Newcomers Take Williamstown Planning Board; School Committee Chair Hangs On
Updated: Complete write-thru at 10:24 p.m.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Voters gave incumbents a split decision in Tuesday's town election.
In a year when controversial issues before the Planning Board and Elementary School Committee appeared to drive voter interest, the former got an overhaul while the one incumbent running for the latter retained his seat — but just barely.
Susan Puddester and Chris Kapiloff were the victors in the races for two seats on the Planning Board, which has been embroiled since September in a debate over a potential overlay district to allow a hotel at Waubeeka Golf Links.
Incumbent Dan Caplinger and newcomer Joseph Bergeron earned seats on the School Committee.
A third incumbent facing competition for her seat, Board of Selectman Chairwoman Jane Patton, easily won re-election. Jeffrey Thomas was the other candidate to emerge successfully from a three-person race for two board seats.
Thirty-two percent of the town's registered voters participated in Tuesday's election. From a checklist of 4,798 voters, 1,562 checked in — nearly double the 821 who turned out for the 2015 town election.
For the Planning Board, Puddester defeated board veteran Sarah Gardner, 811-681, for a full five-year seat. Kapiloff edged out Anne Hogeland in a three-way race to fill out the remaining two years on the seat currently held by Gardner on an interim basis.
Gardner was a voice for requiring additional concessions from the owner of Waubeeka, who, through his attorney, town resident Stan Parese, has placed an overlay bylaw on the May 17 annual town meeting warrant by citizen's petition.
Gardner has drawn considerable criticism in recent weeks for her part in a last-minute Planning Board reversal on May 4 that prevented the body from developing compromise language that was acceptable to Waubeeka owner Mike Deep and Parese.
Gardner also was the subject of an 11th-hour attack, not connected to any other candidate: a charge that she and two other members of the Planning Board violated the commonwealth's Open Meeting Law before the May 4 meeting.
Kapiloff received 732 votes in the three-way race to fill the remaining two years on the soon-to-be vacant seat. Finishing behind Kapiloff were Anne Hogeland (657 votes) and Bruce MacDonald (111).
Both Kapiloff and Puddester emphasized in their campaign appearances the Planning Board's role in fostering economic development in the town. After the election results were announced, Kapiloff said he was excited about the opportunity to serve on the board and stopped short of saying his and Puddester's elections were a referendum on Waubeeka.
"I fall more and more in love with Williamstown all the time," Kapiloff said. "It's just exciting to see the number of people who feel strongly about making our town better. We might have some small differences on how we get there, but we are all invested in this town. That's a really great thing.
"For different people, there are going to be a lot of different things that play into [the vote]. For some, I'm sure that it was. For me, this is still about what I talked about in our candidate forums: I want to create a Williamstown where there is opportunity for my kids to come back here if that's what they choose to do after college."
Likewise, Caplinger did not say whether his re-election makes it any more or less likely that the elementary school budget will face a floor fight at next week's town meeting. Many in the community — including all four of Caplinger's opponents in the five-person field — questioned the decision to eliminate the full-day option in the school's Side-By-Side special education preschool program for the 2016-17 academic year.
"I'm pleased the town of Williamstown has given me the opportunity to continue to be on the School Committee," Caplinger said. "I have, however, noticed that I didn't finish first. I finished second. I think there may be a message there."
Bergeron was by far the top vote-getter for the School Committee with 698 votes. Caplinger received 494, just beating Liam Brody (449), Maury McCarthy Lawson (401) and Sanjay Sharma (373).
"I'm looking forward to working with Joe [Bergeron]," Caplinger said. "I think he will be a good addition to the committee. I think he will be able to convey the will of the people and their views on what's going on with the committee, with the school and its impact on the community."
"I don't think the election has any impact on my view about [prospects for the school budget]. I think we have work to do to try to bring the community back together. I'm optimistic we'll have several opportunities between now and town meeting."
The School Committee has a meeting on Wednesday, May 11, at 7 p.m. at which it will reconsider its budget request to the town in light of an administration proposal to add a third half-day section to Side-By-Side. Caplinger also will be back before the town's Finance Committee on Monday to discuss an amended budget if the School Committee votes to make changes Wednesday evening.
The owner of Waubeeka also will make at least one more play to unify the town before the annual town meeting. On Tuesday, Deep invited the community to the course for an open house and information session from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday night, May 11.
Although Bergeron, Puddester and Kapiloff each won seats on the panels they sought to join, none will be a part of the committees in question at their next meetings. Town election votes are finalized at the annual town meeting, which means that Bergeron will not be a voting member of the School Committee when it meets on Wednesday and Puddester and Kapiloff will not be members of the Planning Board when it meets on Monday.
Thomas will be on the Board of Selectmen the next time it meets — barring an unforeseen special meeting of that board.
Patton received 989 votes to lead the field. Thomas was elected with 871 votes. Cynthia Payne received 667 votes.
Much as economic development was a theme in the Planning Board race, it is the issue most identified with Thomas, who recently chaired the town's yearlong Economic Development Committee.
"I think that because I focused so much on economic development, economic growth, I believe this means the community is ready to embrace the ideas that came out of the Economic Development Committee and figure out how to implement them," Thomas said. "It won't be easy."
Tags: election 2016, election results, town elections,
