Besides turnout, no surprises in annual town election

By Kathy Anderson

By a margin of 300 to 222 votes, Housing Authority incumbent Ronald Grinnell defeated challenger Jason Dupre in the town’s only contested race in this year’s town election on Tuesday. The two candidates were congenial and respectful toward each other, each congratulating the other on running a good campaign, but this year’s election carries the shameful distinction of having the lowest voter turnout percentage in at least two decades.

Only 590 of the town’s 14,279 registered voters, or 4.1 percent, cast ballots on a warm, partly sunny day during which both candidates spent most of Tuesday wrapping up last-minute voter enticement.

“I want to thank those who came out on the nicest day of April so far to cast their vote for me,” Grinnell said after being declared winner. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to answer the needs of all the citizens of Canton, regardless of their vote.”

“I’m not mad that I lost,” Dupre said, “I’m mad because there is so little political voting in this town. That says to me that voters don’t care about our community. I will pursue running again, but today voters did what they needed to do. The ones who stayed home shouldn’t complain tomorrow. If I see a problem I go after it, and when only 100 people show up at [each of the precincts], it’s ridiculous.”

Grinnell took five of the six precincts, winning precinct one with 50 votes to Dupre’s 39, precinct two 64-32, precinct three 36-26, precinct four 55-44, and precinct five 44-28. Dupre won precinct six with 53 votes to Grinnell’s 44.

In the uncontested races, Selectman John Connolly received a total of 450 votes; Assessor William C. Galvin received 452 votes; Board of Health member Robert Schneiders received 413 votes; School Committee members Reuki Schutt and John Bonnanzio received 386 and 392 votes, respectively; Planning Board member George Jenkins received 444 votes; and library trustees Kathleen Fox Alfano, Margaret Mead and Betty Chelmow received 399, 390, and 427 votes, respectively.

Bonnanzio, a member of the School Committee from 2002 to 2008, decided to run for the seat vacated by member Robert Barker, who chose not to seek re-election this year.

Prior to the final tally, both Dupre and Grinnell spoke with interviewer Maura Sullivan on Cable 8 as Town Clerk Tracy Kenney and Assistant Town Clerk Gale McHugo computed the results.

Dupre, a resident of one of the Housing Authority properties, echoed his commitment to be a voice for the residents if elected, and urged school and community involvement in working with the Housing Authority on repairs and aesthetics.

“If it doesn’t start here, where does it start?” he said.

“Having a challenger encourages you to get out to talk to people and hear what they think is going on,” Grinnell told Sullivan. “Since I’ve been on the board I talk to people and I follow up. I have the administrator in our office call me personally when a job is finished and then I call the client — we should all be accountable.”

Kenney said she was “shocked” at the low turnout for Tuesday’s election.

“I looked back at turnout percentages from the past 16 years,” she said. “In 1999 there was a School Committee race where only 1,314 voters turned out that year, and this year wasn’t even half of the worst turnout in the last 16 years. It’s shocking and disappointing. We had minimal absentee ballots and this is the first time in the 20 years I’ve been in the Town Clerk’s office that there was absolutely no campaigning on the corner outside our building.”

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Apr 8 2010. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.