If you’re interested in running for Town Office, you can pull nomination papers beginning this Monday, February 14th at 8:00 am. The deadline to file papers with is five weeks later (March 22nd at 5:00 pm).
This year, the following seats will be up for grabs in the May election. (Unless otherwise specified, each have one seat available):
- Board of Assessors – 3 year term
- Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds – 3 year term
- Board of Health – 3 year term
- Board of Selectmen – vote for two – 3 year term
- Board of Trustees Southborough Library – vote for two – 3 year term
- Moderator – 1 year term
- Northborough-Southborough Regional School Committee – Southborough candidate – 3 year term*
- Planning Board – 5 year term
- Southborough School Committee – vote for two – 3 year term
As always, I’ll update you if races start to brew** or if it appears we’re in danger of ending up with a vacancy. In the meantime, if you want to keep tabs on who has pulled or filed papers you can look for news on the Town Clerk’s dedicated election page. (Last year, the office began regularly posting status updates there.)
If you have questions about the responsibilities for each board, you can find information here. Since most of the boards/committees have only been meeting online, you can also view their latest meetings here.
For those of you considering a run, check the Town’s website for the full list of vital dates. I checked with the Town Clerk to see what the current signature threshold is for getting on the ballot. It’s 50 people registered to vote in Southborough.*** (It’s always a good idea to get extras, in case of any issues with names not on the registered list.)
For those of you just interested in voting, make sure you’re registered by April 20th at 7:00 pm. And save the date to vote on May 10th between 6:30 am – 8:00 pm at Trottier Middle School. (Or register for Absentee Voting here.)
*There’s also a Northborough seat available on the Regional School Committee, but obviously Southborough residents can’t run for that.
**I already noted in a recent story that Michael Weishan stated plans to run for the Board of Selectmen seats, currently occupied by Marty Healey and Sam Stivers. But I don’t know yet if current selectmen plan to run for re-election, or if anyone else is throwing their hat in the ring.
***I thought the number might be based on census data. It turns out, it’s an obscure formula — 1% of voters on the last Gubernatorial ballot minus blank votes, capped at 50. That means next year’s requirement will be recalculated following the election this fall.
Updated (2/14/22 8:03 am): A reader noticed what I missed – two selectmen seats will be on the ballot this May. I initially referred to Marty Healey’s, but Sam Stivers’ term is also up this spring.
