SHELBURNE — Paul Hollings is Shelburne’s new moderator, having earned 148 votes to incumbent Roland Giguere’s 134 votes in Tuesday’s town election.
Town Clerk Joe Judd said 20.6% of the town’s 1,493 registered voters cast their ballots.
Hollings, 68, is currently a member of Shelburne’s Planning Board and the Two Districts, Eight Towns (2D8T) Steering Committee. In advance of the election, Hollings had said he was running for moderator to see if there was a way he could run Annual Town Meeting “a little more efficiently,” and if he could “contribute to making them a shorter duration to encourage more participation.” He recounted how his career as a health care and elder services executive got him used to running large meetings.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Hollings said he was at the vote counting on Tuesday night and found out about his victory when the volunteers announced the results.
“I was pleased,” Hollings said. “It was a first for me and it was an enjoyable process.”
Giguere, 66, had been moderator for the past six years.
“One of my unexpected pleasures of running for this position was to get to know [Giguere] a bit,” Hollings recounted. “From the time I entered the race, he welcomed me in and said it was good for voters to have a choice. … He’s just been nothing but a gentleman.”
In addition to running the proceedings at Annual Town Meeting, per Shelburne’s bylaws, the moderator has the responsibility of appointing Finance Committee members. Hollings said he wants to look into developing a process for selecting new members, including seeking and vetting applicants.
There were no other contested races in Tuesday’s election, and a five-year seat on the Recreation Committee and a two-year position as Shelburne Free Public Library trustee attracted no ballot candidates. These seats were won by write-in candidates Walter Chadwick, 35 votes, and Maureen Blackmore, two votes, respectively. According to Judd, both of these candidates still need to accept the position as of Wednesday.
Other results are as follows:
- Selectboard, three-year term — Rick LaPierre, 236 votes.
- Board of Assessors, three-year term — Maya Winfrey, 240 votes.
- Town clerk, one-year term — Joe Judd, 289 votes.
- Shelburne Free Public Library trustee, two seats with three-year terms — Theodore Sicker, 253 votes and Debra Washer, 257 votes.
- Planning Board, five-year term — Geoff Stack, 244 votes.
- Tree warden, one-year term — Garth LaPointe, 259 votes.
- Mohawk Trail Regional School District School Committee, three-year term— Willow Cohen, 256 votes.
- Constable, three-year term — Raymond Boron, 259 votes.
