NORTHFIELD — Political newcomer Shane Duclos and current Selectboard Chair Barbara “Bee” Jacque bested incumbent Sarah Kerns at the polls on Tuesday for two Selectboard seats with three-year terms.
Duclos secured the most support with 275 votes, Jacque earned 232 and Kerns received 179.
In an interview on Wednesday, Duclos said the win still felt “surreal.”
“It’s very humbling,” Duclos said. “I am very honored to be able to serve the people of Northfield in a new way now.”
Duclos, 51, moved to Northfield in 2018. While he hasn’t served on any boards or committees in town, he is a member of the Fire Department and the Northfield Dive/Rescue Team. Additionally, he works at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as assistant director of building maintenance.
In Town Hall, he hopes to increase transparency between town officials and residents. Like agendas and minutes for municipal meetings, Duclos aims to make more town reports available for the public.
“It’s very difficult to get information sometimes that isn’t online, and in this day in age, it should be available,” Duclos said.
Along with improving infrastructure maintenance by ensuring town buildings are consistently repaired, Duclos has voiced a desire to foster communication between the town and the Pioneer Valley Regional School District and Franklin County Technical School, saying at a recent candidates forum that he’d like to “work on improving educational opportunities without defaulting to broad regionalization.”
To voters, Duclos added, “Thank you for all of your support and I hope I can do a great job for you.”
For Jacque, who has served on the Selectboard for six years, the win means more time to see projects through.
“I’m thrilled, and I’m really just looking forward to continuing the work,” Jacque said on Wednesday. “I feel like I’m right in the middle of some major, multi-year efforts.”
Among these ongoing projects are improvements to sewer infrastructure, including electrical repairs to the 50-year-old Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Jacque, 68, has also worked on the creation of the Grandin Water District to transition the town’s water supply from the East Northfield Water Co., a private entity. According to Jacque, this switch will make the water district eligible for federal loans and increase transparency surrounding the setting of rates.
The town has also been working on improving its emergency services facilities. Although a combined public safety complex to bring the departments together was the initial plan, Jacque said the Emergency Services Facility Committee has switched gears to “[addressing] each part of public safety individually,” and is working with an architect to design a smaller and “hopefully cheaper” place for the Fire Department.
“It’s not really exciting stuff, but it’s exciting if you’ve been in municipal government for a while, because it means you’re actually moving forward,” Jacque said, chuckling.
Reflecting on her victory at the polls, she said, “I love Northfield and I love the faith and trust that people have put in me in the process.”
She congratulated Duclos, thanked outgoing Selectboard member Sarah Kerns “for her service to the town” and thanked the voters.
With an agenda to write for next week’s Selectboard meeting, she added, “I’m getting back to work this afternoon.”
Other election results
On Tuesday, 381 of Northfield’s 2,543 registered voters cast their ballots, making for a roughly 15% turnout, according to Town Clerk Amanda Lynch.
The remaining results are as follows:
- Board of Assessors, three-year term — Alice Lord, 311 votes.
- Board of Health, three-year term — failure to elect.
- Library trustees, two seats with three-year terms — Jon McGowan, 303 votes, and Peter Weis, 303 votes.
- Recreation Commission, three-year term — Laura Fries, 303 votes.
- Sewer Commission, two seats with three-year terms — Karen Boudreau, 280 votes, and Matthew Belden, 270 votes.
- Planning Board, two seats with five-year terms — Tammy Pelletier, 282 votes, and Joseph Graveline, 269 votes.
- Board of Trustees of Veterans Memorials & Veterans Services — failure to elect.
- Grandin Water District, three-year term — Peter Weis, 311 votes.
Alongside the candidates, there was also a ballot question asking if the town should have its elected constables become appointed constables. On Tuesday, 168 residents voted in favor of this change, with 154 against. Having already received approval at last year’s Annual Town Meeting, the change will now take effect.
