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Four percent of Hampden residents turn out to 2015 Annual Town Election

Date: 5/7/2015

HAMPDEN – The preliminary results are in for the Annual Town Election, which saw only one contested race and a pair of nonbinding citizen petition questions as well as two write-in candidates.

Town Clerk Eva Wiseman told Reminder Publications, 137, or 4 percent of the town’s 3,680 registered voters, made it to the polls on May 4.

Wiseman previously stated she anticipated a 15 to 25 percent turnout.  

Independent candidate Timothy Connors beat out Democratic Caucus nominee David Atsales for a three-year term on the Cemetery Commission. Connors received 73 votes and Atsales had 49.

Wiseman said several people were also elected to Housing Authority positions via “write-in” campaigns, of which a minimum of five votes are needed to be elected.

“The write-in campaigns were because we had offices which nobody took out papers [for],” she explained. “There just wasn’t a lot of interest, probably a lot of people didn’t know it was available. So when people found out about them, it was too late to take papers out and I think the Selectmen might have contacted a few people saying, ‘Hey.’”

Carol Collins was voted in for a one-year term on the Housing Authority by nine votes. Her opponent, Francis Netherwood, received six votes. This race received 117 blanks.

John Wilkinson was elected to a five-year term on the Housing Authority with 12 votes, beating out his opponent, Deanna Vermette, who received seven votes.

Question 1 read, “Shall the town of Hampden vote to support the federal government’s Common Core standards initiative for K-12 funded by your local tax dollars?” This nonbinding question received 99 votes against and 30 in favor. At the April 28 Annual Town Meeting, a similarly worded article received a majority of votes in favor of the question.

The second nonbinding question called for the postponement of the $2.95 million police station project due to current discussions regarding possible changes at Thornton W. Burgess Middle School. This question received 75 votes in favor and 57 against. This question also appeared on the April 28 Town Meeting warrant, but received little support and the majority of residents voted against it  

“It’s quite surprising when you look at the count there,” she added.

The list of uncontested candidates includes incumbent Robert Howarth for moderator, Republican Caucus nominee Edward Loiko for a one-year term on the Planning Board, incumbent Republican Caucus nominee Norman Charest for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen, Eric Jacobson for a two-year term as park commissioner, Republican Caucus nominee Melissa Paige Gore for a five-year term on the Planning Board, Raymond Crowley for a three-year term as a library trustee, incumbent School Committee member and Republican Caucus nominee Lena Buteau, and incumbent independent candidate David Paradis for a three-year term as a park commissioner.