With all the debate swirling around the Proposition 2.5 override question on Town Election ballots in both Whitman and Hanson, it’s been a comparatively quiet news cycle surrounding the rest of the ballot as residents head to the polls on Saturday, May 17.
There is only one contested seat in either town, and that is between incumbent School Committee members Glen DiGravio and Steven Cloutman vs newcomer Thomas Raffey Jr., in Hanson. DiGravio and Cloutman are both incumbents and Raffey is a newcomer who moved to Hanson in 2020, but who’s wife, Alexandra, a nurse who provides in-home care to disabled veterans, is a 2007 graduate of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. Raffey, an electrician is a member of the IBEW 103, who has also worked for a year as a teacher at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence.
Raffey stated in his candidate announcement to the Express [see page 10] that both he and his wife are committed to giving back to the community.
“My civic involvement—serving on the Hanson Master Plan Subcommittee and currently as Chair of the Hanson Conservation Commission—has provided me with valuable experience in working collaboratively to address the needs of our community,” Raffey stated.
DiGravio and Cloutman, serving his first term on the committee have provided dependable representation to Hanson’s conservative residents on the committee.
While there is only one candidate for Town Clerk, it is worth noting that it’s a race that represents another kind of change, as incumbent Elizabeth Sloan is retiring from the post she has served in for 15 years. Newcomer Jessica Franceschini is on the ballot to succeed Sloan.
Other candidates on the Hanson ballot are: Edwin Heal, running unopposed for Select Board; Anne Merlin for assessor; incumbent Peter Butler for Board of Heath; Justin M. Robertson for Planning Board; incumbent Dianna McDevitt and Pamela French running for Hanson Library Trustee (vote for two); Michael A. Hunter for Hanson Housing Authority; and Gilbert Amado, Don Howard and Kevin R. Perkins are on the ballot for the three available seats on the Water Commissioners.
In Whitman, incumbent Stephanie Blackman, elected last year to fill a vacancy on the School Committee when Fred Small passed away is seeking re-election, as is incumbent Christopher Marks, elected last year to fill the vacated seat of David Forth. Other unopposed School Committee candidates are incumbent Chair Beth Stafford and newcomer Ryan J. Tressel, who said in an announcement to the Express last week that as the parent of an autistic child, Tressel is running, “so that every student, not every family, has had as positive an experience with school as we have.”
Other uncontested races on the Whitman Town Election ballot are: Emily T. Millet, running to fill a vacancy in the office of the Treasuer-Collectors Office.
Incumbent Select Board members Justin Evans and Shawn Kain are running unopposed for re-election; as are Christine McPherson running unopposed for assessor; Lauren A. Kelley and Margaret P. McEwan running for two seats the Library Trustees. Anne M. Holbrook is running for Housing Authority and Adam J. Somerville is seeking a seat on the Planning Board. Jamie L. Rhynd is running for unopposed for the Board of Health.
There is a contested race for a seat on the DPW Commissioner between incumbent Kevin Cleary and Mark A. Poirier and Thomas A. Pistorino.
And, of course, both towns will be voting on a ballot question about overriding the Proposition 2.5 cap on the tax levy to fund town business as well as the W-H Regional School Distrit.
A second ballot question in Whitman again asks residents about changing the Treasurer-Collector position from an elected to an appointed one.