One contested race so far as election ballot begins to take shape

Three candidates will vie for a seat on the Board of Health in this spring’s town election with all other offices uncontested.

On the April 2 ballot will be two seats on the Select Board, two on the School Committee, one Board of Health seat, two on the Planning Board, one moderator seat,
one assessor’s seat, two Trustee of Free Public Libraries and two on the Parks and Recreation Board.

There are two candidates whose nomination papers are awaiting certification, and it is not currently known which seats they are running for.

Ten incumbents are running for re-election, including Select Board members Shawn McDonald and Heidi Silva Brooks.

The deadline to submit nomination papers was Feb. 11, with 17 Dartmouth residents vying for the 13 open positions.

In addition to submitting a nomination paper, candidates were also required to obtain a minimum of 50 certified signatures and addresses of registered voters for town office positions or a minimum of 20 certified signatures and addresses for town meeting member positions.

Candidates have until Thursday, Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. to object or withdraw their nomination papers from the Town Clerk’s office, so the ballot may change.

To register to vote, residents can go to the Town Clerk’s office, located in Town Hall at 400 Slocum Road, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The final day to register to vote is Saturday, March 22 at 5 p.m. Residents can also register online.

The last day to request a mail-in ballot is Tuesday, March 25 with the election occurring on Tuesday, April 1 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Additional information about the election can be found on the Town of Dartmouth website.

Board of Health:

The Board of Health seat is currently occupied by Michelle Keith, and it is unknown whether she’s running for re-election. The three known candidates vying for the position are James Griffith, Chester Tam and Susan Murray.

Griffith, who ran for the Board of Library Trustees seat in the 2022 election, taught microbiology and infectious disease at UMass Dartmouth for 42 years.

In a Dartmouth Week candidate profile from 2022, Griffith said he’s “spent time at research and scientific libraries all over the world.”

Tam said he’s running for the Board of Health because he believes “our community deserves transparency, accountability, and common-sense policies when it comes to public health.”

One issue that he said is the “most critical” for him is “ensuring that public health policies are rooted in science and facts, rather than being influenced by political agendas.”

Planning Board:

The two Planning Board seats up for a vote are currently held by chair Kevin Melo and member Helio Rosa, who is running for his second term. It is unknown if Melo is running for reelection

Rosa joined the Planning Board in July 2024 after former Planning Director Christine O’Grady resigned. At the time, it was decided he wouldn’t take the full remaining term, with the seat instead going to the 2025 annual town election.

Lorri-Ann Miller, who has served as a member of the Planning Board before, decided to run for the position again because of new bylaws from the state and felt the Board needed “some background on a lot of stuff.”

“I want to get back on because some of the bylaws need to be changed to keep up with … what the state’s doing,” she said.

Select Board:

The known Select Board candidates on the ballot are incumbents Shawn McDonald and Heidi Silva Brooks.

McDonald, who is completing his fifth term, said he’s running for reelection because “there’s some unfinished things” he would like to have done. 

This includes completing the town administrator search and making sure the town is operating at “its most efficient manner with personnel and making sure that the staffing needs are met,” he said.

Brooks is running for her second term on the Select Board and said she’s hoping the board will “accomplish more of the items on our to-do list.”

She added some of the concerns she would like to address include the town’s infrastructure needs and “some financial bumps.”

School Committee:

The two School Committee seats on the ballot are those of Chris Oliver and John Nunes. Both incumbents are running for reelection, and, as it’s currently known, are running uncontested.

If re-elected, this would be Oliver’s fifth term on the Committee. Nunes has served on the Committee for over 30 years.

As the election nears, Dartmouth Week will be following up with candidates and will provide additional election information.