Newcomer tops Marblehead school board race

MARBLEHEAD – The day after Mother’s Day a woman topped the ticket in the town election race for two three-year seats on the School Committee.Longtime Finance Committee member Kathleen Leonardson received 2,145 votes in her first try for elected office, besting nine-year committee member Jonathan Lederman who finished second with 1,828 votes.Jennifer Schaeffner, a special education parent leader and first-time candidate, received 1,632 votes.Leonardson expressed gratitude to her supporters for "working hard all day."Lederman congratulated her, said he was "happy to be back" on the committee and expressed the hope that Schaeffner, "a terrific candidate," would run again. He thanked his wife Jennifer and his six children for their help.The outcome leaves the balance of the committee unchanged – three women and two men – and gives the committee two members – Lederman and Patricia Blackmer – who served when outgoing Superintendent of Schools Paul Dulac was hired five years ago. Dulac plans to retire at the end of this school year and the committee is poised to search for a new superintendent.In the race for five available one-year seats on the Board of Selectmen, challenger Michael Rockett finished fifth in his first try for public office.Incumbents Judith Jacobi (2,475), James Nye (2,443), Jackie Belf-Becker (2,270) and William Woodfin (2,026) were easily re-elected. Rockett received 1,829 votes. The other challengers were Christopher Hartley (972 votes) and Rose Ann Wheeler McCarthy (895 votes).Belf-Becker, who has served as chairman of the board for the past two years, said she was "honored" by the town’s support, but said she would step down as chairman. "Two years is enough," she said. "We rotate as chairmen."In a race for a two-year seat on the Water and Sewer Commission R. Thomas Hamond, the former Recreation and Park department head and tree warden, was elected over Highland Terrace resident John Belanger, a retired longtime Water and Sewer Department employee who served on the Marblehead Muster Committee, 1,661-995.The voter turnout was 3,559 or 20 percent.