Above: Another update on who is and isn’t running for Town offices. (image of logo from the old Town website)
Planning Board Chair Meme Luttrell confirmed to me that she won’t be running for re-election this spring. It’s a big change given that Luttrell has been the Chair for the past 4 years (and served on the board for ten). Since I last posted an update, realtor Tom Truong has pulled papers to run for the office.
There is also a second potential race brewing in the annual Town Election.
I previously noted that the Housing Authority incumbent wouldn’t be running for re-election. Since then, two candidates have pulled papers. One is Southborough firefighter Captain Scott Navaroli. The other is Select Board Vice Chair Marguerite Landry.
Notably, Landry is also one of the candidates in the other potential race. As I’ve previously written, she’s one of three candidates who pulled papers to run for the two seats on the Select Board. Al Hamilton isn’t running for re-election to his seat. Former Select Board member Sam Stivers and Advisory member Andrew Pfaff have both pulled papers (and Stivers has already filed his).
Still, it’s important to remember that pulling papers doesn’t mean candidates are actually running. There are often residents who don’t follow through with filing papers, and others who withdraw even after filing. (To avoid their name appearing on the ballot, candidates have until April 9th to withdraw.)
Even if everyone who has pulled papers does follow through, I’d encourage more residents to pull papers. Healthy competition is healthy for a democracy.
If you’re thinking about running for office, you have until Friday, March 20th to pull papers and Tuesday, March 24th to file the nominations with enough signatures1 (You can find the full election paperwork schedule here.)
Here again is the list of offices on the ballot for the May 12th election. (Unless otherwise specified, each has one seat available):
- Board of Assessors – 3 year term
- Board of Commissioners of Trust Funds – 3 year term
- Board of Health – 3 year term
- Board of Trustees Southborough Library – vote for two – 3 year term
- Moderator – 1 year term
- Housing Authority – 3 year term
- Northborough-Southborough Regional School Committee – vote for two Southborough candidates – 3 year term2
- Planning Board – 5 year term
- Select Board – vote for two – 3 year term
- Southborough School Committee – vote for two – 3 year term
I’ll continue keeping tabs on potential races and updating you as the season progresses. In the meantime, if you want to check the latest status for who has pulled or filed papers, visit the Town Clerk’s election page here.
Reminder — If you have questions about the responsibilities for each board, you can find information here. For many of the boards/committees, you can also view/stream their recent meetings. (For details on viewing options, see my notes at the bottom of my regular Week in Government posts.)
- Based on the formula, until the next Gubernatorial election, the minimum number of registered Southborough voters’ signatures is technically 48. But the Town Clerk’s office always advises to get at least 60, in case there is an issue with any names/addresses not matching the registration list.
- There are also two Northborough seats available on the Regional School Committee, but obviously Southborough residents can’t run for that.
