BCAT News

Katherine Bond and Jeremy Brooks won two open seats on Burlington’s School Committee in the April 1 elections, according to preliminary tallies. 

Brooks unseated Carl Foss, who had been sitting on the committee since 2020, by just 85 votes. 

Asked how he would approach joining the committee, Brooks said, “Look to my peers to my left and right there on the committee, definitely learn from things, definitely reach out to other people who have been on the committee, how they did it, keys to success, and what works well.”

“It was a very collegial race,” Brooks said. “Everyone was really gracious.”

Foss issued his congratulations to Brooks and Bond. “My immediate goal is to get a lot of sleep, and after that I’m going to look for opportunities to stay involved in town politics,” he said. 

In the town’s other contested race, Lindsay Carlson beat Brian Pupa for a three-year seat on the Recreation Commission. 

“I’m really excited to learn the ins and outs of what’s been going on with the Recreation Commission and the Recreation Department, and just figure out where we can find more programs and everything else,” Carlson said. “I think there’s a lot of great opportunities.” 

In uncontested races, Jim Tigges resumed his seat on the Select Board, William Beyer took another one-year term as Moderator, and Kevin Sheehan assumed another three-year term as Assessor. Incumbent Kent Moffat was re-elected to the Shawsheen Technical High School Committee; Maribeth Welch won re-election for the Board of Health; and Steen Wasserman won re-election for a five-year term with the Housing Authority. 

Toni Ann Natola and Jessica Sutherland were both elected to the Planning Board.

A total of 2,757 votes were cast in the preliminary tally provided by the Town Clerk’s Office; that comes to 14.8 percent of eligible voters, just under last year’s turnout of 15.5 percent. 

Election Day was rainy early on but warmed up through the afternoon. 

“I think it’s really important to vote in town elections,” said resident Michelle Ziomek, who voted in person in the afternoon. “I’m one of those people who thinks if you don’t vote, you can’t complain.” 

In a Town Meeting race in Precinct 1, six available seats went to Christopher Campbell, Nolan Glantz, Lorie Ann Glantz, Bruce Morey, Dina Sami Wassaf, and David Alper. Candidate Peter Abaskharoun did not win a seat on Town Meeting. 

Precincts 2, 3, 4 and 6 were uncontested. 

In Precinct 5, six available seats went to Bonnie Nichols, Michele Prendergast, David Tait, Richard Wing, Alex Rutfield, and Sarah Wolinski. Two candidates, Robert Bunker and Frank O’Brien, did not win seats in the precinct. 

In Precinct 7, six available three-year terms went to Sarah Cawley, Betsey Hughes, John Kelly, Scott Martin, Jonathan Sachs, and David Fetters Webb. Keri Riley did not win a seat. 

Also in Precinct 7, Cynthia Kazanjian won an uncontested two-year seat and Shomari Tau Abramson won an uncontested one-year seat. 

The full preliminary results are available on the Town’s website. BCAT’s election night coverage including interviews with the candidates can be found here.