New low for Canton politics: A contest-free election

For the first time in recent memory, the town of Canton will hold its annual election without a single contested race, after last Friday’s nomination deadline came and went without any new candidates stepping forward to challenge the incumbents.

According to the town clerk’s office, the lack of challengers means that the April 5 town ballot will now consist of just 11 names — all incumbents — for the 11 scheduled races, headlined by multi-term selectmen Victor Del Vecchio and Bob Burr.

Other incumbents who will run unopposed are School Committee member Elisabeth Salisbury, Planning Board member Christopher Connolly, Assessor Daniel Flood, Board of Health member Julie Goodman, Housing Authority member Glen Hannington, and library trustees Susan Cogliano, George Comeau, and Dorothy Shea.

In addition, Jill Stevens, who was appointed to the School Committee last June to fill the remainder of Tim Brooks’ term, will run unopposed for her first full term.

Town Clerk Tracy Kenney said that in her 23 years at Canton Town Hall, she could not recall another election that was totally uncontested — although the past two elections came awfully close with only one contest apiece.

In 2009, just 16 percent of the town’s registered voters turned out at the polls to settle a three-way battle for two selectmen seats, with the two incumbents, Avril Elkort and Sal Salvatori, prevailing in a landslide over challenger Jeremy Comeau.

In last year’s election, Housing Authority incumbent Ronald Grinnell needed just 300 votes to defeat challenger Jason Dupre as the town set a record-low mark for voter turnout with 4.1 percent. An average of 100 people turned out at each precinct in a town with over 14,000 registered voters, and the election ended up costing the town an estimated $17 per voter.

Suffice it to say, with not even a single race up for grabs, Kenney expects even lower voter totals in this year’s election — totals that, for many longtime residents of Canton, are yet another sign of how much the times, and the town itself, have changed.

“I don’t think people today have either the time or the money to run,” suggested Tony Andreotti, the town’s veterans’ agent and a selectman from 1981-1984.

Andreotti said that when he was growing up in Canton in the 1940s and 50s, the position of town selectman was “highly sought after” and a “place that you wanted to get to.”

“Back then, the selectmen were well known,” he said. “They could walk down the street and they would be recognized by everyone. They were looked at as very important figures.”

By contrast, Andreotti said the job of a town official today — which involves walking a constant tightrope between rising costs and fluctuating state aid — is very much a thankless one and for the most part “not a lot of fun.”

He said another problem is the lack of “issues” — the kinds of tangible concerns that once galvanized entire neighborhoods and sent residents flocking to the polls. As a result, Andreotti believes that many residents have simply “tuned out” local politics.

“I don’t think it’s a question of whether it’s a good job being done or a bad job being done,” said the veterans’ agent, with no disrespect intended for the incumbents. “I just think there’s absolutely no interest; and, the thing is, I’m not really sure how you can fix that.”

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Posted by Jay Turner on Feb 10 2011. Filed under News, Town Election, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.