Mills Tops Ticket in Race for Selectman

Retired judge David Mills topped the ticket in Tuesday's Annual Town Election to gain a seat on the Board of Selectmen.

Mills, 70, a former Town Moderator and Town Meeting Member who has a long history in Danvers although he has never run for Selectman before, knocked incumbent Keith Lucy from his seat on the board.

Mills gathered with supporters to celebrate his victory at Timothy's on Route 1 Tuesday night. A testament to his longstanding presence in town politics, most of the crowd in the barroom were fellow senior citizens or close to it.

"There's no 'I' involved here, there is 'we,'" he said, attributing Tuesday's results and place atop the ticket to the longstanding connections he and his family have made in town.

"People joked about my 99-year-old schoolteacher, but guess what, she voted today," Mills said, smiling. He mentioned visiting that teacher in recent candidate forums.

He had nothing but high praise for his two opponents and said the fact that they have been in office for several years and faced with making tough votes at times perhaps played a part in Tuesday's results.

"I think that they are both extremely talented people," he said.

Lucy, 48, who was running for a fourth term, finished a distant third in the race behind fellow incumbent Daniel Bennett, who won a third term on the board Tuesday.

Whether it was due to apathy toward the race or voters only picking one favorite candidate, the end result was that there 724 blank ballots, which could have tipped the race any number of ways.

State Rep. Ted Speliotis was on hand to congratulate Mills at Timothy's. "I'm thrilled for Dave," he said, noting they have known each other a long time and Mills supported him from the first time he ran for state office nearly 30 years ago.

Speliotis also succeeded Mills' father as Town Moderator when he served in that role for several years before winning re-election to Beacon Hill.

"I think he'll be a wonderful stabilizing force on the board," he said.

Bennett, 64, said he felt Tuesday's results demonstrated recognition of his hard work on the board and during the campaign, and likewise confidence in the job he's done so far.

He agreed that name recognition and Mills' long history in town likely played into Tuesday's results, but all three men ran good campaigns, Bennett said.

Moving forward, he said, a top priority now will be to continue hashing out zoning regulations for medical marijuana treatment centers should a facility decide to locate in town.

Bennett pointed out that detailed guidelines from the state are still forthcoming and a temporary moratorium will be before Town Meeting in two weeks to give the town time to work out the zoning.

Selectmen Chairman William Clark, who was down at Town Hall, said the "hardest thing" for him during the election was just to stay neutral in a race in which he knew and respected all three candidates.

"I don't think he'll have as big a learning curve as most people would," Clark said, referring to Mills. During candidate forums, Mills freely admitted several times that he didn't know particular details on various issues to offer more than a general answer.

Clark said Mills, however, has been involved in town politics for a long time.

Former Selectman Michael Powers, who resigned in April, also stopped by Town Hall to see the results.

He likewise said voters were faced with a tough decision and had three good candidates to choose from. "David is a great candidate," he said.

"Somebody new represents a fresh beginning," Powers said, offering one explanation for the results.

Lucy did not return a phone call for comment Tuesday night.

Voter turnout was low for the day as Town Clerk Joseph Collins expected -- about 13 percent.

Board of Selectmen

As for who will fill the empty seat on the board due to Powers' resignation, that remains to be seen.

The board will officially reorganize Thursday evening, at which time a new chairman will be selected and board members will attempt to appoint a fifth member to temporarily fill the seat until the next town election.

Clark had said he would simply seek to nominate whoever lost Tuesday's election, but he might not be the chairman again come Thursday.

Collins said he did receive three applications for the position as of Tuesday. They were from Randall Sparkas, Diane Langlais, who is a member of the Finance Committee, and Christ Boras.

Bennett said that if Lucy is interested in the vacancy, he hopes he submits a letter to the board to that effect.