by Anonym ·
Monday, February 13, 2017
by Marty Green
In a surprising shift from recent years, nominations at Saturday’s Town Caucus produced several contested races. Incumbents will face challengers for seats on both the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee, and two candidates emerged for an open position on the Cemetery Commission.
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Early in the caucus’s rapid-fire nominating process, it became clear that at least some positions would be contested. For the two seats up for election on the Board of Selectmen, Kara Minar of Still River Road and Edward Moussouris of Park Lane will challenge incumbents Ron Ricci and Ken Swanton. Minar is currently chairwoman of the Planning Board, so if she were to win the selectman’s seat, the Board of Selectmen would then need to appoint someone to fill the resulting vacancy on the Planning Board until next election. Moussouris, who moved to Harvard about three years ago, said, “I love this town.” He added he has long been interested in politics.
And three candidates are running for two positions on the School Committee: SusanMary Redinger, the current chairwoman; John Ruark of Orchard Hill; and John Mark Walker of Granite View Lane.
For the Cemetery Commission, both Hank Fitek of Stow Road and John Lee of Ayer Road were nominated to succeed Jack Spero, who is stepping down.
No nominees stepped forward for two other positions, however. A full term for the Warner Free Lectures Trustees and a one-year term on the Parks and Recreation Commission have no candidates at present. In addition, the selectmen will appoint someone to the Community Preservation Committee to fill out the term of a member who resigned too late to be included on the caucus list.
About 40 hardy residents left their warm homes and postprandial libations Saturday evening for the first Town Caucus in the newly refurbished Town Hall meeting room. The trip to and from the meeting, through snow and freezing slush, probably took longer than the caucus itself, which lasted only about 20 minutes.
Janet Vellante, who recently retired as town clerk, received an enthusiastic round of applause for returning to officiate in place of current Town Clerk Amy MacDougall, who is on leave. Debbie Ricci was elected presiding officer, with Mary Jarvis as recording secretary.
Debbie Ricci and Vellante reminded attendees that the deadline for signing nomination papers is 5 p.m. this Tuesday, Feb. 14. That is also the deadline to turn in a nominating petition with 27 signatures of registered voters for anyone else who wants to run for office. Forms are available from the town clerk. Time for filing will be short, however, if the snowstorm forces Town Hall offices to close on Monday.