ADAMS, Mass. — Town officials are urging residents to stage write-in campaigns to fill numerous open seats and offer voters choices in uncontested elections.

 

 

During a shorter than usual Board of Selectmen's meeting Wednesday, during which the town election warrant was approved, Selectman Joseph Nowak asked Town Clerk Haley Meczywor how many contested races will be on the ballot this year.

 

"I know we have a few openings and if you want to get your feet wet in town government please feel free to step forward," Nowak said. "We need to get our numbers up and get people involved."

 

Meczywor said the only contested races are for the two open selectmen seats, for which five candidates are vying. 

 

Most incumbents are running unopposed and even some new faces are running unopposed, but there are still wide-open seats on the Housing Authority and Redevelopment Authority.

 

She added that there are also large gaps across all precincts for town meeting members.

 

There are 18 open seats total across four of the town's five precincts, with terms ranging from one to three years. The 150 elected town meeting members represent their precincts in voting at town meetings but there has been recent difficulty in getting all the members to show up. Last month's special town meeting was delayed a half-hour until at least 85 arrived to make a quorum. 

 

Precinct 3 will be down by seven town meeting members, nearly a quarter of its representative delegation. Only Precinct 5 has a full contingent on the ballot. 

 

The deadline to submit nominations papers was March 19, but anyone interested in running can contact her office, so she can walk them through the write-in process. 

 

"Certainly contact my office if you want to run," she said. "You can ask friends and neighbors ... or use social media.

 

She added that it is important that proper name spelling is used as well as address.

 

The Selectmen also appointed Timothy Rowley as interim town clerk to assist in the election. Meczywor is up for re-election and cannot participate in the organization of the election.

 

In other business, the Selectmen also approved the Adams Ale House's all-alcohol license, weekly entertainment license and Sunday entertainment license. 

 

Owner of the building and former manager of the now-closed pub Nathan Girard said he is transferring management and the pub will reopen.

 

The board saw these requests last month but because of a missing inspection, the vote was delayed.