BRISTOL — On Town Meeting Day, Bristol residents will see only one contested election — a three-way race for a three-year term on the selectboard (see story here).
But there is a full slate of candidates running unopposed for seats on school boards. Write-in candidates do sometimes win elections.
Bristol Elementary School board chair Steve Barsalou will not be seeking re-election for his three-year seat, but the only candidate for his spot is familiar with how a school board works. Allison Sturtevant, who is running for Barsalou’s seat, is also running for a seat on the Mount Abraham Union High School board, where she was appointed in August 2015 to take over for Robert Donnis, after his resignation. At that time, board members said that among the reasons she was appointed were her strong skills in budgeting from her work as an administrator at UVM and her repeatedly demonstrated ability to reach out to the community on school issues. She told the Independent that she plans to serve the community as a member of both school boards.
Also for the Bristol Elementary School board, incumbent Chris Scrodin is running unopposed to continue in his one-year seat. Colleen Bouvier Wedge, who was appointed to the Bristol Elementary board in November to fill out Sheryl Thurber’s vacated seat, will now be running for that position in her own right.
Mount Abraham Union High School incumbent board member Carol Eldridge is running for re-election to her current three-year seat.
MAUHS board member Alicia Kurth will not stand for re-election to her three-year seat, so that spot on the Mount Abe board is wide open for a write-in campaign.
Also still unfilled on the Bristol ballot are two seats for library trustee — a one-year seat and one two-year seat. All other spots on the ballot are filled, but no other spots are contested.