With Marblehead papers in, election rivals emerge

MARBLEHEAD – When Monday?s 5 p.m. election deadline passed there were races in store for the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, Recreation and Park Commission and Municipal Light Commission.Seven candidates – former Selectman Harry Christensen, risk management analyst Bret Murray, Cemetery Commission member RoseAnn Wheeler McCarthy and incumbents James Nye, Judy Jacobi, Mike Rockett and Jackie Belf-Becker – are seeking the five available seats on the Board of Selectmen.Six-term Recreation and Park Commission member Derek Norcross and Leggs Hill Road traffic critic Christopher Hartley took out papers for selectman but did not return them.Incumbent Dick Nohelty, budget-focused professional appraiser Barton Hyte and Suffolk University English Professor and Gerald Road resident Thomas Connolly are seeking the two available seats on the School Committee. Connolly and Hyte have both been critical of decisions made by past central administrators.Incumbents Linda Rice Collins, Sam Ganglani, Charles “Chip” Osborne and Derek Norcross are seeking the five seats on the Recreation and Park Commission along with two challengers, Warwick Terrace resident David Andrew Deutsch and Prospect Court resident Gerald “Jerry” Tucker.Charles O. Phillips and challenger John Arata are seeking the available seat on the Municipal Light Commission.Unopposed candidates include Town Moderator Gary Spiess, Board of Health member Todd Belf-Becker, Planning Board members Philip Helmes and Kurt James, Board of Assessors member John P. Kelley, Cemetery Commission member RoseAnn Wheeler McCarthy, Abbot Public Library Trustee Jean Howe, Water and Sewer Commission members John Doane and Bradford “Nick” Freeman Jr. and Housing Authority member Jean Eldridge. Former library trustee Susan Indresano is a candidate for the second available library trustee seat. Planning Board challenger Ralph Khouri did not return his papers.