Politics & Government

UPDATE: Voters Elect 2 New Planning Board Members: Colten and Ortiz

Framingham also elects a new Selectmen (Michael Bower) and a new School Committee member (Eric Silverman) Tuesday.

UPDATED: Midnight with Town Meeting election results.

UPDATED: 11 p.m. Tuesday with vote totals and unopposed races of Library Trustee, Keefe Tech School Committee, Edgell Grove Cemetery Trustee and Framingham Housing Authority.

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Challengers Lew Colten and Victor Ortiz were elected to the Framingham Planning Board Tuesday. They easily defeated incumbents Susan Bernstein and Andrea Carr-Evans

Colten received 1,934 votes and Ortiz 1,511. Bernstein received 1,352 and Carr-Evans 1,321.

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The win by the two newcomers, means three new Planning Board members have been elected to the 5-member board in the last two year.

"The sign that’s been hung out at the entrance to Framingham that says ‘Closed for Business’ is now removed," Colten said.

Voter turnout was very low Tuesday, with less than 10 percent of the town's registered voters going to the polls. A total of 3,402 voters took part in the Annual Town Election.

Earning the most votes, was Teri S. Banerjee , who was elected Town Moderator. Running unopposed, she received 2,376 votes. Banerjee plans to be sworn in Wednesday.

Incumbent Selectmen Chair Charlie Sisitsky and current School Committee member Michael Bower were elected to the Framingham Board of Selectmen. They were both running unopposed. Sisitsky received 2,239 votes and Bower received 2,102 votes.

Bower resigned from the School Committee Tuesday night. Framingham Selectmen and Framingham School Committee will need to hold a joint meeting to appoint someone to fill the rest of his term. School Committee has to notify Selectmen of the vacancy within one month. Selectmen then can scheduled a meeting for the joint appointment within one week.

Bower was sworn in as a Selectmen Tuesday night and will attend his first meeting Wednesday night.

Incumbent Heather Connolly and Town Meeting member Eric Silverman won 3-year seats on the Framingham School Committee. They were running unopposed.Connolly received 2,091 votes and Silverman received 1,994 votes.

Silverman resigned as a Town Meeting member for Precint 5 and was sworn in as a School Committee member by Assistant Town Clerk Lisa Ferguson Tuesday night.

All four incumbents Library Trustees were running unopposed for four 3-year seats. In order of votes received were Chris Walsh (2,241), Ruth Winett, Elizabeth Fideler and Robert Dodd.

Parwez Wahid, ran unopposed for the 1-year seat as a Library Trustee and recived 2,062 votes.

Framingham re-elected three incumbents to the Keefe Technical School Committee. In order of votes received were John Kahn (2,080), Linda Fobes and Larry Cooper.

William Welch was re-elected to Edgell Grove Cemetery Trustee. He was unopposed.

Phyllis May was re-elected to a 5-year seat on the Framingham Housing Authority. She ran unopposed. Janice Rogers won a 1-year seat on the Framingham Housing Authority.

TOWN MEETING RACES:

There were contested races for Town Meeting seats in Precincts 1, 5 and 14.

In Precinct 1, Kathy Vassar topped the ticket with 251 votes. Also winning seats were Mark Lamkin, Ted Anthony Jr. and Kylon Marie Colinet. Christopher Lorant had the lowest vote total with 126 votes, and did not get elected.

In Precinct 5, there were 6 candidates for 4 3-year seats. Elected with the most votes was Framingham High Principal Michael Welch with 147 votes. Also elected were Robert Bois, Susan Massad and Janet Leombruno.

TWPTO Co-President Kim Comatas finished fifth with 120 votes, but with the resignation of Silverman in Precinct 5 she will be offered the rest of his seat, said Assistant Town Clerk Ferguson.

Eric Berkman was not elected in precinct 5.

In Precinct 14, voters ousted incumbent Town Meeting members Jim and Joe Rizoli (who received 19 and 20 votes) and elected Barbara Benjamin (65 votes), Christopher O'Neil (64 votes), Karl Rookey (61 votes) and Sarah De Oliveira (54 votes).

Town Meeting members elected, to 3-year terms, in other precincts included:

Precinct 2: Gloria Geller (219 votes) Sean Donovan, David Longden Jr. and Stephen Shull.

Precinct 3: Marilyn Zimmerman (151), Brian Lefort and Karen Foran Dempsey.

Precinct 4: Amy Weader (176), Stuart Peskin, Diane Pabst and Arlene Semerjian.

Precinct 6: Denise Moorehead (150), James Pillsbury and Eisenhaure Goldberg.

Precinct 7: Larence Griffin (169), Cynthia Villanueva and Jill Ferro.

Precinct 8: Deborah Lenares (145) and Charles Schneider.

Precinct 9: Bernice Strom (80), Steven Friedman and Christopher Kelley.

Precinct 10: Michelle Brosnahan (46)

Precinct 11: Judy Leereer (225), Cynthia Laurora and Yael Steinsaltz.

Precinct 12:  Andrea Lewis (75), Todd Genovese, Lynn Olson and Ken High III.

Precinct 13: Andrew Hohenstein (95) and Thomas Tiger

Precinct 17: Richard Baritz (32)

Precinct 18: Ciro Sansossio (48) and Norman Snow Jr.

There were also several Town Meeting members elected to 1-year and 2-year seats.


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