Published June 24, 2020

VOTERS CAST BALLOTS in the Galvin Middle School gym during yesterday’s election. (Mark Sardella Photo)

 

WAKEFIELD — Yesterday they finally held the 2020 municipal election, and about 5 percent of the town’s registered voters participated.

The polls at the Galvin Middle School were open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This election, postponed from the end of April because of the coronavirus pandemic, had an extended early voting period and the shortened polling place hours had more to do with protecting voters and election workers than anything else. The election unofficially saw 1,033 of the town’s 19,109 voters cast ballots.

David A. Ledonne captured a seat on the Board of Assessors, besting incumbent Sebastian Tine, 649-318. Ledonne had lawn signs and campaign staff out over the past month or so.

He wrote in a letter, “I want to thank the voters of Wakefield for making me their ‘choice for change’ in Wakefield’s town election. As your newly elected assessor, I am looking forward to working with Director of Assessments, Victor Santaniello and assessors Jane D’Addario and Brian Donegan to provide our taxpayers with the tax relief benefits that are available to them.

“Late last week, a new law came into effect letting senior citizens in Wakefield qualify for greater tax relief with a new means tested exemption. As your assessor, I will work hard to ensure that as many of our seniors as possible are provided with information on how to apply for the new senior exemption, as well as those available to veterans and others.

“I also want to acknowledge the legacy of the man I will be replacing, Sebastian Tine. Mr. Tine is a good man and fine public servant; and his legacy of excellence in the assessing and teaching fields deserves the respect of our community. On behalf of myself and the townspeople of Wakefield, I want to extend my thanks and appreciation to him for his many years of service to the Town of Wakefield.

“Finally, I want to acknowledge my deep gratitude to my campaign manager, Fred Rich LaRiccia, for his tireless work leading this campaign to success,” Ledonne wrote.

In the only other contested race, Candace Linehan, an appointee to the Board of Health, easily defeated Thomas Stapleton III, 661-235.

Linehan also submitted a letter of thanks, which will run in tomorrow’s paper. It read, in part: “Your support and your votes humble and inspire me. Despite being in the midst of a pandemic, you showed up in person or mailed in your absentee ballot because you value our political process and care about how it is carried out.

“It has been my pleasure to meet and hear from so many of you during my campaign. The recent challenges we have endured as a community were like nothing I could have imagined, but they have strengthened us and provided opportunities for innovation.”

Two School Committee seats were up for election yesterday, and longtime incumbent Christopher Callanan’s 732 votes were good enough to keep his spot. However, newcomer Michael Boudreau won the other seat with nearly 40 more votes than Callanan.

Edward Dombroski will serve another term on the Town Council, as will Mehreen Butt.

The top vote getter in this unique election was Town Clerk Betsy Sheeran, who was running unopposed. She received 889 votes.

Unopposed Housing Authority candidate Jane Good captured 817 votes and Dombroski had the third highest vote total with 805.