School Committee incumbents get another term

LYNN – Continuity was the big winner in Tuesday’s School Committee election after each incumbent retained a seat on the board.”Which is good,” said John Ford, who placed fifth with 6,090 votes. “We clash, but, overall, I think we work together pretty well. I think by being a little diversified we’re able to take a better look at things.”Donna Coppola said she was surprised to learn she had topped the ticket and, for the first time in eight elections, broke the 7,000 vote mark. Coppola said her 73-year-old brother-in-law stood holding a sign for her for 73 days. She won with just over 7,300 votes.”That’s a lot of 73s, I’m sure it’s all just a coincidence,” she said. “But I’ve never hit 7,000 votes and I got 7,314.”Coppola said she was happy to see Maria Carrasco kept her seat, but she said she was disappointed that retired teacher Lorraine Gately did not make the cut.”I think Lorraine would have had a lot to offer but I’m glad Maria’s still in; I have a good partner to sit next to,” she said.Carrasco just squeaked into sixth place by 105 votes picking up 5,554 to Gately’s 5,449.”I was at the bottom, but I made it,” Carrasco said. “I was number six but number six is a nice number for me.””It will make her work harder,” said Carrasco supporter Tom Watkins.Coppola was not the only one happy to see Carrasco slip back into her seat.”She is my all-time favorite candidate,” said Joan Comeau.Carrasco admitted she was worried that Gately might bump her out of a third term.”I just want to continue to work hard,” she said. “Some people can sit and wait but I always work hard, and I’ve got good people behind me.”Charlie Gallo, who placed third with 6,478 votes, said he was grateful to the voters for a second term and to his supporters for helping him to get there.”It’s never a sure thing and never something you should take for granted,” he said.Ford said he, too, was grateful to retain his seat because there are projects he would like to see through, such as the building of a new Marshall Middle School.”I want to be at the ribbon cutting,” he said.Also returning to the committee is Patricia Capano who finished with 6,481 votes and Rick Starbard who won with 6,306. Challengers Melissa Romaniello and Stanley Wotring ran a distant eighth and ninth with 2008 and 1,695 votes, respectively.Wotring, who ran a bare bones campaign with one sign, seemed to take his loss in stride. On his website, Lynn School Watch, he posted, “I am thinking of putting my sign on e-bay to raise money to retire my campaign debt. Oh, yeah, I have none.”{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”51032e52-469b-11e3-ab91-0019bb2963f4″}}