Wanted: Candidates for Town Meeting Day elections
Openings include select board, school board seats
January 6, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti Correction: The school board seat held by Cindy Senning has one year remaining in its term.
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Although there once again may not be in-person gatherings inside school gyms and town halls on the first Tuesday in March, Vermonters can count on Town Meeting Day happening and those interested in running for office have just a few short weeks to get on the ballot.
The state Legislature opened the 2022 session this week and one of the first things lawmakers will sort out is guidance for cities and towns regarding how to manage Town Meeting Day traditional gatherings given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and recent surge in community spread of the virus.
In 2021, the state allowed communities to rely solely on paper ballots that contained questions traditionally debated and voted in person. Similar provisions are being considered for Town Meeting Day 2022 including the option to allow communities to delay their in-person meetings until they could be held outdoors. The bill, S.172, has already passed the Senate.
Waterbury usually does a little of both with an in-person meeting where items such as the town budget are decided by those in attendance, and all-day balloting to determine municipal elections and school district business.
This year, the deadline for candidates to file their necessary petitions and forms to get on the March 1 ballot is Monday, January 24, at 5 p.m.
Those interested in running for a local office have plenty of options.
Three seats on the Waterbury Select Board will be on the ballot: two one-year terms now held by board Chair Mark Frier and Katie Martin, and a three-year seat held by Michael Bard. Of those three, only one incumbent - Bard - plans to seek re-election.
On Tuesday, Martin told Waterbury Roundabout that she has decided not to seek another term after being elected twice in 2020 and 2021. She cited a busy work schedule and commitments to coaching high school and youth sports, adding that she hopes others will come forward to serve. “I have learned a lot and really appreciated being a part of the board the last two years,” she said.
Frier on Thursday told Waterbury Roundabout that he will not seek another term. First elected in 2015, Frier co-owns several local restaurants in Waterbury and Stowe including The Reservoir.
The past two years during the pandemic have hit restaurants particularly hard. Frier and business partner Chad Fry in late October closed their restaurant and music venue Tres Amigos and The Rusty Nail in Stowe. “I need to focus on my businesses as restaurants continue to struggle,” he said when asked if he would look to another term on the select board.
That leaves Bard the only incumbent looking to return to the board. He said he intends to run for a second term and is working on getting the needed signatures on his filing petition.
7 of 14 school board seats on the ballot
Across the Harwood Unified Union School District, half of the 14-member board’s seats will be on ballots in five of the six member towns.
Neither of Moretown’s two seats is up for election this year, but in each of the other communities including Waterbury, one three-year seat will be on the ballot. In all of those instances, incumbents have said they do not plan to run for re-election. Those members stepping down are Caitlin Hollister of Waterbury, board Chair Torrey Smith of Duxbury, Jeremy Tretiak of Waitsfield, Jonathan Clough of Warren, and Vice Chair Tim Jones of Fayston.
Waterbury and Duxbury will each have an additional school board position on their ballots as members Scott Culver of Waterbury and Cindy Senning of Duxbury were appointed last summer to fill vacancies. In such cases, new members serve until the next election. Both Culver and Senning have told Waterbury Roundabout that they intend to run for the remaining portions of their respective terms; Culver’s has two years, Senning’s has one.
Local elections in Waterbury
Other offices that will be on the ballot in Waterbury will be: town clerk and treasurer, both one-year terms; a three-year seat on the Board of Listers; a five-year seat each on the Cemetery Commission and the Library Commission. If there is an in-person meeting, a moderator will be chosen.
Waterbury Town Clerk Carla Lawrence said 30 signatures from registered voters are needed for candidates’ petitions for both municipal and school elections. Once state guidance on meeting gatherings is issued, the select board will decide the format for this year’s town meeting, she noted.
Duxbury local elections
In Duxbury, local officials are eager to see the state guidance for Town Meeting Day as all business is usually done at an in-person meeting. In 2021, paper ballots were used, however.
“As it is right now we can only have an in-person meeting,” explained Town Clerk Maureen Harvey. “We have to wait on the Legislature before we can even propose a change as we are a floor-vote town.”
Regardless of the format, voters in Duxbury will have four seats on the select board to fill come March 1: two one-year terms now held by Brian Robinson and Mike Marotto, one three-year seat now held by Mari Pratt, and a vacant position with a term that ends in 2023.
Also up for election in Duxbury: town clerk and treasurer, both three-year terms; three-year terms for a lister and a cemetery commissioner; an additional cemetery commission term with two years remaining; a five-year term on the budget committee; one-year terms for first and second constables and delinquent tax collector.
Those interested in running for local offices should contact their town clerks for more details and forms or visit the municipal websites, waterburyvt.com and duxburyvermont.org.