Town election to feature BOS, Planning Board races
By Jay TurnerA four-way race for two selectmen’s seats and a two-person battle for a Planning Board vacancy will be the main attractions in this year’s annual town election, set for Tuesday, April 4.
With the deadline for returning nomination papers having come and gone last week, the field is now officially set as 15 candidates will vie for 12 available seats. Of the candidates certified by the town clerk’s office, only seven are incumbents, including Selectman Victor Del Vecchio and veteran School Committee members Reuki Schutt and John Bonnanzio.
The other incumbents running for reelection this year are Dr. Julie Goodman for Board of Health and all three candidates for library trustee: George Comeau, Dorothy Shea, and current Chairman Susan Cogliano.
Another would-be incumbent, longtime Assessor Daniel J. Flood, passed away suddenly last Tuesday. Gene Manning, a veteran of several town committees and a former selectman candidate, will run unopposed in Flood’s place.
In the race for Board of Selectmen, the unexpected departure of BOS Chairman Bob Burr brought a number of interested candidates into the fold, although not all of them returned nomination papers. Those who did include Jeremy Comeau, the town’s current Planning Board chairman; Christopher Connolly, a former two-term Planning Board member; and Tom Theodore, current chairman of the Playground and Recreation Commission.
All three challengers will compete with Del Vecchio for two open seats, which will be awarded to the top two vote-getters on election day.
In the meantime, Comeau will cede his Planning Board seat, which he has held for the last 15 years, to current Planning Board appointee Robert Panico, who is running unopposed for a full five-year term.
Panico is currently serving as a replacement for Tori McClain, who resigned last April with two years remaining on her term. The final year of McClain’s original term has been placed back on the ballot and two new candidates — Patricia McDermott and Patrick Manning — will vie for the one-year post in the election’s only other contested race.
In addition to the five-year and one-year Planning Board seats, there is also a three-year seat up for election created by the departure of George Jenkins, who resigned in October due to health issues. David McCarthy is the lone candidate for the seat, which is being filled temporarily by former Planning Board member Bob MacDonald.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=35547
Posted by Jay Turner
on Feb 24 2017. Filed under News, Town Election, Town Government.
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