The Observer Newspapers |New Norm for Town Council

May 9, 2008

New Norm for Town Council

There was widespread speculation over the past two years that the Town Council election in 2006 was a fluke. Some said that election, in which almost all the candidates who had endorsed the official day labor center were ousted from the board, was heavily influenced by outside groups promoting national agendas.

But the election Tuesday of the 2008-2010 Town Council showed that even if the town remains divided on how it should approach many issues, including immigration-related issues, the prevailing opinion now is that the current board is leading the town down the correct path.

Mayor Steve DeBenedittis, criticized by some for being too soft-spoken or for taking a back seat to other Town Council members, received a healthy 1,313 votes, 373 more than his primary challenger, Harlon Reece, a long-time council member and the only member of the board remaining who endorsed the now-closed official day labor site.

All incumbent members of the board who were swept into office in 2006 were returned for another two years on Tuesday, and voters found room for only one other new face on the board as they chose Richard Downer, an experienced politician in the town who is back in a position of leadership.

In 2006, Councilman Dennis Husch received the most votes, and by tradition became vice mayor, by only 40 votes, while Mayor DeBenedittis won election by only 130 votes. Mr. Husch, perhaps the most criticized and debated member of the board, hung onto his seat by only 10 votes, but he did not lose.

On Tuesday, the public showed that the 2006 election was not an aberration, but the establishment of a new norm in the town.