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Just as what is expected to be a wave of candidates taking out Nomination Papers for virtually every office this coming Monday, May 17, there will also be some new changes in the voting regimen as ward-only voting for Council and School Committee has been officially established in this year’s Election calendar.
City Clerk Sergio Cornelio said this week that he is preparing in his office to release Nomination Papers on May 17, and expects to have a lot of interest in every office this year.
Already, there are three announced mayoral candidates who will be taking out papers, including Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Councilor Gerly Adrien and Councilor Fred Capone. With those three candidates likely to make the ballot, and great interest in seats on the Council and School Committee, Cornelio said they do expect there to be a robust Preliminary Election on Sept. 21 to weed out candidates for the final Municipal Election on Nov. 2.
In another quiet and quick change to the City Charter, the City Council is looking to next Monday to change the number of seats on the School Committee – bringing one more seat on to make it potentially 11 members instead of nine.
The matter would likely have been debated and voted on Monday night with little notice to the public on the change had there not been more technical issues at the Council meeting that forced them to adjourn before addressing that matter.
The move is sponsored by four City Councilors and is in response to the Council recently voting to add the mayor to the School Committee – a request that is now being considered by the State Legislature. By adding the mayor, it created an even number of votes and allowed a tie vote to happen. With the 11th member, the possibility of a tie would no longer be an issue.