Monday marks the first day those interested in running for local office can submit declarations of candidacy – they have until Wednesday at 4 p.m. Among the offices up for election are all five seats on the Town Council, three seats on the School Committee, and state House 30 seat, and state Senate 33 and 35 seats.

As of Sunday, there will be three open seats on the School Committee (incumbents Carolyn Mark, Matt Plain and Jeff Dronzek have all opted not to run for reelection – read more HERE). Of the five Town Council seats, only Caryn Corenthal and Mike Donegan have said they will run for reelection; President Mark Schwager, Renu Englehart and Mike Zarrella have said they would wait until this week to announce their intentions.

All three state incumbents – Democrats Bridget Valverde for Senate 35, Justine Caldwell for House 30, and Lou Raptakis for Senate 33 – have said they would run for reelection. So far, only Valverde has an opponent, Charles (Chad) Callanan, a Republican (read more HERE).

Meanwhile, the Town Council has to approve a budget for fiscal year 2021, which begins July 1. They meet tonight and will possibly vote on the budget, but they have also planned for a meeting Tuesday night, in case they need it. By Town Charter, a budget is to be approved before the start of the new fiscal year. Because of the pandemic, the usual deadline of June 10 was pushed back to June 24. Find the agenda for Monday’s meeting HERE and for Tuesday’s meeting HERE.

The School Committee plans to meet June 25 to finalize its budget, which will depend on what the Town Council decides to do.

You can read more about this year’s budget process HERE.

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