Peabody Light Commission Winners; Full Election Results

PEABODY, MA — Thomas Paras and Ray Melville came out on top of a crowded race for the Peabody Light Commission.

Six candidates were whittled to four for the two commission spots that drew some atypical interest this year as the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company builds a 55-megawatt surge capacity generator at the Waters River substation.

In unofficial results released Wednesday morning, Paras was the top vote-getter with 4,106 and Melvin earned the second spot with 3,072 votes. Tracy Valletti was third with 2,671 and Robert Wheatley was fourth at 2,338.

The vote was part of a municipal election where Mayor Ted Bettencourt ran unopposed, residents re-elected their five At-Large City Councilors and chose between candidates in races in Wards 2, 3, 4 and 5.

(READ: Peabody Elects Julie Daigle, Stephanie Peach To City Council)

Beverly Griffin Dunne, Jon Swanson and Jarrod Hochman were re-elected to the Peabody School Committee.

Anne Quinn, Richard Shruhan and Jennifer Smith were elected to six-year terms on the Library Board of Trustees. There were 349 write-in votes in that race.

Katrina Vassallo was elected to a two-year term on the Library Board of Trustees.

Election Results

(contested races)

City Council At-Large

(Top 5 elected)

5,611 Thomas Gould

4,752 Jon Turco

4,661 Annie Manning-Martin

4,250 Thomas Rossignoll

4,270 Ryan Melville

3,320 Bukia Chalvire

City Council Ward 2

541 Peter McGinn

220 Karen-Marie Cohen

City Council Ward 3

645 Stephanie Peach

408 James Moutsoulas

City Council Ward 4

780 Julie Dagle

677 Edward Charest

City Council Ward 5

771 David Gamache

534 Joel Saslaw

Municipal Light Commission

(Top 2 elected)

4,106 Thomas Paras

3,072 Raymond Melvin

2,671 Tracy Valletti

2,338 Robert Wheatley

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

More Patch Coverage: Peabody Elects Julie Daigle, Stephanie Peach To City Council