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Date: 6/1/2022
TOLLAND – Proposals to merge the offices of town treasurer and tax collector, and convert both the town clerk and the treasurer-collector from elected to appointed offices, failed at the town ballot on May 24.
According to preliminary results released by Town Clerk Susan Voudren on election night, voters rejected an appointed town clerk, 51-38. The vote to combine the treasurer and collector roles, and make that job appointed, lost by a similar margin, 51-37.
The ballot votes negate recent decisions by Town Meeting, where the proposals passed 17-1 and 16-2, respectively, on May 9. Town officials had argued that although they have no complaints with the current elected clerk and treasurer-collector – the two financial offices are elected separately, but the same person currently holds them – there is no guarantee that qualified individuals will step forward in future elections. Increasingly complex state mandates make it important to hire clerks and financial officers with technical knowledge, supporters argued. Both the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee had endorsed the changes.
The one person who spoke against the proposals at Town Meeting said filling the positions by election is the only way to guarantee that they continue to be held by Tolland residents.
There were no contested races elsewhere on the ballot. Former Police Chief and Highway Superintendent Edwin Deming was elected selectman for a term of three years, by a vote of 79-0.
He will replace Eric Munson Jr., who is retiring from public service after 48 years on the Board of Selectmen, including a long recent tenure as chair. The Tolland Cultural Council announced last month that Munson will be thanked and honored for his service during a ceremony at the start of the Concert on the Green at 1 p.m. on June 26, at Clubhouse and New Boston roads.
On May 24, voters also re-elected several incumbents. Winning additional three-year terms were Andrea DeSanto as library trustee, Margaret McClellan as treasurer and as tax collector, Susan Moore as assessor, and Susan Voudren as town clerk.
Because of an error at the town caucus, no candidate was listed for a five-year term on the Planning Board. Incumbent board member James Deming was re-elected as a write-in candidate, with 17 votes.
A total of 92 ballots were cast, representing about 24 percent of Tolland’s 380 registered voters.