Town Election: 14 Residents Become Official Candidates on Foxborough Ballot

Fourteen Foxborough residents interested in running for town offices this spring have become official ballot candidates for the April 30 annual town election, according to Town Clerk Robert Cutler’s office.

The 14 candidates each submitted nomination papers with the required 50 signatures certified by Cutler, officially putting them on the ballot. With the deadline to submit nomination papers (with at least 50 signatures) only four days away, Town Moderator Frank Spillane, selectman candidate Richard Letson, Planning Board candidate Ronald P. Bresse and Board of Assessors candidate Robert J. Hadge have yet to return papers.

Letson told the Foxboro Reporter last week that he doesn’t “have a snowball's chance in hell” of winning one of the two selectman seats open in April and has since bowed out of the race. It is the second consecutive year Letson has expressed interest in running for selectman but has withdrawn before Election Day.

As of March 13, the two major races slated for the April 30 election are for selectman and school committee.

Three candidates are running for two selectmen seats. John Gray Jr. has joined incumbents Lynda Walsh and James DeVellis, both running for re-election, in the race for selectman. Gray Jr., president of Biomedical Structures, currently serves on Foxborough’s Advisory Committee with his term expiring in June 2014. He served as AdCom’s chair in 2011. He has set up a Facebook page and Twitter account promoting his candidacy.

Five candidates are running for three school committee seats. Incumbents Kathleen Adair, Christina M. Belanger and Martha P. Slattery will be running against Catherine Maureen Owens Kominsky and Stephen P. Udden.

Here’s a complete list of residents who are official ballot candidates as of March 13:

• Jospeh Lally, Granite Street, Library Trustee, 3 years; 94 signatures certified
• Robert Garber, Tara Ann Drive, Board of Water & Sewer Commissioners, 3 years; 63 signatures certified
• Robert Cutler, Summer Street, Town Clerk, 3 years; 55 signatures certified
• Kathleen Adair, McKenzie Lane, School Committee, 3 years; 64 signatures certified
• Catherine Maureen Owens Kominsky, Farewell Street, School Committee, 3 years; 62 signatures certified
• Francis J. Spillane, Country Club, Town Moderator, 3 years
• Richard R. Letson, East Street, Selectmen, 3 years
• Christina M. Belanger, Milton Lane, School Committee, 2 years; 63 signatures certified
• John R. Gray Jr., North High Street, Selectmen, 3 years; 52 signatures certified
• Eric S. Arvedon, Fairway Lane, Board of Health, 3 years; 51 signatures certified
• Martha P. Slattery, Joseph Road, School Committee, 3 years; 62 signatures certified
• Ronald P. Bresse, North High Street, Planning Board, 3 years
• Susan M. Burlone, Kingsbury Lane, Library Trustee, 3 years; 66 signatures certified
• Stephen P. Udden, Carmine Avenue, School Committee, 3 years; 103 signatures certified
• Robert J. Hadge, Shoreline Drive, Board of Assessors, 3 years
• Lynda Walsh, Pond Avenue, Selectmen, 3 years; 70 signatures certified
• James J. DeVellis, McKenzie Lane, Selectmen, 3 years; 63 signatures certified
• Susan E. Perez, Mechanic Street, Housing Authority, 5 years; 51 signatures certified

Here is a look at what positions are available this year and who is up for re-election (if the current town officials choose to run for another term), according Cutler:

• Board of Selectmen (three-year term): This seat is currently held by BOS chair James DeVellis.
• Board of Selectmen (three-year term): This seat is currently held by selectman Lynda Walsh.
• School Committee (three-year term): This seat is currently held by Katie F. Adair.
• School Committee (three-year term): This seat is currently held by Martha P. Slattery.
• School Committee (two-year term): This seat is currently held by Christina M. Belanger, who replaced Catherine Kominsky in July. This is a two-year term because Belanger served the first year of Kominsky's three-year term. 
• Water & Sewer Commissioner (three-year term): This seat is currently held by William C. Euerle, who has informed the town he plans to retire at the end of his fourth term this May.
• Board of Health (three-year term): This seat is currently held by vice chair Eric S. Arvedon.
• Planning Board (three-year term): This seat is currently held by Ronald P. Bresse.
• Board of Assessors (three-year term): This seat is currently held by Robert J. Hadge.
• Boyden Library Trustee (three-year term): This seat is currently held by Jeffrey M. Lovely.
• Boyden Library Trustee (three-year term): This seat is currently held by Janet S. Pineault.
• Housing Authority (five-year term): This position is currently held by Susan E. Perez.
• Town Moderator (three-year term): This position is currently held by Francis "Frank" Spillane.
• Town Clerk (three-year term): This position is currently held by Robert E. Cutler, Jr.

The election is scheduled for April 30.