On the eve of the 2023 Town Caucus, the Bedford Town Election ballot is taking shape.
The caucus, which chooses candidates for all vacancies on the ballot, begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Town Hall’s multi-purpose Reed Room.
Over the weekend, after Ann Guay announced she will not seek re-election to a fourth term, two candidates confirmed they will be on the March 11 ballot for School Committee. Sarah Scoville will seek re-election and Sarah McGinley announced her intention to run.
McGinley has attended almost every School Committee meeting for the past year as non-voting representative of households connected to Hanscom Air Force Base. She and her family moved to town from the base in 2019.
There are also two announced candidates for the two openings on the Select Board: Bopha Malone, running for re-election, and Paul Mortenson, current chair of the Finance Committee.
Steven Hagan has announced he is running for re-election to the Planning Board, and his colleague Jacinda Barbehenn is expected to be a candidate as well.
Other incumbents who have announced plans to run are Ellis Kriesberg, Bedford Housing Authority; Rebecca Neale, Board of Assessors; Dennis Ross for an unexpired one-year term on the Board of Assessors; and Rachael Field, Board of Library Trustees. Another seat on the Library Trustees is vacant.
Incumbents Ann Keissling and Susan Schwartz have both announced their candidacy to run for re-election for their seats on the Board of Health.
The caucus will be shorter than its pre-pandemic predecessors. The name of each candidate will be placed in nomination, but there will be no nominating remarks. The only speakers will be the candidates themselves.
That practice was first adopted last year when the goal was to minimize exposure to illness. There was no caucus in 2021.
Virtually no one leaves the caucus unhappy since it is allowed to nominate two candidates per opening. Prospective candidates can still secure placement on the ballot by obtaining 50 signatures of Bedford registered voters on nominating petitions. The deadline for submitting papers to the town clerk’s office is Friday, Jan. 20.
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