BCAT News

Burlington’s Town Election may soon be competitive, at least in one town-wide race. 

Four candidates have now pulled papers for the two open School Committee seats. Incumbents Thomas Murphy and Christine Monaco have both taken out papers to defend their seats. Challengers Jeremy Brooks and Melissa Massardo have also pulled papers. Each candidate needs to collect 50 signatures from registered Burlington voters to get on the ballot and return them to the Town Clerk’s office by February 18. Thus far none of the candidates have returned their papers. 

The Select Board race featuring two open seats is not competitive as of Tuesday, February 1 according to the Town Clerk’s Office. Incumbent Nick Priest is seeking a second turn and newcomer Mike Espejo, currently a member of the Planning Board, have both pulled papers and returned them. If anyone else wants to jump into the race they have until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 16 to take out papers. 

Four-term Select Board incumbent Bob Hogan announced that he is not seeking re-election. He sent the following statement: 

“As the annual town election gets heated up, I want voters to hear from me that I am not running for re-election to the Select Board,” he said. “I am completing my twelfth year on the Board and it’s time for me to step aside. I am  proud of my public service to the town. From my more than eleven years as a member of the Board of Health, to my 18 years as the Director of Veterans Services, and finishing up with twelve years as a member of the Select Board, my service to the town was simply to do my best for the citizens of this town. Thank you for all your support throughout the years.”

Town Wide seats up this year include Town Moderator, Select Board (2), School Committee (2), Assessors (1), Library Trustees (2), Planning Board (2), Board of Health (2), Constable (2), Housing Authority (1) and Recreation Commission (2).

The incumbents whose seats are up this year besides those mentioned above are Moderator Bill Beyer, Assessor Catherine O’Neil, Planning Board Members Barbara L’Heureux and Brenda Rappaport, Library Trustees Phil Gallagher and Robert Neufeld, Board of Health Members Dr. Wayne Saltsman and Dr. Ed Weiner, Constables William Pepicelli and Anthony Saia, Housing Authority Member Christopher Hartline and Recreation Commission Member Stephen Nelson.

There are also a number of Town Meeting seats that are open. This year things are a little different because reprecincting after the 2020 U.S. Census caused a number of incumbents to suddenly be placed in different precincts. We’ll have a further look at this in a later article but for now you can watch an explainer we did with Town Clerk Amy Warfield on the situation by clicking here (second video down)

Click Here for a complete list of which seats have had candidates pull papers. 

The 2022 Burlington Town Election will be held on Saturday, April 9 and the polls will be located at Burlington High School. As with all town elections the polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.