By Lynne Hendricks
AMESBURY — The deadline for prospective candidates to take out election papers passed on Friday, revealing a slim slate of Amesbury candidates vying for public office this year and ensuring one of the least competitive election seasons the town's seen in a very long time.
While the last two election seasons produced one hotly contested mayoral race and a 2007 council upset that ushered in a wave of new municipal councilors, virtually each councilor running for re-election this year is doing so unopposed.
And with today's 5 p.m. deadline to return papers to the Town Clerk's office quickly approaching, only incumbent Mayor Thatcher Kezer and former Selectman James Thivierge had returned election papers and been certified to run in the race for mayor as of yesterday afternoon.
That leaves room for potentially the first mayoral race in at least 13 years that threatens to produce fewer than the three candidates required to trigger a preliminary election for that office. That would constitute a significant shift from past political trends, Town Clerk Bonnijo Kitchin said.
"There has been (one) for every election year since I've been here," Kitchin said yesterday, as she worked through the process of certifying the sparse roster of November candidates.
Kitchin said only two of the candidates (Kezer and Thivierge) who have taken out papers with the expressed intention of running for mayor have done the official work of becoming certified to run — returning signed papers and collecting the requisite number of signatures from eligible voters.
While former councilor Alison Lindstrom, who took out papers for both mayor and municipal councilor at large, had yet to return papers for either office as of yesterday afternoon, Kitchin said Lindstrom told the clerk's office she intends to deliver paperwork in time to meet today's deadline.
While Lindstrom was initially on the fence about which seat, if any, she would return papers for, she intimated to Kitchin that she will be running for mayor.
That race, however, is the only one expected to produce competition this year, and activity through yesterday suggests a prevailing apathy about stepping up for service on other town boards.
While Ray Shockey and Planning Board incumbents Howard "Griff" Dalton and Karen Solstad picked up election papers at the last minute to serve additional terms, a fourth open position on the Planning Board will remain open due to the fact that no one stepped forward to run. And the Library Board of Trustees will make do with one fewer member as well, due to a lack of interest.
"There were five positions, and I think four people have taken out papers," said Kitchin of the Library Board.
Former two-year member Jane Ward and appointed member David Oxton will both be seeking new four-year terms on the Library Board, while new candidates Peter Sheridan and David Pressley are assured a spot just for returning their paperwork.
Of the Planning Board positions, Kitchin said, "There were four, and only three took out papers."
For the Municipal Council race, all but Jonathan Sherwood (District 6) and Chairman Roger Benson (at large) are running for re-election. While none of the incumbents has a challenger, only Derek Kimball stepped forward to run for Sherwood's open seat, and James Kelcourse is the only candidate who picked up papers to run for Benson's open seat.
"There's no opposition for any seat," said Kitchin of the Municipal Council races.
