Templeton topples incumbent; Munro wins in Bartlett

CONWAY — Town meeting election day is in the books for many Carroll County towns, but due to Winter Storm Sage, several municipalities postponed their elections. Of those that voted, there were a few surprises, including an incumbent selectmen losing his re-election bid. That was in Ossipee, where R. Christopher Templeton, who last served on the board of selectmen in the 1980s, defeated Selectman Jonathan Smith by a tally of 157-117.

Reached Wednesday, he said he was a bit surprised by the results and noted it’s been 37 years since his first term. “They can’t call me a career politician,” Templeton quipped.

As for goals, Templeton, a former educator, said he would like to help attract eco-friendly businesses with good-paying jobs to town.

Smith said he had hoped to continue to build on the board’s successes, which in his candidate essay listed as putting the Whittier Covered Bridge back across the water and ending “illegal” tax exemptions and payment plans.

Of Templeton, Smith said, “I wish the winner well and hope he will continue to build upon the foundation that has been set.”

There also was a race for two three-year terms on the planning board between Brian Ames, Condict Billings and incumbent Ash Fischbein. Ames and Fischbein won the seats, receiving 174 and 165 votes, respectively. Billings received 97 votes.

Winning library trustee seats were Linda Hatfield and incumbent DorisAnn Allenson with 166 and 102 votes, respectively. Templeton received 88 votes and Diana Meyer, 73.

Ossipee voters also passed all 25 planning/zoning-related articles. Town meeting was scheduled for Wednesday night in the Ossipee Town Hall.

Bartlett’s election also served up a bit of an upset, with political newcomer Ron Munro beating former County Attorney Tom Dewhurst 154-74.

“I was pretty happy with the result,” Munro said by phone Wednesday afternoon. “I’m thrilled.”

He added: “It’s really important to me to give back to a town that has given my wife (Kelly) and me so much. When she got diagnosed with breast cancer, we had only been living here for a year, and I have to tell you, it was so heartwarming the support we received from this community. We knew we had found our forever home.”

Dewhurst, who was at town hall when the votes were counted, was gracious in defeat Wednesday.

“People wanted Ron, and that’s OK,” he said by phone. “He seems like a good guy, and I wish him the very best.”

Dewhurst added: “I just put my name out there because I thought I could be helpful. I could give a little back. I heard from a lot of people who said it would be nice to have someone who understands the law (as a selectman). I thought I could be an asset to the town.”

A third candidate, Ray Hodgkins, who is currently working in Hawaii as a foreign affairs adviser for the Air Force, said last week he was withdrawing from the race, but it was too late to get his name off the ballot. Still, he received 26 votes.

In the town’s other contested race, challenger Lauri Roode defeated incumbent Bryan Morin 145-89 for a three-year trustee of trust funds seat.

Bartlett Town Meeting is tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Josiah Bartlett Elementary School gym.

There are 28 articles on the warrant, including two petitioned articles involving the fire department.

No. 12 “seeks $60,000 to study the need for and the essential costs of constructing a new Bartlett Village Fire Station to replace the existing station located at 32 Albany Ave. The following will be addressed within the feasibility study: identify potential locations, identify possible financing and develop preliminary overall project design and budget.”

Selectmen, citing inflationary factors, voted 3-0 against the article, with chair Gene Chandler, Vicki Garland and Gus Vincent contending this is not the year to fund such a study.

Article 13 seeks $150,000 to be put into a capital reserve fund to purchase a new fire truck.

In Albany, where just 47 votes were cast, there were no contested races.

In Eaton, officials postponed the town meeting to Tuesday, March 21, at 6 p.m. Annual School District meeting was moved to March 21 and will begin at 5 p.m.

There are 27 articles on the town warrant, including No. 2, submitted by Thaire Bryant and others by petition, which seeks voter approval to “transition to a town manager/selectman form of governance pursuant to RSA Chapter 37.” The article was not recommended by selectmen Joyce Blue, Richard Fortin and Edward Reilly.

In Freedom, votes were tallied early Wednesday.

“We added three new voters Tuesday; had a total of 182 votes cast — only a 7 percent turnout, but still pretty awesome for a storm day,” said Freedom Town Clerk Libby Priebe.

