Reading Election: Incumbents Keep Select Board's 2 Open Seats

READING, MA — Incumbents Karen Gately Herrick and Carlo Bacci appeared poised to retain their seats on the Select Board Tuesday, though Bacci has done so by the slimmest of margins.

According to the unofficial results of Tuesday's Annual Town Election — and with all eight precincts reporting — Gately Herrick received 2,400 votes, Bacci 2,371 votes and challenger Melissa Lee Murphy 2,354 votes, meaning Bacci won the second of two open seats by just 17 votes.

Gately Herrick finished with 26 more votes than Bacci and was 46 ahead of Murphy in a very tight race.

A total of 4,586 votes were cast, which was 22.5 percent of the 20,421 eligible voters.

In the race for Library Board of Trustees, four candidates were running for two spots. Incumbent Monette Dugas Verrier received the most votes, 2,842, while Christian Cappy Popp won the other seat after receiving 2,232 votes. Brian Curry (1,665 votes) finished third and Michael Trask Terry (1,453 votes) was fourth.

For School Committee, incumbents Erin Gaffen and Carla Nazzaro ran unopposed for the two open seats. Gaffen received 2,823 votes and Nazzaro got 2,687 votes.

Gaffen told Patch that she is ready to get back to work on behalf of the local students.

"I feel humbled and grateful that the community has re-elected me to do the important work of the School Committee," Gaffen said. "There is a lot of work ahead, and I am excited to continue to collaborate with my fellow committee members and the administration to support the students of Reading and keep moving our schools forward."

Also running in uncontested races were Alan Foulds for Moderator, who received 3,286 votes, and Robert Coulter for Municipal Light Board, who received 3,108 votes.

Town Meeting members also were elected in each of the eight precincts. The winners of those races were:

Precinct 1: Jeanne Borawski (469 votes), Philip Clarke (418 votes), Sheila Mulroy (369 votes), Rebecca Bailey (364 votes), Megan Fidler-Carey (344 votes), Heather Bramante (332 votes), Mark Jonathan Zarrow (320 votes) and Emily Di Re (269 votes)

Precinct 2 (3-year term): Margaret Connors (219 votes), Nicole Mary Lamson (210 votes), Howard Cohen (203 votes), Anthony Darezzo (202 votes), David Gentile (202 votes), Vanessa Curry (184 votes), Kenneth Johnson (177 votes), Simone Payment (171 votes)

Precinct 2 (2-year term): John Parsons (260 votes)

Precinct 3: Ellen Childress (236 votes), Jason Clarke (233 votes), Phillip Dardeno (223 votes)

Precinct 4: Keri Fox (349 votes), Jennifer Cummings Hillery (338 votes), Lindsey Suzanne Monahan (330 votes), Marlena Bita (328 votes), Annika Scanlon (307 votes), John Donato Mascianrelli (293 votes), Patrick Drummey (279 votes), Thomas Grant (277 votes)

Precinct 5 (3-year term): Crystal Hodson (320 votes), Helena Marie Johnson (282 votes), Mary Parr (276 votes), Jeffrey Barringer Dietz (261 votes), Adam Denhard (258 votes), John Sullivan (258 votes), Edward Ross (249 votes), Carlo Bacci (238 votes)

Precinct 5 (2-year term): Justin Scott (256 votes)

Precinct 6 (3-year term): David Snow (325 votes), Daniel Malone (262 votes), James Gordon McIntosh (237), David John Raucci (233 votes), Brendan Gray (232), Robert Coulter (231 votes), Thomas Perry (218 votes), Steven Cool (161 votes)

Precinct 6 (2-year term): Jessica Ann Franklin (299 votes)

Precinct 6 (1-year term): Shirley Jia (329 votes)

Precinct 7: Genady Pilyavsky (409 votes), Travis Barnett Estes (407 votes), Hillary Mateev (393 votes), Joy Beaulieu (378 votes), John Brendan Sullivan (352 votes), Joseph Carnahan (340 votes), Jayna Stafford (336 votes), Mark Frederick Logsdon (309 votes)

Precinct 8: Christopher Costa (367 votes), Joseph McDonagh (328 votes), Karen Gately Herrick (282 votes), Pamela Elizabeth Daskalakis (247 votes), Shawn Brandt (246 votes), Casey Moulton (246 votes), Martha Moore (245 votes), Lori Lynn Hayes (243 votes)