Town election to feature two newcomers, no races

For the second year in a row and the third time in the last four years, Canton voters will not have a single choice in the annual town election after Tuesday’s nomination deadline came and went with only 12 candidates submitting papers for 12 open seats.

As with the past several elections, most of the candidates are longtime incumbents, including multi-term selectmen Bob Burr and Victor Del Vecchio and longtime assessor Daniel Flood. Other incumbents running unopposed for reelection include Dr. Julie Goodman on the Board of Health, Martin Dorian on the Housing Authority, and George Comeau, Dorothy Shea and Susan Cogliano on the Library Board of Trustees.

For a brief moment it appeared that School Committee members John Bonnanzio and Reuki Schutt would have a race on their hands, but their only prospective challenger, Michael Saccone, did not return his nomination papers by the February 18 deadline.

Bonnanzio, who is currently on his second stint with the School Committee, had flirted with the idea of running for selectmen before deciding to instead seek another three-year term on the school board.

The only newcomers on the ballot are Michael Loughran, who will run unopposed for the two-year School Committee vacancy created by the January resignation of David Emhardt, and 2009 CHS graduate Michael Mitcheroney, who is running unopposed for a five-year term on the Planning Board. The Planning Board incumbent, Kristen Mirliani, announced last month that she would not be seeking reelection this year.

Mitcheroney, 23, graduated from Westfield State University last spring with a degree in regional planning and felt that serving on the Planning Board would be a “great way to put [his] degree to use.”

In addition to the 12 offices up for election this year, a question will appear on the ballot to see if the town will vote to extend the Community Preservation Act (CPA) tax exemption — which currently applies to the first $100,000 of residential property — to commercial and industrial property owners.

Although not an option at the time the CPA was first considered in Canton, the commercial exemption was later added to the statewide CPA legislation and subsequently approved at the 2013 annual town meeting.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Feb 20 2014. Filed under News, Town Election, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.