What you need to know for Mattapoisett’s Town Election
May 12, 2021
Mattapoisett Selectman candidates Nicki Demakis (left) and Jodi Lynn Bauer (right).
School Committee candidates from left to right: Jim Muse, Eric Beauregard and Tiffini Reedy.
MATTAPOISETT — Town Election will be on May 18, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Old Hammondtown School, with 11 elected offices and a question on the ballot.
Leading the ballot is the race for the newly renamed Select Board, between Nicki Demakis and Jodi Lynn Bauer. The two are vying for Paul Silva’s position on the board, as he chose not to seek another term.
To learn more about the Select Board candidates, read Sippican Week’s candidate profiles:
Two positions on the Mattapoisett School Committee are open: Incumbent Jim Muse’s seat, for which he is seeking reelection, and a seat left open by Carol Clifford, who chose not to run for reelection.
The race is contested among Jim Muse, Tiffini Reedy and Eric Beauregard.
To learn more about the School Committeecandidates, read Sippican Week’s candidate profiles:
Other contested races include a two-way race between Garrett Bauer and Gary Bowman, and a three-way race among incumbents William Osier and Elizabeth Sylvia and newcomer Jennifer Shepley for two positions on the Board of Library Trustees.
The proposition 2½ debt exclusion question to allow the town to borrow $450,000 for repairs to Main Street, Water Street, Beacon Street and Marion Road — which passed Town Meeting on Monday — will also be featured on the ballot.
While Select Board members hope to avoid borrowing the money and fund the project using alternative methods like grants, the measure would allow the town to raise taxes by over 2.5% to pay off the debt.
Town Administrator Michael Lorenco said that, over 15 years, the debt would cost taxpayers about $9.65 annually.
There are an additional eight positions up for election in which incumbent candidates are running uncontested: John Eklund for Moderator; Karen Field for Planning Board; Leonard Coppola for Assessor; Albert Meninno for Water and Sewer Commissioner; Leda Kim for Mattapoisett Housing Authority; Michelle Hughes and Charles William McCullough for Community Preservation Committee; Russell Bailey for the Board of Health.
Following the election, a position on the Select Board left by the death of John DeCosta will remain open.
The board is convening on May 12, after Sippican Week’s deadline, to decide whether to hold a special election for the remainder of DeCosta’s term. For an update on that meeting, go to sippicanweektoday.com.
