MATTAPOISETT — Select Board candidate Jodi Lynn Bauer wants to keep the character of Mattapoisett intact.

A lifelong resident, Bauer said when she heard of Selectman Paul Silva’s decision not to run for another term, she felt “the time was right.”

A member of the Tree Committee, Bauer also once served on the Community Preservation Committee and is active with the Mattapoisett Congregational Church and Mattapoisett Boy Scouts.

“Both my boys are Eagle Scouts,” she noted.

Bauer said she knows Mattapoisett will grow and expand, but would like to see it happen at a “controlled rate.”

“Because we know it’s gonna happen — I just don’t want to see us overpopulate,” she said.

Still, Bauer noted the low availability of affordable housing in town.

“Lack of housing is a real push for me,” she said. “I’m sad to say a lot of the elders are being pushed out.”

Bauer said there should be a way for aging people in town to downsize into affordable living.

“What kind of housing … I don’t know,” she said. “There’s different ways to do this.”

She also mentioned the difficulty young families in town face when trying to find housing.

“If you’re of child-bearing age, you’ve got to have one heck of a job to live here,” she said.

On how many people who grew up in Mattapoisett stay in town these days, “I’ll tell you — not many,” Bauer said.

But, Bauer noted, “the Tree Committee would be right there to ensure” any new developments don’t harm the beauty of the town.

Bauer owns the Mattapoisett Clipper Barber Shop on Church Street, which has been in operation for 35 years.

While Bauer recognized the need to fix Main Street, Water Street, Marion Street and Beacon Street, she said that she and other Tree Committee members “really don’t want to see trees taken down.”

She noted keeping trees intact “will be tough” throughout the project. Currently, eight trees on the four roads are slated to be taken down.

Bauer said she’s looking forward to the results of a study in Mattapoisett schools which will assess costs as enrollment declines.

“Right now we are paying just shy of $19,000 for an elementary student,” she said.

She said it may be worthwhile to look into a “possible combination of schools somehow.”

But, Bauer said, the study “will reveal numbers, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Bauer said it’s important for town officials to work together, even when they don’t agree on certain issues.

“But when you walk away from that table, you should all be friends,” she said.

Living in town her whole life, and being involved in multiple community organizations, Bauer feels she’s a strong candidate for the Select Board.

“I’ve proven civic leadership being on boards and committees,” she said.