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07/18/2017 02:30 PMWith Election Day only four months away, the Republican Town Committee (RTC) and the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) are preparing to nominate candidates for the ballot this month.
The RTC caucus is scheduled for Thursday, July 20 at 7 p.m.; the Democratic caucus is slated for Monday, July 24. Both meetings are held at Town Hall. While the RTC caucus is open to RTC members only, the DTC process is open to Democrats registered to vote in Clinton.
A number of seats are open this year, including the first selectman and Board of Selectman positions currently held by Republicans First Selectman Bruce Farmer and selectmen John Giannotti and Carol Walter and Democrats Lynn Pinder and William Fritz. All selectmen serve two-year terms.
Additionally, 26 other seats are up for grabs. Voters may vote for one treasurer for a two-year term and three Board of Finance members. Board of Finance terms are four years.
Four members of the Board of Education may be elected, though not more than two from one party to ensure that no party has more than a one-member majority. The Board of Education terms are also four-year terms.
Two seats each are open in four-year terms on the Board of Assessment Appeals, Planning & Zoning Commission Alternate, and the Zoning Board of Appeal Alternate. One Board of Assessment Appeal Alternate seat is open for a four-year term.
Five seats of the Planning & Zoning Commission (four-year term) will be elected in November.
Three seats each are available for a four-year term on the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Board of Police Commissioners.
Each party may also nominate a candidate for the judge of probate for Saybrook, which represents Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Haddam, Killingworth, Lyme, Old Saybrook, and Westbrook. The current judge, Terrance Lomme, is retiring in 2018. The person elected to this position would serve out the remainder of the term from July 28, 2018, to Jan. 9, 2019.
In the 2015 election, Republicans won 13 of 18 contested seats, including the first selectman’s race in which Farmer won by a single vote.