Town Clerk

Dina Livingston, an employee in the town clerk's office, was elected town clerk in the April 7 election. Her opponent, Robert T. Looney, secured 331 votes to Livingston's 877. Livingston replaces Marcia Weidenfeller, who retired after 28 years in the town clerk's office, 19 of those as town clerk. - Christine Legere

Abington's special and annual town meetings will be held in Abington High School, 201 Gliniewicz Way, on Monday at 7 p.m. The most debated issue is Article 7, which would hold town employees and officers to a standard of conduct far beyond compliance with state law. If approved, the bylaw amendment would require town employees and appointed and elected officials to not only comply with the Conflict of Interest Law but also require special municipal employees...

Town Clerk Jim Mullen announced his immediate resignation Feb. 24 in a letter to the Board of Selectmen. In his notice, he said "this has been a very difficult decision" following 40 years serving with the town in a variety of capacities. Federick Frithsen, former town clerk of Rockport, was selected by the Board of Selectmen to serve as interim clerk until the townwide election April 24. Nominations for the permanent position are being accepted at Town Hall.

Incumbents prevailed in the contested races in the May 8 town election. Charlene Hinton defeated contender Nancy DiRomualdo to serve another three-year term as town clerk, and incumbent selectmen Doug Stevenson and Peter Scavongelli both were returned to the board with three-year terms, outpolling challenger Ed Rolfe.

Kathleen Deree supervised her first election last week as Weymouth's town clerk. The Town Council last month named Deree to replace Franklin Fryer, who retired at age 90 after 35 years in the job. Deree had been assistant clerk for nine years and worked in the clerk's office for 21 years altogether. She was one of four finalists for the position. The others were Braintree Town Clerk Joseph Powers, former Uxbridge Town Clerk Joseph Kaplan, and Carver Assistant Town Clerk Elizabeth Nichols.

Helen Lounsbury won her first bid for town clerk in 1974, even though she was not listed on the election ballot. The Raynham native was in her eighth year as assistant town clerk at the time, working under Arnold Ziegler, who had placed his name on the April ballot to retain his elected position as town clerk. A month before election day, Ziegler died, and Lounsbury decided at the last minute to make a run for the position. "Arnold's name was still on the ballot, while I ran on stickers," Lounsbury recalled.

WEYMOUTH - Franklin Fryer stepped down as town clerk last week, at age 90 and after 35 years in the job. Astonishingly, he's not the oldest man to have served as a town clerk nor has he held the position the longest. (Hingham's Bill Howard retired in 1971 at age 92 after 37 years in the job, and Southborough's clerk has been there for 42 years.) But his colleagues say Fryer, who is known as "Mr. Weymouth" both for his longevity and his encyclopedic recall of facts about the town, will be hard to replace.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent Norwell's town clerk was arrested in Hingham on Friday after allegedly driving her car over a traffic island while allegedly under the influence of alcohol. According to Hingham police, Patricia M. Anderson, 61, of Norwell was found standing on the side of the road nearby a car accident when police arrived at the intersection of Whiting and Gardner streets at 10:21 p.m. Friday. Police said that the car, a 2011 Ford Edge, was parked in the middle of the road in front of a traffic island.

Monday's question , from an LW bothered by noisy kids, got a lot of commenter derailed talking about demographic issues. Granted, the LW framed the question that way, but I think age is a red herring in this case. It's generally never a good idea to make a conflict about demographic categories rather than behavior. Although, if you are going to blame demographics, I had to laugh and agree with thisisdumb09 's analysis:  This is why I'd prefer to live near college kids instead of children.

Whitman town clerk Pamela Martin plans to retire from her position at the end of the month after 25 years at Town Hall. Martin initially worked as the town clerk's assistant. In the early 1990s, she was elected town clerk and has remained so through several elections. Assistant town clerk Dawn Varley will take over until the May annual town election, when the town clerk's position will be on the ballot. - Christine Legere

Monday's question , from an LW bothered by noisy kids, got a lot of commenter derailed talking about demographic issues. Granted, the LW framed the question that way, but I think age is a red herring in this case. It's generally never a good idea to make a conflict about demographic categories rather than behavior. Although, if you are going to blame demographics, I had to laugh and agree with thisisdumb09 's analysis:  This is why I'd prefer to live near college kids instead of children.

