Burlington Election: Katherine Bond, Jeremy Brooks To School Committee

BURLINGTON, MA — The Burlington School Committee will be getting a new addition after challenger Jeremy Paul Brooks captured one of two open seats in Saturday's Annual Town Election.

According to unofficial results — and with all seven precincts reporting, but without write-ins and auxiliary ballots counted — Brooks received 1,418 votes. He finished second to incumbent Katherine Bond (1,771 votes) in a three-person race.

Incumbent Carl Foss, who was the vice chair of the School Committee, finished third with 1,333 votes.

Brooks is a senior production manager who retired after 23 years of active-duty service in the U.S. Air Force.

In a Candidate Profile, Brooks, who has two children at Pine Glen School, said the issues that defined his campaign platform were the renovation of Fox Hill School and the planning and budgeting to repair and renovate Burlington High School

Brooks also said that he hoped to ensure "comprehensive policies regarding standards of professionalism are in place to provide district leadership with guidance to manage interpersonal and system-wide communications."

Brooks added: "I bring a fresh viewpoint and collaborative perspective to the committee with new ideas to solve enduring issues."

Bond retains her seat on the committee where she has been serving as chair. She thanked several people in an Election Night statement to Patch.

"Thank you to the Town Clerk's office and the volunteers," Bond said. "Thanks also to the voters who came out today in the pouring rain, the early voters, my campaign committee and my family for their support. I am looking forward to continuing the important work of improving our schools."

According to the Town Clerk's unofficial results released Saturday, 2,757 votes were cast in the election, which was 14.81 percent of the 18,613 eligible voters.

Several candidates ran unopposed in the election. Town Meeting members also were selected in all seven precincts.

One contested race was for Recreation Commission, where Lindsay Carlson (1,377 votes) defeated Brian Pupa (1,095 votes).

In one of the highest-profile uncontested races, Jim Tigges received 2,145 vote in retaining his seat on the Select Board.

"I just want to thank everyone who voted early, by mail or in person," Tigges said in a statement to Patch. "The turnout is typically low for local elections. However, it's local government that affects most residents on a daily basis."

Tigges continued: "I committed to focus on Burlington's water issues when I ran in 2017, and I will continue that commitment until we (the town) get it resolved. I also look forward to improving town infrastructure, including a new police station and potentially new schools."

Other winners in uncontested races were: incumbent William Beyer (2,054 votes) for Moderator, incumbent Kevin Sheehan (2,035 votes) for Assessor, Phillip Gallagher (1,944 votes) and Jessie Angeley (1,873 votes) for the two open Library Trustees three-year terms, Janice Cohen (1,976 votes) for the Library Trustees two-year term, and Susanne Shealey Russell (1,963 votes) for Library Trustees one-year term.

Plus, Jessica Sutherland (1,946 votes) for Planning Board five-year term, Toni Ann Natola (1,925 votes) for Planning Board one-year term, incumbent Marybeth Welch (1,977 votes) for Board of Health, Steven Wasserman (1,953 votes) for Housing Authority, and incumbent Kent Elmer Moffat (1,938 votes) for Shawsheen Tech Committee.

The Town Meeting members elected were:

• Precinct 1: Bruce Morey (311 votes), Christopher Campbell (303 votes), Lorie Ann Glantz (278 votes), Dina Sami Wassaf (266 votes), David Alber (265 votes), and Nolan Glantz (261 votes)
• Precinct 2: Kevin Coloci (143 votes), Kristin Ann Murphy-Currier (132 votes), Catherine Beyer (130 votes), Raymond Blenkorn (123 votes) George Papayannis (118 votes)
• Precinct 3: Jeffery Dibona (256 votes), Daniel Raske (248 votes), Monte Pearson (244 votes), Rogers Riggs (238 votes), James Frost (227 votes), Gary Mercier (223 votes)
• Precinct 4: Karen Cooper (256 votes), Michael Proix (245 votes), Schiffon Wong (245 votes), Reid Cooper (228 votes)
• Precinct 5: Sarah Wolinski (328 votes), Michele Prendergast (326 votes), Bonnie Nichols (310 votes), David Tait (277 votes), Alex Rutfield (255 votes), Richard Wong (247 votes)
• Precinct 6: John Cormier (326 votes), Rose Manni (324 votes), Ryan Clement (318), Joh Iler (310 votes), Blaise Leeber III (298 votes), Edward Cronin Parsons (297 votes)
• Precinct 7 (3-year): Betsey Hughes (202 votes), Sarah Crawley (200 votes), Scott Martin (183 votes), David Fetters Webb (183 votes), John Sachs (181 votes), John Kelly (176 votes)
• Precinct 7 (2-year): Cynthia Kazanjian (237 votes)
• Precinct 7 (1-year): Shomari Tau Abramson (223 votes)

Burlington Town Clerk Amy Warfield said the election winners will be sworn in during a ceremony this coming week, though the time and date had not yet been determined.