WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Four potential candidates have taken out nomination papers for three seats on the Select Board that will be voted on this May, the town clerk reported on Wednesday.

 

Peter Beck, whose five-year term on the Planning Board is expiring, has taken out papers for a three-year seat on the Select Board, as has Matthew Neely, who was appointed last fall to fill a seat vacated by Andrew Hogeland.

 

In most years, the five-person Select Board has at most two seats on the May ballot, but Hogeland's resignation created a scenario where more than half the board will be up for grabs in May.

 

The three-year terms of incumbents Randal Fippinger and Jane Patton are expiring, and voters will have a chance to decide who fills the last year left on the term Hogeland was re-elected to in 2023.

 

Shana Dixon, the chair of the town's Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee, has taken out papers for the one-year seat on the May ballot.

 

Patton, who previously has said her current term would be her last after being voted onto the Select Board four times, has pulled nomination papers. But Town Clerk Nicole Beverly said it was unclear whether Patton intended to run for the one-year seat or a full three-year term.

 

Patton on Thursday morning said she has not decided which seat to seek in May.