Published: 9/21/2021 11:12:54 PM
MONTAGUE — One vote made the difference for Matthew Lord in a four-way race for a two-year Selectboard seat on Tuesday.
In unofficial results released Tuesday evening, the 40-year-old Montague Center resident amassed 193 votes, narrowly beating Millers Falls resident Joanna Mae Boody who earned 192 votes.
The other two candidates, Montague Center resident Mark Fairbrother and Lake Pleasant resident David Jensen, earned 148 votes and 135 votes, respectively. Two write-in votes and one blank ballot were submitted.
In all, 671 ballots were cast across Montague’s six precincts, making for a 10.72% voter turnout. Polls were open from noon to 7 p.m. at Franklin County Technical School, the Gill-Montague Senior Center and the Montague Center Fire Station.
A Lexington native, Lord moved to Montague Center in July 2017 with his wife, Kathleen Berry, and their now 13-month-old daughter, Saoirse. Almost immediately, Lord got involved with both the land and its people, buying an 8-acre farm and joining the Planning Board within the year. He also became a Town Meeting representative in 2020.
Speaking in advance of Tuesday’s election, Lord said he sees Montague as being “on the upswing.”
“I think Montague is in a good place,” Lord said, “and I want to make it even better.”
Lord also believes his recent town work will allow for a smooth transition into the new position.
“Working with the people in Town Hall and the Planning Board especially ... really gives me a lot of confidence running for the Selectboard that they’ll be a good team of people to work with,” he said.
Following his election, Lord was all business, expressing an eagerness to get started.
“I am looking forward to diving into the current work on the warrant articles for the upcoming Montague Special Town Meeting,” Lord wrote in an email, “as there are important decisions for town regarding street improvements in the Canal District and allocation of cannabis impact funding, as well as other important, but less complex, decisions.”
During their Monday meeting, Selectboard members discussed the need to officially swear in the winner of the election at some point before their Wednesday meeting at 5:45 p.m. The Selectboard planned to introduce the new member at this meeting.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or
jmendoza@recorder.com.