Due to an oversight by the Town Manager, the position of Town Treasurer will have to be filled with a write-in candidate.
Town Treasurer Kathy Wagner said she informed the Town she thought her position expires in March, but assumed she was mistaken when her position wasn’t included among the open positions the Town advertised prior to the candidate filing period.
“It was an oversight on my part,” Town Manager Kevin Smith said. “The position itself will be on the ballot, but because no one signed up during the filing period, it will work in the way we have had in the past where the top write-in vote getter will get the position.”
Attorney Mike Ramsdell was asked to determine whether the Town was out of compliance by having failed to advertise the open position.
“He said there’s nothing in State law that requires any elected position to be advertised, but we do have to put positions on the ballot when they expire,” Smith said.
Wagner said she hadn’t initially planned to run for another three-year term, but has since decided to mount a write-in campaign for the position.
“It will definitely be harder, but I’m going to actively push and get the word out there,” she said.
Explaining the role, Wagner said the Town Treasurer is “an oversight for the citizenry.
“It’s not an accounting job,” she said, noting the Finance Department is responsible for the Town’s bookkeeping. “By State law, we have to have a citizen in there to check out the books and be an advocate for the people in the community. Anyone that wants to run, I think it’s a good thing. I think anyone with any type of business experience could go in there.”