Jodi Bauer, Paul Ciaburri and Randy Parker will all be challenged in their respective bids to stay on the Mattapoisett, Rochester and Marion Select Boards.
Ben Bailey, a member of the Rochester Planning Board and Conservation Commission, has returned nomination papers in a bid to unseat Ciaburri, a multiterm Select Board incumbent, at Rochester’s May 22 Town Election.
In Mattapoisett, Kathleen Costello has returned nomination papers to launch a run at Bauer’s seat, and in Marion Diane Lopes Flaherty has returned papers to run for Parker’s seat. Bauer, Ciaburri and Parker have all returned papers, confirming their re-election campaigns.
The Marion Town Election will be held on May 17 and Mattapoisett’s Town Election will be held on May 21.
As of Tuesday morning, the only Rochester incumbents to return papers were Ciaburri and Water Commission member David Hughes.
Bailey’s term on the Rochester Conservation Commission (vice chairman) expires this year; incumbent Matt Bache has pulled papers indicating he will run for re-election to the ConCom. Bailey’s five-year term on the Rochester Planning Board does not expire until 2028.
Also in Rochester, Sarah Eby pulled papers indicating a run for re-election to the Board of Health, which now has a second (two-year) seat open with Monday’s announcement that Dale Barrows is retiring from the board.
Bache and Joshua Tremblay have pulled papers indicating they will bid for expiring Rochester School Committee seats held by Jason Chisholm and Robin Rounseville, who have both pulled papers indicating a run for re-election. Matthew Monteiro has also pulled papers indicating he will run to maintain his seat on the Old Rochester Regional School Committee.
The terms of Plumb Library Trustees Co-Chairs Kelley Medeiros and Shauna Makuch are up; Makuch has pulled papers indicating she will run for re-election. Sydney Lewis pulled papers, adding her name to that of Portia Silk potentially running for those seats.
Rochester incumbents Jana Cavanaugh (Assessors) and Jeff Eldridge (tree warden) have also pulled papers for re-election.
Four other Rochester incumbents have pulled papers, indicating they will run for re-election: Robin Rounseville (Rochester School Committee), Matthew Monteiro (Old Rochester Regional School Committee), Michael C. Murphy (Planning Board) and David Arancio (Town Moderator).
The deadline in Rochester to pull papers is April 1, and the deadline to return them is April 3.
The Mattapoisett School Committee seats held by Jim Muse and Tiffini Reedy are set to expire. Muse has pulled papers and so have challengers Kathleen Ann McArdle and Jack Lebrun.
On January 29, Alan Apperson and incumbent Leonard Coppola both pulled papers for Coppola’s seat on the Mattapoisett Board of Assessors.
As of March 11, no other elected offices in Mattapoisett were being officially challenged, but the status of Town Moderator John Eklund was not confirmed; Lizanne Campbell has pulled papers, indicating a run for moderator.
Three Mattapoisett incumbents have returned papers confirming a re-election bid: William Osier (Library Trustees), Highway Surveyor Garrett Bauer and Chuck McCullough (Housing Authority).
Tom Tucker has pulled papers, indicating a re-election run to the Planning Board. Other Mattapoisett incumbents who have taken out papers include Elizabeth Sylvia (Library Trustees), Water/Sewer commissioner Albert Meninno Jr. and Community Preservation Committee members James Pierson and Susan Wilbur.
Besides Parker’s Select Board seat, no other seat was being contested in Marion as of Monday afternoon.
Other Marion incumbents who have returned papers confirming their run for re-election include: Dr. John Howard (Board of Health), April Nye (Marion School Committee) and Planning Board members Alanna Nelson and Jon Henry. Incumbents Michelle Smith (Marion School Committee), George TJ Walker (Assessor) and Brad Gordon (Town Moderator) have each returned papers, indicating a run for re-election.
The Marion Town Election will be held on Friday, May 17. The deadline in Marion to return papers is Monday, March 25.
Tri-Town Elections
By Mick Colageo