Joseph Nowak, with his sister Janet Rogge, was re-elected along with Richard Blanchard to a third term on the Board of Selectmen.
ADAMS, Mass. — The annual town election saw the return of incumbents to office on Monday, including in the only race on the ballot.
Treasurer/Collector Kelly Rice, who was first elected to complete a vacant term five years ago, posted an overwhelming victory over Paul Nowicki, who had held the post for nearly 20 years in the 1980s and '90s. Rice is now beginning her second three-year term.
Rice earned 597 votes to Nowicki's 198, garnering 67 percent of the votes. There were also a handful of blanks and write-ins.
The incumbent and her sisters let out a cheer as the results were announced by Town Clerk Haley Mezcywor at the town garage polling site.
"Nice," is all Rice could say as she took in the results. She'd been at the polls since 7 that morning, only taking time out for lunch. She hadn't been alone, either. "I've got a big family," she laughed. She later added, "thank you to all the voters who believed in me and voted for me, thank you."
Also returned to office were Richard Blanchard (593) and Joseph Nowak (693), both for their third terms on the Board of Selectmen. No one ran against them although former board member Donald Sommers had returned papers before withdrawing.
Running unopposed were Myra L. Wilk for moderator (703); Lorraine Kalisz for assessor (714); James Taylor for cemetery commissioner (689); Peter Hoyt for Board of Health (678); Virginia Phelps (694) and Karen Kettles (675) for two library trustee seats; Michael Mach for Planning Board (660); Joseph Allard (674) for McCann School Committee (Northern Berkshire Regional Vocational School District); Jennifer Gageant (665) for Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee, and town meeting members in each of the five precincts.
Election workers were going through write-in candidates, which were needed for three seats on the Housing Authority (two one-year and a five-year term) and another seat on the Adams-Cheshire Regional School Committee. Erica Girgenti, who ran a write-in campaign, was re-elected to the five-year term on the Housing Authority with 86 votes.
Meczywor said she wasn't too disappointed at the turnout, which came out to 13.5 percent. Of the 5,989 registered voters, 810 cast ballots in what was fairly sleepy election with one race and no controversies.
Turnout in 2018 when there was a five-way race for two Board of Selectmen seats was about 19 percent, with 1,131 ballots were cast out of 5,863 voters.
Updated at 4:15 p.m. on May 7 with official tallies.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Adams Picks Select Board Candidates; Cheshire Nixes Appointed Assessor
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — Voters chose incumbent John Duval and newcomer Ann Bartlett for the two open seats on the Selectmen.
Bartlett, a co-owner of the former Red Carpet Diner, garnered the most votes at 791, more than 300 above the other three challengers, and Duval was returned for another three-year term with 685.
Incumbent Howard Rosenberg's decision sparked a five-way race for the two seats. Coming in third was Jerome Socolof with 465, Mitchell Wisniowski with 446 and former board member Donald Sommer with 367.
All results are unofficial.
Wisniowski did win a seat on the Parks Commission and Michael Mach outpolled challenger Timothy Kitchell Jr. 887-407 to stay on the Planning Board.
Frederick Lora appears to have bested Jennifer Solak as Adams representative to the Hoosac Valley Regional School District by 10 votes. The unofficial tally is 814-804, with Lora gaining 674 votes to Solak's 620 in Adams; the voted flipped in Cheshire with Solak winning 184-140 but not enough to overcome the gap. Robert Tetlow Jr., running unopposed, was returned as the Cheshire representative.
Write-ins for Board of Health and Redevelopment Authority, which had no candidates, were still being tallied.
That wasn't all, of course, as she was applauded for her 30 years overseeing the town's elections and vital records. There were plenty of hugs and some tears for a closing out of her long career.
click for more
Listening to Little list off all the specialized components he sells and installs, from public safety lighting to municipal warning lights and radio communication, his technical knowledge and experience shines through.
click for more
Selectmen Chair and 1Berkshire Director of Member Services and Christine Hoyt has been nominated for the April Community Hero of the Month. click for more
Specialty Minerals is expected to pay $299,000 for a discharge of calcium carbonate into the Hoosic River nearly three years ago in a consent decree with the Attorney General's Office. click for more
The Adams Beautification group, which has been quietly sprucing up the town since 2022, hopes to bring in more members of the community during a community cleanup day scheduled for Saturday, April 27. click for more
Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School history teacher Alla Chelukhova has been selected as the April Teacher of the Month. click for more