham from entering the building.

He also had several judgements against him from former clients who claimed he did not complete restoration work on their pianos. In all, the 10 claims filed in district court add up to $79,880 since 2004.

Meet the candidates

Walter Peckham

* Age: 48

* Address: 66 Sumner St.

* Family: wife Courtney; sons Marc, 21, and Douglas, 19

* Occupation: Piano technician

* What would you do if you could get nothing else done in your term? "I'd have a solid plan to make sure the fire stations stay open and we're safe out there."

Philip Devlin

* Age: 34

* Address: 7 Blossom Lane

* Family: wife Holly; daughter Hayley, 16; sons Lucas, 10 and Payton, 4

* Occupation: Executive chef

* What would you do if you could get nothing else done in your term? "I would like to bring back the communication, the confidence in their councilor and in city government."