Arsenault, voters fall short at polls
Published on April 7th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - Annamae Arsenault was disappointed.
Not so much with the results of Tuesday's election - she lost by 646 votes to incumbent Town Moderator Michael Rotondi - but with the lack of voter turnout, a problem with which she is more than accustomed to after serving 18 years as Stoneham's town clerk.
"For such a beautiful day, it was disappointing not to see more people come out vote at the polls," she said. "I felt satisfied with the campaign that I ran. I'm not upset with the outcome, I'm just upset that more people didn't get to the polls."
Only 2,752 of Stoneham's 15,244 registered voters made it to Town Hall on Tuesday.
Rotondi, a Franklin Place resident, explained that he was excited about winning his fourth term and looked forward to the upcoming Annual Town Meeting.
"First, I'm honored that the people of Stoneham overwhelmingly supported me in this election," he said. "Annamae has been around a long time and has given the town a lot of service, so I didn't really know what the outcome was going to be.
"It's nice to come away from this experience victorious. I feel very energized through the community's vote to run the fairest town meeting and allow people to voice their opinions."
Arsenault, a resident of Gloucester who maintains a voting address in town, gave credit to her competitor.
"Michael earned the win. He did have to work for it," she said. "I took part in the process and people had the opportunity to make their choice.
"I ran a low budget, low key campaign. I don't feel that the moderator position is a race that warrants a big campaign. That was part of my reasoning.
"But I still love politics and love campaigning."
Rotondi praised his campaign team and his family for their support and said the outcome was a welcomed reward for a hard-fought race.
"It was a very interesting race. With politics and elections, nothing's a sure thing," he explained. "I heard a lot of positive things in the community, but I wanted to show that I'm really into this job and happy with it and I think I've done that."
This was the second year in a row that Arsenault had mounted a campaign for a local political office. In 1998, she was narrowly defeated in the race for two open Board of Selectmen seats by Keene Street resident Patrick Jordan and Albert Conti of Pine Ridge Road.
Will she run again?
"I don't think so. I don't see myself running for any public office in the future. I will continue to stay involved in town meeting and other activities in the town," she stated, citing her present work with a local educational foundation and the Stoneham historical Society. "I will pursue those types of activities because I enjoy them and enjoy staying involved."
As for Rotondi, he has work to do. One of the first things he hopes to accomplish is the presentation of the Town Meeting Time handbook to residents for their reference. This guide, he said, explains the workings of town meeting in simple English and would be a good tool to use in the future.
In other election day news, Spring Street resident Amelio Marrocco will stay on board with the Housing Authority. The incumbent tallied 2,043 votes.
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