Election 2017

Hear from Those Running for Council, School Committee at 2 Candidate Forums

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Watertown News and Watertown Cable Access will host a pair of candidate forums featuring the people running for Town Councilor At-Large and School Committee in the Town Election. The forums will be held in the Watertown Savings Bank Room at the Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main Street, beginning at 6:30 p.m., and will also be broadcast live on Watertown Cable. The forums will be rebroadcast on later dates. The first forum will be on Thursday, Oct. 12, and it will include the six candidates for the four-year School Committee seats.

Election 2018

See Which Candidate for Governor Won the Faire on the Square Straw Poll

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Newton Mayor Setti Warren was the choice of Faire-goers among Democratic candidates for governor in the Watertown Democratic Town Committee’s annual straw poll at Saturday’s Faire on the Square. Warren won 41 percent of the 115 votes cast, while former Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzalez came in second with 37 percent, according to the announcement from the Democratic Town Committee. The poll was held at the Democratic Town Committee’s booth at Watertown’s annual Faire on the Square, Saturday, September 23, 2017. Participants were asked to choose between the announced candidates in the 2018 Democratic Gubernatorial Primary. Coming in third place with 18 percent of the vote was former Lieutenant Governor candidate and environmental entrepreneur Bob Massie.

Ballot

Lottery Decides Order of Names on Ballot for Watertown’s Town Election

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Candidates for elected office in Watertown pulled pingpong balls out of a small wooden barrel on Monday afternoon to decide where their names would appear on the ballot for November’s Town Election. The candidates for Councilor-at-Large, School Committee and Library Board of Trustees selected one of the 30 yellow balls and those with the lowest numbers appear higher on the ballot. If a candidate was not at the Town Clerk’s office for the drawing, a member of the Board of Election Commissioners picked the ball for them. The candidates’ names will appear on the ballot as follows:

Town Councilor At-Large

Anthony Donato

David Stokes

Michelle Cokonougher

Michael Dattoli

Anthony Palomba

Caroline Bays

School Committee

Amy Donohue

Guido Guidotti

John Portz

Lily Rayman-Read

Michael Shepard

Elizabeth Yusem

Board of Library Trustees

Leanne Hammonds

Daniel Pritchard

Michael Hanlon

David Breakstone

No drawing was made for candidates running unopposed:

Town Council President

Mark Sideris

District A Councilor

Angeline Kounelis

District B Councilor

Lisa Feltner

District C Councilor

Vincent Piccirilli

District D Councilor

Kenneth Woodland

School Committee, 2-Year Term

Lindsay Mosca
Election Info
The election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017.

Elections

LETTER: Councilor At-Large Seeks Re-election to Second Term

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Dear neighbors,

I am currently in my first term as a Watertown Councilor At-Large. Throughout
the past two years, I have worked to create positive outcomes for residents
through my involvement advocating for school building improvements, open
space, housing affordability, and increased transparency. During this period, the residential exemption was increased for homeowners for
the first time in fifteen years, as were affordable housing and LEED sustainability
requirements for many new development projects. Members of police and fire
departments are now both carrying Narcan, and several new town positions were
created and funded in the recent budget for Recreation, the Library’s Hatch, and
wellness services. The town has a new ambulance, which accommodates the
recently implemented Advanced Life Services (ALS) program.

Elections

LETTER: Town Councilor At-Large Candidate Seeks to Continue Serving the Community

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To the Editor:

Whether you have lived here your whole life, you moved here years ago or you are new to town, I think we can all agree that Watertown is a special place. 

Growing up, my parents were always very involved in Watertown with organizations such as the PTO, youth sports and events such as the town-wide raffle. At an early age, they instilled in me and my siblings the importance of giving back to the community. I can remember countless Sunday mornings cleaning up the Watertown Boys and Girls Club after Saturday night bingo to help support Watertown Youth Soccer. I attended kindergarten at the Hosmer School and completed my elementary school education at the Cunniff School. After finishing eighth grade at the Watertown Middle School, I attended Boston College High School before graduating from Wake Forest University.

Election 2017

Councilor Dushku Struggled With Decision Not to Run for Reelection

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Having successfully run for Town Council twice, and getting the most votes in the At-Large race both times, Aaron Dushku will not to run for a third time – but the decision was not an easy one. 

With children growing up and parents growing older, Dushku said that felt he should to spend time with his family rather than on the Council. “My kids and this time with them – and my father has some problems – I would never get these years back,” Dushku said. “It was a really hard decision. I really like being a Town Councilor. I love being a Town Councilor.”

Election 2017

6 Running for Council, But Second Incumbent Out; School Comm Race Draws 6

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Half a dozen people will run for both Town Council and for School Committee, but a second incumbent Councilor has decided not to run for reelection. There will also be a race for Board of Library Trustees, but several will not have contested races including Town Council President and the two-year School Committee seat. The Town Council At Large race will have six candidates for the four seats, but there will be at least two new faces on the board after Aaron Dushku decided not to run for a third term. Earlier, Susan Falkoff announced she would not seek another term. On Monday, challenger David Stokes got his papers certified and Michelle Cokonougher turned in her papers and Flynn said he is confident she will have the 100 signatures of Watertown residents necessary get on the ballot.

Elections

Watertown Man Running for Seat on Watertown Library Board of Trustees

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Watertown’s Daniel Pritchard announced his candidacy for Board of Library Trustees in November’s Town Election. 

Pritchard sent out the following press release:

Writer, editor, and nonprofit professional Daniel E. Pritchard is a first-time political candidate running to join the Board of Trustees of the Watertown Free Public Library. Raised in Quincy, MA, Pritchard learned the values of hard work, common decency, and public service from his single mother, who also instilled a love of libraries that would set the trajectory of his life. “The library was a home away from home,” he remembers. “I read everything — fantasy, biography, crime, poetry, the classics. The library was my window to the wider world.”

A graduate cum laude of Boston College, Pritchard has pursued a successful career in the business of letters.