No challengers in Tuesday’s annual town election

After town clerk Tracey Kenney learned the seven races in the upcoming April 5 town election would be uncontested, she spoke with the election commission at the secretary of state’s office to see if the town could forgo this year’s municipal election. Skipping the election would save the town $8,000 to $10,000 in costs associated with paying election workers and the police detail at each polling location as well as the cost of printing the ballots and general programming costs for the voting units.

“I knew the response even before I called, but I wanted to hear it directly from them,” Kenney said. “The response was exactly what I expected; unfortunately, no. You cannot deny voters the right to write in a candidate’s name on the ballot the day of the election.”

The lack of contested races appears to mark a new low for Canton politics, which saw only one contested race last year and a meager 4.1 percent voter turnout.

“A percentage in the teens is somewhat normal for a local election,” Kenney said. “But four percent, that’s something I haven’t seen in my 20-plus years here.”

But the candidates in this year’s all-incumbent, non-contested election say they do not see the future of Canton politics as bleak.

“I have no concern that this represents a downward trend in the level of electoral and civic responsibility within the community,” Selectman Victor Del Vecchio said. “There are so many people involved in this community. People are very active, so you can’t focus on one part of the profile without acknowledging others.”

But the candidates are quick to acknowledge the time and funding necessary to put forth a successful campaign.

“It does not mean that the citizens don’t care about the town,” School Committee member Jill Stevens said. “I do think it says that people are really busy and tapped out in many areas of their lives.”

And not just financially as a result of the recession. Selectman Bob Burr noted that the public has been subjected to many political races throughout the past year.

“I just think 2010 was an exhaustive year for the electorate,” he said, citing the special U.S. Senate and midterm elections. “Also, we’re not really dealing with controversial issues right now, which tends to spark challengers.”

But the lack of involvement may also be a result of community members’ uncertainty of where to go to get involved.

“Personally, I didn’t know who to talk to when I first wanted to get involved,” School Committee member Liz Salisbury said. “I’m not sure how well-advertised the election process is for the general community.”

Click on the name of a candidate below for additional information.

Victor Del Vecchio – Board of Selectmen

Bob Burr – Board of Selectmen

Chris Connolly – Planning Board

Liz Salisbury – School Committee

Jill Stevens – School Committee

Other candidates include Daniel Flood for Assessor, Julie Goodman for the Board of Health, Glen Hannington for the Housing Authority, and Susan Cogliano, George Comeau and Dorothy Shea for library trustees.

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Posted by Jeffrey Cattel on Mar 31 2011. Filed under News, Town Election, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.