Medford school race recount on for Nov. 25

MEDFORD — It was the closest finish in the Nov. 7 city election and now city officials say they will take another look at School Committee member Robert E. Skerry Jr.’s 34-vote loss to newcomer Paul Ruseau.

The recount will be this Saturday at Medford City Hall, City Clerk Ed Finn said on Monday.

Finn, who has been clerk for nearly 20 years, said this is the first Medford recount since 2001 when 25 votes separated candidate finishes in the race for City Council. He said the recount in the 2001 race did not alter the initial poll standings.

In the final election two weeks ago, Skerry came in seventh place and out of the running with 3,992 votes. Skerry was bested by political newcomer Paul Ruseau, who received 4,026 votes, a 34-vote margin.

Incumbent Mea Quinn Mustone topped the school board ticket with 5,353 votes. Incumbents  Erin DiBenedetto (5,067 votes), Kathleen Kreatz (4,557), Paulette van der Kloot (4,545) finished 2-3-4 and the final two spots went to Michael Ruggiero (4,406) and Paul Ruseau (4,026).

Mayor Stephanie M. Burke easily outdistanced challenger David McKillop Sr., a political  newcomer, 6,872-4,310 in the final.

In the City Council race, all seven incumbents were re-elected. Led by Breanna Lungo-Koehn (5,709 votes), John Falco, Michael Marks, Adam Knight, Richard Caraviello, Frederick Dello Russo Jr., and George Scarpelli reclaimed their council seats.

Finn said the Nov. 25 recount is open to the public and will be scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. He estimated the cost of the recount at about $10,000, for personnel and other expenses such as police detail and supplies.

Finn said Skerry or a designee must be on hand for the recount. He noted recounts are few and far between, in part because Medford uses an all-electronic voting and counting system.

“The newer system is much quicker,” Finn said, “and it is very accurate.”