GREAT BARRINGTON — Incumbent first-term selectboard member Kate Feuer Burke was, after only one term, narrowly unseated in today’s Great Barrington annual elections.
In unofficial returns provided by Town Clerk Jennifer Messina, in a three-way race for two seats, Burke received 599 votes, while newcomers Eric Gabriel and Garfield Reed collected 649 and 619 respectively. Two seats were available because Burke’s term was up and Bill Cooke opted not to seek re-election after two terms. Click here to read an Edge preview of the election with more information about the candidates.
It was something of an upset. Burke, 35, is a progressive Democrat in a progressive town. She had been a leader on social justice issues and police reform, grew up in the area and is the former manager of the Great Barrington Farmers Market. But it was not a decisive rejection, as only 50 votes separated the top vote getter and the loser.
Democrat Gabriel, 44, is a longtime Housatonic resident, a graduate of Monument Mountain Regional High School, a member of the Housatonic Improvement Committee (HIC) and an electrical contractor. The question of what to do with the abandoned Housatonic School was a key issue in the campaign. It was also a topic of considerable discussion and action by the HIC, a town panel that evaluates the status of the village and advocates for improvements and economic development.
Reed, 70, is a cancer survivor and an advocate for those in need, especially those who are hungry or without housing. For the last three years, Reed, a Democrat, has been a member of the Great Barrington Affordable Housing Trust and a nonvoting associate member of the planning board.
In the only other contested race, newcomer Philip Orenstein won a seat on the Finance Committee. Orenstein was the only candidate on the ballot for two available seats. Both Michelle Loubert and Will Curletti had announced that they would not seek re-election, leaving only one candidate on the ballot.
But in the last few days, Loubert had a change of heart and offered herself as a write-in candidate. Karen Smith, who chairs the Parks Commission, also threw her hat into the ring. The results were as follows: Orenstein, 745; Loubert, 149; Smith, 130. So Orenstein is a new member of the committee and Loubert remains on the committee by virtue of her successful write-in candidacy.
In other uncontested races, candidates either won or retained their seats, Board of Health member Peter Douglas Stanton (Democrat); Constables Walter Frances “Buddy” Atwood III (Republican) and John J. Broderick Jr. (Unenrolled); Library Trustee G. Patrick Hollenbeck (Democrat) and Kathleen Plungis (write-in); Planning Board member Pedro Rafael Pachano (Unenrolled); Zoning Board of Appeals members Stephen E. McAlister (Unenrolled) and Madonna Meagher (Democrat). Democrat Michael Wise was reelected to another one-year term as town moderator.
There was also a ballot question asking voters to approve a Proposition 2½ override to pay for a bond that will be issued for building improvements to the police station and for the construction of public restrooms downtown. It passed 598-343.
Below is the official tally of the election results:
