Published in the March 1, 2018 edition

By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — On Monday, Neal E. Rooney III pulled nomination papers to enter the race for one of two seats on the Community Planning Commission (CPC) in the May annual town election.

Rooney, of 13 Pomeroy Road, was first elected to the CPC back in 1998 and served through 2014, when he stepped down.

“I’m looking to get back in to help the town. My personal situation has changed. I’m retired now and I have the time,” Rooney told the Transcript on Tuesday.

Currently, Rooney and Bill Bellavance are the only two candidates who have announced their intention to run for the two seats up for renewal on the planning board. Bellavance is seeking his second full three-year term. He was jointly appointed by the CPC and the Board of Selectmen to fill Rooney’s unexpired term from 2014 until the 2015 election, at which time it went on the ballot as a one-year unexpired term to bring it back to its normal three-year cycle beginning in 2016.

In 2015, Bellavance opted to run for the three-year seat then held by Pat Romeo that was up for re-election while she chose to serve the board for one more year by running successfully for the one-year seat.

Incumbent CPC member Joe Veno previously announced his intention not to seek a second term on the board. Veno will also not run for a third five-year term on the Housing Authority. To date, no candidate has stepped forward to run for the Housing Authority position.

One seat open for SC

In the race for School Committee there is currently only one candidate for two open seats. Richard McGowan, a veteran member of various school councils over the years at the Batchelder School, Middle School and High School, has stepped forward to seek a spot on the School Committee in his first foray into town politics.

Incumbent School Committee members Jerry Venezia and Julie Koepke previously announced that they will be stepping down in May at the end of their respective terms.

Incumbents Steve O’Leary and Kathryn Manupelli have both announced their re-election bids to retain their respective seats on the Board of Selectmen for three-year terms while incumbent Town Moderator John Murphy is seeking his 14th consecutive one-year term for that position.

Deadlines set

Tuesday, March 20 at 5 p.m. is the deadline for all candidates to return their nomination papers to the Town Clerk’s office for certification of a minimum of 50 signatures of North Reading voters to ensure their name gets on the ballot. As of press time on Wednesday, no candidates have returned their papers. 

Once a candidate is certified as eligible to run for an elective office, the last day that candidate can choose to withdraw his or her name from the ballot is Thursday, April 5 at 5 p.m., according to Town Clerk Barbara Stats. The Town Clerk’s office will remain open an extra hour on both deadline days, per state law.

The last day a resident of the town can register to vote to participate in the May 8 election is Wednesday, April 18 at 8 p.m. The Town Clerk’s office will be open an extra four hours that night to accommodate voters, as mandated by state law, Stats said. She added early voting is not available for any local elections in the state.

Candidates for any municipal office are required to file campaign finance reports on specific dates per the provisions of Mass. General Law Chapter 55. Those with questions about this process may contact the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance for assistance by phone: 617-727-8352, email: ocpf@cpf.state.ma.us or visit the website at www.mass.gov/ocpf.

For additional assistance the public may also call the Town Clerk’s office at 978-357-5218.