With numerous contested seats along with two debt exclusion override questions on the ballot, 6,621 registered voters cast their votes during or before the June 10 local election. Just under 40% of all registered voters participated this year, which is a much higher turnout than typically happens. Last year, less than 20% of all voters went to the polls.
We offer our thoughts on some of the key results of last week’s election.
School Committee: The town issued a strong vote of no confidence to the School Committee. Two incumbents, Sarah Fox and Allsion Taylor, were resoundingly defeated by challengers Katherine Schmeckpeper and Henry Gwazda. It is remarkable that Fox and Taylor garnered only 10% and 12% of the votes, respectively.
There has been much criticism in recent years directed toward the School Committee on multiple fronts, ranging from its firing and hiring of superintendents, concerns about a lack of transparency, high staffing turnover and the handling of this year’s teachers’ strike, to name a few.
The takeaway from last week’s election is that the town wants changes in the way the School Committee operates. Hopefully, Schmeckpeper and Gwazda can bring fresh ideas and approaches to the committee and assist in rebuilding public confidence in this vital public body. Marblehead taxpayers and our children deserve nothing less.
Select Board: James Zisson soundly defeated Yael Magen for the open seat on this board. Magan has been a strong advocate against the town’s adoption of the MBTA Communities Act, commonly known as 3A. She co-sponsored the petition calling for a vote to overturn Town Meeting’s adoption of 3A.
Planning Board: In this contested race, incumbent Edward Nilsson, a supporter of 3A, retained his seat by handily defeating J. Timothy Swigor, who has been vocal in his opposition to Marblehead adopting 3A. It appears that — like the Select Board race — a referendum on 3A played a major role in the outcome.
Town Clerk: Longtime Town Clerk Robin Michaud easily prevailed in this three-way competition, capturing more than the combined votes of her two challengers, Melissa Flanagan and Theresa Tauro. This race drew fierce attention on social media sites when Michaud posted statements regarding her opponents’ alleged failure to comply with financial disclosure form filing requirements. This led to Tauro filing an ethics complaint against Michaud.
We believe it might have been more appropriate for Michaud, in her capacity as town clerk, to have worked with her challengers to ensure they corrected any possible filing errors rather than to have used social media to call them out. Nonetheless, Michaud has been a reliable town clerk, and voters showed their faith in her ability to perform her job well.
Board of Health: Dr. Amanda Ritvo defeated Kimberly Crowley by a margin of just under two-to-one. This seat was vacated by long-term member Helaine Hazlett who decided not to seek re-election after decades of public service. In 2024, Town Meeting voted to expand the number of seats on the Board of Health from three to five, but implementation of such expansion will not take place until next year when two additional seats will become available along with the seat currently occupied by Thomas McMahon.
The override questions: Town voters overwhelmingly supported both questions, affirming Town Meeting’s support of major repairs to the Mary Alley Office Building and the Marblehead High School roof. Taxpayers recognized and supported the need to take care of these critical structures.
This has been quite a year. Much controversy has surrounded the governance of our schools and the acceptance or rejection of 3A, resulting in a record turnout at the annual Town Meeting, the ouster of School Committee incumbents and the rejection of candidates opposing the adoption of 3A.
We hope that increased attendance at Town Meetings and larger-than-normal turnouts at town elections will become the new normal in Marblehead where citizen participation is the key to democratic governance.
And to all the candidates who threw their hats into the ring, we congratulate and thank you for making the effort to become more involved in local government. Running for public office, even at the local level, can make you an easy target for attack from keyboard warriors on social media. Marblehead benefits from your courage and spirit of volunteerism. To all who ran and did not win this time, there’s always next year.
The Current Editorial Board
The members of the Current’seditorial board are Bob Peck, chairman of the Current; Virginia Buckingham, president of the Current's board of directors; board member Brian Birke, Current editorial staff member Kris Olson, and Joseph P. Kahn, a retired Boston Globe journalist.
