FRAMINGHAM — Despite a small number of competitive races, the results of the Nov. 7 biennial election could have long-term ramifications on city politics.
One key race occurs in District 8, where longtime local politician John Stefanini is defending his City Council seat against challenger Leslie White Harvey, currently vice chair of the Board of Library Trustees.
Stefanini, who is also a former Select Board member and state representative, is seeking a third two-year term on the council. White Harvey, a Natick educator, is involved in numerous volunteer positions, including on the board of Downtown Framingham Inc. and the Framingham History Center.
One preliminary race:Framingham’s biennial city election ballot is beginning to take shape
Also on the city’s south side is the race for District 9. Incumbent Tracey Bryant, who is seeking a third term, is being challenged by Jose Ferreira, who publicly stated ahead of the Sept. 19 preliminary election that he was no longer seeking the position — but did not withdraw from the race in time and ended up taking second place and qualifying for Tuesday’s ballot.
The final competitive race for City Council is in District 2, which will see a new representative from the Saxonville neighborhood. Incumbent Cesar Stewart-Morales announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection, opening the door for a new councilor. Two candidates have stepped forward — Sean Silk, a small business owner, and Brandon Ward a nonprofit executive and School Committee member at Keefe Tech.
Polls on Tuesday are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. For information on how and where to vote, visit the city’s website.
Low number of competitive races may limit turnout
With only three of the 11 City Council seats drawing multiple candidates, turnout on Tuesday is expected to be low. Neither of the two at-large City Council seats, which have four-year terms and are now held by George King and Janet Leombruno, has a challenger.
City Council Chair Phil Ottaviani, who is running unopposed in District 6, expressed disappointment over the small number of challengers.
“It’s disappointing,” he said. “I tell people, the world we live in today, you’ve got to have tough skin. It’s one thing for the candidates to deal with it, but the families as well. People today, you go to social media and see what is out there and they say, why bother? Why put myself out there?”
Ottaviani added that he also thinks part of the reason is that in general, Framingham residents view city government favorably, and thus there isn’t much interest or support in encouraging challengers to incumbent officials.
“I think people see the City Council meetings and they see a productive council, they see people getting things done and working together, and we have not always had that,” Ottaviani said. “The council and the mayor work together and we see things, like getting the Marian High School and turning it into a community center, and securing the Bethany Road property to become a new south side elementary school.”
Besides Ottaviani, City Councilors Christine Long (District 1), Adam Steiner (District 3), Michael Cannon (District 4), Noval Alexander (District 5) and Leora Mallach (District 7) are all unopposed in their reelection bids.
This year’s election is even sleepier when it comes to the School Committee, which will see no competitive races at all. The only new faces on the board figure to be Judith Styer, who is running unopposed in District 5 where state Rep. Priscila Sousa has decided not to seek reelection; and Ricardo Robles, who was appointed to represent District 1 this summer following the resignation of Beverly Hugo, and who is running unopposed for a full two-year term.
Earlier:Framingham School Committee picks replacement in District 1
The most competitive race will be that for Board of Library Trustees. Eight candidates are seeking six spots on the board with incumbents Annabel Dodd, Robert Dodd and Janet Harrington each seeking reelection, and Heather Klish, Mark Dugan, Cynthia MacLean, Julie Wolf and Andrew Machkasov all challenging for a seat.
Library trustees serve four-year terms.
Lastly, there is an election for cemetery trustee, where two of five seats are up for reelection. Incumbents Susan Silva and John Feeney are each running unopposed.
Cemetery trustees also serve four-year terms.
