In China, 2 incumbents, newcomer gain selectboard seats

by Mary Grow

In Nov. 3 local elections, China voters re-elected two incumbent selectmen and chose Blane Casey to fill the seat vacated by Donna Mills-Stevens.

Results of the five-person race for three positions, reported by Town Clerk Angela Nelson well after 11 p.m. on Election Day, were as follows: Blane Casey, 1,445 votes; incumbent Janet Preston, 1,148; incumbent Ronald Breton, 1,030; Brent Chesley, 722; and Jeanne Marquis, 719.

The rest of the candidates’ ballot had no contests. Voters re-elected four incumbents: Toni Wall and Jim Wilkens to the planning board, with 1,901 and 1,778 votes respectively; and Tim Basham and Tom Rumpf to the budget committee, with 1,928 and 1,864 votes respectively.

There were numerous write-in votes for three positions without listed candidates: Planning board District 4, Budget Committee secretary and budget committee at-large member. Nelson said town office staff will determine that those who received the most votes for each position live in the proper district and are willing to accept election.

Two amendments to China’s solid waste ordinances passed by generous margins,1,380 to 782 and 1,360 to 793. Both replace references to stickers for admission to the transfer station with references that cover the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system now used.

Complete China results, including votes for national and state elective positions, are available on the town website, china.govoffice.com.

Nelson said voters started arriving before 6:30 a.m., half an hour before the polls opened, and kept coming all day; the average time waiting in line was an hour. “People were patient,” she said, though some complained when election officials did not hand out the usual “I Voted Today” stickers.