On an election day notable for a light turnout and a rainy afternoon, voters in Whitman and Hanson sent something of a divided message at the ballot box – returning some incumbents in contested Select Board races, and opting for a change in one Whitman post. The town also approved a debt exclusion for a new DPW building, but opted to keep the Treasurer-Collector position an elected, rather than an appointed one.
Incumbent Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina, who had been the subject of other town office holders’ damaging comments during board public comment periods over the past few months, as well as a campaign of “slander” on a private Facebook account, lost out in a four-way race for two seats on Whitman’s Select Board.
Fellow incumbent Dr. Carl Kowalski was the top vote-getter with 605 votes. Animal Control Officer Laura Howe, was next with 502, to take the other seat up for votes. LaMattina Garnered 441 and Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly received 437 votes.
In Hanson, Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett won re-election in an extremely light turnout of 463 voters, receiving 291 votes in a three-way contest for two seats. Newcomer David George received 234 votes to also gain a seat on the board, and fellow freshman candidate Thomas Chambers received 176 votes
“I think it’s going to be a competitive race, “LaMattina said while doing some sign-holding Saturday morning. “You run on what you’ve done or want to do, you don’t run on slandering people.”
He pointed to concern over where their tax dollars are going was the main issue voters he spoke to mentioned.
“That’s going to be a challenge, obviously, with big projects on the horizon,” he said.
LaMattina said Monday that, while the loss was bittersweet, he accepted it without reservation.
“It stings to lose because the town means a lot to me,” he said. “But it’s politics. … The town voted, I accept it and our family will still try to contribute as much as we can to the town.
“Four people took some votes from me,” he said. “[Residents] obviously bullet-voted, because there were a lot of blanks. … I don’t mind losing, but I do mind losing to lies, slander and innuendo.”
A Facebook campaign on a private page had been spreading misinformation about his wife and daughter – including where his daughter attends school – and charging that the Select Board was corrupt, he said.
“It was all on Facebook,” he said. “It’s fine for people to disagree with you … it was just attacks on me.”
LaMattina said he knew his pushback against the school district on the budget issue would cost him votes, but he said he felt it was the right thing to do.
I am very happy that Carl got in,” he said.
Kowalski said that, while optimistic, he never knows how the voters will cast their ballots.
“There are people who would like change,” he said. “Change isn’t always as good as a rest.”
Kowalski expressed gratitude to Whitman residents for his re-election.
“I will work hard to have thus earned their trust over what may be a difficult period of time,” he stated. “Of course, I will miss having Randy LaMattina with me, for he was an extremely hard-working and talented Board member and chair, but I am sure that Laura Howe will work equally hard to fill his shoes.”
He said he was thrilled that the DPW question was passed and eager to work for the passing of the Whitman Middle School project when it comes up next fall.
Connolly, for her part, said she was running to inform the public more than in hopes of winning an election. She wanted to “get out there and talk honestly about [town] finances, something that’s not happening at the selectmen level,” she also said there is so little engagement between the public and the Finance Committee.
Howe said she plans to work on a website for herself as a member of the Select Board, as well as an animal control page on Facebook, putting the link on Whitman Pride and unfriending that group.
“I am honored and moved to represent the community that I hold so dear,” she said. “I am optimistic that together we will bring forth new ideas in a ever changing world and cement a strong foundation for the future of our community.”
“I feel things that have happened there should not be accepted or appreciated as a kind caring honest wife mother grandmother Animal Control Officer and, gratefully, now selectman,” she said.
In Hanson, the big story was a small number – that of the handful or voters who cast ballots Saturday.
“I’m really hoping that we get some good turnout,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said Saturday morning. “Things, so far, seem to be very slow. We don’t have any ballot questions [and] there’s not any hotly contested races. … I’m just hoping that people show up, because your vote counts in a town this size, and this is the type of election where people could be decided by a handful of votes.”
She said Monday that she was grateful for the voters’ support and indicated that town finances are the first
“I think I’m going to do OK,” George said. He said most of his conversations with voters have been about money and town finances.
In Hanson, there was some spirit of bipartisanship going on outside the Hanson Middle School polling place as Select Board challenger Tom Chambers helped Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett and her husband raise a pop-up tent against rain predicted later in the day.
“I look forward to working with the Select Board and keeping Hanson a great town to live in,” George said of his win Monday.
Candidates in both towns were out holding signs in the morning expressed nervous hope about the day’s result.
“I’ll wait until the end of the day,” Chambers said. “I’m not going to make a prediction.”
He said he’s been researching the state’s 40B regulations in preparation for his hope of winning a seat, as voters had been talking to him about it.
“Once I sink my teeth into something, once I find an issue, I’ll research it up and down, 110 percent and make my decision based on what’s most beneficial to the town.”
DPW Commission Chair Kevin Cleary was grateful for the support from the Select Board and other town boards as well as the members of the police and fire departments, but added it is always hard to predict what voters will do.
“They all support us,” he said of the town officials and public safety rank and file, noting that social media was a bigger tool this time out than it was the last time a DPW building went on the ballot in 2013. “We did a better job of getting out there with the website, getting information [ to voters]. Just grassroots.”
He credited the website as being a valuable tool.
“I am proud of the residents of the Town for understanding the important duties that the DPW performs and the need to provide the employees with a new facility that will have the basic features that will allow them to continue to serve our community, DPW Commissioner Kevin Cleary said. “I would like to thank the DPW Commissioners, the DPW building committee, and the DPW employees for their hard work in getting the project approved. Thank you to everyone that stood out in the rain on election day to support the project. I would also like to thank the other town departments and our town leaders for supporting the project. We look forward to opening a new facility in the Fall of 2024.”
School Committee hopeful Kevin Mayer, who was waging a campaign for a “common sense” approach to education, garnered 447 to come in third after incumbent winners Steven Bois – with 594 votes—and David Forth – with 475 votes – to represent Whitman on the W-H School Committee. A fourth candidate, Kaitlin Barton, received 353 votes.
“I want to keep it basic – more common sense,” Mayer said of his campaign themes. “I’d like to see the schools start to get more involved in some career-driven stuff, too. You don’t always have to push college.”
He said the days of encouraging very high school student to go to college are over.
“You can make more money in the trades than you can make, a lot of times, getting out of school,” he said.
Mayer said he sees the fallout from that in his fence company, where finding employees is hard as students, pushed to obtain degrees they’re not using might be hesitant to take a job outside of their major subject.
“I like giving back to the town,” he said. “I own a business here, I grew up in Hanson. To get involved is always nice.”
Whitman Town Clerk Dawn Varley said early and absentee votes had been light, as well.
“I think it’ll be an average turnout,” Varley said during the first hour of voting Saturday. There had been under 100 absentee and only four early votes cast ahead of Election Day itself. She estimated that about 1,300 votes would be cast. By the end of the day 1,113 votes had been cast, about 10 percent of the 11,213 registered votes in town.
“They were lined up early this morning,” she said. “Usually, there’s only a couple, but there were quite a few people here. The weather might play a big part – there’s a lot of factors. … What I do think is unusual is that, politically, it’s been quiet. There’s not a lot of signs. … It’s quiet for two heavily contested races.”
Hanson Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan said there were only 86 ballots cast in three days of early voting last week.
“It is very disappointing,” she said. “We’ll be surprised if we get even 1,00 today, total, with early voting.”