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REINHARD, ROGGEVEEN WIN SELECTMEN'S RACE
In the other races, John McLaughlin and Linda Williams won the two open seats on the Historic District Commission. Robert Gardner won the vacant Land Bank Commission seat with 1,123 votes. The count took longer than usual this year. After last fall's special election for an interim seat on the selectmen, left vacant when Michael Glowacki resigned in August for health reasons, improprieties were alleged about the counting procedure and a subsequent recount gave Town Clerk Catherine Stover a one-vote edge over contender Patty Roggeveen. At the initial count Roggeveen was said to have lost by two votes. Consequently, to avoid a repeat of that situation, Stover decided to abandon the early release of preliminary totals and hold announcement of the votes until the numbers for all write-ins or machine-rejected ballots were compiled.
Reinhard, 62, who has never run for this office, spoke out in support of making the Planning Board, Historic District Committee and Shellfish and Harbor Advisory Board members appointed rather than elected because he believes more qualified candidates will be chosen through the appointment process. He also said he was against allowing town employees who work 20 or more hours a week to be on the selectmen because of potential conflicts of interest. He is Middle Moors Ranger for the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, has been chairman of the Town Government Study Committee, is chair of the Roads and Right of Way Committee, is a member of the Cemetery Commission and is an elected Land Bank commissioner. Gray, 42, was perhaps perceived as a dark horse candidate when he first ran for the board in April 2006 and again for the interim seat last fall, but has earned more votes each time he competed and worked hard to gain voter support in this race for his down-to-earth postures on improving infrastructure and yearly audits of the budget. He favored the concept of appointed boards and disallowing full-time town employees from serving on the selectmen. He is a master plumber, member of the Conservation Commission and also is its representative to the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission. Roggeveen, 47, was also in the race for the third time. She lost the interim seat to Town Clerk Catherine Stover last fall by a single vote after she called for a recount, and has taken stands on more public involvement in the government process, wanting tighter reins and greater scrutiny on town spending, and spoke against appointing important regulatory and advisory boards as well as against prohibiting town employees from being selectmen. She is Director of the Nantucket Community School and is on the Council for Human Services. Richen, 62, is a well-known face in local government with many years on the Parks and Recreation Commission, and garnered many followers in the selectmen's race, although still a new contender in competition for the high office. During his campaign, he supported a far-reaching plan for the island's infrastructure needs and keeping boards elected bodies, but saw both sides of the argument on town workers being selectmen. He is retired from previous jobs with the Department of Public Works and at the airport, and has been on the Parks and Recreation Commission for 16 years. Not wanting to fan the flames of the appointed board frenzy ignited by the Town Government Study Committee and hoping to avoid a four-member board because no one filed candidacy papers for the three vacant sits this spring, three Nantucketers announced their write-in intentions to save the Shellfish & Harbor Advisory Board. Both Peter Boyce and former SHAB member Wendy McRae filed papers for their write-in campaigns before the March 26 deadline for write-ins. Bam LaFarge, who said he would serve if at least one voter wrote his name on their ballot, chose not to make any noise about his intentions. All three write-in candidates spoke up because they realized the importance of keeping SHAB alive with all seven members sitting. Boyce and McRae cited water quality preservation and implementing the harbor plan as reasons for wanting to get on the board. A classic battle between two multiple-term incumbents and one challenger, this year's bout for two open seats on the Historic District Commission - the expiring terms of John McLaughlin and Linda Williams - versus interior designer Deborah Timmermann was about proving who could best roll with the changing times. The HDC, like several other town review boards, is dealing with the appointed-vs.-elected argument and all three candidates felt elected works better than appointed. Also, all three candidates stressed the importance of the commission accommodating the growing trend of green building. With the retirement of Kenneth Holdgate from the Nantucket Islands Land Bank Commission, the race for one seat on this commission was wide open in the 2007 election. Naturally, candidates Bob Gardner, Peter Kyburg and Steve McCluskey all said they would buy beach access property first and fill-in land after that, but from this common ground the three challengers parted company. I TOWN ELECTION RESULTS
APRIL 3, 2007 |
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