With spring come town elections and town meetings.
While Paxton and Princeton hold a caucus as well as allow for paper nominations, candidates in Holden, Rutland and Sterling must submit papers. That involves gathering signatures from registered voters to get onto the ballot. Town clerks can provide the needed forms, and advise getting more signatures than required, since not all those who sign may actually be registered voters and residents of the town.
All five Wachusett region towns hold their town elections on Monday, May 13.
Holden
Registered voters interested in running for office in the annual town election have until 5 p.m. Thursday, March 21, to pull nomination papers. Candidates need 50 certified signatures of Holden registered voters in order to have their name appear on the May 13 ballot. Filing deadline is 5 p.m. Monday, March 25.
The following positions will be on the ballot: Moderator, for one year (incumbent Daniel Nason); Selectman, two seats for three-year terms (incumbents Anthony Renzoni and Richard Bates); Trustees of Damon Memorial, two seats for three-year terms (incumbents Alan Degutis and Richard Maurer); Wachusett Regional School District Committee, one seat for a three-year term (incumbents Lauren Salmon-Garrett, Linda Long-Belli, Asima Silva); Holden Housing Authority, one seat for a five-year term (incumbent Michael Kozlowski).
The single WRSDC seat reflects the change in the makeup of the committee, reducing its size, with Holden losing two seats in the 2024 election. Reductions have already reduced Holden’s seats as well as Sterling’s; Rutland will also lose a seat this year. The change to a 16-member committee uses weighted voting to balance voting power, so Holden still retains the same voting impact as it had prior to the reduction.
For more information, call the town clerk’s office at 508-210-5530.
Rutland
The deadline to obtain nomination papers to run in the May 13 town election is Thursday, March 21. The last day for candidates to file nomination papers with Board of Registrars is Monday, March 25.
The following positions will be on the ballot: Assessors, one seat for three-year term (incumbent Jeff Gibbs); Board of Health, one seat for three-year term (incumbent Scott Gilroy); Library Board of Trustees, two seats for three-year terms (incumbents Jean Grant and Richard Lopez); Select Board, two seats for three-year terms (incumbents Leah Whiteman and Harry Sechman); Planning Board, one seat for a five-year term (incumbent Dick Williams); Planning Board, one seat for two years to fill the remainder of a term (to which Britton Bradford was appointed); Wachusett Regional School District Committee, one seat for a three-year term (incumbents Brett Beardmore and Kumara Govardhan are both up, but due to the reduction in size and change to weighted voting, only one seat will be on the ballot); Southern Worcester County Regional Vocational School District Committee (Bay Path), one seat for a three-year terms (incumbent Ann Marie Pantos), Moderator, a three-year term, having been extended to three years from one year by vote of the annual town meeting (incumbent Randy E. Jordan).
The town clerk position is a three-year term, but pending legislation passed at the May 6, 2023, annual town meeting will change the position from elected to appointed upon the retirement of (or other vacating of the seat) the current town clerk. If a resident other than the current clerk is elected, the seat will transition to appointed upon passage of the Home Rule Amendment. The position would then be appointed by the town administrator acting on behalf of the Select Board.
Sterling
Nomination papers for the May 13 town election are available in the town clerk’s office, with 42 certified voter signatures required to be placed on the ballot. The last day to obtain nomination papers is March 21, and the deadline to submit nomination papers is March 25.
The following positions will be on the ballot: Board of Assessors, one seat for a three-year term (incumbent Donlin Murray); Board of Health, one seat for a three-year term (incumbent Ann Marie Catalano), and one seat for two years (the seat being filled currently by Richard Lane); Select Board, one seat for a three-year term (incumbent Maureen Cranson); Department of Public Works Board, one seat for a three-year term (incumbent Andrew Parker); Library Board of Trustees, two three-year terms (incumbents Judith Doherty, who is filling a vacancy, and Amanda Sayut); Town Moderator, three years (incumbent Jennifer Scalise-Mullet); Planning Board, one seat for a five-year term (incumbent Patty Page); Sterling Municipal Light Board, one seat for a three-year term (incumbent Eric Darlington); and Wachusett Regional School District Committee, one seat for a three-year term (incumbent Sue Valentine).
Caucuses
Paxton is holding its caucus at 7 p.m. Monday, March 11, at the Paxton Center School cafeteria. Nomination papers are available at the town clerk’s office during normal business hours. The last day to pull/return nomination papers is Monday, March 25, by 5 p.m. Candidates need 22 signatures of registered Paxton voters to get their name on the ballot.
Princeton holds its caucus at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, at the Town Hall annex. For those not nominated by caucus, papers requiring signatures of 20 registered voters must be filed with the Registrars of Voters at the town clerk’s Office by 5 p.m. March 25.
