McLeod, Hohenberger Seize Re-Election

The Windham voters sent a strong message on March 13 that the current blood is just fine for the Board of Selectmen.

Incumbents Ross McLeod and Roger Hohenberger each waited well past 10 p.m. in the Windham High School gymnasium to find out that they had retained their seats on the board. 

Hohenberger received 1,982 votes, narrowly edging McLeod's 1,980.

State Rep. Walter Kolodziej, who was challenging the two incumbents, received 934 votes.

The crowd of about 50 people who stuck around to hear the town results, which came 45 minutes after the school results, gave a large cheer following the Board of Selectmen announcement.

The town also stuck with familiar faces for the two open Planning Board seats, selecting incumbents Pamela Skinner and Carolyn Webber by a large margin. Skinner nabbed 1,826 votes to lead the pack with Webber securing 1,638.

Paul Therrien and Stephanie Foster finished with 974 and 812 votes respectively.

Both Therrien and Foster were part of husband-wife combinations seeking election to the Planning Board and School Board this year.

Their counterparts Carolyn Therrien and Shawn Foster both lost out in their bids for School Board, which was the most crowded race of 2012 with seven candidates.

Jerome Rekart and Mike Joanis grabbed those seats with 984 and 932 total votes, with Heather Petro finishing third with 867.

A loud cheer also came from the crowd following incumbent Robert Skinner's victory in the town treasurer race. Skinner beat challenger Corey Lewandowski by a wide margin, 1,941 to 714.

Jay Yennaco and James Tierney grabbed the two open Zoning Board of Adjustment seats over Mike Scholz and John Alosso. Tierney had been serving as an alternate on the board.

The voters sent a huge message that they do not want to spend any money this year on schools, as all but one of the school warrant articles failed, many by a huge margin. The only article to pass was article 5, which called for the splitting from SAU 28.

The failing articles asked for funds for architectural and engineering fees toward a new school on London Bridge Road, for portables, and the School Building and Grounds Maintenance Fund.

The school operating budget failed by the largest margin, with 577 "yes" votes and 2,316 "no" votes.

Meanwhile, the town operating budget passed, but a petition calling for a new field at Spruce Pond was nixed by residents.

Two conflict of interest petitions drafted by resident Marc Sneider, which created a lot of controversy leading into election day, both passed.

After a workforce housing ordinance failed for the last two years, the third time was a charm as a proposed ordinance passed 1,579 to 996. The passing also received a large cheer from the Windham High School gymnasium crowd.

The town also passed a new kennel ordinance that will call for regulations in operating kennels, as well as the adoption of a watershed ordinance for Canobie Lake that will emulate that of Cobbett's Pond.