Published in the April 6, 2016 edition
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The wait is almost over.
Voters will head to the polls and will be casting ballots in the annual town election on Monday, April 11. Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. at Lynnfield High School, 275 Essex St. Voters from the town’s four precincts will vote in the high school’s gymnasium.
There will be two contested races in the town election. There are two candidates running for an open seat on the Board of Selectmen. There are three write-in candidates looking to serve a one-year term on the Planning Board.
Selectman’s race
Planning Board member Richard “Dick” Dalton and Housing Authority member Michael Walsh are running for an open seat, the three-year term on the Board of Selectmen. Walsh and Dalton are looking to succeed Selectman Tom Terranova who decided against running for a second term.
Dalton was appointed to the Planning Board at a joint meeting held by the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board last November. He was appointed to the board to replace former Planning Board member Randall Crompton, who stepped down last fall after moving from town. Dalton previously served on the Planning Board before he temporarily relocated to Seattle, Wash. to work for restaurant operator Madison Holdings.
Additionally, Dalton currently works for the Baker Administration as the Boston regional director for the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, a position to which he was appointed last May. He previously worked as the chief operating officer for the Back Bay Restaurant Group, which owns Joe’s American Bar and Grill and Papa Razzi.
Walsh is a local attorney who has his own practice in town, Walsh and Son, LLP. He is the son of a public school teacher and Lynnfield firefighter, and graduated from Suffolk University at the age of 17 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He received his law degree at the age of 21 and holds a master of laws degree in Global Law and Technology.
Walsh is currently serving his second term on the Housing Authority. He is serving as the attorney coach for one of Lynn English’s Mock Trial teams. He also volunteers as the general counsel of Top Soldier Inc., a local non-profit based in Peabody that helps young men and women train to join the military.
Planning Board
There are three write-in candidates running for a one-year term on the Planning Board.
Planning Board co-Chairman Alan Dresios originally pulled nomination papers for the open seat currently held by Dalton, but Dresios did not submit papers before the Feb. 22 deadline. Since he failed to submit his papers on time, Dresios decided to launch a write-in campaign for the one-year term.
Al Sylvia, 16 Lynnbrook Rd., announced last week he is running for the open Planning Board seat. Sylvia co-founded the Lynnfield Villager in the spring of 1973 and ran the newspaper until it was sold to the Wakefield Item Company in August 2012. Over the course of Sylvia’s tenure at the Villager, he served as a reporter, editor and publisher. He is the current editor of the Reading Daily Times Chronicle and has lived in town for over 40 years.
The third candidate running for the open Planning Board seat is Tomasz Pagos, 6 Pagos Way. Pagos has worked for some of Boston’s largest commercial and construction firms as a project manager and estimator, including his current job at Waypoint Companies. He worked with local officials including the Planning Board while building the Pagos Way subdivision.
In addition to the three-way race for the one-year term on the Planning Board, political newcomer Michael Sheehan is running for a five-year term on the board. Sheehan is running unopposed.
Uncontested races
There are no other contested races in the April 11 town election.
School Committee member Dorothy Presser is running for her seventh, three-year term on the school board. She was first elected to the School Committee in 1998 and was re-elected to her sixth term in April 2013.
Political newcomer Richard Sjoberg is also running for a three-year term on the School Committee and is looking to succeed School Committee Chairwoman Susie Cleary, who decided against running for a third term. Sjoberg is the principal owner of an investigative consultant firm specializing in corporate risk assessments, executive protection and fraud investigations. He is the current co-president of the Huckleberry Hill School PTO.
Library Trustee Faith Honer–Coakley is running for a three-year term on the board. Library Trustee Ann Miller announced in December she would not run for a second term and there were no candidates who pulled nomination papers for the open seat. Library Director Holly Mercer informed the Villager “there have been a couple of inquiries, but no commitments by any write-in candidates yet.”
Board of Assessors member Richard O’Neil Jr. is running for a three-year term. Town Moderator Arthur Bourque, who has served as moderator since 2012, is running for another term.
Susan Broder, 312 Ross Dr., is running for a two-year term on the Housing Authority. Broder is looking to succeed Housing Authority member Barbara Casey, who is resigning from the board on April 10.
