Two Former Selectmen Running for the Board

There will be a Board of Selectmen’s race on this year's town election ballot after all – and the two candidates will likely be familiar names to North Reading residents.

Four candidates took out papers in the days leading up to the deadline on Tuesday, but only two returned the papers with the required signatures. 

On the ballot for selectman will be former selectmen Jeffrey Yull and William Smith. Yull served one term on the board, but did not seek reelection two years ago.

There was concern that no one was going to step forward after Selectmen Chairman Sean Delaney announced in January that he wasn’t seeking reelection.

School Committee Chairman Mel Webster wrote a post on Patch last week about the situation and Patch answered the question – What happens if no one runs? 

Other seats

Incumbents will run unopposed for Moderator, School Committee and Community Planning Committee. No one took out papers to take on incumbents John Murphy, Clifford Barnes and Christopher Hayden.

However, Housing Authority member Peter Carriere, who is up for reelection, did not return nomination papers, which means that the candidate with the most write-ins in the May 6 town election will win a seat on the Housing Authority. No word whether any candidates will start a write-in candidacy.

Find more information about the election here.