Longo Out, Chines In For Wakefield Town Council

WAKEFIELD, MA - Peter May and Ann Santos won re-election to the Wakefield Town Council Tuesday. But the news wasn't as good for fellow council member Anthony Longo, who lost his seat to Jonathan Chines. Chines finished with the greatest number of votes among the four candidates.

Chines finished first with 1,998 votes. May was second with 1,892. Santos was third with 1,850 votes with Longo 21 votes behind Santos at 1,829. Chines was strongest in precincts 5-7, winning both 5 and 6 while tying May in precinct 7. The results are still unofficial. Overall, 17.38 percent turned out to vote.

In the ballot questions, Question 1 passed with 1,662 voting Yes, 1,499 voting No. Precint 2 is the only precinct that voted against the charter amendment. That means that those seeking to overturn a Town Meeting vote in the future will need a petition signed by at least 2 1/2 percent of the registered voters and will have 12 days after Town Meeting to do so. Previously the petition needed just 200 signatures and those trying to overturn a vote had 10 days to gather them. The Town Charter will be changed to reflect the new process. The other 9 ballot questions all passes easily.

Winners in uncontested races included John McCarthy (Treasurer), Bill Carroll (Moderator), Tom Markham, Tom Flynn, and Susan Veilleux (School Committee), Tim Healy, Jeff Quinn, and Chris Barrett (Library Trustees), Brian Donegan (Board of Assessors), Richard Bayrd and Christian Lopes (Constable), and William Spaulding (Planning Board).