WENDELL – Dan Keller has said he will not seek re-election to the Selectboard in the 2023 election, but he never promised his name wouldn’t appear elsewhere on the ballot.

The 20-year Selectboard veteran opted to retire from the three-member board, but has thrown his in hat in the ring for a three-year spot on the Wendell Board of Assessors, which determines the fair and equitable valuation of all real and personal property in town. He is running unopposed, as is everyone else on Monday’s ballot.

“It’s definitely bittersweet for me,” he told the Greenfield Recorder this week. “I do favor term limits, as a general principle. I did what I was able to do and it’s time for somebody else.”

Polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m. at the Town Offices on Monday.

Keller said he was convinced to leave the Selectboard when he told his grandson how long he had served and his grandson pointed out it was five years longer than he has been alive.

“He said, ‘You know, that’s enough,’” he recounted. “And that’s really what spurred me.”

Keller explained he had been on the Finance Committee for 17 years when departing Selectboard member Christine Heard encouraged him to run for her seat. He told the Recorder he had worked closely with the Selectboard for many years and felt he would be a good fit. He is most proud of the project that resulted in the construction of the Town Offices and the Wendell Free Library as well as the major septic system and water supply that services those and all other town buildings.

“I think it came out really well,” he said. “I’m particularly fond of the library, and many people are.”

Keller said he is running for the Board of Assessors because it had had only one member and could not hold meetings or sign documents.

He said stepping away from the Selectboard will permit him more time to focus on Green Mountain Post Films, his film and video production and distribution company company. He said business has slowed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but is picking up now.

Paul Doud has decided to run for the three-year seat Keller is vacating because it is available and he admires the Selectboard’s members.

“It seemed like a good opportunity to give back to a community that I really like,” he said.

Doud spent most of his life in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and worked in a variety of fields – including carpentry and computer software – until becoming a marriage and family therapist in 2010. He is in private practice and works with his clients online, via Zoom. The 75-year-old, who moved to Wendell from Whately in 2015, said he is running for Selectboard with no agenda.

“I just want to be able to provide some good, honest consideration for whatever comes before the board,” he said.

The other positions on the May 1 ballot are as follows:

Town clerk, three-year term — Anna Wetherby, incumbent.

Board of Health, three-year term — Judith Bailey, incumbent.

Moderator, one-year term — Kathleen Nolan, incumbent.

Treasurer, three-year term — Carolyn Manley, incumbent.

Tax collector, three-year term — Penny Delorey, incumbent.

Cemetery commissioner, three-year term — Judith Putnam, incumbent.

Road commissioner, three-year term — Phil Delorey, incumbent.

School Committee, three-year term — Anna Wetherby, incumbent.

Library trustee, three-year term — Sylvia Wetherby, incumbent.

Tree warden, one-year term — Clifford Dornbusch, incumbent.

Library trustee, three-year term — Ruth Mazurka.

Board of Assessors, two-year term — Ray Stone.

School Committee, two-year term — Mandy Blackbird.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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