07/01/2015
Not Thamtastic.
THE ELECTION RESULTS ARE IN?
Congratulations to all of Waltham’s 9 ward councilors. All will stroll to victory on November 3 because no one bothered to challenge them.
In Wards 4 and 5, prospective candidates pulled papers, but they failed to submit signatures of registered voters by the deadline last Friday, according to the city clerk’s office.
“It’s disheartening when you don’t see people running who could win races,” said city clerk Russ Malone. “Now people seem like they don’t want to do it.”
It’s not unprecedented. The same situation happened in 2007, when all 9 ward councilors ran unopposed.
But in the most recent election, in 2013, there were opponents in 5 of the 9 ward races. The interest was so keen in Ward 2 (Lakeview) that three legitimate candidates pulled papers (Bill Fowler, Ken Doucette and Justin Barrett), triggering a ward primary.
This year, there will be no primaries for any race, including school committee.
What about the race for 6 at-large council seats? Typically this race draws a large number of candidates eager for a chance to represent the whole city. And there’s more impetus now because current at-large councilor Tom Stanley is running for mayor, leaving his seat up for grabs.
Nope. In 2013, there were 12 candidates. This year, there are only 8. We predict the 5 incumbents will win, leaving Carlos Vidal, Sally Collura and newcomer Greg Turner to compete for the last seat. The scenario seems almost too easy.
Needless to say, the shallow candidate pool for the fall election is not healthy for city government. Fewer races means fewer candidates campaigning door-to-door to hear resident concerns or get new residents interested.
City clerk Russ Malone doesn’t have an explanation for the trend. “I don’t get it,” he said.
