Few shocks in poll results
Published on April 2nd, 2003
STONEHAM, MA - A quick check of the polls early on Stoneham Election Day, Tuesday April 1, certainly gave Town Clerk John Hanright no April Fool's Day joy.
"I have one word to describe this election: Boring," said John Hanright as only 520 of a possible 14,650 registered voters had cast their ballots at 11:30 a.m. "This election is on pace to be one of the lowest turnouts in the history of Stoneham."
The voters eventually proved to be late bloomers as the pace picked up around Stoneham Town Hall, and 2,029 voters had marked their votes by 8 p.m. The 2029 votes represented 14 percent of the registered voters in Stoneham, and continued a downward trend in voter turnout.
"The candidates did a great job of getting on the phone and getting people to come out," said Hanright after the votes had all been counted.
In the only two contested races on the entire local ticket, incumbent Selectmen Cosmo Ciccarello (1451 votes) and Bob Sweeney (1320 votes) bested Dennis Bain (644 votes) by a more than 2-1 margin for the two open Selectman seats. Ciccarello topped the Selectmen ticket and will have served 21 consecutive years as a Stoneham Selectman when his newly elected term comes to an end. According to election results, there were 628 blank votes and 15 write-in choices for Selectman.
Sweeney begins a second term as Selectman, and surely hopes to enjoy the kind of longevity attained by the experienced Ciccarello.
In the only other race, incumbent Jane Francis (1393 votes) and Catherine DiDonato (1123 votes) bested newcomer Matthew Whooley (489 votes) in the race for a pair of terms with the Library Trustees.
Incumbent Marie Christie (1368 votes) topped the School Committee candidates with fellow incumbent Marc Grimaldi (1355 votes) running a close second in the opponent-less race.
Craig Celli ran unopposed and earned 1495 votes along the way to re-election to the Board of Assessors.
Frank Federico Jr. garnered 1392 votes for a 5 year term on the Planning Board; John Scullin ran unopposed for the Board of Health (1431 votes); Michael Rotondi (1424 votes) won unopposed for Town Moderator; Frederick Mosely was re-elected for a five year term at the Housing Authority (1424 votes); Michael Germano (1301 votes), Frederic Kranefuss (1290 votes), and Robert Moreira (1409 votes) each won a three year term for the three Town Constable seats.
The election was down 330 votes from the total of 2,359 for last year's total, and Hanright sees the dwindling turnout seems to be an area problem.
"I've seen it in other towns like Wellesley, Chelmsford, and even a town like Winchester," said Hanright. "A lot of people just aren't getting out to vote."
Hanright also added that the lack of consistent competition throughout the entire ballot may have also stymied the turnout.
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