Election News 2024, News Stories

With Papers Returned, Local Election Ballot Takes Shape

With papers to run for local office due on Feb. 16, Town Clerk Amy Warfield now has the final count of who’s running and who’s not in Burlington’s local races. 

Races for Moderator, Select Board, School Committee, Planning Board and the Housing Authority will all be contested, as will the six seats in Town Meeting’s first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth precincts. 

In the Select Board race, where there are two open seats, only one incumbent, Joe Morandi is vying to keep his role; sitting board chair Mike Runyan, whose term ends this year, has decided not to run again. Two challengers are hoping to earn a spot on the board: Bradford Bond is a member of the Ways and Means Committee and the Cable Advisory Committee, and is also married to School Committee Member Katherine Bond; Sarah Cawley is a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 7, and has been a leader in recent months opposing the Winn View Heights II friendly 40B housing development. 

In the School Committee race, current Chair Martha Simon will face Meghan Mawoichik, who is a member of the Ways and Means Committee and is also the president of the Special Education Parents Advisory Council. Simon herself is no stranger to special education services, having spent years as a special ed teacher. 

In the Planning Board race newcomer Niteen Khatra will challenge sitting member Toni Ann Natola; in the Housing Authority, Richard Howard will run unchallenged for a five-year seat while Eileen Sickler will challenge Walter DeCost for a three-year seat. Sickler is a Precinct 4 Town Meeting Member and a member of the Audit Committee; DeCost is a retired firefighter who was temporarily appointed to the Housing Authority seat last year following a vacancy. 

Adam Senesi will challenge Bill Beyer for  the Moderator position. 

See the full list of candidates here.

The local election is coming up on April 6, but it’s not the first opportunity residents will have to cast a ballot: The Massachusetts Presidential Primary is on Tuesday, March 5. 

According to Town Clerk Amy Warfield, the final day to register to vote to be eligible for the primary is February 24. Residents have until February 27 to mail back a Vote By Mail application; early in person voting will be held from February 24 to March 1 at the Town Clerk’s Office during regular business hours. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 5.