Left: Voting booths may be hard to fill in May if we can’t even put up enough candidates to fill all of the seats. (photo by Beth Melo)
To date, not only are we lacking in any “races” for the May 8th election, we don’t have enough candidates to fill all of the seats.
There are two more days to change that.
There are still two seats in this year’s Town election with no takers.
There could be more, since some candidates who have pulled papers, have yet to file. (And those who filed can still pull out.)*
Both the School Committee and the Board of Library Trustees have two seats to be filled in the election. As of this morning, only one candidate has pulled/filed papers for each of those boards.
If you’re looking to fill an empty spot, or run against someone for another office, you only have two days left to pull papers. The deadline is 5:00 pm on Friday, March 16th. (Though other Town offices close at noon on Friday, the Clerk’s office will remain open until then.)
After that, you can use the weekend to collect signatures. Papers will need to be filed by 5:00 pm on Tuesday. (For more on the election schedule for candidates, scroll down.)
If you have questions about the responsibilities of the positions, you can find information here. And for the Library Trustee position, the Library promoted:
If you want more information about becoming a Library Trustee, feel free to reach out to Trustee Chair Richard Wallace (richardwallacej@gmail.com), Town Clerk Jim Hegarty (jhegarty@southboroughma.com), or Library Director Ryan Donovan (rdonovan@southboroughma.com). They will do their best to answer any questions.
As for who is running this year – almost all are candidates for re-election. The only fresh faces are Jessica Devine (for School Committee) and Alexander Frisch (for Housing Authority).
Here is an update on who has already pulled/filed papers. (Unless otherwise specified, each office has only one seat available.):
Moderator – 1 year term
Paul Cimino – (pulled)
Board of Selectmen – 3 year term
Brian Shea – (filed)
Board of Assessors – 3 year term
Arthur Holmes – (filed)
Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds – 3 year term
John Wilson – (filed)
Board of Health – 3 year term
Daniel O’Rourke – (pulled)
Board of Trustees Southborough Library – vote for two – 3 year term
Nicole Debonet – (filed)
additional open seat
Northborough-Southborough Regional School Committee – vote for two Southborough candidates – 3 year term
Kathleen Harragan – (pulled)
Cathy Kea – (pulled)
Planning Board – 5 year term
Andrew Mills – (pulled)
School Committee – vote for two – 3 year term
Jessica Devine – (pulled)
additional open seat
Housing Authority – 5 year term
Alexander Frisch – (pulled)
Below are important dates for candidates considering a run:
- Window to obtain nomination papers –February 1 through March 16 (5:00 pm)
- Last day to submit nomination papers – March 20 (5:00 pm)
- Last day to object or withdraw – April 5 (5:00 pm)
- Town Election – May 8 (6:30 am – 8:00 pm)
Those of you who aren’t planning to run, may still want to note some important dates in our Town democracy. The voter registration deadline is March 20th at 8:00 pm. The Annual Town Meeting is 7:00 pm on April 9th. And the final day to apply for an absentee ballot is noon on May 7th.
For the full Town election calendar, click here to open the Town’s pdf.
*Even those who filed their papers won’t be on the ballot if they pull their names by April 5th.
