ORANGE — Voters on Monday made clear their desire for change, ousting the incumbents who were seeking reelection to the Selectboard and the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District School Committee.
Selectboard Chair Tom Smith and member Jane Peirce were bested by challengers Kelli Bixby Gervais and Reid Jeffries “Jeff” Anderson Jr., while Crystal Clarke and Katie Hunkler lost their School Committee seats to Miguel Guerra and Amber Dupell.
Smith received 203 votes and Peirce garnered 229 compared to Anderson’s 307 votes and Gervais’ 390.
“[I’m] very excited, and also excited that Jeff got in, too,” Gervais said on Tuesday.
Gervais said she received a phone call from Town Clerk Rachael Fortier on Tuesday morning to inform her of the results after having been told through the social media rumor mill the night before. She said she intends to get sworn in and receive her Selectboard handbook before Wednesday’s meeting at 5:30 p.m.
Gervais, 62, said she spent time Tuesday morning penning resignation letters for her seats on the town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. She would be allowed to sit on the other boards while serving on the Selectboard, but she said she knew that would be too much responsibility to take on.
“We’ve got some good, good people there,” she said about the other boards.
Anderson, 74, decided to run after voters adopted a town charter, which he supports, saying he is committed to facilitating the transition.
“So I’m excited to dive into that,”he said.
Anderson also said he wants to increase the Selectboard’s transparency and communication, issues that were mentioned by residents when he was collecting the signatures required to get on the ballot.
Smith’s defeat leaves the Selectboard’s chairmanship up in the air, and Anderson said he wouldn’t hesitate to elect Selectboard Vice Chair Julie Davis to that role if the opportunity arises. The Selectboard will be a three-person entity until a special election in May, as Clerk Andrew Smith and member Michael Bates recently resigned — Andrew Smith to become assistant town clerk and Bates because he felt he had too many other professional responsibilities to give the Selectboard the time it deserves.
In the Mahar School Committee race, incumbents Clarke and Hunkler earned 190 and 124 votes, respectively, while challengers Guerra and Dupell received 335 and 378, respectively.
Guerra, 69, said he learned he won a seat on the School Committee after driving to Town Hall to hear the results Monday night.
“I was jubilated. I didn’t think I was going to win. I was, like, the dark horse — the one that nobody really knew. But I was very excited that I got all the support that I did,” he said. “And now I’ve got to work hard at earning the trust of the people that voted for me, and the people that didn’t vote for me.”
Guerra, a truck driver, previously said he and his family moved from Florida to Orange in 2002 so his three children could receive a better education. He was thrilled with their experience at Mahar, but decided to run for School Committee because he feels the quality has declined significantly since. His grandson attends Mahar and he wants him to get a quality education.
“I’m here asking questions. I want to know where the money’s going,” Guerra said, adding that he wants to help solve the town’s budget woes. “I want to attract people to come to Orange for the same reason I was attracted to come to Orange.”
Dupell, who has two children in the local school system, said she got a text message when the results were posted to the town’s municipal website at around 10 p.m. on Monday. She said she became excited and contemplative.
“I appreciate the faith that the town has in me and I hope I can live up to their expectations,” she said.
Dupell, 40, resigned as Orange’s town accountant in August to take an identical job in Templeton. She has continued to work for Orange on a per diem basis at $45 an hour. She said she is working on “closing” fiscal year 2025’s books and will contact the State Ethics Commission to determine when she should be sworn in as a School Committee member.
Polls were open in Orange Town Hall’s second-floor auditorium from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday. According to results from the town clerk, 593 people — or 8.7% of the town’s registered voters — turned out.
Resident Terry Parker II, who has lived in Orange on and off for most of his life, said he aims to vote in all elections, though he feels the local ones are where “my one single checkmark may make a difference.”
He mentioned that he made sure to vote for his friend, Gervais.
“She’s the main one that I came out to vote in support of,” Parker said.
Ryan Mailloux, interim treasurer and former Selectboard member, said it was nice to see a couple of contested races, though he declined to disclose who he voted for, as did election worker and voter Sally Howe. She said, however, that voting is her civic responsibility and she volunteers as an election worker so she can do something meaningful for the town.
Helene Holmes, who taught at Butterfield School for 39 years and Dexter Park Innovation School for three, said she cast her ballot for Smith and Anderson for Selectboard. She said Selectboard members should be shown more respect for the work they do, which can at times amount to a full-time job.
“They don’t get anything for it — except grief,” she said.
Kara Strunjo said she makes a point to vote in every election because she cares about what happens in her town. She also said she wanted to stay the course, and voted for incumbents Smith and Peirce for Selectboard.
“I think they’re doing a good job with what they’re dealt,” she said.
Sue Ploof also voted for Smith and Peirce.
“They’ve been around for a long time,” she said. “I have listened to both of them and I think they’ve been doing a good job.”
The following races were either uncontested or filled with write-in candidates: Elementary School Committee, Abigail Bilbrey and Maria Bull, three-year seats; moderator, Steven Garrity, one-year term; town clerk, Rachael Fortier, three-year term; constable, Donn Deane, two years; Board of Health, Josefa Scherer, three-year term; library trustees, Amy Borezo and Harold Veilleux, three-year seats; library trustee, Clara Witty, one-year seat; water commissioner, Leon Lefebvre, three-year term; cemetery commissioner, Dorothy Frye, three-year term; trustee of the soldiers’ memorials, Jameson Reardon, three-year seat; trustee of the soldiers’ memorials, Steven Rowe, two-year seat; trustee of the soldiers’ memorials (non-veteran), Barbara Polan, three-year seat; Housing Authority, Cory Wells, four-year seat; and Housing Authority, Kim Flanders, three-year seat.
