Marblehead appoints three to COA board of directors

MARBLEHEAD – Faced with four good candidates for three available seats on the Council on Aging board of directors, selectmen needed eight ballots to make their decisions Wednesday evening.The applicants included outgoing Rotary Club President Catherine Brown, geriatric nurse Lauri LaChance, bookkeeper Freda Hoyt McGuire and former eight-year board member John Crowley, who was seeking to return to the board after a mandatory one-year absence.Brown said the council needed more positive press and more work to combat ageism. McGuire said that while the elderly need help with financial matters, providing it is “a tricky thing.” Crowley said service on the board was a way to reach out to the community.All four agreed that involving young people with council programs was a plus. LaChance told the board her son shoveled snow for an elderly woman two years ago as part of a middle school volunteer program and last winter he called the woman on his own and told her he was available to shovel again.Selectman William Woodfin said, “We have four wonderful candidates here. This is ‘Sophie’s Choice.”On the first ballot Selectman James Nye voted for LaChance, Woodfin and Selectmen Chairman Jackie Belf-Becker voted for McGuire, Selectman Judy Jacobi voted for Crowley and Selectman Harry Christensen voted for Brown.On the second ballot Nye, Woodfin, Jacobi and Belf-Becker voted for McGuire and Christensen voted for Brown, electing McGuire to the board.On the next three ballots the board split, with Nye and Woodfin supporting LaChance, Jacobi and Belf-Becker supporting Crowley and Christensen supporting Brown.On the sixth ballot Belf-Becker supported Brown.On the seventh ballot Woodfin joined Belf-Becker and Christensen to give Brown the third vote needed for an appointment. On the eighth ballot Nye and Woodfin supported LaChance and Christensen, Jacobi and Belf-Becker supported Crowley, giving Crowley the third seat.”Lauri, stay aboard,” Woodfin said after the final count. All three terms expire in 2012.