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With only one formally contested race this year, Westford’s town election did not seem to inspire voters to visit the polls and cast their ballots — this despite a last-minute write-in candidate for the open selectmen’s seat.
The 2018 town election attracted only one candidate each for open seats on the Board of Health and the Planning Board. They were Joanne Belanger and Darrin Wizst. Two incumbents, Marianne Fleckner and Susan Flint, ran again for two open Library Trustee seats. A five-year seat for Housing Authority and a one year unexpired term for School Committee had no candidates.
Mark Kost sought to be re-elected to a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen. He went unchallenged until Sunday, April 29, when Juliette Mount announced she was a write-in candidate. The deadline for submitting nomination papers was March 13, so Mount could only launch an informal campaign.
By 11:30 a.m. on May 1, only 58 had voted at Precinct 1 and 81 at Precinct 3. It’s not clear if the numbers were indicative of the other four precincts. There are approximately 16,000 registered voters in Westford, according to the Town Clerk’s office.
The School Committee attracted four candidates for three open seats. They are Alicia Mallon who served this past year as an appointee to an unexpired School Committee term. Mallon vacated that seat and competed for a three-year term with incumbents Avery Adam and Christopher Sanders, as well as newcomer Mingquan Zheng.
UPDATE – Due to a typographical error, Precinct 3 was incorrectly called Precinct 2. Christopher Sanders’ name was corrected.
