Moderator, councilors retain seats

Friday, March 12, 2010

Submitted Photo The two elected Town Councilors Mike Izbicki and Jim Scanlon stand beside elected School District and Town Moderator Ryk Bullock during Tuesday's Election Day at Bedford High School.

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Town Offices election

TOWN COUNCIL: Two three-year term positions.

U Mike Izbicki

U Jim Scanlon

LIBRARY TRUSTEE: One three-year term position.

Walter J. Gallo

U Edward P. Moran

TOWN MODERATOR: One two-year term position.

U Ryk Bullock

Michael J. Scanlon

TRUSTEE OF THE TRUST FUNDS: One three-year term position.

U Mark Peicker

SUPERVISOR OF THE CHECKLIST: One six-year term position.

U Nancy Brockway

BEDFORD – Town moderator Ryk Bullock not only held another successful election, but he beat out Town Councilor Michael Scanlon to keep his position.

As Bullock ended Tuesday night’s elections by announcing his win for the town moderator position by a vote of 2,211 to 1,399, spectators congratulated him. As the school district and town moderator, Bullock helped decrease the wait time at the Bedford election polls by more than two hours, pushing it to become the fastest processing location in the state.

“Someone came up to me and said they lived in Bedford for 25 years and never could vote on a lunch break before,” Bullock said during an interview a few weeks ago. His success as a moderator continued Tuesday.

The unofficial voter count for the March 9 election stood at 3,930, an increase from last year. According to Bullock, it took three hours for the school district and town election votes to be tabulated due to write-ins. No write-in candidates were elected.

The two candidates running for the open Town Council seats spent all day Tuesday at Bedford High School. They showed up early in the morning and stayed at the polls until the votes were announced around 9:15 p.m.

Both were elected to the open seats: Mike Izbicki with 2,651 votes and Scanlon with 2,375 votes.

Izbicki, the current Town Council chairman, said he plans to address economic development and redevelopment along Bedford’s commercial corridors, retain existing business as they grow and improve the town’s infrastructure including roads and town buildings.

He also plans to continue working with the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority to restore passenger rail service in town.

“Without a quality transportation system and town infrastructure improvements, we will not have real economic development in Bedford,” Izbicki said.

Scanlon, who has been an active member with both the Bedford Dog Park Committee and the Bedford Village Common Development Committee, said the key issue in Bedford is the ability to reconcile the need for economic development so that the burden of the tax rate does not fall principally on individual residents.

“I will prove to be for a benefit of the Bedford taxpayers, able to listen and hopefully implement ideologies and methods that will alleviate the burden on the individual tax payer,” he said.

When it came to three-year term library trustee position, Edward P. Moran beat opponent Walter J. Gallo by a vote of 1,678 to 1,446.

Mark Peicker ran unopposed for the trustee of the trust funds, a three-year term position, and was elected with 3,160 votes.

Nancy Brockway, who also ran unopposed, was named supervisor of the checklist with 3,030 votes.

Kelly McGrath can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 27, or kmcgrath@cabinet.com.