Politics & Government
Competitive School Committee Race Heads Local Ballot
Assessor McCarthy does not file papers for reelection. Selectmen, Municipal Light Commissioners and Library Board face competition for May election.
UPDATE: Several School Committee candidates withdrew since this piece was written, including incumbent Jonathan Lederman, leaving only incumbent Kathleen Leonardson and challenger Meredith Tedford on the May 13 ballot.
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Yard signs are sprouting even sooner than the crocuses this year.
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Signs asking for support for Municipal Light Commission candidate Michael Hull were already in the ground along Lafayette Street Monday, the last day for filing papers with at least 50 signatures at the Town Clerk's office to qualify to run in the May 13 town election.
Town Clerk Robin Michaud, who is running unopposed, and her staff were verifying all the signatures to certify that each of the candidates qualified to run.
Find out what's happening in Marbleheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
One sign that will not be going in the ground is for veteran Assessor Board Member Anne Nancy McCarthy. She did not file her papers for reelection before the 5 p.m. deadline. William J. Willis will run unopposed for her seat on the three-member Board of Assessors.
The School Committee, facing charges of internal strife from the resigned Superintendent Gary Maass, will have five candidates running for two seats, whose terms will last for three years. Vice Chairman Jonathan Lederman and Kathleen Leonardson are seeking reelection.
They will be opposed by Meredith Tedford, Jennifer Williams and Eyal Oren. Barton Hyte took out papers, but called the Clerk's office to say he would not be submitting them.
Six Candidates for Board of Selectmen
The Board of Selectmen will have six candidates running for five one-year terms. Each of the incumbents, Chairman Jackie Belf-Becker, Bret Murray, Harry Christensen Jr., Judith Jacobi and James Nye, are running for reelection.
They are joined by Rose Ann Wheeler McCarthy, the clerk of the Cemetery Commission, who will run a third time for the board.
The Municipal Light Commission has drawn four candidates seeking two, three-year terms. Incumbents Calvin Crawford and Walter Homan are running for reelection, while Andrew Hadden and Hull are running for election to their first term on the local public utility.
The trustees for the Abbot Public Library will also see competition among four candidates for two, three-year terms. Chairman Phil Sweeney and Maurea Phelan Murnane are seeking re-election, while Zachary Newell and Elizabeth Lutwak are running for the board.
On the Planning Board, incumbent Edward Nilsson is running unopposed for a three-year term. Two candidates, Paul Elsen and Robert Schaeffner will run for the right to sit on the Planning Board for two-year term.
The Housing Authority will have Richard Whitehill running for re-election to a five-year term. Opposing him will be Virginia Healy-Kenney.
The Recreation and Park Commission will have the same five board members. Chairman Charles Osborne got his papers in just before 5 p.m. Linda Rice Collins, Derek Norcross, Gerald Tucker and Robert Jackson also filed papers to run unopposed.
The Water and Sewer Commission will also have the same faces deciding how to manage the town's complex water and sewer system. Two incumbents, Wilbur Bassett and Carlton Siegel, will run unopposed for new three-year terms.
Several other officeholders will also be running unopposed. Board of Health Chairman Helaine R. Hazlett, Cemetery Commissioner Richard Colletti and Moderator Gary Spiess drew no opponents for their reelection.
