HOLDEN — Voters will have several decisions to make when casting their ballots in the September state primary. They will also have the opportunity to obtain their ballot for the city’s special election to fill the vacant seat on the Board of Selectors.
“We have a very busy election season ahead,” City Clerk Jeanne Hudson said recently.
The municipal election will fill the selectman’s seat, and a municipal component to the November general election will include a municipal ballot for a waiver of the debt exclusion.
The early departure of coach Robert Lavigne has left an empty seat on the board, which voters will fill Sept. 6, deciding between candidates Steven B. Cooley and Thomas P. Curran in the municipal ballot. The two candidates may be household names, as both ran in the mayoral elections in May in which Geraldine Herlihy and Stephanie Mulroy won the elections for seats on this ballot.
At a meeting in late July, the council also approved police officers for polling places, a requirement under state law. The Chief of Police has been designated as the appointing authority for future elections under the new law.
Early voting
There will be early voting options for voters, Hudson said. In addition to the mail-in ballot option, early voting allows people to vote before Election Day and skip the lines on September 6.
On Election Day, voting at City Hall will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Advance voting will take place at City Hall on the following dates:
Saturday, August 27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Monday, August 29, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Tuesday, August 30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday, August 31, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 1, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Friday, September 2, from 9 a.m. to noon.
August 27 is the last day to register to vote in the primary.
Debt exclusion for recreational project
November’s general election will include state offices, as well as a municipal question to decide whether voters approve a debt foreclosure that would fund the recreation project.
The vote is somewhat moot, City Manager Peter Lukes said, because the project still requires design work and approval from the city assembly to appropriate the funds.
This would allow up to $3.5 million to be spent, some of which would come from ARPA funds, Lukes said.
The total project is expected to cost around $6 million, he said.
“It’s a pretty simple project,” said Lukes, which would expand recreation facilities in the Dawson area.
Much of it already exists and “there is extreme support in the community”.
The project would include new sports fields located at 18 Industrial Drive, improvements to existing fields and the replacement of a playground in the Dawson Recreation Area at 200 Salisbury Street.
Lukes said plans include two all-purpose artificial turf pitches with lights, the addition of walking paths around them, a smaller playing space and seating capacity.
Parking for 99 vehicles is planned, with a connection to overflow spaces in the new DPW lot, concessions and a walk from the new fields to the fields that exist at the bottom of Dawson, with new and improved baseball diamonds and a revamp of the playground.
“If we can fit everything into this award, we will,” Lukes said.
Shared elections save municipal costs associated with holding separate municipal elections.
Hudson said the clerk’s office has secured the selectors’ table for Holden Days, so he will be at the popular event. This August 27 date is also the last day for voter registration and the first day for early voting.
In November, there will also be two weeks of early voting.
Hudson said anyone interested in helping during the election can contact his office.
“We still need election workers,” Hudson said.
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