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Printed From Acorn-Online.com Redding Pilot
by SUSAN WOLF and MAGGIE CALDWELL There was a tight race in Tuesday’s election for two Region 9 school board seats, and the results are so close they are headed to a recount. The secretary of the state’s office has been notified of the results, where the spread between three of the four candidates is just eight votes. Karen Dolan, Democratic Town Committee chair, said she expected the automatic recount based on state statutes. Town Clerk Michele Grande said according to the state’s recanvass procedure manual, there must be an automatic recount if a defeated candidate loses by less than a vote equivalent of 0.5% of the total number of electors checked as having voted. At this point, the town clerk is notifying the moderator, Betty Licarie, that a recanvass, or recount, is required. Ms. Licarie, by law, would summon the recanvass officials and notify the candidates and the town committee chairs. The recanvass must be done within five business days. Chris Hocker, a Republican, and Julia Pemberton, an incumbent Democrat who chairs the Region 9 board, were only one vote apart, and each ostensibly got a seat on the board that oversees Joel Barlow High School for Redding and Easton. Mr. Hocker took 888 votes to Ms. Pemberton’s 887. Joseph Ventricelli, another Democrat, got 880 votes, a margin so slim it is triggering the recount. Frank Taylor, a Republican, garnered 795 votes. Tuesday’s election not only provided a tight race for Region 9 school board seats but was also the first test of new voting technology. This provided drama as the election results were read at the Community Center, where there were no surprises for the top spots. First Selectman Natalie Ketcham, a Republican cross endorsed by the Democrats, won a fifth term; Selectman Tina Miller, a Democrat, a sixth; and Selectman Donald Takacs, a Republican, a third. When the results were initially read, it appeared that the two winners in the Region 9 race were Ms. Pemberton and Mr. Ventricelli, who were within one vote of each other and just narrowly ahead of Mr. Hocker. Disappointed Republicans stood quietly while Democrats rejoiced at the win. But then Betty Licarie, the election moderator, announced she had read a “summary” of results, which included absentee votes. During her initial reading of the results, she mistakenly added the summary results plus the absentee count, which had inflated the numbers and affected the “results” of the Region 9 race. She apologized, noting this is the first election with the new voter technology. When only the summary numbers were counted, the Region 9 winners changed — to Mr. Hocker and Ms. Pemberton. Most people were initially stunned and the standing room only crowd remained until the moderator provided the final numbers for the election. “I’m glad they’re doing a recanvass, which is automatic because the vote is so close,” said Ms. Pemberton. “I was certainly uncomfortable last night to have one result declared and then 60 seconds later to say ‘Oops, we counted absentees twice.’ That was certainly a disappointment to Joe Ventricelli. But I am, of course, quite pleased to come out ahead along with Chris Hocker, but we will await the vote recount and obviously hope I will be rejoining the Region 9 board in December.” “It was quite a roller coaster evening due to the original (reading of the results),” said Mr. Hocker. “I’m feeling obviously optimistic and good over all about the election results because I think both sides did a really good job and there were very good candidates... Personally I feel anxious about getting the final answer.” Mr. Ventricelli said he read over the mandate that forces an automatic recount when results are so close. “Obviously, with such a close election, I’m glad there is a recount provision,” he said. “It’s probably good that we face this now, on the first time through with the new machines. Next time we’ll have a presidential election. We should make sure everything is in place for that so everyone knows exactly how the procedure works.” Mr. Ventricelli said that despite the recount, he doesn’t think the results will change. “I want to congratulate Chris on his election and Julia on her re-election to the board,” he said. “Certainly the issue of trying to improve the fields in Redding and at Barlow is something I’ve been working on for some time. I will try to do whatever I can to help that those improvements be done even though I’m not elected to the board. “Another thing is, I’m very pleased that this being the first time I’ve run in a contested race, that 880 people in Redding saw fit to vote for me, and I am very honored by that,” he added. Board of Finance In the other highly contested race for two finance board seats, Nick Simeonidis, a Democrat, was the top vote-getter with 1,129 votes. Republican Christina Kearney took the other seat up for grabs with 995 votes compared to 906 for Kurt Streams, a Democrat. “I want to thank the voters for bringing Christina Kearney to the Board of Finance and Chris Hocker to the Region 9 board. All of our candidates worked very hard, and that effort clearly paid off,” said Ward Mazzucco, Republican Town Committee chair. Mr. Simeonidis also said he was “very grateful to the voters for this vote of confidence, and I will do my best to live up to their trust and to work with all my new colleagues on the Board of Finance on behalf of the town.” Redding school board Mike D’Agostino, a write-in candidate for both a full term and a two-year vacancy on the Redding school board, did not get enough votes to effectively challenge the other candidates in the race. David Lewson, a Republican and board chairman, earned another term. Another Republican, Lewis Brey, an incumbent, won his first full term on the board. Democrat Kathleen Joyce won her first term on the board. Elected to fill a two-year vacancy on the board was Democrat Edward Miller. Other top spots Town Clerk Michele Grande, a Democrat cross endorsed by the Republicans, won a third term. She got 898 votes on the Republican line and 768 on the Democratic line on the ballot. She was the top vote-getter in the race with a combined total of 1,686. Elected to her fourth term as town treasurer was Democrat Peg O’Donnell. Tax Collector Patricia Moisio, a Republican cross endorsed by the Democrats, was re-elected to her 15th term. Commenting on her next term, Ms. Ketcham said, “I am very grateful for voter support on both lines on the ballot, and for the fact that I had two fabulous running mates in Tina and Don. We are so fortunate to live in a town where the selectmen can run as a bipartisan team, for that is certainly how we operate in office. I appreciate the confidence the voters have placed in us, and as first selectman I will continue to work every day to deserve it.” Other races In the other races, where there were also no contests, Republican Robert Gorman was re-elected to a full term on the Board of Assessment Appeals and Republican Greg Stackpole was elected to fill a two-year vacancy. Republican Diane Taylor was returned to the Planning Commission, where she serves as chair, for another term. Democrat Nancy King was also re-elected. Republicans Gerald Casiello and G. Marshall Sanford earned new seats on the Zoning Commission as did Democrat Ben Gordon. Re-elected to the Zoning Board of Appeals were Republicans Michael Thompson and Colleen Litof and Democrat Elizabeth Williams. All of the candidates for constable positions were elected, including write-in candidate Leif R. Smith of the Green Party. Also winning terms were Republicans William Cook and Peter Bielawa and Democrats Charles Mullaney, Jill Kotch and Kathleen Anderson. Voter turnout was at 28% with 1,813 of 6,398 eligible voters going to the polls. In the 2005 town election, turnout was at 22%, 35% in 2003, and 20% in 2001. © Copyright 2007 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers |
