4 New Candidates Join School Committee
Incumbent City Councilors Retain SeatsStory Updated 10:10AM Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Click here to download unofficial election results
– Allison Goldsberry
Four new candidates have earned spots on the Medford School Committee, with only two incumbent School Committee members retaining their seats on the six-member body.
School Committee Vice-Chair Ann Marie Cugno has been elected to her third term and long-time member Paulette Van der Kloot was also re-elected.
Joining the two veterans are George Scarpelli, John Falco, Sharon Guzik, and Bill O’Keefe.
Scarpelli topped the ticket, earning 4,202 votes.
Scarpelli said he was “overwhelmed” and didn’t expect to top the ticket. He said all of those votes represent the change voters wanted to see.
“To top the tickets just tells us what the city wants,” said Scarpelli.
He thanked his volunteers for working so hard on his behalf.
“We knocked on a lot of doors and worked really hard to be here tonight,” said Scarpelli.
Another new candidate, John Falco, also earned more votes than the top incumbent, Vice-Chair Cugno. Falco received 3,849 votes while Cugno earned 3,677 votes.
Falco said he was surprised by the results and that he didn’t expect to receive the second-highest number of votes. He also thanked all of the volunteers who helped out with his campaign.
“It’s been a long road…we put in a lot of time and lot of effort,” said Falco, who began campaigning for the School Committee in January.
Incumbent School Committee members Lena DiGiantommaso, William Brady, and Robert E. Skerry, Jr., were not re-elected.
Mayor Michael McGlynn said the city “owed a great debt of gratitude” to DiGiantommaso, Brady, and Skerry and that they “gave a lot of years and moved education forward.”
Mayor McGlynn said “winds of change blowing across the Commonwealth” contributed to new faces earning spots in elective office across the state, including Medford. He also said the successful challengers campaigned “long and hard.”
“They did a great job and are to be congratulated,” said Mayor McGlynn.
McGlynn said “the toughest part of the job is yet to come,” referring to an impending $3 billion state budget gap that will impact local budgets.
Mayor McGlynn, who ran unopposed, was re-elected to his twelfth term. He received 6,618 votes.
Each of the seven incumbent city councilors were re-elected: Stephanie Muccine Burke, Paul Camuso, Michael Marks, Frederick Dello Russo, Jr., Robert Penta, Robert Maiocco, and Breanna Lungo-Koehn.
Voter turnout was higher than the 21% turnout for the 2007 election. According to unofficial numbers released by the Registrar of Voters office, 9,182 of Medford’s 34,703 registered voters cast ballots in the election, a turnout of 26.5%.
The following results are unofficial:
Mayor
Mayor Michael McGlynn 6,589 votes
School Committee
Top six candidates
George Scarpelli 4,162
John Falco 3,849
Ann Marie Cugno 3,657
Sharon Guzik 3,374
Paulette Van der Kloot 3,182
Bill O’Keefe 3,155
Robert E. Skerry, Jr. 3,073
William Brady 3,043
Lena DiGiantommaso 2,898
Chris Murphy 2,588
Larry Brown 1,951
City Council
Top seven candidates
Stephanie Muccine Burke 4,815
Paul Camuso 4,756
Michael Marks 4,454
Frederick Dello Russo, Jr. 4,432
Robert Penta 4,343
Robert Maiocco 4,300
Breanna Lungo-Koehn 4,183
Mark Arena 3,769
Joseph Federico 2,114
Brian Chamberlain 1,973
More…
I would like to congratulate Bill, Sharron, John, and George and I would like to thank the 2,588 people who trusted in me, the 2,588 people who thought I was the man for the job , the 2,588 people who wanted to put the education of their children in my hands and I promise the 2,588 people that I will come out in 2011 and work harder then anyone and keep the dream alive.
Congrats to the new school committee crew, especially John Falco, we have high expectations! The winds of change have arrived in Meffa!