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Still no full-day kindergarten in Hudson; school work falls short

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | Mar 14, 2019

A majority of Hudson voters on Tuesday supported the proposed $24 million renovation project for Alvirne High School and the implementation of full-day kindergarten, but the measures did not meet the 60 percent approval rate required for adoption.

The results of Tuesday’s elections in Hudson and other Greater Nashua towns left observers to analyze the “yes” and “no” votes on a range of articles that appeared on this year’s warrants.

Alvirne’s renovation project actually passed a simple majority, but fell just short of the needed three-fifths majority by 74 votes. The kindergarten vote fell short by a 2,360-2,076 margin.

Hudson voters did, however, approve spending $270,000 to replace a damaged section of the high school’s roof. They also passed the $54.7 million school district operating budget for fiscal 2020.

In a three-way race for two open, three-year terms on the Hudson School Board, voters chose Diana Lamothe and Gary Gasdia over Hasan Goode. For the open seat for a one-year term, Gretchen Whiting topped Roger Coutu.

Coutu did better on the town side, where voters chose him and Kara Roy over six other candidates for three-year terms.

As for the warrant articles, “yes” votes were the rule, as all 21 articles were approved, including the town’s $27 million operating budget.

Litchfield

In nearby Litchfield, voters passed the town’s proposed operating budget by a nearly two-to-one margin, and passed the police contract by more than a two-to-one margin.

On other closely-watched articles, Keno 603 triumphed by a three-to-one margin, while petition articles proposing to make the jobs of fire chief and road agent elected positions both failed.

Kevin A. Lynch and F. Robert Leary Sr. defeated three other candidates to win the two open seats on the Board of Selectmen.

Litchfield’s school district results were not yet available late Wednesday.

Hollis

and Brookline

In Hollis, an attempt to adopt the so-called SB-2 format for the Hollis-Brookline Cooperative School District fell short of the needed two-thirds majority by roughly 200 votes.

Voters chose Beth Janine Williams for the open school board seat over Eric Pauer and Thomas Humphreys.

While the Hollis School District had no contested races, Robert Rochford edged Brian Rater for the open seat as Brookline School District treasurer.

Meanwhile, in a closely-watched article on the Brookline School District warrant, voters passed a tax cap measure, which limits the amount local taxes can increase to 8 percent per year.

Voters also passed the proposed $9.8 million operating budget by a healthy, 764-135 margin.

On the town side, Hollis voters chose Mark A. Ledoux and Peter Band in a four-way race for two, three-year terms on the Board of Selectmen. The open seat for a one-year term was won by Susan Benz, who edged Paul Armstrong by 13 votes in the four-way race.

In Brookline, Brendan S. Denehy, with 547 votes, and Drew D. Kellner, with 489, were elected to the two open Selectboard seats, both for three-year terms.

Amherst and Mont Vernon

In Amherst, voters on the town side passed all 16 warrant articles, including the town’s proposed $14 million operating budget. None of the races for town offices were contested.

In Mont Vernon, Tim Berry topped incumbent John Quinlan, 245-214, for the open Board of Selectmen seat.

On the school side, a rather odd outcome in the race for two seats on the Mont Vernon Village School ballot shows Jessica Hinkley garnering 110 votes, while Wes Sonner and Thomas Driscoll each received 13.

Voters passed both the Souhegan Cooperative School District and the Mont Vernon Village School operating budgets.

Wilton

and Lyndeborough

In Wilton, where both the town and the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative School District operate under the traditional Town Meeting format, the race for the two open seats for Wilton representatives to the school board shows a tie, at 235, for Tiffany Cloutier-Cabral and Mark Legere. Harry Dailey was a close third with 216.

John Clark won the two-way race for the one open school board seat for a Lyndeborough representative, topping Charlie Post, 205-116.

On the town side in Wilton, D. J. Garcia Jr. topped William H. Chalmers for town treasurer.

All other races were uncontested.

Note: For coverage of Milford, see Page A3.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com, or @Telegraph_DeanS.

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