Burlington: 2 New Town Meeting Members Appointed In Precinct 4

BURLINGTON, MA — The Town of Burlington continues to take care of election-related business over a week after the April 1 Annual Town Election.

Town Meeting members from Precinct 4 met at the Town Hall Annex Monday night to break an Election Day tie and appoint a new member, who replaces a retiring member.

The meeting resulted in Kevin Spielberger and Becky Norum becoming new Town Meeting members.

Another meeting is scheduled on Thursday to appoint a new Town Meeting member in Precinct 3.

On Election Night, the race for Town Meeting members in Precinct 4 had six open spots. There were four names on the ballot, who were elected: Karen Cooper (263 votes), Michael Proulx (252 votes), Schiffon Wong (252 votes) and Reid Cooper (235 votes). All were incumbents.

The fifth spot went to write-in Bill Lisano (4 votes). However, there was a tie for the sixth spot between write-ins Ellen Ferguson (2 votes) and Spielberger (2 votes) for the final six-year term.

On Monday, 13 Town Meeting members convened, a few of them virtually, to settle the tie between Ferguson and Speilberger.

Both candidates were at the meeting and took questions from the members who were present, according to the Town Clerk's office.

A roll call vote was taken and Spielberger received 7 votes, while Ferguson received 6 votes. Spielberger was declared the winner, according to the Town Clerk's office.

The second order of business Monday was to select a replacement for member Joan Hastings, who decided to retire from Town Meeting. Hastings was the last of the original members from 1972, according to Town Clerk Amy Warfield.

Three candidates — Norum, Ferguson and Gerald Hopkins — put their names forward to fill Hastings' seat for one year. A longer-term replacement will be selected at next year's Annual Town Meeting.

According to the Town Clerk's office, Norum received 9 votes, Ferguson 4 and Hopkins 1, and Norum was declared the winner.

"A thank you to all the candidates who showed interest in participating, even if they didn't get selected," Warfield said in a statement.

On Thursday, Town Meeting members from Precinct 3 are scheduled to meet to fill the vacancy left by member Lucy Damiani, who has decided to step down. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Town Hall basement meeting room.

The candidate who is appointed Thursday will serve for one year until a longer-term member is chosen at next year's Annual Town Election.

"Those who wish to be appointed to fill such vacancy, until the next Town Election, should contact the remaining Town Meeting members of the precinct for which they seek election, for the purpose of having their names placed in nomination," Warfield said in a statement.

A list of Town Meeting members is available online. Any other questions can be directed to Warfield at 781-270-1663 or awarfield@burlington.org.

The rest of the 2023 Annual Town Election official results are available online.