Welcome to my Website!      

It is an honor to represent you and the people of Cape Cod as your County Commissioner.  

As you know, this is a critical time for Cape Cod.  When I was first elected four years ago, we were in the grips of a global pandemic that was crippling our national and local economy. The crisis exposed serious weaknesses in our health care system that put lives at risk.  

During this crisis, the federal and state government - in typical fashion - shifted much of the burden to local communities. Not only that, state officials insisted that Cape Codders drive all the way to Boston, Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium to get vaccinated.  However, we took a different approach.  We banded together, and we fought for and secured our own stock of vaccines. We set up our own clinics, close to home, all around the Cape.  They were staffed with our own personnel, and our own volunteers.  We organized transportation services and staffed a hotline with nurses who could provide critical information to those most in need.  

The County stepped up and delivered.  We also tackled other challenges too, like Clean Water! 

At my insistence, we fought plans to build a machine gun range in the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve - the largest source of drinking water on Cape Cod.  A project like this would never be allowed in the Quabbin Reservoir watershed - and it makes no sense in Cape Cod’s major watershed.

We secured federal and state resources to help our towns make new sewer and wastewater investments.  We organized meetings with state officials to boost the longevity of the Cape and Islands Water Protection Fund.  We created a new “Aquifund” - with millions of state dollars - to finance septic system upgrades and sewer connections for homeowners. We even made investments in our county water testing laboratory to help homeowners protect their own drinking water wells and to assist towns and local water districts deal with emerging contaminants, like “PFAS”.

As Commissioners, we were on the phone to our legislators in Washington DC advocating for federal funds to replace the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges.  We participated in meetings to advocate to our new Governor the need to get these projects moving - to start the design and the environmental review process and to set aside matching funds right away. By this summer all the funding for the new Sagamore Bridge was in place, and today we are working to secure funds for the Bourne Bridge.

As Commissioners, we also worked on several long term issues, like making the Cape eligible for state and federal broadband expansion funds; laying the groundwork to respond to the crisis of climate change; creating a region-wide affordable housing game plan; while promoting investments in the arts, cultural and heritage tourism.

Regarding the county’s finances - we pledged on day one to set the highest standards.  We adopted “best practices” and made them county policy. We held the line on spending, limited new hiring, and have pinched every penny.  We have wisely invested our reserves and managed surpluses, tightened up all the county’s financial policies, and improved our operational and capital budgeting procedures. These efforts have resulted in praise from our colleagues around the Commonwealth, and led to an unexpected boost in our bond rating from Standard and Poor. 

Another priority has been to keep the residents of Cape Cod better informed on our work in the county. We have expanded our communications program with a new web site, a monthly newsletter and regular news updates on social media. 

With most Cape Codders living paycheck to paycheck, we are always looking for ways we can ease the burden on local taxpayers and residents. While I don't have all the answers, I do know how to listen, how to be creative and build consensus from different segments of the community in order to get things done.  

As a former town manager on Cape Cod, an aide to two Congressmen and a teacher, I have had some practice at it.   Cape Cod is full of energy and talent. We are blessed with positive, creative leaders in virtually every segment of our community.  We clearly have all the ingredients for success.   

I am proud of the success we have had, but there is so much more to do, and that is why I ask for your support.   

Thank you.

Mark Forest: Background and Community Service 

Mark Forest is a Barnstable County Commissioner and Yarmouth Selectman and a long time resident of South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, where he and his wife, Carol, live and raised their family. They have two children, Michael and Patricia, who are graduates of the Dennis-Yarmouth public school system.

Mark teaches American Government and International Relations at Cape Cod Community College. In addition, he works for Suffolk University, coordinating plans to bring a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) degree program to Cape Cod. It will provide graduate level education to local leaders, non-profit managers and municipal administrators. He is also a consultant to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and is playing an active role in preventing the Trump Administration from taking away the tribe's reservation lands.  

Mark also serves as Chairman of the Cape Cod Conservation District which lobbies for federal funds to restore Cape Cod's salt marshes, shellfish and fisheries resources in towns all across Cape Cod. He recently served as Chairman of the Housing Assistance Corporation and was a founder of the Community Development Partnership which serves the Lower Cape. As a member of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce's Economic Development Corporation Board, Mark has helped launch the region's Blue Economy initiative - designed to promote job creation and business opportunities in the region's marine industries.

Mark started his career in the Provincetown Town Manager's office. He started his service at the height of the AIDS crisis, and played a critical role in stabilizing the town's finances. After his five years in Provincetown, he became a top aide to our two former Congressman, Gerry Studds and Bill Delahunt. With our Congressmen he worked on creating the Waquoit Bay Estuarine Research Reserve in Falmouth, the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the 15,000 acre Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve - the largest open space conservation initiative since the establishment of the Cape Cod National Seashore. He was instrumental in resolving numerous groundwater pollution problems on Cape Cod and played a key role in creating health care clinics for veterans and the homeless. He has secured significant federal funding for a variety of local projects and last year, he was appointed by the Brewster Board of Selectmen as their Interim Town Administrator and tasked with straightening out the town's finances.

He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Boston and received his MPA at Suffolk University. Prior to pursuing his graduate degree he served as a VISTA volunteer in Boston during the de-segregation of the Boston Public Schools.