Above: The Library is advertising the annual Candidates Night. But take note, the event is next Wednesday. (image edited from flyer)
The annual forum to get to know the candidates running for contested positions is a week from tonight. It allows residents to essentially take part in the job interview for seats on one of the most powerful boards in the executive branch of our Town government.
Three candidates are vying for two seats on the Select Board.
As usual, the event will include a meet and greet followed by a moderated Q&A hosted by the Trustees of the Southborough Library.
The Southborough Library will host the annual event on Wednesday, April 29th from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. [Note: The library’s flyers have accidentally been promoting the event as on a Thursday. But their calendar and communications align with the advertised date next Wednesday. I edited the flyers to emphasize the correct day of the week.]
The Select Board candidates will participate in a moderated panel at 7:00 pm. Each will get a chance to make a brief opening and closing speech. In between, they’ll be asked to answer questions from the public and the moderator. The program will again be moderated by Library Trustee Janet Maney.
Prior to the panel, all candidates on the ballot are invited to the Meet & Greet with light refreshments. That includes candidates who are running unopposed. (For a reminder of who those candidates are, including a changing of the guard on some boards, click here.)
The event announcement notes that the annual forum is:
is an important civic program, part of the Library’s mission to be “the center for life-long learning at the crossroads of our community.”
Select Board Race
This year, the candidates running for the Select Board are one running to keep her seat, one looking to recapture a seat, and a third looking to join the board.
Marguerite Landry is running for a second term on the board she was elected to in 2023. Sam Stivers is running to return to the board, following his defeat last spring in another 3-way race. (He had been running for a third term on the board following his 2019 election in a 4-way race and unopposed re-election in 2022.)
Andrew Pfaff is the newcomer to elections. But he has been involved in Town politics for years through appointed positions. That includes his current seat on the Advisory Committee, which he also formerly chaired. (That committee has been a pipeline for many Select Board members over the years.)
Voting in the Election
The Annual Town Election will be held on Tuesday, May 12th from 6:30 am to 8:00 pm in the gym at Trottier Middle School, 49 Parkerville Road.
The deadline to register as a Southborough voter for this election is 8:00 pm on on May 1st. (To verify your current registration status, click here.)
The deadline to submit an application to vote by mail is May 5th. You can find more details on the Town’s website here. It includes a link to a sample ballot.
Ballot Question Reminder
Since I’m reminding readers of election details, I’ll also remind that the election will also include four ballot questions. Each will ask voters to approve a proposition 2½ debt exclusion. They would exempt future debt payments from the cap on raising the tax levy.
Those exemption questions are for the borrowing for roof replacements for Neary School ($4.5M, borrowing approved by March Town Meeting voters) and Trottier Middle School ($5.4M, borrowing approved by Annual Town Meeting voters), plus the Town’s Road & Sidewalk Improvement Plan ($25M, borrowing approved by Annual Town Meeting voters).
I was surprised to see on the sample ballot that the borrowing that for the last item, which had been approved under a single Town Meeting Article, is split into two ballot questions. One is for exempting debt from the $2.75M to install four sidewalks. The other is for the $22.26M for the DPW’s Road Maintenance Plan.
If the Neary question fails, the Town will still fund replacing the roof this summer, but be in a financial pickle. If any of the other questions fail, those projects can’t move forward this year.
None of the questions specify the amount of money that will be borrowed. But the borrowing for each is capped by the amounts that Town Meeting voters authorized.
