Several incumbents fall in Berkshire County

GREAT BARRINGTON – Several towns around Berkshire County had very close elections, with a few races resulting in local incumbents losing their seats.

In Great Barrington, Incumbent Selectman Stephen C. Bannon and Daniel Bruce Bailly won seats in a close three-way race. Mr. Bannon came in first with 671 total votes, followed by Mr. Bailly, who was granted 569 votes. They beat out third place candidate, Michael Owen Wise, who earned 541 votes.

Mr. Bannon, who will now begin his second term on the select board, has also served on the Berkshire Hills Regional School Committee for more than 15 years and is currently that board’s chairman.

Mr. Bailly, a carpenter with experience on several town committees, has frequently mentioned high taxes as centerpiece of his campaign.

In New Marlborough, incumbent Lawrence H. Davis III was defeated by Michele Shalaby for the one vacant seat on the select board. Ms. Shalaby received 229 votes to Mr. Davis’ 112.

Mr. Davis also lost he seat as town tree warden to Pete P. Marks by a final tally of 167 to 161 votes.

Another incumbent selectman was defeated in Sheffield. Select Board incumbent David Smith Jr. lost to last minute write-in candidate Edwin “Ted” Dobson by a tally of 401 to 344.

Mr. Dobson, who owns Equinox Farm, only launched his campaign last Thursday (May 9) after the discussion over the controversial Dollar General project at town meeting. At the meeting, residents were not allowed to raise concerns over a store proposal.

Opponents of the store, including Mr. Dobson, have said Dollar General could be a disaster for local small businesses and supported the planning board’s push to rescind the permit granted to Primex Corp. to construct a proposed Dollar General store at 666-670 North Main St.

Mr. Smith, who is also a former Great Barrington selectman, had explained the issue was not decided to be open for debate at town meeting by the moderator because it was not directly on the warrant.

Posted by Kameron Z. Spaulding on May 16, 2013. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry