NAHANT — Patrick O’Reilly has been elected to the Nahant Planning Board, winning the seat over Robert Steinberg with a 173-68 (unofficial) vote in Saturday’s Town Election.
O’Reilly was seeking to keep his spot after he was appointed to the position in August following the departure of former Planning Board member Gene Canty.
“I just want to thank everyone,” O’Reilly said shortly after election results were announced Saturday night. “I’m honored to serve.”
A software development team manager at MIT, O’Reilly has lived in Nahant since 2002. He co-founded Friends of Mary Cummings Park in Burlington and frequently volunteers with the Nahant Preservation Trust.
“I’m interested in maintaining the small-town character of the community,” he said last week. “Given my background volunteering for parks and recreation, I’d like to collaborate with other town committees on improving pedestrian and bike connections to our open spaces.”
He also said his long-term goals include making sure the coastal town is prepared for the effects of global warming, particularly rising sea levels.
“It’s important to bring all the town committees (together) to continue planning for that,” he said.
In an interview with The Item Thursday, opponent Steinberg, who previously worked as an environmental land use lawyer in Washington, D.C., praised the work O’Reilly has already done with the board.
“I believe Patrick has done a good job,” he said. “I ran just because it wasn’t clear to me who was running and I thought I could make a contribution because of my background and experience.”
Also returning to his seat is Board of Selectmen Chair Mark Cullinan, who ran unopposed.
Cullinan was first elected to the committee in January 2020 — in a landslide vote of 702 to 133 over competitor David Wilson — following the premature departure of former chair, Francis J. Barile, in late 2019.
Because Barile left his seat before the end of his three-year term, Cullinan, who previously served as town administrator from 1995 to 2011, was only able to hold the position until this month, when the town was required to once again elect him to the board.
Cullinan has cited Nahant’s aging infrastructure, coastal flooding from climate change, Northeastern University’s expansion plans, and housing as among the town’s most pressing issues.
“A year in office is not enough time to accomplish all the things I set out to do, particularly in a year that has been dominated by the pandemic,” Cullinan said in March. “The town is facing several important issues, and I want to be at the table to advocate for the town, to problem-solve, and to continue working on behalf of Nahant’s residents with the goal of making Nahant a better place to live.”
Nahant’s next Planning Board meeting is scheduled for April 29 at 5 p.m. via Zoom.
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
