With No Races to Decide, a Light Turnout in Williamstown Town Election

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — All four candidates on the town election ballot easily won election on Tuesday in a light day of polling at the elementary school.
 
In a town with about 5,000 registered voters, 438 ballots were cast in an election with no contested races, a turnout rate of about 8.6 percent.
 
Incumbent Select Board member Jeffrey Johnson received 408 votes for a second three-year term on the body.
 
Anna Halpin-Healy was returned to the library board of trustees for another three years with 419 votes.
 
Laila Boucher was re-elected for another three years as one of the town's two representatives on the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District (McCann Tech) board with 412 votes.
 
And newcomer Samantha Page was elected to a five-year seat on the five-person Planning Board with 406 votes, according to acting Town Clerk Tom Webb.
 
Webb, with eight votes, was the winner of a write-in vote for a five-year term on the town's Housing Authority. Fifty ballots were submitted with write-ins for the spot, which had no names on the ballot.
 
Webb said Wednesday afternoon that about 300 of the 438 votes cast came in by mail, about 68 percent of the total.
 
Last year, when there four candidates running for two seats on the Select Board, just shy of 1,000 ballots were returned.

Tags: election 2024,   town elections,   


If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williams College Projects Underway on Main Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A busy summer construction season around town got a little busier this week with the advancement of two unrelated projects near the Williams College Museum of Art.
 
Both the entrance and exit to Lawrence Hall Drive are seeing some changes in the coming weeks.
 
Earlier this summer, the college removed several large juniper bushes near the east side of Lawrence Hall Drive (the exit onto Main Street) as part of a larger project to make the area more safe for pedestrians.
 
"The College is replacing broken and deteriorating sections of sidewalk that are a safety issue," Williams Horticulture and Grounds Manager Tim Roberts wrote in an email responding to an inquiry about the work. "The old junipers have been damaged over time and constantly need to be pruned back off the sidewalk.
 
"I will be replacing the junipers with a plant to be determined later. The walkway will be widened three feet using a crushed stone material to accommodate large trucks that use this entry."
 
Roberts said the existing junipers in the Town Green needed to be removed to allow for the sidewalk widening.
 
He said, depending on weather, that the project should take about two weeks.
 
View Full Story

More Williamstown Stories