Town clerk Nancy L. Morrison is reminding residents that May 22 is the final day to register to vote in the annual Town Meeting, which is scheduled to convene on June 11. Morrison said there is separate deadline of June 1 to register to vote in the special town meeting scheduled for June 11 within the annual town meeting. The clerk's office will be open extended hours, until 8 p.m. May 22 and June 1. to serve voter registrants. Registration may also be done by mail. Only those not currently on the voting list need to register.

The town's Historical Commission is seeking donations of old yearbooks for its museum's collection. The commission is specifically seeking books from several years in the 1930s, 1970s, 1980s, and more recent years. Individuals willing to donate yearbooks are asked to drop them off at the town clerk's office at the Municipal Center or the Historical Museum on West Central Street during regular business hours. For more information, contact town clerk Deborah Pellegri at 508-520-4900. Rachel Lebeaux

Selectman John Hall and two incumbent School Committee members won re-election April 28, with just 8 percent of voters casting ballots in the annual town election. Hall received 917 votes to challenger Stephen Lynch's 514. In a three-way race for two School Committee seats, Dennis Scollins received 801 votes and Marti Morrison 795, besting challenger Segundo Ramos at 690. Winning re-election unopposed were James Haddad, Board of Assessors; Patricia Picco, town clerk; Mark MacDonald, Board of Health; Karen Horne, Planning Board; Jean McDonald, Housing Authority; Michael Valenti Jr., Board of Public...

In Tuesday's town election, former selectwoman Lucy B. Wallace, in a tight race, defeated Rhonda R. Sprague, 790 to 747, for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen. Among the other contests, Patricia C. Wenger and Robert F. Sullebarger won three-year seats on the School Committee, and running unopposed were Janet A. Vellante (town clerk), Richard C. Marcello (Planning Board), and Robert E. Eubank (moderator). At the April 28 Town Meeting, one major spending measure was approved, while a surcharge plan was rejected.

Abington residents elected a new selectman last Saturday and reelected another, and approved a $780,000 feasibility study for a new middle school. School Committee member Tom Dion finished second in the selectmen's race in a battle for two openings, defeating incumbent Chris Aiello by about 300 votes. Vice chairman R. Andrew Burbine was returned to office, finishing with the most votes. Kathleen Bailey and Michael Kurowski won seats on the School Committee, with votes of 1,560 and 1,216, respectively, and Patricia Donnell lost with 982 votes.

The town clerk is reminding residents that completed census forms are due. Voter registration and changes to party affiliation forms also are due by Feb. 15. For more information, contact the town clerk's office at Memorial Hall, 48 S. Main St., or by phone, 978-774-6927. - David Cogger

The town election will be held Tuesday, with voting taking place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the high school field house on Oak Street. Positions on the ballot include town clerk, Town Council and School Committee. Absentee ballots are available in the town clerk's office; registered voters unable to make it to the polls Tuesday can cast their absentee votes until noon tomorrow. For more information, call the town clerk's office at 508-520-4900. - Rachel Lebeaux

Town Meeting will be held Tuesday in Avon Middle/High School, with the budget the main item on the warrant, according to Town Clerk and Treasurer Jean Kopke. The 7:30 p.m. meeting will be preceded at 7:15 by a Special Town Meeting with some minor housekeeping matters, she said. Also on the warrant is a request from the Fire Department to spend $650,000 on a new pumper truck and $60,000 for a new command vehicle for the chief. Town Meeting is also expected to decide whether to combine the positions of treasurer and collector into one appointed position.

Bridgewater's town clerk will take on the community's top officials in court this week over a recall election that he contends should have been scheduled months ago. Clerk Ron Adams will ask a Brockton Superior Court judge to order the Bridgewater Town Council to schedule a recall election for two councilors. Adams argues that a 1990 recall act requires town leaders to set a vote if sufficient signatures are submitted. Recall petitions were signed and certified in late February, but the council has refused to arrange an election, the clerk said.