17 April, 2012
Hopkinton Republicans in their caucus on April 13th nominated a mixture of experienced town office holders and new volunteers for towngovernment positions. The only contested seats for the May 21st town election are School Committee and Library Board (expired term 2014).
Frank Sivo is running for the School Committee. Sivo has four children in the Hopkinton schools. He has been active in our community, coaching Little League, serving on the Special Education Advisory Council (SPEAC), and most recently serving on the Elementary Building Criteria Working Group. Professionally, Sivo leads strategic planning processes and the operational excellence program at Genzyme. He was opposed to districting as a solution to the current challenges involving the Elementary school buildings. He is running to make sure that the school district’s strategic plan appropriately fosters continuous improvement balanced with the will of the community and to ensure that thoughtful, fact-based, transparent, and fiscally responsible decisions are consistently made.
June Harris is running again for Library Board (expired term 2014). Last May, Harris received the second highest vote total for the five Library Board seats but her election was not allowed because the tie vote and poor wording of the ballot. The Selectmen appointed her to fill the seat until this upcoming May election. She is passionate in her support of the library and wants to continue her efforts. Harris, an attorney, is currently serving on the newly formed town Library Board and previously served on a library building committee. June and her husband Dick Temple have two sons.
In the uncontested ballot positions, the top of the Republican slate is headed by long-time volunteer and incumbent Selectman Michelle Gates who is seeking a second term.
Robert Dobinski is running for reelection to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Dan Terry, a new comer to elected politics, is also running for an open seat on the Parks and Recreation Commission. Brian O’Keefe, another new comer to elected politics, is running to fill out the term on the Parks and Recreation Commission that he was appointed to last summer. O’Keefe has been involved in Hopkinton’s soccer organizations and in building the artificial turf fields on Fruit Street.
Town government veteran Tom Garabedian is running for reelection to Commissioner of Trust Funds.
Renee Gilson is running for her third five year term on Housing Authority. Gilson in her first term was one of the members that oversaw major improvements to the Davis Road facilities and recently was involved in the building of 12 new housing units.
Paul Winshman is running for election for an open seat on the Board of Health. Winshman is the owner of Zio’s Bistro in Hopkinton and several other area restaurants.
Current Planning Board Chairman Ken Weismantel is running for reelection to the Planning Board. In his first bid for public office, Matt Wade is also running for an open seat on the Planning Board.
The Hopkinton Republican Town Committee is pleased to nominate and support this slate of qualified candidates for local elected office. The town election is Monday, May 21st.
The Republican caucus was open to both registered Republicans and unenrolled voters. The Hopkinton Republican Town Committee actively supports our nominated candidates with signs, donations, campaign volunteers and mentoring. The HRTC is actively involved in the recruitment of volunteers for town government positions- both elected and appointed. If you would like to serve in town government or become an Associate Member of the Hopkinton Republican Town Committee, contact Ken Weismantel, Chairman at ken@weismantel.com .
