Williamstown's Spring Election Taking Shape
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Four potential candidates have taken out nomination papers for three seats on the Select Board that will be voted on this May, the town clerk reported on Wednesday.
Peter Beck, whose five-year term on the Planning Board is expiring, has taken out papers for a three-year seat on the Select Board, as has Matthew Neely, who was appointed last fall to fill a seat vacated by Andrew Hogeland.
In most years, the five-person Select Board has at most two seats on the May ballot, but Hogeland's resignation created a scenario where more than half the board will be up for grabs in May.
The three-year terms of incumbents Randal Fippinger and Jane Patton are expiring, and voters will have a chance to decide who fills the last year left on the term Hogeland was re-elected to in 2023.
Shana Dixon, the chair of the town's Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee, has taken out papers for the one-year seat on the May ballot.
Patton, who previously has said her current term would be her last after being voted onto the Select Board four times, has pulled nomination papers. But Town Clerk Nicole Beverly said it was unclear whether Patton intended to run for the one-year seat or a full three-year term.
Patton on Thursday morning said she has not decided which seat to seek in May.
As for the Planning Board seat currently held by Beck, Erik Reardon is the lone resident to take out nomination papers as of Wednesday afternoon.
There will be five seats on the Milne Public Library Board of Trustees on the spring election ballot: four full three-year terms and one race to fill out the remaining year of a seat that was vacated.
The person appointed to that vacated seat, Benjamin Lee-Cohen, is one of five people who have pulled papers for the four full terms on the ballot. Others who have taken out nomination papers are Katherine Myers, Adriana Brown and incumbents Jared Della Rocca and Robin Lenz.
Brown's nomination papers already have been returned and certified, giving her a place on the ballot. Likewise, longtime library board member Bridget Spann, who is not running for another full term, has returned papers with the required number of signatures for the one-year seat on the ballot.
Another person whose nomination papers have been certified is Judith Bombardier, an incumbent running for another five-year term on the Housing Authority.
Incumbent David Westall has returned his papers to keep his three-year seat on the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District (McCann Technical) School Committee.
And Moderator Elisabeth Goodman has returned her papers to run for another three-year term in that post.
Nomination papers are available in the town clerk's office at Town Hall during business hours.
The deadline to submit nomination papers with the required number of signatures is Tuesday, March 25, at 5 p.m.
The town election is Tuesday, May 13, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Williamstown Elementary School.
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