Sandwich elects Hunt, Grundman to board of selectmen

SANDWICH — Voters yesterday elected incumbent Randal Hunt and education advocate Linell Grundman to the board of selectmen.

Hunt, who received 1,385 votes, was elected to his second term. Grundman, who tallied 1,215, succeeds Selectman Douglas Dexter, who did not seek re-election.

Grundman edged John Kennan, chairman of the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce, by 52 votes. Steven Chapman, a political newcomer, received 448 votes, and Virender Gautam, who pulled out of the campaign but remained on the ballot, received 44.

"We ran an issues-oriented campaign, and so did Linell, and that was the difference," Hunt said by phone last night.

Grundman joins a board she has criticized in the past. "People knew I could get in there and change the conversation," she said in a phone interview.

"We do have different views, but I think we can work together," Hunt said.

Kennan, in his first bid for office, said he was pleased with the effort. "I look forward to working with these folks going forward. And maybe I'll try it again."

Just 16 percent of the town's 14,754 registered voters cast ballots in yesterday's election.

Two incumbents were returned to the school committee. Robert Simmons received 1,458 votes and Aleta Barton was second with 1,272.

Voters were looking for someone who represents the community and has an interest in the schools, Simmons said, a reference to challenger Michelle E. Merolla, who took out papers to run just weeks after officially moving to town.

"We've had a good year," Simmons said. "It's actually the first time in a while that we've returned members to the school committee. It's an excellent team."

Merolla, a former Fairhaven school committee member known in that town as a "lightning rod of controversy," promised to attend every meeting by flying in from Florida on his private plane. Merolla owns a chain of chiropractic centers and several homes.

"I'm going to school committee meetings the old-fashioned way, in my truck," Simmons said.

In other contested races, Joseph Vaudo and Richard Clayton were elected to the three-year terms on the planning board. Daniel Marsters was also elected to a two-year term on the planning board.

A nonbinding question on whether to move town meeting from the first Monday in May to Saturday failed by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. "Sorry about that, Tom Keyes," said Town Clerk Barbara Walling. Keyes, a selectman, proposed the change to increase voter participation.

George Brennan can be reached at gbrennan@capecodonline.com