The deadline for candidates to return their nomination papers for the May 18 Marion election passed on Monday, March 26, and the race is on for Board of Selectmen with two seats up for grabs – one three-year seat to replace outgoing Selectman Jody Dickerson and another one-year seat left vacant by Steve Gonsalves when he resigned in February.
While only Community Preservation Committee Chairman and Marion Open Space Acquisition Commission member Randy Parker filed papers for the three-year seat, four will appear on the ballot to fill the one-year seat.
William “Dale” Jones, Michelle Oullette Smith, John Waterman, and Joseph Zora, Jr. all opted for the one-year selectman’s seat, making this Board of Selectmen race the most contested on the ballot.
Jones has run several times for Board of Selectmen, including last year against four other opponents, but he never came in first. He was recently appointed as a member of the Conservation Commission and was also once the Emergency Management director.
Smith is a member of the Marion and Old Rochester Regional School Committees and is also a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals. She ran against Jones last year for Board of Selectmen, vying for former Selectman Steve Cushing’s open seat, but came in fourth place. Smith is also the only one running for the Marion School Committee to maintain her seat for another term.
Waterman has spoken publically against the current Board of Selectmen’s decision to jettison the new town house construction option article from the Town Meeting warrant.
Zora can often be heard speaking his mind as a concerned citizen on the Town Meeting floor. His father, Joseph Zora, Sr., was a Board of Selectmen member for 27 years, serving nine consecutive terms.
The three-year Assessor position – the only other contested race this year – is now between newcomer George TJ Walker, a former Planning Board member, and incumbent Ray Pickles, whose name has come up in recent local news after he was abruptly dismissed from his position as executive director of the Carver, Marion, Wareham Regional Refuse Disposal District. Pickles is also the current town clerk and a former town administrator.
The remaining uncontested races are as follows: Town Moderator, one year, incumbent Brad Gordon; Board of Health, three years, incumbent John Howard; Planning Board, two seats each three years, current appointed Planning Board member Andrew Daniel and Kristen St. Don-April Rios; Open Space Acquisition Commission, three years, incumbent Alan Harris.
Voting for the Friday, May 18, Annual Election is at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center located at 465 Mill Road. Polls open at 8:00 am and close at 8:00 pm.
By Jean Perry