SHELBURNE — Voters who go the polls on Tuesday, May 19, for Shelburne’s town election will see a host of uncontested races, with the sole contest being between incumbent Roland Giguere, who is seeking a seventh term as moderator, and challenger Paul Hollings.
Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Cowell Gymnasium, 51 Maple St.
Roland Giguere
Giguere, 66, has been Shelburne’s moderator for the past six years. Having retired in late 2018, he now serves as the committee director for the Massachusetts State Grange and a lecturer/program director at the Shelburne Grange.
Giguere said the job of moderator is something he believes he can do, and it’s a way for him to contribute to Shelburne.
“I learned how to run meetings and public speaking, any of that, through a lot of my stuff in Grange,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of different things since then, but that’s where I first started learning parliamentary [speaking]. I was 14 when I started.”
His first run for moderator six years ago was sparked by Sylvia Smith, the former moderator, asking him to run to fill her seat. Giguere said he has known Smith for many years and she thought he would be a good candidate to take on the role.
“I like to contribute to the town … I believe I’m doing a good job at it,” Giguere said. “I don’t have a lot of time to devote to committee work right now; this is the one thing I can do to contribute.”
He said he believes operations should be fair, and he believes in giving people chances.
Paul Hollings
Hollings, 68, has been retired for four years. He said he has gotten deeply involved in volunteering and was looking for other ways to contribute to the town.
Hollings currently serves on the Planning Board and the Two Districts, Eight Towns (2D8T) Steering Committee, and he’s a substitute teacher in the Mohawk Trail Regional School District. He was a health care and elder services executive prior to his retirement.
“I’m used to running large meetings, and I thought I could contribute in that way,” Hollings said, “and helping to have a productive, fair, effective and efficient Town Meeting.”
What sparked his interest in running for moderator, he said, is attending Town Meeting. Hollings said he wants to see if Shelburne can run Town Meeting “a little more efficiently,” while still getting everyone in attendance to participate.
“Our last two meetings have gone for two days over eight hours, and I would just like to see if there’s a way I can contribute to making them a shorter duration to encourage more participation,” Hollings said.
He said he’s thrown his hat in the ring due to his love for Shelburne.
“I just love this town so much,” Hollings said.
Other positions
There are no other contested races on this year’s ballot, and there are two positions that don’t have ballot candidates that may still be won by write-ins. Those positions are a two-year term as library trustee and a five-year seat on the Recreation Committee.
The uncontested races are as follows:
- Selectboard, three-year term — Rick LaPierre, incumbent.
- Board of Assessors, three-year term — Maya Winfrey, incumbent.
- Town clerk, one-year term — Joe Judd, incumbent.
- Library trustee, two seats with three-year terms — Theodore Sicker and Debra Washer, both incumbents.
- Planning Board, five-year term — new candidate Geoff Stack.
- Tree warden, one-year term — Garth LaPointe, incumbent.
- Mohawk Trail Regional School District School Committee, three-year term — Willow Cohen, incumbent.
- Constable, three-year term — new candidate Raymond Boron.
