Updated with school committee information
Incumbent selectman will serve another three years in Rochester
Jun 17, 2020
Woody Hartley (third from right, in tan shirt) gathered with his family on Dexter Lane to hold signs and wave at voters as they entered. Photo by: Grace Ballenger
Joe Pires (second from right) and supporters also greeted voters on Dexter Lane. Photo by: Grace Ballenger
Voting in the time of coronavirus includes socially-distanced booths, masks and plexiglass. Photo by: Grace Ballenger
Signs directing voters where to go. Photo by: Grace Ballenger
ROCHESTER — Current Selectman Woody Harley was re-elected for another three years by a margin of 229 votes.
Out of the 1,157 votes that were cast, Hartley got 570, Adam Murphy got 341 and Christopher Faustino got 229 in the only contested race.
For the Rochester School Committee Anne Fernandes took one of the two spots with 857 votes and Katherine Duggan took the other with 111 votes.
Joe Pires was re-elected to the Old Rochester Regional School Committee with 232 votes. His closest opponent, Jordan Latham, had 150 votes.
The town had one ballot question, on whether to make the Town Clerk position appointed. Of the voters that weighed in 451 said the Town Clerk should be appointed, and 528 said the Town Clerk should be elected.
Speaking after the election, Hartley said he was relieved and extremely happy with the results, which he said meant that “Rochester feels we are going in the right direction. And they trust me.”
He said in general he was pleased to see more people get involved with town government, and he personally is “excited to get back to work.”
However, Hartley did learn a thing or two in the election.
“Some things came out in this campaign about public safety that I want to look into. I want the public to understand how it works,” he said.
Other than that, his goals include “keeping the town on the road to financial security.” His strategy for that includes keeping taxes low, while also protecting the values of homes.
All other elected officials ran unopposed. They include Beatrice Renauld for tax collector (978 votes), Dawson for town clerk (959 votes), William D Souza for the Board of Health (937 votes), David Shaw for a 3 year term on the Cemetery Commission (933 votes), Daniel Blizard for a one year term on the Cemetery Commission to fill a vacancy (916 votes), Debra Lalli for the Board of Assessors (935 votes), David Sylvia for the Park Commission (940 votes), William Watling for Herring Inspector (988 votes), Rhonda Reints and Kathryn Besch for Library Trustees (873 and 772 votes, respectively), Michael Murphy for the Planning Board (861 votes), and Frederick Underhill for the Water Commission (939 votes).
Dawson sent out about 700 absentee ballots and got about 600 back. Considering that usually there are only about 400 votes for a municipal election, he said that was a great turnout rate.
