Politics & Government

New Faces Coming to Waltham Committees

Also, two former city officials will return to office.

Also, a familiar face, Stephen Rando, will return to the School Committee while former city councilor Patrick O'Brien will return to the council. 

On Tuesday night, voters elected two new School Committee members, John Frassica and Kathleen Dowcett along with Rando, who was voted off the committee in 2011. The trio replaces incumbents Lisa Limonciello, Susan Burstein and Robert Cincotta. Burstein and Limonciello failed to gain enough votes to return to office. Cincotta, who chose to leave the committee and seek a City Council seat this year, lost his council bid.

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Also, voters elected two new faces and one former councilor to the City Council. Newcomer William Fowler bested Ken Doucette in his bid for the Ward 2 seat. John McLaughlin, who is also new to the council, won the Ward 4 seat unopposed. 

O’Brien, who has previously served on the council, gained enough votes to win an at-large seat.

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The winners will be sworn in on Jan. 6, 2014. 

See our full election results.

CANDIDATE REACTIONS

School Committee

  • Lisa Limonciello: Limonciello said she was “completely devastated” at her loss but thanked her supporters. “Honestly, I thought I was going to beat out [Stephen] Rando.”
  • Stephen Rando: Rando, who was voted off the committee in 2011, said he was happy to be returning and said he was concerned with teacher morale. Specifically, Rando said he was concerned with all of the “excess” work teachers are burdened with that takes away from classroom time.
  • John Frassica: Frassica, who lost his prior bid for a committee seat, said he was thrilled and planned to focus on school district communication. "Communication is number one. We have not seen enough communication in the last few years with parents, with taxpayers," Frassica said.

Ward 2

  • Ken Doucette: Doucette, who currently serves as an at-large councilor but sought reelection as a Ward 2 councillor, said he was thankful to his family and supporters. “I want to congratulate Bill [Fowler] and his family because this is a family endeavor when you get into this.”

At-Large Council 

  • Joe Vizard: Vizard, who is returning for a second term, said he was happy to be returning to his seat and that he would continue to push for improved operations in the city’s government and council.

Ward 9

  • Robert Logan: Logan said he was working on a lot of issues and downtown Waltham issues. Although he did not specifically mention them, he recently sponsored initiatives to allow bakeries in downtown Waltham and fast food eateries. 
Waltham Patch was not able to reach all candidates on Tuesday night. 


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