Election roundup: Voters – some of them anyway – take to the polls

BELMONT — Voters in Belmont were in a mostly agreeable mood during balloting on Tuesday, but they bucked selectmen and voted down a proposal to reduce by half the amount of money from the Land Use Change penalty that goes to the town Conservation Commission.

“What a relief,” Denise Naiva, chair of the commission, said during an interview on Wednesday. “It was a pretty good margin, too.”

The final vote to reject the article was 323-195.

The Conservation Commission has been receiving 100 percent of the penalty, which is paid when a landowner takes property out of the Current Use program that taxes land at a lower rate in exchange for keeping it undeveloped.

Naiva said she and others pushed hard to get voters to reject the proposal, which she said the Conservation Commission wasn’t consulted on.

“It paid off,” she said. “I thought it would be close or fail. I didn’t expect it would be as much as it was.”

Belmont voters passed most of the other items on the warrant, and re-elected Ruth P. Mooney to a seat on the Board of Selectmen. In a three-way contest for two seats on the zoning board, David Dunham and Sharon Ciampi topped John Froumy in the only other contested race.

Voters in Belmont also joined those in Alton, Gilford and Gilmanton, among other places, in passing a resolution opposed to the practice of gerrymandering during the once-a-decade redistricting for federal and state elected positions. Gerrymandering is when one party draws district lines to give itself an advantage over the other party.

In other results from Tuesday's voting:

Alton

Rebecca Johnson and Pamela McLeod each won unopposed 2-year seats on the school board, while the race for a pair of 1-year seats was contested by four candidates. Ann Pierce and Carol Locke handily defeated husband and wife candidates Brennan and Emily Christen.

Voters approved all school warrant articles.

There were two contested races on the town ballot. Brock Mitchell edged out Philip Wittmann for a 3-year selectman’s seat, 355-334, and Thomas C. Hoopes and Scott Williams were elected to 3-year seats on the Planning Board over Brennan Christen.

Voters considered more than 40 warrant articles on the town ballot and approved all but two: A zoning amendment to permit lumber yard in two residential zones by special exception was narrowly defeated; and an article directing the Planning Board to adopt the current Master Plan without changes for the next 10 years was also defeated.

Barnstead

Barnstead voters had no contested races for any election – installing Paula Penny to the Board of Selectmen – but they made their voices heard when it came to the warrant articles, rejecting five proposed amendments to the down zoning ordinance, the closest of those by a 208-203 margin.

Bristol

Shaun Lagueux held off two other candidates to win a 3-year seat on the Board of Selectmen and Martha Hulsman, Karen Boyd and Nancy Dowey held off Richard LaFlamme for three seats on the library Board of Trustees.

And Bristol was also the scene of a rare contested race for cemetery trustee. Cheryl Cizewski held off Cade Overton, 191-152, to win a 2-year seat.

Voters also passed all of the warrant articles on the ballot.

Center Harbor

In voting for a seat on the Inter-Lakes School Board, incumbent Lisa A. Merrill topped Jared T. Gumpert, 55-15. With no candidate on the ballot for the school district moderator position, Pat Kelly edged out Charles Hanson in a write-in contest, 10-8.

Gilford

Dale Channing Eddy was unopposed in his bid for a selectman’s seat, and the last of the three seats on the budget committee was decided by a razor-thin margin. Kristin Snow (434) and Amber Latorre (375) were the top vote-getters, while Angelo Garrugia edged Stephen Peterson for the final seat, 288-286.

Gilford voters also passed 29 warrant articles by comfortable margins.

Gilmanton

Voters in Gilmanton had no contested races on the town side – Evan Collins won re-election to a seat on the Board of Selectmen – while they passed all of the articles on the town warrant, including one to appropriate $15,000 for an energy audit of town buildings and another to modify the town’s property tax break for elderly residents.

The school district also had no contested races and voters passed all of the articles on the warrant.

Holderness

Voters had an easy time of it with no contested races on the town or school side, and all articles on the town and school district warrants passed.

Loudon

John Storrs topped Stanley H. Prescott II, 277-221, in balloting for a seat on the Board of Selectman. In a three-way contest for two seats on the Planning Board, Marilyn Whitten (284) and Forrest Green (275) held off Robert Phillips (263).         

Meredith

Lynn Leighton (415) and Jeanie Forrester (314) won a seat on the Board of Selectmen, topping Michael J. Laurent (220).  Voters also passed five amendments to the town zoning ordinance. On the school ballot, Lisa Merrill collected 329 votes, to 170 for Jared Gumpert for a seat on the Inter-Lakes School Board.

New Hampton

Eric Shaw won re-election to the 3-year selectmen seat unopposed. Bruce Harvey was elected to the 1-year selectmen’s seat with 124 write-in votes, and Mark Garibotto was elected as a write-in candidate to the Trustee of Trust Funds. All 33 warrant articles passed.

Northfield

Mark R. Hubbell (168 votes) easily led a field of six candidates to claim a seat on the Board of Selectmen. In a three-way race for a seat on the Tilton-Northfield Fire District Commission, Eric Pyra won 296 votes in both towns to beat out Jason A. Wright and Kevin Cate. On the school side, Jon P. Cilley (Northfield), Marcy Kelly (Sanbornton) and David Honeman (Tilton) won seats on the Winnisquam Regional School Board.

Plymouth

Ted Wisniewski (212) topped John Randlett (129) and Caroline Dowling (30) to win a seat on the Board of Selectmen in the only contested town race, and Tara Bryson won a close write-in contest for Cemetery Trustee, topping Dirk Hage, 18-15. Plymouth voters also passed all three articles on the Pemi-Baker School District warrant.

Sanbornton

Bob Lambert was elected to the Board of Selectmen with 253 votes, easily topping Scott Morrow and Glenn Frederick, who each garnered 31 votes.

Tilton

In the only contested town race, Scott Ruggles (161) and Pat Consentino (159) won election to the Board of Board of Selectmen in a seven-person race for two seats. Voters also approved all three articles to amend the town zoning ordiance.

Wolfeboro

A six-way contest for two seats on the Board of Selectmen saw Luke Freudenberg (567) and Brian S. Deshaies (524) emerge as winners. In a contest for police commissioner, Shawn Coope topped Thomas D. Bell, 549-509. Voters also approved a host of changes to the town zoning ordinance, but rejected a proposal to spend $300,000 to extend the Wolfeboro Bay town recreational docks.

Town clerks across the region all had one thing pretty much in common on Tuesday: a lack of voters. Several clerks bemoaned the lack of voter turnout.