Wareham residents to go to the polls on April 2

Mar 28, 2019

Voters head to the polls Tuesday to make their choices for two seats on the Board of Selectmen, two School Committee seats, and four other town offices.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Topping the ballot is a three-way race for two seats on the Board of Selectmen. Incumbents Anthony Scarsciotti and Patrick Tropeano are both seeking reelection to the three-year seats, while newcomer Jim Munise has thrown his hat into the ring.

Voters will be asked to vote for two of the three candidates with the top two vote-getters winning the seats.

The two School Committee races have been complicated by a mixup at the Town Clerk’s office.

On the ballot are a three-year seat currently occupied by Mary Morgan and a two-year seat to fill the unexpired term of Rebekah Pratt who resigned in December after moving out of town.

Once nomination papers became available, speech and language pathologist Jennifer Bailey and longtime PTA member Apryl Rossi announced their candidacies for the open seat.

Mary Morgan opted to run again, and former longtime School Committee member Geoff Swett intended to pull papers to oppose Morgan. However, Swett was given papers for the open seat. He collected signatures and returned the papers before anyone noticed they were not for the Morgan seat.

After local officials learned from state election officials that it was too late to correct the error, the two-way Bailey-Rossi contest became a three-way Bailey-Rossi-Swett contest, while Morgan is running unopposed for reelection. The top vote-getter in the three-way contest wins, even if he or she does not receive a majority of the votes cast.

One formal candidate and one write-in candidate are running for Town Clerk. Longtime Town Clerk Mary Ann Silva has decided she will retire in April.

Michele Bissonnette, former assistant town clerk in Marion, is the only candidate on the ballot. Jenna L. Deane, a town employee who pulled papers for the clerk’s job but did not return them, recently announced a write-in campaign.

Claire Smith is running unopposed for Town Moderator.

Incumbent Jean Connaughton hopes to be re-elected for another five year term on the Housing Authority. She is being challenged  by Jody Santagate, a newcomer with experience helping people apply for social services.

Peter Dunlop is running unopposed for Sewer Commissioner.

Although there are no candidates on the ballot for Assessor, David Heard launched a write-in campaign for the seat several days before the election. If no one is elected through write-in votes, the Board of Selectmen will appoint someone for one year.

Wareham has four polling locations for its six precincts: Precinct One: Memorial Town Hall, 54 Marion Road; Precincts Two and Three: Ethel E. Hammond School, 13 Highland Ave., Onset; Precincts Four and Five: Decas School, 760 Main St.; Precinct Six: East Wareham Fire Station, 281 Glen Charlie Road. Those who don’t know which precinct they live in can find out here.

Here are links to the profiles of all the candidates:

Board of Selectmen

School Committee

Housing Authority

Town Clerk: Michele Bissonnette and Jenna L. Deane

Town Moderator

Assessor