Fiscal reform is the central theme as four candidates vie for one selectman’s seat in Oak Bluffs this year.

The candidates are Karen Achille, Gail Barmakian, Kris Chvatal and Kenneth Davey.

The annual town election is next Thursday; polling will take place at the Oak Bluffs library from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The open selectman’s seat is being vacated by Kerry Scott, who decided not to run again this year after two terms.

Voters will also decide 11 different Proposition 2 1/2 override questions to fund everything from policemen’s salaries to lifeguards at the beaches.

With this in mind, all four candidates for selectman said during a forum last week sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Martha’s Vineyard that they will try to cut town spending and boost revenue. The candidates also criticized current town officials for allowing the town to run budget shortfalls for the third year in a row.

Ms. Achille began by touting her business experience as the former co-owner of Bubba’s hot dogs on the harbor, and also as a longtime member of the library board of trustees, during which she served as chairman of the new library committee. She retired to the Vineyard in 1988 after 22 years as a high school English teacher in New York.

She described in detail the eight-year process of chairing the library building committee. “It was an education I relished. Because it taught me more about the municipal inner workings than I could ever learn sitting at home reading the Gazette or Times,” she said.

She is a member of the Oak Bluffs Council on Aging and current president of the friends of the town council on aging. She has also served on the board of directors for Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, was a charter member and treasurer of the Martha’s Vineyard cancer support group, and is current vice-president of the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living, a nonprofit that supports the Island day program for seniors.

“I believe my leadership is certainly evidence of my ability to think outside of the box — to initiate, facilitate and execute plans and programs that garner revenue. Oak Bluffs is faced with that need now. And I believe that I can be of service to the board of selectmen by providing insight and a cautious eye for better financial management,” she said, adding: “I am a team player, striving for consensus. But I have the determination to stand and work for anything that is in the best interest of our residents.”

Ms. Barmakian, a former member of the town zoning board of appeals and current wastewater commissioner, cited her experience helping run her family’s jewelry business and called herself a fiscal conservative.

“I grew up in our family jewelry manufacturing and retail business and I learned not only the jewelry side, but more importantly how to run and maintain a growing business, the importance of budgeting, the need for close oversight and constant review and assessment,” she said, adding:

“My father brought me up with a strict work ethic — to learn and work hard and to know every aspect of your business when you’re making decisions.”

If elected Ms. Barmakian said she would be a good listener. “I promise I will be available whether it be by phone, at the post office or at Reliable Market,” she said

She also said: “To present our town with a balanced budget is a priority in these economic times. We need to acknowledge that budget issues are temporary in nature, reflecting the national economy so it is undesirable to take permanent measures such as overrides.”

Mr. Chvatal has been chairman of the zoning board of appeals since 2007, and is a former member of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School advisory committee. He worked as a technology business expert in Los Angeles and New York for 20 years prior to moving to the Vineyard year-round, and was also an award-winning journalist.

He promised to take a hard line on improving town finances, if elected. “I am the candidate for fiscal responsibility; after 20 years in business . . . I know my way around a balance sheet and a budget,” he said.

He was the most critical of sitting town officials.

“With credit to the finance committee, I am a little appalled that in this economy we are looking at a five per cent town budget increase,” he said. “Five per cent doesn’t sound like a lot, but at five per cent a year my taxes double by the time my kids are 16. And I am not prepared for that; not as a father and not as a taxpayer.”

He said he opposes some of the measures the finance committee and selectmen have proposed to fix the budget, such as increasing the cost of garbage collection.

Mr. Davey has been an Island resident for 20 years and has worked as an emergency medical technician for 27 years, recently as a paramedic in Plymouth several days a week. Unlike his opponents, he has not served on any town boards or committees. He called it a plus.

“I am not a politician. Okay, I will say that right now. I am not a part of the political boards, and I never have been. This is the first political office I have ever [sought] because the financial situation in this town is in dire need of fixing,” he said. “We need to start bringing businesses into this town instead of chasing them out.”

He questioned why the finance board and selectmen drafted a budget that restores funding to many departments that was cut from the budget only last year.

“This money was cut at town meeting just last year. To come back and ask for it back a few months later doesn’t make sense to me . . . we sure haven’t fixed the problem. We haven’t gotten any better,” he said.

During the question and answer period, nearly all the questions were budget related. Hans von Steiger asked each candidate to be more specific about how they would improve the town’s financial situation.

Mr. Davey said no town employees should receive raises until the situation improves.

Mr. Chvatal said the town should consider more radical approaches, such as impact bargaining with town unions and combining departments with other towns. “We can run a down-Island shellfish department, and we can run an Island-wide assessors’ department. And it may not happen in my lifetime, but a regionalized middle school would save each of these towns money,” he said.

Ms. Barmakian said officials should go through the budget with a fine-tooth comb.

“I know in my family business that’s what you do on a periodic basis, because there are always inefficiencies,” she said.

Ms. Achilles called for better communication among town boards, and regular statements on town finances.

“A monthly statement generated by the town accountant that showed the bottom line — where we were and what is left to spend — would put us in a better position to judge,” she said.