Second Term Selectmen Takes Helm in Hamilton

Marc Johnson has started his second term on the Hamilton Board of Selectmen as its chairman.

The five-member board unanimously selected Johnson as its new leader when it met on Monday night at Hamilton Town Hall, the first time after the town election where Johnson was reelected and Scott Maddern was elected to the board.

David Neill, who had served as a selectmen in the 1990s, was elected to the board last spring in an uncontested election. At his first meeting, the board elected him chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

“Whether that was a good decision or not, history will decide,” Neill said on Monday night, before the board vote.

The board split 3-2 between Neill and Johnson in 2012.

This year, Neill said it was important that the chairman be selected unanimously by the board – which it did.

Jeff Hubbard, who said he has been the board’s “freshman” for the past two years, said Johnson has the “analytic skills and capabilities” to be chairman.

“I’ve found him very attentive, hard working,” said Neill, looking back at the year that Johnson was vice-chairman while Neill was chairman.

Jennifer Scuteri, a board member since 2009, said Johnson works hard and knows Hamilton town government “forward and backward.”

Before Neill, Scuteri served a chairwoman for two years. She is in her second term on the board.

The board also unanimously selected Hubbard as vice-chairman and Maddern as clerk.

Scuteri, who nominated Hubbard for vice-chairman, said that he would need to step up in Johnson’s absence and will need to work well with Town Manager Michael Lombardo.