Four people vied for two three-year seats on the planning board with incumbent Barbara McCracken and Melanie Glavin winning terms. McCracken got 124 votes and Glavin, 92, while incumbent Paul Olzerowicz received 84 votes and Robert Rafferty, 31.

All 11 planning board amendments were approved by a wide margin.

In Jackson, there were no contested races on the school or town ballots.

Jackson Town Meeting is scheduled for today at 7 p.m. in the Whitney Center. There are 10 articles on this year’s warrant.

In Madison, Adam Price won a seat on the board of selectmen, defeating Lucas Jesseman by a vote of 164-133. They were competing for the seat vacated by Josh Shackford.

“I would like to say that I am thankful that the voters in Madison have granted me an opportunity to serve them,” said Price, who ran unsuccessfully before. “I hope I live up to their expectations. I would also add that I appreciate Lucas throwing his name in the ring, and I hope he does the same next year.”

Madison Town Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 18, at 9 a.m. in the James Noyes Hall in the Madison Elementary School. There are 31 articles to be decided, including No. 22, which seeks $71,674 to fund a full-time recreation director. Selectmen oppose the article.

In Wolfeboro, despite the snow, Town Clerk Pat Waterman said 1,518 people cast ballots on Tuesday.

Residents there overwhelmingly passed a warrant article from former Democratic state representative candidate Bobbi Boudman that would prevent the town from spending money on banning books. The article passed 1,058-406.

A similar article was on the Governor Wentworth Regional School District warrant, but the district-wide results will be held until Effingham votes on March 28, Boudman said.

“Wolfeboro citizens don’t ban books!” said Boudman on Facebook. “This is a clear mandate that our three representatives need to kill HB 514 on Thursday.”

She was referring to a House bill sponsored by Glenn Cordelli (R-Tuftonboro), titled, “Relative to the dissemination of obscene material by schools and institutions of higher learning.”

On Monday, during a Governor Wentworth School District meeting in Ossipee, Boudman said a woman named Ruth Clough who opposed the article shouted at her during the meeting and Boudman had police escort her from the building.

Clough reached by Facebook messenger called Boudman a “professional victim.”

“There are some books that are available to school-aged children that are pornographic and should not even be spoken in public places let alone for children to have access to,” said Clough.

“Boudman tried to make us out as homophobics, and that is absolutely not our position. Our position is to protect children from being sexualized in the school system,” she added.

Ossipee Police Detective Sean Mask noted: “There was a small incident that did not lead to any arrest or removal of audience members.”

He added: ”The issue was a person with a strong opinion on the GWRSD Warrant article IX, which is a petition warrant article requesting the prohibit the district from paying funds towards the banning of books or content from GWRSD libraries.”

Due to the weather forecast, Wakefield and Conway Village Fire District rescheduled their annual meetings to March 28.

In Moultonborough, elections have been rescheduled to May 9 and town meeting is now set for May 11.

Tamworth will hold town elections on Tuesday, March 28, at the KA Brett School from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The lone contested race is on the school ballot. Shauna Peterson is challenging incumbents Dexter Harding and Jack Waldron for one of their three-year seats on the school board.

Tamworth Town Meeting is now set for Wednesday, March 29 in the gymnasium at the Brett School at 7 p.m.

Voters will be asked to decide 39 articles on this year’s warrant. Among those is No. 9, which seeks $352,914 for the purchase of a new self-contained breathing apparatus, along with the compressor, filtration system and fill station for the fire/rescue department with $332,938 of the funding from a grant and the remainder of $19,976 to be raised from taxation. Selectmen unanimously support the article.

Hart’s Location also moved its town meeting and the town election to March 28. Voting will now take place 8 a.m.-5 p.m. with the school meeting to start at 4:30 p.m. and the town meeting at 5:10 p.m. All events are taking place at the Notchland Inn on Route 302. For further information, call the town clerk at (603) 374-6397.

Conway Village Fire District will now have its election and district meeting on March 28. Polls will open at 5 p.m. to vote for officers. The annual meeting will begin at 7 p.m.