Eric Vanderleeden won the vacant seat on the Hampden Selectboard in the June 23 special election.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
HAMPDEN — Erik Vanderleeden won the Selectboard seat left vacant by the April resignation of former member Craig Rivest. With 405 votes, Vanderleeden bested his opponent, Kathy Pessolano, who saw 105 ballots cast in the June 23 special election.
As Pessolano previously told Reminder Publishing, she ran on her history of municipal service, including a current seat on the Advisory Committee, and as a reaction to efforts to make several town positions, including clerk, tax collector and treasurer, into appointed positions instead of elected ones.
Vanderleeden said he ran to improve the town’s financial resilience and transparency, while making strategic infrastructure improvements.
Both candidates saw funding for the schools and the future use of town buildings as important to Hampden’s future.
The ballot question proposing a Proposition 2½ override to fund a fire station renovation and expansion was approved 339-252. Proposition 2½ is a state law that prohibits municipalities from raising taxes by more than 2.5% plus new growth in a single year. A vote at the May 12 Town Meeting approved borrowing of $8.3 million to fund the fire station project, but Proposition 2½ overrides must also pass a referendum.
Of the town’s 4,196 registered voters, 597 people, or 14%, cast their votes in the special election. All ballots had been counted less than an hour after the polls closed.
