In Springfield, residents for the first time in several years have a full field of candidates for the Select Board.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120131/NEWS02/701319956
Published January 31, 2012 in the Rutland Herald
A look at race from Windsor and Windham counties
STAFF REPORT
Alan Fusonie turns in his petition for a three-year term for library trustee to Springfield Assistant Town Clerk Barbara Courchesne.
Photo: Vyto Starinskas / Staff Photo
In Springfield, residents for the first time in several years have a full field of candidates for the Select Board.
Five people have returned petitions for the two, three-year seats open on the board.
Incumbent Select Board member Terri Benton is running again, while fellow board member John Swanson has decided against another term.
Filing petitions Monday at the town hall were Peter Andrews, Larry Kraft, Peter MacGillivray and David Yesman, said Assistant Town Clerk Barb Courchesne.
Kraft served recently on the Springfield School Board, and both Yesman and MacGillivray have served on the Select Board years ago. Yesman this year was chairman of the Springfield Budget Advisory Committee.
On the school side of things, Scott Adnams is running for another three-year term, while Sam Coleman is stepping down from the board. Laura Ryan has filed for Coleman’s three-year seat.
There are few contested elections for town meeting 2012 in the Okemo Valley. Chester and Plymouth are the only two with candidates vying for elected office.
Candidates in Ludlow, Woodstock, and Cavendish are unopposed, while Weston and Bridgewater select candidates from the floor on Town Meeting Day.
The major races in the Okemo Valley are for Select Board.
In Ludlow, incumbent Select Board Member Brett Sanderson is unopposed for another three-year term. Incumbent Select Board members Doug Ficken and John Neal are also incumbents running unopposed for a one-year term.
In Woodstock, Select Board Chair Margaretta Howe and Select Board member Bruce Gould are two incumbents running for re-election. Howe and Gould are running unopposed.
In Plymouth, there is one contested election for Select Board. Russ Tonkin will challenge incumbent Larry Lynds for a three-year Select Board term.
In Chester, there is another contested election for Select Board. According to Chester assistant bookkeeper Christine Balch, there is a three-way election for two one-year Select Board terms. The incumbents are Tom Boch and Arnie Jonynas. Former state representative Kathy Pellett is the challenger.
There are no contested elections in Cavendish.
This is great news. Get some new (or returning) blood to the Springfield select board.
ReplyDeleteHopefully they are not friends of friends as so typically happens in Springfield.
ReplyDeleteTrue. It's also blood relatives!
ReplyDeleteKinda hard to do when its a town of 9000 and you must be a resident to be on the board. When you have family that have lived in the Springfield area for a hundred years or more. You have a lot of blood relatives and friends of friends. I just like to see common sense, what's good for.the town and its taxpayers and no vendettas or hidden agendas for a change.
ReplyDeleteToo bad the full field of candidates did not feel that it was important enough to attend the budget workshops or meetings and want people to vote for them to sit on this board????? Out of the 5 of them running I saw only 2 there, one was the incumbent and the other on the budget advisory committee. Lack of participation by the missing 3 certainly won't earn them my vote.
ReplyDeleteWatched the meetings on SAPA. That way I can make utterances without embarrassing myself. Good luck to any running for that mess of a job.
ReplyDelete