BCAT News

Three-term Town Meeting Member Adam Senesi has decided to run for Burlington Town Moderator, challenging six-year incumbent Bill Beyer for the job of managing Town Meeting. 

“I think it’s time for my generation to really take a grasp on the direction we want to go in as a town,” Senesi said in an interview. “We’re raising our kids in the schools, we’re hopefully going to be using these roads for a long time, and the idea is, it doesn’t seem at this time that anyone is very driven or interested in running for the Moderator position.” 

Senesi called Beyer’s performance in previous Town Meetings into question, saying he thought the last few Town Meetings had been shaky. 

In a letter sent to fellow Town Meeting members announcing his candidacy and asking for their votes, Senesi wrote, “The role is many things, while principally one of an administrator requiring attention to detail and organization skills. My goal will be to work in concert with the Clerk to deliver information during the lead-up to meetings, facilitate dialogue during debate and make appointments to committees in a timely fashion adhering with Burlington’s bylaws.”

Beyer was first elected to the Moderator position in 2017, ousting his predecessor Sally Willard; he has run uncontested every year since. He said he welcomes the challenge. 

Adam Senesi, left, and Bill Beyer, right.

“I’m confident in the job that I’ve done and confident that Town Meeting has seen my abilities,” he said. “We’ll run a race and give people the opportunity to compare us.”

Beyer disputes Senesi’s contention that recent Town Meetings have been shaky. “The meetings have continued to run better with time. It’s a challenging position to be Moderator; it’s hard to learn the beat of Town Meeting and navigate through it, and keep your own thoughts and leanings out of the discussion, and to run it fairly. I think I’ve continued to do that, and to do that better as time goes on.”

The Moderator race is just one of many being contested this season; with papers due back to the Town Clerk by Friday, Feb. 16, the final races are still shaping up, but it seems likely that there will also be contested races for Select Board, School Committee, Housing Authority and Planning Board seats, as well as in most Town Meeting precincts. The local election is scheduled for Saturday, April 6.