Above: Don’t forget to head to Trottier, or the ballot box, tomorrow. (photos top and left by Beth Melo, bottom right by Jim Hegarty)
The Annual Town Election takes place tomorrow. Here’s an overview of what you need to know to prepare to vote.
Voting
The polls will be open for the Annual Town Election on Tuesday May 13 from 6:30 am to 8:00 pm. As usual, all three precincts will vote in the Trottier Middle School’s Gym at 49 Parkerville Road.
For voters who received but have yet to return your mail-in ballot, make sure to get it in by the end of voting.1:
If you can drop it in person today or well before 8:00 pm tomorrow:
- Drop it directly in the Town Clerk’s election Ballot Drop Box at the Town House, 17 Common Street. (See image right.)
- DO NOT use the Town’s other drop-box for other documents.
- And DO NOT bring your mail-in ballot to Trottier on Tuesday. (If you decide to vote in person instead, just leave the mail-in ballot at home.)
However you are voting, you do need to identify your precinct. You can find that info on the Town Clerk’s site here. (And there will be helpers at Trottier tomorrow.)
If you have any questions, please reach out directly to the Town Clerk’s office at 508-485-0710, ext. 3005.
Now for more on what you’re voting on.
Candidates for Contested Seats
On the ballot, three candidates are running for two seats on the Select Board:
- Kathy Cook (incumbent) — Candidate’s Statement, Q&A with the Community Advocate
- Tim Fling (challenger) — Candidate’s Statement, Q&A with the Community Advocate
- Sam Stivers (incumbent) — Candidate’s Statement, Q&A with the Community Advocate
You can also read about what they had to say when the faced voters at Candidates Night last Thursday here.
It is worth noting a major error in the print version of the Community Advocate’s Q&A in the May 2nd issue. (They accidentally duplicated one of Fling’s answers where Cook’s answer should have been. That included the reference to having two small children, which she does not have!) The online version is correct.
The two residents running for the 1 year seat on the Southborough School Committee have also submitted letters:
- Denise Eddy (on the ballot) — Candidate’s Statement
- Diane Romm (write-in candidate – include 77 Pine Hill Rd) — Candidate’s Statement
(They weren’t included in the Library’s moderated event because the race isn’t an official one on the ballot. The write-in campaign announcement came after the event was planned.)
You can also pull up all of the Candidate’s Statements here.
The Neary Building Project Ballot Question
The ballot will ask voters to pass a proposition 2½ debt exclusion (not override) to allow funding the Neary Building Project. (Does it still matter? You can read my explanation for why I think it is still relevant even after failing at the Town Meeting here.)
The specific language in the ballot question is:
Shall the Town of Southborough be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition two-and-one-half, so called, the amounts required to pay for the bonds issued in order to pay costs of designing, constructing, reconstructing and equipping the Margaret A. Neary School, located at 53 Parkerville Road Southborough, Massachusetts, to be used as a new four grade school, including the payment of all costs incidental or related thereto?
If you didn’t attend the Special Town Meeting, you can watch that here.
This morning, I updated my overview of the project (including tax impacts) and other aspects being publicly debated here.
I added concerns raised about the risk of higher tax costs if interest rates for borrowing are higher than projected and the potential impact on property values on the southside of town if Finn School is closed.
I think the other remarks at the meeting fell pretty much under the general categories that I had already covered in my post. (Although, officials and residents went into a lot more detail about their pro-and-con opinions on the project.) But if I missed a topic that you believe needs to be highlighted, post in a comment below!
For past and future coverage of the project, click here. But below are more key links:
- The project website
- The financial impact “calculator”
- Official letters and reports:
- Overview & Update from the Neary Building Committee
- Neary Building Project Cost Explanation from NBC Finance Subcommittee
- Educational Benefits of Project from Neary Building Committee
- Advisory Committee’s Report to Town Meeting Voters (and my summary of it)
- Letters to the Editor:
- School Daze by Michael Weishan
- What is “Plan B” by Patricia Burns Fiore
- Town Debt, the Big Picture by Al Hamilton
- Why We’re Voting Yes on the New Neary by a group of residents
- Neary “Plan B” by a group of residents
- Concern about Neary project’s proximity to old Town dump by Carl Guyer
Uncontested Candidates
And below is the list of remaining candidates on the ballot. They are all uncontested but will still be looking for voters to show their support!
Board of Assessors – 3 Years
Jeffrey W. Klein (Candidate for Re-election)
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS of TRUST FUNDS – 3 Years
Nicolas A. Mccoy (Candidate for Re-election)
Board of Health – 3 Years
Safdar Medina (Candidate for Re-election)
Board of TRUSTEES LIBRARY – 3 Years (Vote For Two)
Marguerite H. Landry (Candidate for Re-election)
Janet M. Maney (Candidate for Re-election)
Housing Authority – 5 Years
John M. Wood (Candidate for Re-election)
Moderator – 1 Year
Paul M. Cimino (Candidate for Re-election)
Northborough -Southborough Regional School Committee (Northborough Seat) – 3 Years
Joan Galla Frank (Candidate for Re-election)
Northborough -Southborough Regional School Committee (Southborough Seat) – 3 Years
Matthew J. Spencer (Candidate for Re-election)
Planning Board – 5 Years
Alan S Belniak
Southborough School Committee – 3 Years
Roger W. Challen (Candidate for Re-election)
