Photo: Anne Mahon taking out nomination papers from the Town Clerk’s Office last week.

With only eight days remaining for nomination papers to be returned to the Town Clerk’s Office, it appears that potential races for several town-wide elected offices are starting to take shape, according to information from Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

Residents taking out and those returning nomination papers (in bold) include (incumbents in italics):

Selectmen (elect one member for three years)

• Mark Paolillo (42 Pilgrim Rd) – took papers, not returned
• Alexandra Ruban (133 Claflin St) – took papers, not returned

School Committee (elect two members for three years, one for one year)

• Sabri Murat Bicer (117 School St.) on the ballot for 3 years
• Elyse Shuster (29 Van Ness Rd.) took papers, not returned
• Andrea Prestwich (86 Alexander Ave.) took papers, not returned
• Louissa Abdelghany (38 Palfrey Rd.) took papers, not returned
• Kimberly O’Mahony, (42 Sycamore) took papers, not returned

Library Trustee (elect two members for three years)

• Mark Carthy (21 Stone Rd.)  on the ballot for 3 years.
• Mary Stearns  (15 Winthrop Rd.) took papers, not returned.
• Elizabeth McGuire (70 Lawrence Lane) on the ballot for 3 years

Housing Authority (elect one member for five years and one member for three years)

• Matthew Sullivan (121 Hammond Rd.) on the ballot for 5 years
• Tommasina Olson (10 Bay State Rd.) took papers, not returned
• Anne Mahon (19 Alma Ave.) took papers, not returned

There are some interesting match-ups in the offing. For the Housing Authority (which is, like all town offices, non-partisan) there is a potential for a blue/red confrontation with Town Republican Olson vs. Bernie Sanders supporter Mahon with perennial candidate Sullivan in the mix. 

For Selectman, incumbent Mark Paolillo, who is seeking a third term, could be facing business consultant Alexandra Ruban. But in a brief conversation, Ruban isn’t actually committed to turning in the nomination papers although she said, “I have concerns how the town is run.” 

And how are these for candidates for the two three-year seats (incumbent Shuster said she’s running for the one-year term) on the school committee: A venture capitalist (Bicer), a Harvard astrophysicist (Prestwich), a former John Hancock employee who is now a child care provider (O’Mahony) and a professor of Arabic and French (Abdelghany). This could be a lineup of a TED Talk Belmont.

Nomination papers must be returned by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16, in order for residents to be included on the April 2016 Town Election Ballot.

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