Voters in Fairhaven, Freetown and Acushnet Have Their Say

An upset victory in the race for Selectman in Fairhaven.  Incumbent Brian Bowcock was defeated by Geoffrey Haworth by 256 votes.  Haworth, while accepting congratulations at Town Hall, told WBSM News, people in Fairhaven simply wanted a change.

Two other races in Fairhaven appear headed for recounts.  John Wethington defeated Peter De Terra by 3 votes for a seat on the Board of Health.  And John Farrell defeated Cathy Melanson by ten votes for a Planning Board seat.

In other results, Stasia Powers and Bernard Roderick were re-elected to the Fairhaven School Committee.

In Freetown, another incumbent was defeated.  Selectman Jean Fox lost her seat to Finance Committee member Lee Baumgartner in the only contested race on the ballot.  Baumgartner's victory margin was 254 votes.  Fox was seeking her third term on the board.

Voters in Acushnet returned Selectman David Wojnar to office.  Wojnar won his sixth consecutive term, defeating former Selectman Michael Cioper, 1,062 to 911.

However, a project that Wojnar strongly supported, went down to defeat.  Voters were   asked to borrow $2.9 million dollars as the town's share of a Library/Community Center project, but it was rejected by the voters, 964-to-928.  There was a 27% voter turnout in Acushnet