Luksha victorious in Northfield Planning Board race

By CHRIS LARABEE

Staff Writer

Published: 05-08-2024 3:43 PM

Modified: 05-08-2024 4:15 PM


NORTHFIELD — A new face will join the Planning Board as voters opted for Victoria Luksha over incumbent Stephen Seredynski and challenger Joseph Stacy in the town’s only contested race at the ballot box Tuesday.

Joining Luksha in being elected to a new position is Finance Committee member David McCarthy, who was elected to a three-year Selectboard term to fill the vacancy left by Alex Meisner, who decided not to seek reelection after six years on the board. Current Selectboard member Bernard Boudreau was also reelected.

Of the town’s 2,484 voters, 452, or roughly 18.2%, participated in the election.

Luksha, 47, has lived in Northfield for two years, but has become active in town politics in that short time, serving on the Conservation Commission, Emergency Services Facility Committee, Community Preservation Committee and Cultural Council.

“I am truly honored to have the opportunity to work for the town of Northfield in this way,” she said in a brief phone interview Wednesday. “I’m still a little speechless that I was fortunate enough to be selected.”

As she settles into her new role, Luksha said she is most looking forward to “diving deep into those beautiful bylaws” and using her passion for policy and law to help “Northfield turn a corner and blossom.”

“I think the group is really looking forward to taking a good, strong look at them,” she said, “and seeing what we can do moving forward to get back to enforcing those bylaws and seeing what we can better do to serve the town.”

McCarthy could not be reached by press time.

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The full election results are as follows:

■Selectboard, two seats with three-year terms — Bernard Boudreau, incumbent, 351 votes, and David McCarthy, 367 votes.

■Board of Assessors, three-year term — Bethany Walker, 426 votes.

■Board of Health, two seats with three-year terms — David Balk, 376 votes, and Karen Boudreau, 377 votes.

■Library trustees, two seats with three-year terms — Nolan Kitfield, 391 votes, and Gretchen Licata, 379 votes.

■Planning Board, five-year term — Victoria Luksha, 207 votes, Stephen Seredynski, 187 votes, and Joseph Stacy, 25 votes.

■Recreation Commission, two seats with three-terms — Chelsea Depault, 375 votes, and Robert Emberly, 386 votes.

■Board of Trustees of Veterans Memorials, veteran’s position with a three-year term — Robert Henry, 417 votes.

■Board of Trustees of Veterans Memorials, non-veteran’s position with a three-year term — Gail Doolittle, 68 write-in votes.

■Sewer commissioner, three-year term — Thomas Walker, 405 votes.

■Constable, four seats with three-year terms — Francis Froment, 353 votes, David Kelly, 351 votes, and Debby Wiesen Kelly, 340 votes. Write-in votes resulted in a three-way tie for the fourth position, resulting in a failure to elect, according to Town Clerk Amanda Lynch.

■Moderator, three-year term — Nathan L’Etoile, 388 votes.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.