POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Spauldings at the GOP convo; Ameden elected to Derry Select Board; entire Planning Commission resigns; Windsor Republican candidates flock to school board meeting

By Cynthia Prairie
©2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC

James Ameden Jr. handily won Saturday’s election to the Londonderry Select Board, beating Steve Twitchell, 120 to 64 votes.

Ameden, who ran on a platform that included empowering young people to take leadership roles and had a strong showing with political yard signs, will now fill the unexpired two-year term of Melissa Brown, who resigned by back in May over public disputes among board members concerning proposed zoning regulations from the Planning Commission.  Ameden will have to stand for re-election on Town Meeting Day, Tuesday, March 4, 2025.

According to Town Clerk Kelly Pajala, of the town’s 1,636 registered voters, 191 cast ballots. Seven of those ballots were spoiled and could not be counted. Saturday’s meeting, held at Town Hall on Middletown Road in South Londonderry, was scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. But she said that the long line to check in put the start time back to 10, but after the floor balloting and counting, the meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m.

Speaking of the Londonderry Planning Commission, all seven members of that body resigned en masse in late June. The commission had been receiving community pushback over specific proposals within its draft of the zoning bylaws. Some of those community members are also on the Select Board.

Select Board member Martha Dale, whose husband Richard had sat on the Planning Commission, told the board at its July 1 meeting that commission members did not feel supported in its processes by the Select Board as it worked for five years on the new document. Dale said she hoped the Select Board would learn from the resignations about how to support future commission members, who are appointed by the Select Board.

As usual, tensions were apparent between Dale and Select Board Chair Tom Cavanagh over a number of issues, including the role of the Planning Commission in getting the word out about its meetings and its progress on various issues as well the Select Board’s  process for replacing the commission members. There was no disagreement over Dale’s suggestion that they thank all the former commission members for their years of service.

Windsor Republican candidates drop in

In a highly unusual, but not unwelcome move, a number of Republican candidates for the three-person Windsor state Senate contingent and several of the state House seats dropped by the Green Mountain Unified School District Board meeting in Chester last Thursday as it discussed school restructuring among the district’s three schools: Cavendish Town Elementary, Chester-Andover Elementary and Green Mountain Union High.

The school restructuring issue has gotten Cavendish residents worried — once again — that moves are being made within the Two Rivers Supervisory Union to shutter Cavendish Town Elementary. Green Mountain District Board members and principals assured concerned parents at the meeting that that was definitely not the case as they attempt to right-size the schools. Cavendish is losing school population while Chester-Andover is crowded.

So, why did the candidates make an appearance? According to Senate candidate Jack Williams of Weathersfield. “I’m here just as an observer.” After some confusion, he clarified later that they were not elected officials but candidates. “We’re candidates, not incumbents. We want to ensure you we want to help you.  … we want to listen to you and help you.” He introduced those seated with him as the “Senate Team” saying, “We have the entire Windsor County Senate team and representatives here and we are here to offer suggestions.” He promised that “if we’re elected this is what we want to do: come to meetings and listen and offer any help we can.”

Also in attendance was Andrea Murray, also a Senate candidate from Weathersfield who formally announced her run in a letter to the editor, and V.L. Coffin of Cavendish, who is running for the House representing WDR-2. None that we could hear introduced themselves as Republicans. A message left on Williams’ phone Tuesday was not returned by Wednesday morning publishing time.

It was actually good to see candidates from this southern part of the county — and to see them out and about. They have a vested interest in our communities.  I’m not sure if most of our readers would know what the incumbent Windsor senators looked like if we didn’t run their pictures every so often.