The list of potential candidates for Watertown Town Council, School Committee and even Library Board of Trustees is growing, but only a handful have officially made the ballot as of Friday morning.
The Library Board of Trustees could have three more candidates, which would set up a contested race with a potential of five people – so far – running for three seats. Sheppard Ferguson, Penelope Peoples and Karen Roubicek have all taken out papers. The only candidate to get enough signatures and have them certified by the Town Clerk’s office is incumbent Michael Hanlon.
District A Councilor Angeline Kounelis could have an opponent for the first time in several years after former Veterans Agent Bob Erickson took out papers to run. Kounelis is the only candidate in that race who has been certified.
Another potential candidate for Councilor At-Large took out papers. Philip DeVincentis was the 10th person to take out papers to run for the four seats on the Town Council. Only incumbents Aaron Dushku and Susan Falkoff have been certified.
Other certified candidates for the Town Council are District C Councilor Vincent Piccirilli and District D Councilor Kenneth Woodland.
Three candidates for School Committee have been certified – incumbent Eileen Hsu-Balzer and challengers Candace Miller and Kendra Medville Foley.
Potential candidates have more than two weeks to have candidate papers validated, with the deadline of July 28. If there are enough candidates a preliminary election would be held on Sept. 15 and the Town Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Candidates for Watertown Elected Offices
Town Council President (one seat)
- Mark Sideris (I) – Certified
- Robert MacCarthy
Councilor At-Large (four seats)
- Kevin MacDonald
- Aaron Dushku (I) – Certified
- Wayne Clarke
- Patryce Georgopoulos
- Michael Dattoli
- Susan Falkoff (I) – Certified
- Tony Palomba (I)
- Patricia Van Dinter
- Stephen Corbett (I)
- Philip DeVincentis
District A Councilor (one seat)
- Angeline Kounelis (I) – Certified
- Bob Erickson
District B Councilor (one seat)
- Kevin MacDonald
- Lisa Feltner
- Cecilia Lenk (I)
- Patricia Van Dinter
District C Councilor (one seat)
- Rossella Mercuri
- Vincent Piccirilli (I) – Certified
District D Councilor (one seat)
- Kenneth Woodland (I) – Certified
- Bob McCarthy
- Mark Pettiglio
School Committee (three seats)
- Michael Shepard (I)
- Eileen Hsu-Balzer (I) – Certified
- Candace Miller – Certified
- Julie McMahon (I)
- Kendra Medville Foley – Certified
Library Board of Trustees (three seats)
- Michael Hanlon (I) – Certified
- Timothy Tracy (I)
- Sheppard Ferguson
- Penelope Peoples
- Karen Roubicek
(I) – Incumbent
When will a debate schedule be posted?
I don’t know when the debates will be announced. It will probably depend on if there is a preliminary election. If there is not they will probably start in September. I have not heard of any yet but the League of Women Voters has one each year. Sometimes other groups host them, too.
I know the League of Women voters has scheduled a debate for October 25 at the WFPL and plans on having candidates for all offices participate.
Thanks for the info!
One debate for all these candidates for the various positions? They will barely have time to say “Hello, my name is ___________ and I’m running for _______ .” Both the candidates and the community need and deserve a better format than one debate. We need some public forums for candidates to share their ideas and Q & A.