Mom and daughter win Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD – Anonymous emails and flyers tried to make family connections an issue. But Marblehead voters favored family ties to ties to the turmoil of 2013, as newcomer Kate Lipsitz overwhelmingly defeated Jonathan Lederman for a spot on the School Committee.The vote was 2,578 to 893.”It was a really challenging campaign, and I’m really proud of the way my team ran the campaign – we kept it positive,” Lipsitz said at Abbot Hall Tuesday night. “It was really difficult and I want to thank Marblehead voters for getting out and voting and overlooking the negative campaign.”A number for Lederman was not accepting calls Tuesday evening.Lipsitz is a teacher and mother who, although a newcomer to political office, is very familiar with town politics. Her mother, Jackie Belf-Becker, won re-election Tuesday to her position on the Board of Selectmen, and her father was a longtime member of the Board of Health. Lipsitz’ brother and sister-in-law were elected unopposed and appointed (nobody else applied) to the Board of Health and Finance Committee.Lederman was also well known in Marblehead. He served on the School Committee for 12 years, and was a member of the board in 2013 when former Marblehead School Superintendent Greg Maass abruptly announced that he was resigning with a year left on his initial three-year contract. Maass cited interference from the majority of the school committee, including Lederman, who was an outspoken critic of Maass’ financial management of the schools. Other school committee members disputed Lederman’s claims about financial mismanagement, however.Following Maass’ exit, two members of the committee resigned, Lederman decided not to seek re-election and two lost re-election bids.Lipsitz and Lederman both filed papers to run for an open seat in this year’s election. Within the last week, however, flyers and emails from “a group of concerned Marblehead citizens” were circulated throughout town.”It is a somewhat difficult issue to discuss, because no one wants to bring too much negativity to our election process,” the email (forwarded to The Item by Lederman, who said he received it Friday) read. “In Marblehead, there is a single family that is trying to place people onto our town’s four most powerful and financially influential boards: the Board of Selectman (sic), the Finance Committee, the Board of Health and the School Committee. Together, these boards are responsible for almost all of our town’s $80 million annual budget.”The flyer presented a “family tree” with the family’s political involvement.”I am so thankful and proud of the citizens of Marblehead of not stooping to the level of the anonymous fliers that maligned my family,” Jackie Belf-Becker said. “I think Marbleheaders are better than that and saw right through it. I’m honored to be back on the Board of Selectmen again and am very proud of my daughter’s significant victory for School Committee.”In other races:Selectman Judy Jacobi was the top vote-getter with 2,692 votes, but she, Belf-Becker, Harry Christensen, Bret Murray and James Nye were reelected to one-year terms.Board of Health was the closest race of the night with Michelle Gottlieb narrowly defeating first-time candidate Carmela Mancini 1,549 to 1,349.Linda Rice Collins, Derek Norcross, Charles Osborne Jr. and Gerald Tucker Jr. were re-elected to one-year terms on the Recreation and Park Commission.