May 6 Town Election_specimen_ballot
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — The annual Town Election next Tuesday, May 6 features two contested races for Select Board plus one two-year seat on the Community Planning Commission (CPC).
In total, there are 12 candidates on the ballot.
Polls will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the town’s centralized polling location in the Parish Hall at St. Theresa’s Church, 63 Winter St. Two days also remain for the Early Voting option at the Town Hall gymnasium, 235 North St. Early Voting sessions are Thursday, May 1 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday, May 2 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
In a four-way race for the two three-year seats on the Select Board, incumbent Rich Wallner is seeking reelection to his third three-year term while three newcomers are seeking their first terms. They are Jeff Griffin, Catherine Morrin and Michael Scarlata. Liane Gonzalez opted not to seek reelection to a third term on the Select Board.
Griffin is currently a member of the Community Planning Commission with one year remaining on his three-year term. If he is elected to the Select Board, the CPC and the Select Board would put out a request for candidates to fill the remainder of his term and make an appointment in a joint vote.
In the race to fill out the remaining two years on the Community Planning Commission seat formerly held by Ryan Carroll are two candidates, Edward Sheehan and Jonathon Coste. Sheehan was the interim appointee in a joint vote by the CPC and the Select Board last November to replace Carroll until the May 2026 election. Carroll moved from town last fall about four months after winning reelection to a three-year term.
The Town Election also features several uncontested races. Town Moderator John Murphy is seeking reelection to this one-year seat which he has maintained for the past 20 years.
There are also two three-year seats on the Community Planning Commission up for renewal in this election cycle and both incumbents are unopposed. Current Chairman Dave Rudloff is seeking his third term on the board. Warren Pearce Jr., the elder statesman on the board, has 33 years of service to date, having served 11 consecutive terms.
Also unopposed in this election for a five-year term on the Housing Authority is Charles “Chuck” Carucci Sr. He has served the town in countless elected and appointed positions over the past six decades, including the Community Planning Commission and many years of service on the Secondary School Building Committee, which oversaw the transformation of the NRHS/MS campus. He is running for the seat formerly held by Michele Mawn who chose not to seek reelection.
Last, but certainly not least, are School Committee incumbents Jeff Friedman and Noelle Rudloff, both of whom are seeking reelection to their second three-year terms on the committee.
Early Voting
As of late Tuesday afternoon, Town Clerk Sue Duplin told the Transcript that 376 voters had cast ballots in Early Voting. Her office has also mailed out 207 mail-in ballot requests and to date 94 mail-in ballots have been returned. Mail-in ballots must be received at Town Clerk’s office, 235 North St., by close of polls or deposited in red, white and blue striped ballot box outside Town Hall by 8 p.m. on Election Day when this box will be locked. (Do not bring mail-in ballots to the polls; they must be documented as received by the Town Clerk’s office staff before being tallied.)
Voters may also apply for a traditional absentee ballot and vote at the counter of the Town Clerk’s Office until noon on Monday, May 5. Do not bring absentee ballots to the polls on Tuesday.
There are 12,962 registered voters eligible to vote in this election, she said, which is an increase of nearly 500 voters since last year’s Town Election.
As has been the tradition at the Transcript, for the 68th consecutive year, the newspaper has invited all candidates to submit candidates’ statements about themselves to be printed in the edition prior to the election. Readers will find the statements inside today’s Transcript by those who chose to submit them.
New voting machines
The town’s new voting machines are also in service for the first time in this election, Duplin said. These machines replace the machines that had provided the town with 20 years of service and they were funded in the FY25 municipal operating budget.