Published in the April 25, 2018 edition
By BOB BURGESS
WAKEFIELD — About 19.5 percent of Wakefield’s 18,390 registered voters turned out for yesterday’s annual municipal election, deciding the selectmen will become town councilors and more women should serve in elected offices.
Retention of the Board of Selectmen title didn’t have a chance as those who argued to get rid of a gender-specific name in this age of inclusion and non-binary sexes carried the day, securing nearly 62 percent of votes cast. The Board of Selectmen was the only gender-specific board, committee or commission in Wakefield.
Not anymore.
Julie Smith-Galvin won an impressive first time victory in her bid to serve on the town’s executive board, with incumbent Selectmen Paul R. DiNocco finishing second in the race for two open seats. Smith-Galvin joins the new Town Council because she received over 34 percent of votes cast in the contest. DiNocco, a hard-working board member over the years, received almost 22.5 percent of the votes cast in that race.
Finishing out of the money in what was yesterday a Board of Selectmen’s race were Deborah M. Butler, who came in third, and incumbent Brian E. Falvey, who came in last.
A chart of unofficial results in yesterday’s election appears on Page 5.
In the race for School Committee, Colleen E. Guida and Aimee J. Purcell finished first and second for two open seats as voters decided the longtime education advocates could provide the right guidance in how the school system operates. In the five-person race, Robert E. Vincent finished third with 20 percent of the vote, Susan L. Veilleux fourth with 19.3 percent of the vote and James A. Horne fifth with 3.77 percent of the votes cast in the school board race.
Jennifer Kallay topped the ticket in the four-way contest for two open seats on the Municipal Gas and Light Board of Commissioners, getting nearly 38 percent of votes cast. The lone incumbent, Kenneth J. Chase Jr., was reelected, finishing with just under 30 percent of the vote. Finance Committeeman Wayne M. Tarr was third with 25 percent of the vote, and Robert J. Brooks Jr. came in fourth.
The other contested race yesterday was for a seat on the Board of Health, which incumbent Laurel Skinder Gourville easily retained against challenger Sonia Borda.
Of those candidates running without opposition, Christopher J. Fowlie was elected to a five-year seat on the Planning Board; W. Harbison Carroll again will be the Town Moderator; Kathleen M. Kelly was reelected Tax Collector; Jane A. D’Addario will return to the Board of Assessors ; and Kevin P. Scanlon, Cindy A. Schatz and newcomer Aimee Lominac were chosen as Beebe Library Trustees.
Blessed with beautiful weather, a game-changing ballot question four contested races, yesterday’s election turnout of under 20 percent appears satisfactory by today’s standard. Activists were able to get their vote out, while the other 80 percent of the community’s voters sat out the 2018 municipal election.
Things started slowly at the polls yesterday — like they normally do during town elections — as just 649 voters had cast ballots by 10 a.m. Traffic didn’t really pick up much until mid-afternoon. By 5 p.m. turnout was at 13.3 percent. The final percentage of voter turnout after the polls closed at 8 p.m. was 19.47.
