Ironically, this year’s election brought out exactly 2,004 Duxbury voters, just about 20 percent of the over 10,000 registered voters in town.

One of the biggest wins on Saturday was in the race for selectman, where incumbent John Tuffy received nearly four times as many votes as challenger George Shamma to remain on the board for another three years.{sidebar id=4}

“I feel honored to be able to serve and look forward to [the next three years],” he said.

Tuffy added that he was pleased with the 2,000 citizens that turned out both this year and last to voice their choice in town government, an improvement from the years when just over 1,000 cast their ballots.

“This was an active election season with a lot of seats available and that is a good thing,” he said.  “When people are involved [as voters]Öthe less alienated they feel.”

In addition to Tuffy, Town Clerk Nancy Oates will not have to worry about running for office for another three years as she won her race against her former assistant, Mary Moe McCarron.  Oates received 1148 votes (59%) while McCarron received 800 votes (41%).

The 21-year Duxbury town clerk said she is elated that voters chose to keep her behind the counter at Town Hall and promises to continue to serve everyone with a smile.  Oates also said that while the latest election is behind her, she is looking forward to the next one.

“I’m now looking forward to the campaign of 2007,” she said. “This town is a glimpse of heaven and I’m delighted to serve.”

With two open seats on the school committee, voters chose a pair of parents with past school involvement.  George Cipolletti (1214 votes) and Karen Wong (1185) won election to the committee over Ernest Nichols (360) and write-in candidate Kathy Bittrich, who received 629 votes to finish a distant third despite her late entry to the race.

On Monday, Wong said that she is thankful to both voters and those who ran her campaign that she will be able to lend her talents to the committee for the next three years.{sidebar id=1}

“I am looking forward to learning everything I can and I will make the best decisions I can as a committee member,” she said.

Wong also added that she is looking forward to working with Cipolletti as well as the rest of the current committee members.

“I look forward to getting to know them better and we all have a lot we can learn from each other,” she said.  “We each come from different places and can help the committee with our different perspectives.”

Cipolletti agreed and feels the group will work well together.

“Karen and I know each other from when I was co-chair of the high school council and she was co-chair of the middle school council and our philosophies are pretty much in line,” he said.  “[As for the current members] I know we can all work together; we have a great mix.”

Two former competitors for the lone Board of Assessors seat also plan on collaborating.  James MacNab received over twice the number of votes as Lane Partridge to win Saturday’s election, but the two plan on combining their skills to benefit the board.

“Lane has been great and offered all he can in the way of help and his expertise in assessing,” said MacNab.  “He’ll work with me to share his knowledge and I’m sure being around [Deputy Assessor] Dick Finnegan will be a great plus for me as I look forward to serving and making a difference for citizens in this town.”

A new face on the Housing Authority will also look to make a difference for residents.  Elm Street’s John Griffin received 905 votes to top competitor Elizabeth LaForest (701 votes) for a two-year term with the group on Saturday.

“I felt I had something to offer the housing authority [during the election] and now that it is real, I’m going to work to contribute,” he said.  “Despite what appears to be a conflict [last year], I think the housing authority and the town are working to the same goals of getting to the wants of the state and the town and I think I’ll bring a fresh set of eyes on how to make that happen.”

In the race among four citizens for two seats with the Library Trustees, incumbents Theodore Flynn (34% of votes) and Nancy Delano (32%) topped both Arthur Evans (19%) and Nancy Rose Noble (15%) to stay with the board for another three years.

Delano said that she is pleased to remain with the trustees as it works to maintain the high level of quality associated with the Duxbury Free Library as well as working with her colleagues.

“We have a good, cooperative board of trustees that can talk things over, give our opinions and come to a conclusion on a number of issues,” she said.  “I am satisfied that I’ll get to help keep the library the best it can be, which is very good.”

Working to solve the town’s planning issues will be two familiar faces to the board and one newcomer.  In the three-way race for a pair of five-year seats on the board, incumbent George Wadsworth, who has been with the group since 1983, received 1271 votes and James Kimball received 1095 votes to edge out Oak Street’s Robert Molla, who received 710 votes, as the voters’ choices.

Wadsworth said that while the group has “no major issues on our plate,” they still have some administrative matters to discuss as a result of last year’s overhaul of town bylaws through CPZBIC.

“We have some work to do with this and I’m excited to have two new members aboard who I’m sure will bring a change in attitude to the board,” he said.

Kimball, who has been serving a short-term appointment on the board for the past two months, is thankful for a longer stay with the board.

“This has been a lot harder than I thought,” he said.  “There are a lot of dynamics involved in dealing with the public and some real issues in townÖthis is not a rubber stamp board. We have lots of different perspectives and backgrounds on the board which complement each other and make us very well-rounded.”

In an uncontested race, King Caesar Lane resident John Bear won a one-year seat on the board, receiving 1447 votes.

In addition to the race for the one-year seat on the planning board, the race for town moderator was the only other uncontested race on Saturday.  Allen Bornheimer was elected to his 23rd term in this role, receiving 1631 votes.