This article originally appeared in Auburn Mass Daily | May 11, 2021
The 2021 Town of Auburn annual election will be held on Tuesday, May 18. Voters will be selecting two Selectmen, a Library Trustee, Town Moderator, two School Committee members, and Town Meeting representatives for their respective precincts.
On the ballot, the only contested positions are for the Selectman seats and Town Meeting Member positions in Precinct 3.
The polls at Auburn High will be open on Tuesday, May 18, from 8am to 8pm for in-person voting.
Monica Locker is the sole candidate for the five-year Auburn Housing Authority vacancy. Similarly, incumbent Mary Decourcey is the sole candidate for a three-year term on the Library Board of Trustees.
Incumbents George Scobie and Meghan McCrillis are both unopposed in seeking re-election for three-year School Committee seats. Current town Moderator Chet Stencel is the only candidate for the one – year Moderator opening.
Town Meeting Members are elected for three year terms, with each of Auburn’s five Precincts having 24 representatives. Voters are typically asked to vote for eight representatives each election, unless there are unexpired TMM vacancies.
In Precinct 1, there are just seven candidates on the ballot. Five are incumbents seeking reelection, while Nan Johnson and Kara Westerman are seeking seats for the first time. This leaves one opening that may be decided by a write-in. Voters can write in any name they like, though that person will only be eligible to hold the Town Meeting seat if they reside in the precinct where they receive the votes.
Likewise, Precinct 2 also has just seven candidates on the ballot. Six are incumbents, while David Saltz is seeking one of the two remaining open seats. Again, write in candidates may decide the representatives in this precinct.
Precinct 3 has nine candidates seeking the eight seats up for election. Seven of the candidates are incumbents, while Doreen Goodrich and Jeffrey Murray are seeking election to the eight available seat. Goodrich chaired her final Board of Selectman meeting on Monday, May 10, after choosing not to seek reelection after four terms as a Selectwoman.
Precinct 4 has seven candidates, six of whom are incumbents and Shawn Downes a newcomer seeking a seat. The eight opening is blank, and voters may write in a candidate so long as that person resides within the precinct.
Precinct 5 has eight residents running for Town Meeting, and all are incumbents.
In the Board of Selectmen race, incumbent Tristan LaLiberte is seeking election to another full three-year term. Laliberte served as selectman for two terms before taking a break after graduating from the University of Massachusetts. In September 2020, he was reelected to a one year unexpired term created when Ken Holstrom moved from Auburn in the spring of 2020 and resigned from the BOS.
Newcomer to local politics Sara Rufli is running again, this time for a three year term. She also ran in September 2020 for the unexpired one year term, and was the second leading vote-getter behind LaLiberte.
Perennial candidate Wayne Page is seeking a three year term as well. Page has run numerous times in the past few years, including in the September 2020 special election, but has come up short each time.
Finally, Steven Chambers makes his second attempt at earning a BOS seat. Chambers ran for the unexpired one year term in 2020, and was the third leading vote getter in that race behind LaLiberte and Rufli.