It’s not the big one everyone else is talking about, but another anticipated election takes place today in Franklin.
City residents can cast their ballots from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the three designated polling places. They are:
Ward 1 – Thompson Hall at 45 S. Main St.
Ward 2 – City Hall at 316 Central St.
Ward 3 – Franklin Middle School at 200 Sanborn St.
In every ward, voters will decide at least one contested city council or school board race.
Ward 1 has the most robust ballot, with a two-way competition between city council candidates Heather Moquin, a registered nurse and parent, and incumbent Arthur “Ted” Starkweather, who has been on the city council for more than a decade and served on the Franklin Fire Department for 24 years.
Both are looking to take a three-year city council seat.
On the school board side, four new candidates are vying for the three-year seat: William Doherty, Bettina Ford, Jeffrey Savary and Anya Twarog.
Doherty has 42 years of industry experience and has spent more than 15 years as a substitute teacher. His vision for the school district includes more supervision of students to help increase individual responsibility.
Ford, a parent to two and a longtime Franklin resident, said at a recent candidate forum that she wants to prioritize the school budget and ensure that teaching positions aren’t cut like the last round of budgeting for the 2016-17 year.
Twarog, who holds several graduate degrees and works at Belknap-Merrimack County Headstart, is looking for more accountability and transparency within the district. She also wants to ensure higher quality education in Franklin schools.
Savary, a registered nurse and parent, said at the forum he wants to be part of the school budgeting process. He added that his ultimate goal is to see students succeed.
There are several contested races in Ward 2. Newcomer Vincent Ribas, a longtime Franklin resident and IT worker for Merrimack County, is challenging former city councilor Glen Feener, who is trying to recapture his three-year council seat after being “on hiatus” for a year.
Before that, Feener served on the council for 21 years.
Voters will have to pay close attention to the school board race in Ward 2, as one candidate – Tina Thurber, a state employee licensed in massage therapy, lifelong resident and parent – accidentally filed for the two-year seat.
Also running for that two-year seat is incumbent school board member Susan Hallett-Cook, who is an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Thurber, however, is asking for people to write her in for the three-year seat in order to challenge candidate Paul Doucette. Doucette, who is also a lifelong resident, has a background in finance and economics both in teaching and conducting real estate.
Doucette’s name is familiar to those who post on the popular Facebook page “Franklin’s Talkin’.” He wrote there last week that he chose not to attend the candidate’s forum out of caution for his safety following several online comments he felt were bullying.
The Ward 3 ballot is rather quiet in comparison to the other two sections of the city.
City councilor Steve Barton is running for re-election to his three-year term unopposed. In a handout distributed during the candidate forum last week, Barton said he wants to ensure Franklin is a place his children and others will want to raise a family.
The three-year, Ward 3 school board seat has two contestants. Incumbent Tim Dow is being challenged by Carla Lavoy, who won a school board seat in Ward 2 last year. Lavoy resigned before the position began in January.