Three races for April town election
Published on February 18th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - The field is set for three contentious races in this April's local election. Most so-called political pundits have already labeled this year's races "too close to call" as two Select men face a challenge from established candidates while evenly matched non-incumbents do battle in the Town Clerk and School Committee races. In the Selectmen's race, Albert Conti will seek a fourth consecutive term while fellow incumbent Patrick Jordan Jr. seeks his second straight term and the overall. They will face strong challenges from former Republican Town Committee Chairman Gordon Perks and long-time Town Clerk Annamae Arsenault, who will resign from her current post following the election A fifth candidate, Zoning Board of Appeals associate member and Unicorn Committee member Charles "Chuck" DeCoste Jr., 31, did not return his nomination papers by Tuesday's deadline, citing commitments at home. "We just sold and purchased an other home in Stoneham and with a child on the way I did not feel I could run a campaign the way I needed to in order to win this election," said DeCoste. "I hope to run
for office in the future when my time constraints at home are not as great " The School Committee race lost and gained potential candidates in the final week to return nomination papers. Mary Carey of Marble Street, pulled nomination papers late last week after School Committee incumbent Steven Migliorini officially announced he would not seek re-election. Carey, who narrowly lost in her first bid for a School Committee seat last year will face just one challenger, who like Carey, is a relative newcomer to the political process.
Carey will be going one-on-one against Robert Fields m of Franklin Street, who ran a strong but successful bid for the School, Committee two years ago. A third potential candidate was Thomas Noonan of Charles Street, who took out nomination papers at the last minute on Friday, but decided against returning the papers this week. Noonan has been critical of the school administration and their use of Planned Parenthood material in Health Education classes at the high school.
One race that has been set for awhile now is for Town Clerk.
The pending departure of Arsenault has opened the door for three solid candidates, who each should attract a large number of voters to the polls. The Town Clerk field includes local pharmacist John Bracciotti, Assessor John Hanright and Assistant Town Clerk Kathleen Sullivan. The remaining candidates on this year's ballot will be running unopposed. Those with a free ride include pharmacist Benedict DiRusso Jr., who will seek his first term on the Board of Health. Incumbents who face no opposition include long-time Assessor Richard Mangerian, Housing Authority member Fred Mosley, Planning Board member Frank Federico and Library Trustees Susan Doucette and Susan Waldman Fixman.
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