Shanahan to run for councilor-at-large

To vacate district’s council seat to run for townwide post

By JACK ENCARNACAO
The Patriot Ledger

North Weymouth will be getting a new representative in the town council this year.

Town Councilor Greg Shanahan has revealed he will vacate his seat representing North Weymouth to run for councilor-at-large.

A Bluff Road resident, John “Gary” Peters, has declared he will run for the District 1 seat.

Shanahan, who was elected in 2003, said he is considering one of the five townwide seats, saying that “a lot of the issues that are going on now are town-wide issues.”

“I feel I’ve been a good advocate for District 1 on some of the local issues,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed working with some of my fellow councilors on town-wide issues and I would like to be in a position where I can focus on town-wide issues.”

Shanahan, 32, said he enjoyed his two terms representing the section of Weymouth where he grew up.

“I love North Weymouth, I plan on continuing to live in North Weymouth,” he said. “But I think I’ve developed the advocacy skills to serve the entire town.”

It is not yet clear who Shanahan’s opposition might be in the Nov. 6 election. Only one sitting councilor-at-large, Kevin Whittaker, has pulled nomination papers for re-election.

Peters, a former Weymouth town meeting and board of health member, is hoping to be elected to the vacated seat.

“When Greg told me he wasn’t going to run, I said, ‘You know what, this is the right time for me, so here we go,’” Peters said. “I think the timing is right. I’ve got the experience. The mayor and I have a long history working together.”

Peters spent six years on Weymouth’s board of health and was his neighborhood’s town meeting representative until the change to a mayoral form of government in 2000.

“I understand how the government works,” he said. “I was there during the transition. I was there when they were developing it.”

Born in Boston, Peters, 61, is also known for his advocacy on environmental issues.

He and several other residents successfully worked with Braintree residents to keep Clean Harbors Environmental Services from opening a hazardous waste incinerator in Braintree in the mid-1980s.

“We prevailed, and it kind of gave me a taste of what can get done by rolling up your sleeves and getting involved,” said Peters, who moved to North Weymouth in 1984. “It’s not a spectator sport. You’ve got to get involved.”

Peters is a registered optician, sanitarian and environmental health specialist. He runs The Eye Store in Brookline.