Having served on the Mattapoisett Select Board since 2021, Jodi Bauer said she loves what she does – working with the people of Mattapoisett.

“I have an openness with the citizens and I take the citizens' concerns very [seriously],” Bauer said. “And I listen, and I'll try to handle their concerns to the best of my capabilities.”

Bauer, who runs the Mattapoisett Clipper barber shop and is a lifelong resident of the town, doesn’t have an agenda, she said.

“I'm willing to continue to be very devoted to the Select Board position,” Bauer said. “I want to see some projects come to fruition.”

Though Mattapoisett is a small town, it does in fact have “big projects,” according to Bauer.

“Who knows when we'll get all these projects done,” she said. “We’ve got to have a plan for how we get there, and when we get there is another thing.”

Some of the things that the Select Board has accomplished during Bauer’s first term include the opening of the Mattapoisett Bike Path and creation of a parking lot near Hammond Quarry on Mattapoisett Neck Road, Bauer said.

In addition, the basketball courts at Center School were resurfaced, and the Select Board adopted a new town flag policy and a dog waste by-law.

Bauer also said she pushed to complete a town emergency management plan and was instrumental in forming a Tri-Town Joint Select Board meeting in early 2024.

Bauer said she wants to address a by-law regarding accessory dwelling units by increasing the square footage to which those units can be built.

“We would all have to get on board and really make this happen, and I think we do,” Bauer said. “We have to, because it's very expensive to buy a house here in Mattapoisett.”

Also a member of the Tree Committee, Bauer said more will be known about the oft-discussed project to address Main Street and connecting roads — which might result in the removal of several trees — later this summer, likely after a public hearing.

“Then we can move forward,” Bauer said. “Once we get to that point, we can assess more. Everybody loves trees. No one wants to see trees cut down. I know that they're going to try to keep as many as they possibly can.”