Annual Town Meeting may have adjourned Wednesday night, but Harvard voters still have work to do next Tuesday.
At Town Election on April 12, they must decide the race for an open seat on the Board of Health, determine whether the town will have a charter commission, settle the question of how the town clerk is chosen, and approve the borrowing of $500,000 to pay for a feasibility study and schematic designs for the elementary school.
The race to fill the seat of Board of Health member Lorin Johnson, whose term is expiring, is the only contested election on this year’s ballot. Johnson is running for re-election against Libby Levison.
Two of the candidates who were nominated at Town Caucus but failed to sign their nomination papers in time are running write-in campaigns for their soon-to-be-vacant positions. They are current Community Preservation Committee Chairman Didi Chadran and Tree Warden Christian Bilodeau. Both are unopposed. The Parks and Recreation Commission also has an open seat, but so far no candidates have stepped up to run for that position. It could be filled by a last-minute write-in candidate.
Town Clerk Janet Vellante said last month that voting for a write-in candidate is easy. Each open position on the ballot has a space for one. Voters simply write a name in that space and fill in the oval to the left of the written name. Addresses are optional unless another town resident has the same name as the candidate. Misspelled names don’t matter.
“If we can figure it out, we count it,” said Vellante. “We go by voter intent.”
Candidates for the remaining 12 open seats on town committees are unopposed. Ten are incumbents, but two are newcomers to elected office: Jon Green, who is running for the School Committee seat currently held by Kirsten Wright, who is retiring from the committee; and current Finance Committee Chairwoman Alice von Loesecke, who is running to succeed Leo Blair on the Board of Selectmen.
Also on the ballot are three questions requiring voter approval. Ballot Question 1 asks the town to approve the borrowing of $500,000 to pay for a study of Hildreth Elementary School and schematic designs for its renovation. Although the spending was authorized Tuesday night by a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting attendees, state law requires its passage by a majority of voters at Town Election. Approximately 45 percent of the money will ultimately be reimbursed by the state, but as a sign of commitment the Massachusetts School Building Authority requires a town to sign up for the entire estimated cost of the study.
The two remaining ballot questions could lead to changes in Harvard’s town government. Question 2 proposes to change the position of town clerk from an elected to an appointed office. In passing Article 35 by a majority vote Tuesday night, Town Meeting has already approved the change, but because the position is so central to the functioning of Massachusetts town government, state law requires that a majority of voters at Town Election agree as well.
The remaining ballot question, Question 3, was placed on the ballot at the request of the 692 voters who signed a petition that calls for the election of a nine-member commission to draft a charter for the town. Although voters at Town Meeting have already approved the appointment of a committee to do that work, passage of Question 3 would nullify that result and create a commission instead. Whether they voted for Article 35 or not, those who favor an elected commission to do the work should vote yes for Question 3.
If Question 3 passes, the charter commission’s nine members will be elected from among the 15 candidates whose names appear on the ballot. Voters need to choose nine from their number.
