Hanright: There will be a recount
Published on April 19th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - The Town Clerk’s office will conduct a recount of last April’s election results this Saturday morning after two Selectmen candidates formally challenged the voting outcome late last week.
According to Town Clerk John Hanright, both Selectmen’s race victor Bob Sweeney and challenger Daniel Doherty filed formal requests with his office on Friday for a recount of the election results in each of the town’s seven voting precincts.
Doherty, who lost by the slimmest of margins in the six-candidate Selectmen’s race, was defeated by the incumbent Sweeney by a total of 13 votes. Former School Committee member R. Paul Rotondi, who topped the ticket with 1421 votes, captured the second open seat on the board.
“He did and Bobby did too,” Hanright responded on Tuesday afternoon, when asked if the formal paperwork challenging the election results had been submitted. “[The] recount will be held this Saturday at 9 a.m.”
“It’s the only time I can really do it, because once I start this, I have to finish it,” the Town Clerk added, explaining that the recount must be completed in one-day’s time, driving the need to conduct the hand tally on a Saturday.
Nearly 30 people will be hired to run Saturday’s recount, which will cost an estimated $3500 to $4000. According to Hanright, Stoneham’s Board of Registrars and Town Counsel Bill Solomon will oversee the election challenge.
Specifically, readers will review the ballots, which will then be checked for a second time by a second person before being included in the totals. A third person will tabulate each vote onto a tally sheet.
"If there's a challenge to a vote, the runner will bring it to the Board of Registrars for a ruling on that. In this case, the intent of the voter will be huge," said Hanright, explaining that ballot results can be overturned when it is believed that a resident "intended" to vote for a specific candidate.
Stoneham residents can observe Saturday’s proceedings, but will be required to remain in a designated space within the Town Hall auditorium.
The general public will not be allowed to ask questions or cause any other type of distraction during the recount, according to the Town Clerk’s office.
Town Planning package
In a unanimous vote, the town’s Board of Selectmen authorized a Stoneham native’s request to help out with the now defunct town planning office.
According to Town Administrator Ron Florino, the volunteer, a former resident of the town for 26-years, has a wealth of experience in marketing and public relations.
With the full support of Florino and Sharon Iovanni, the Executive Director of Stoneham’s Chamber of Commerce, the former Stonehamite hopes to put together a marketing package that will effectively attract businesses into the town.
“ [She] felt that with her background, she should be able to help out the town in this area and put together a brochure or marking packet,” Florino explained. “It would help explain why it would be worth [out-of-town businesses’] while to come to Stoneham.”
Responding to a question from Selectman Tony Kennedy, Iovanni admitted that she wasn’t sure whether the packet would be something that bore the town’s seal or the Chamber of Commerce’s logo.
“I really don’t know because we really haven’t discussed that. Funding is going to be an issue with anything we produce, so it may be that we have to fund it through the chamber. It might then become a chamber piece,” Iovanni explained.
“I’m excited by what she’s proposing and I am looking forward to working with her. There’s still a lot of questions that need to be resolved. Right now, ‘we’re just at the ‘do you think it’s a good idea stage.’”
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