Civic-minded residents will converge on Town Hall this Saturday to nominate candidates for 17 town offices whose seats are up for election this spring.
The Feb. 9 meeting, open to all registered voters, will be called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Town Clerk Janet Vellante. Paul Green of Old Littleton Road is expected to be named presiding officer, as he was last year. Those nominated will be placed on the ballot for town elections scheduled to be held Tuesday, April 30.
Town caucus is always an informal affair and rarely lasts more than 15 minutes. The presiding officer announces each open position and nominations follow from the floor. Each nomination must be seconded, and the nominator and nominee are permitted to speak briefly. Nominees have been known to decline their place on the ballot.
Under Massachusetts General Laws, a caucus requires a minimum of 25 voters. Up to two candidates may be nominated for each position. If more than two names are put forth, the two who receive the most votes at the caucus are chosen.
The caucus is one of two ways by which candidates for town offices are selected. Candidates who are not nominated can be placed on the ballot if they collect 41 certified signatures, according to Town Clerk Vellante.
Among the seats up for election this year are those of Selectmen Tim Clark and Bill Johnson and School Committee member Kirsten Wright. Two Planning Board seats must also be filled. The one year term of Rich Marcello is expiring, and a second seat remains open following the resignation of Michelle Catalina this winter. “Urge people to step forward,” Planning Board Chairman Peter Brooks said to the Press this week. “We need help.”
