Town election to feature single contest, CPA vote

It will be another quiet election season for Canton voters this year after Tuesday’s filing deadline came and went with only 12 candidates submitting papers for 11 open seats.

Of the dozen names that will appear on the April 3 ballot, eight are incumbents, headlined by multi-term selectmen Gerald “Sal” Salvatori and Avril Elkort, who is seeking her ninth consecutive term.

The lone contested race will pit Paul Alfano against John McSweeney for a recently vacated seat on the Canton Housing Authority. McSweeney previously served on the Housing Authority, while Alfano is currently serving out the last few months of his three-year term on the Board of Health, which will go to former BOH member and family physician Richard Levrault, who is running unopposed.

In addition, the following incumbent town officials will run unopposed for re-election: Town Clerk Tracy Kenney, Assessor Rocco Digirolamo, School Committee member Cynthia Thomas, Planning Board Member Jeremy Comeau, and Library Trustees Joyce Wiseman and Joan Schottenfeld. There is also one newcomer, Beth Magann, who will run unopposed for library trustee. All terms are for three years other than the Planning Board seat, which is for five years.

A question will also appear on the ballot to see if the town will accept sections 3 to 7 of Chapter 44B of the Massachusetts General Laws, otherwise known as the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act (CPA). The CPA established a dedicated funding source to enable cities and towns to acquire open space, which includes land for park and recreational uses and the protection of public drinking water well fields, aquifers and recharge areas, wetlands, farm land, forests, marshes, beaches, scenic areas, wildlife preserves and other conservation areas; acquire and restore historic buildings and sites; and create affordable housing.

In Canton, the funding source for these community preservation purposes will be a surcharge of 1 percent on the annual real estate tax levy against real property beginning in fiscal year 2013. If approved, the following will be exempt from the surcharge: property owned and occupied as a domicile by a person who would qualify for low-income housing or low- or moderate-income senior housing; and $100,000 of the value of each taxable parcel of residential real property.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Feb 15 2012. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.