In the two contested offices in the March 28 town election, Planning Board seats were won by incumbent Margaret Olson and Stephen Gladstone, while former Selectman Sara Mattes beat Stanley Solomon by a margin of nearly 2-1 in the race for Bemis Trustee.
Overall, the Planning Board votes were closely divided among the three candidates, with Gladstone taking the most at 37 percent, followed by Olson with 33 percent and Jennifer Morris Gundy with 29 percent. However, each of the town’s two precincts had different results. In a very close race in Precinct 1 (the southwest side of town), Olson, Gundy and Gladstone finished first, second and third respectively. In Precinct 2, Gladstone won by a wide margin, followed by Olson and Gundy.
Here are the complete unofficial results:
Town of Lincoln annual town election – March 28, 2016 |
|||
| Prec. 1 | Prec. 2 | Total | |
| BOARD OF SELECTMEN | |||
| James E. Craig | 215 | 94 | 309 |
| Blanks | 43 | 36 | 79 |
| Write-in | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| BOARD OF ASSESSORS | |||
| John G. Robinson | 214 | 93 | 307 |
| Blanks | 46 | 37 | 83 |
| Write-in | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BOARD OF HEALTH | |||
| Steven R. Kanner | 206 | 88 | 294 |
| Blanks | 53 | 42 | 95 |
| Write-in | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CEMETERY COMMISSION | |||
| Conrad H. Todd | 218 | 97 | 315 |
| Blanks | 40 | 33 | 73 |
| Write-in | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| COMMISSIONER OF TRUST FUNDS | |||
| Douglas B. Harding | 223 | 95 | 318 |
| Blanks | 37 | 35 | 72 |
| Write-in | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DeCORDOVA TRUSTEE | |||
| Dune D. Thorne | 209 | 87 | 296 |
| Blanks | 49 | 43 | 92 |
| Write-in | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| HOUSING COMMISSION | |||
| Sharon K. Antia | 207 | 88 | 295 |
| Blanks | 51 | 41 | 92 |
| Write-in | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| TOWN CLERK | |||
| Susan F. Brooks | 228 | 110 | 338 |
| Blanks | 30 | 20 | 50 |
| Write-in | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| LSRHS SCHOOL COMMITTEE (vote for 2) | |||
| Radha Raman Gargeya | 199 | 79 | 278 |
| Kevin J. Matthews | 183 | 70 | 253 |
| Blanks | 138 | 111 | 249 |
| Write-in | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PARKS AND RECREATION | |||
| Patricia M. Donahue | 212 | 95 | 307 |
| Blanks | 48 | 35 | 83 |
| Write-in | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PLANNING BOARD (vote for 2) | |||
| Setha Margaret Olson | 146 | 59 | 205 |
| Stephen R. Gladstone | 135 | 94 | 229 |
| Jennifer Morris Gundy | 139 | 42 | 181 |
| Blanks | 99 | 65 | 164 |
| Write-in | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| SCHOOL COMMITTEE | |||
| Timothy H.T. Christenfeld | 207 | 34 | 241 |
| Blanks | 49 | 0 | 49 |
| Write-in | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| BEMIS TRUSTEE (vote for 1) | |||
| Sara A. Mattes | 151 | 84 | 235 |
| Stanley J. Solomon | 101 | 37 | 138 |
| Blanks | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Write-in | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| WATER COMMISSIONER | |||
| Patrick J. Lawler | 213 | 39 | 252 |
| Blanks | 47 | 0 | 47 |
| Write-in | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LINCOLN LIBRARY TRUSTEE | |||
| Jennifer A. James | 212 | 36 | 248 |
| Blanks | 46 | 0 | 46 |
| Write-in | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Question 1. To assess an additional $320,000 in taxes for DPW equipment | |||
| YES | 206 | 22 | 228 |
| NO | 31 | 18 | 49 |
| Blank | 23 | 0 | 23 |
| Question 2. Minuteman High School debt | |||
| YES | 128 | 44 | 172 |
| NO | 67 | 40 | 107 |
| Blank | 65 | 0 | 65 |
Town of Lincoln local politics is a bit underwhelming right now. This was a practically invisible local election for seats in town governance. I appreciate people are willing to serve. It would be nice to have a little more information about all the candidates, so that it is not just all guess work and one could place a name with a face. I guess we are all too busy to have any sort of voters’ league anymore. Does the town administrator have any ideas about this? The Lincoln Journal is next to useless on almost every level! I do appreciate the Lincoln Squirrel but do not use a credit card to pay for subscriptions to anything, especially with some publications thinking they have the right to do automatic renewals.
The Lincoln PTO held a candidates forum (shades of our old LWV) at Hartwell on Friday March 4th. Probably well publicized to parents but also was in the March COA “News from Bemis”, in the calendar and described on page 9. Always good to read this publication cover to cover.
I have to agree with Ms. Fitzgerald. Further, I am disappointed at such a low turnout. As you might know I am running for Governor’s Council this September. I hope that Lincoln voters come out – as of right now Lincoln has no representative, Lincoln resident, in any state or federal office. We need to change that and we need more effort in going to the polls.
After campaigning last year I joined the League of Women Voters of Waltham. I would love if a couple more Lincolnites would join me and we can put on candidate forums here in town. I agree we need more opportunity to here from our candidates.
I want to congratulate Margaret and Steve, and also thank all those who voted for me. And I agree that it would be best to have more dialog and discussion with Town candidates. Having more candidates, and more contested positions would help foster that, so please consider stepping forward for the next ballot. Lincoln thrives on participation!
-Jennie