Volume 20, Number 30
www.TownTimes.com
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Friday, November 8, 2013
Brayshaw wins three-way first selectman’s race Returns for fifth and ‘final’ term as Middlefield’s first selectman.
By Mark Dionne Town Times
In the municipal election held Nov. 5, Middlefield voters returned Jon Brayshaw to the first selectman’s office for his fifth term of office. Brayshaw defeated two challengers, the Democratic nominee Lucy Petrella and petitioning candidate Marianne Corona. Officials announced unofficial results after polls closed at 8 p.m. on election day. Brayshaw, according to the unofficial results, finished with 789 votes, compared to Petrella’s 690 votes and Corona’s 140. “I’m worn out. I’m exhausted,
honored, humbled,” Brayshaw said after the election. Brayshaw, noting the number of elections he has been through, also said that this would be his final term. In an interview with the Town Times before the election, Brayshaw said that one of the negatives of a three-way race was that the winner was unlikely to end with a majority of votes. “When you only have a two person race, the preponderance of voters voted for the first selectman,” Brayshaw said. “With three people, you don’t end up with a mandate.” That turned out to be the case in this election. “Each year that I’ve won, I haven’t won by a landslide,”
Brayshaw said. It was the second time Petrella finished a close second to Brayshaw. In 2011, she lost to Brayshaw by 45 votes. This time the margin was 99. In a statement the morning after the election, Petrella wrote, “I sincerely thank all those who supported me, who took their time to talk to me these last few weeks, and who shared their ideas and concerns. I am deeply disappointed with the outcome of the election. I hope that the people of Middlefield/ Rockfall are well served for the next two years.” See Brayshaw / Page 22
Better food, more choices for school lunch RSD 13 embraces new approach
By Mark Dionne Town Times
By Diana Carr
Special to Town Times
Regional School District 13 Food Services Director Mark Basil recently spoke with Town Times about the state’s new regulations to ensure more nutritious food is making its way to students’ lunch trays. “The changes are good,” he said. RSD13 is part of the National School Lunch Program, a federally-assisted meal program for students. As part of that program, the local school system has elected to be an Offer Versus Serve district referred to as OVS. This means that a lunch is reimbursed by the state as long as the student takes three of the five components being offered, including a fruit and vegetable. The components
Durham election results
A recent lunch time at Coginchaug Regional High School. | (Diana Carr\Special to Town Times.)
are: grain, dairy, meat or meat alternative (like yogurt or beans), fruit, and vegetable. The goal of OVS is to reduce waste by not forcing students to take food they don’t intend to eat. But there is some waste. “We
have the students take a fruit and a vegetable,” Basil said, “so that we can get reimbursed. And then they go around the corner and throw them away. There’s a lot of waste.” See Lunch / Page 22
Re p u b l i c a n s c a p tured most of the votes in quiet election cycle in Durham, according to unofficial results. Republicans Lorraine Coe and Laurie Tuttle and Democrats Martin Anderson and Molly Nolan will return to their seats on the Board of Finance, having run unopposed. Republicans won all of the contested races. Debra DeFelice defeated Elizabeth White Booz for Board of Assessment Appeals. While Republicans won the highest five vo te to ta l s fo r t h e Planning and Zoning Race, only Alana Adams and Lisa Davenport
will be seated on P&Z due to minority representation laws a n d t h e n u m b e r of Republicans already on the commission. Joseph Pasquale, D a v i d F o l e y, a n d Christopher Flanagan will take the the remaining three seats. Republicans David Slight and Chris DiPentima won seats on the Zoning Board of Appeals and Eric Francis won the position of Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate over Elizabeth Dougan. According to documents provided by Kim Garvis, Durham’s Town Clerk, 1,187 voters participated out of 5,074 n the voter list, a 23 percent turnout.