Melrose School Committee Candidate Kraunelis Will Not Pursue Seat Further

MELROSE, MA—Despite efforts from Jason Kraunelis and supporters, The vacant Melrose School Committee seat was filled by Jaime McAllister-Grande last week. Kraunelis made a statement regarding the situation on the Melrose Free Press' website Monday.

In the statement on the Free Press' website, Kraunelis stated that he does not plan to the matter further. You can view the statement in its entirety here.

The following is an excerpt from the statement:

First, I would like to thank the many people who have reached out in support of me regarding the recent vacancy on the school committee. I also want to thank Carrie Kourkoumelis for her years of service to the Melrose Public Schools. Carrie and I both ran in the 2013 race for School Committee where she won election to a four-year term. Upon the announcement of her resignation last week, I reviewed the city’s Charter.

When I read the headline under Section 46: Filling of Vacancies, which reads, “Runner Up to Succeed to Office,” I interpreted “preceding election” to refer to the election in which Carrie and I both ran, thus making me the next qualified runner up.

Early Wednesday morning, I went to City Hall to see what I needed to do to be sworn in. I went to see the mayor, who was not yet in. I was pretty excited so it was not too long before I returned. The mayor was still not in, but his secretary took my contact information and said that either the mayor or the city solicitor would get back to me.

Before long, I learned that Aaron Leibowitz, of the Melrose Free Press, was reporting on social media that our city solicitor had a different interpretation of the Charter, and that the city was planning to swear in someone else. I had to act fast and put something in writing stating that I believed I was the one who should fill the vacancy. I quickly fired off a letter to let them know I was serious and was committed to pursuing legal options to secure the seat.After that, I again learned through Mr. Leibowitz’s reporting that the city planned to swear in Jaime McAllister-Grande, who ran in the 2015 election. While I wish Jaime luck filling this role, I still believe I should be the one to fill the seat. (How can she be the “Runner Up” when she didn’t run in the same election as Carrie?). But I do not plan to pursue this further.