Unofficial election results: Strong fire chief question passes in Grafton

Grafton’s next fire chief will be “strong,” but you can’t say the same for the voter turnout in Saturday’s Town Election.

An estimated 6.8 percent of Grafton’s 13,765 voters cast ballots in the unusual election, marked by a complete lack of contested races. Only 941 voted in person or by mail.

In the vote for strong chief, 609 voted yes while 157 voted against.

Shall the Town approve the charter amendment proposed by Article 14 of the November 7, 2020 Town Meeting relative to changing the form of the Grafton Fire Department from a Board of Fire Engineers to that of one headed by a “Strong” Fire Chief (so-called), with the authority to appoint same to be vested in the Select Board and render the required text changes to the Town Charter and Town By-Laws as necessary?

Strong chief ballot question

The move to a strong fire chief plays a key role in the hiring of a new chief to replace Mickey Gauthier, who retires this year. The new chief is considered the first to be a full-time town employee and, given the changes needed to the growing on-call department, officials believe the best candidates will be attracted to the job with this change. Gauthier now reports to the town administrator and is an at-will employee. A strong chief will have more autonomy in running the fire department, including hiring and firing staff and building the department’s budget.

As for the elected officials, there were no surprises — no stealth sticker campaigns or organized write-ins. Raymond Mead re-joins the Select Board after nearly two decades as town moderator. Dawn Anderson is the town’s new moderator and will jump immediately into the planning for the June 5 Town Meeting, slated once again to be held on the Grafton High School football field.

The winners:

• Select Board (1- 3 year term)  — Raymond E. Mead (replaces Ed Prisby, who did not seek re-election) — 637
• Planning Board (2- 3 year terms) — Robert Hassinger, 581; Justin B. Wood, 606
• School Committee (2- 3 year terms) — Laura I. Often, 624,; Elizabeth Anderson Spinney, 573
• Library Trustees- (3- 3 year terms) — Douglas S. Bowman, 577; Stephanie M. Teixeira, 592; Aaron M. Vandesteen, 567
• Town Moderator- (1- 2 year term- to fill a vacancy) — Dawn C. Anderson (fills the empty seat left by Daniel Concaugh, who resigned last fall) — 649
• Grafton Housing Authority- (1- 5 year term) — James J. Gallagher, 652

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