by John Osborn
Harvard voters at Tuesday’s election approved an expenditure of $500,000 to pay for a study and designs for renovating the Hildreth Elementary School and elected public health consultant Libby Levison of Old Shirley Road to a three-year term on the Board of Health. Measures to create a nine-member charter commission and change the office of town clerk from an elected to an appointed position passed easily.
The vote for the Board of Health seat held by incumbent Lorin Johnson, whose three-year term expires this year, was a close one. Newcomer Levison won by 12 votes, 381 to 369.
While the vote to alter the position of town clerk passed easily by 405 to 339, votes in favor of the HES borrowing and the charter commission passed by wide margins, 604-158 and 571 to 191 respectively.
In addition to creating a charter commission, voters chose its nine members from a slate of 15 candidates on the ballot. The commissioners are Paul Cohen, Rick Maiore, Sharon McCarthy, George McKenna, Stephanie Opalka, Ron Ostberg, Charles Redinger, Cindy Russo, and Peter Warren.
The write-in campaigns of Frank Culmone, Didi Chadran, and Christian Billodeau to fill open positions on the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Community Preservation Committee, as well as the office of tree warden, were all successful.
Approximately 800 voters, or 20 percent of Harvard’s registered voters, took part in the election. It rained during the morning and at midday, and voter turnout was low during those hours, but toward evening the skies cleared, and the number of voters rose with the sunshine. Last year’s turnout was roughly identical, with 802 voters, or 21 percent of the electorate, casting ballots.