ROCKINGHAM — Four of a kind turned out to be a winning hand in Rockingham.
A slate of four candidates for the Rockingham Free Public Library - Town Clerk Doreen Aldrich, physician Carol Blackwood, retired pastor David Gould, and attorney Ray Massucco - who ran under the banner of “Trustees You Can Trust” were all elected on Tuesday.
Gould ran unopposed for a two-year seat on the RFPL board and receieved 793 votes.
The other three bested Trustee Vice Chair Deborah Wright as they claimed the three remaining seats, all three-year terms.
Massucco, the only incumbent, was appointed by the Rockingham Selectboard last summer to replace former Trustee Steve Fuller, who resigned. He got 557 votes.
Aldrich got the most votes of the four, with 837. Blackwood got 665 while Wright was far out of contention with 143 votes.
Outgoing members Laura Senes and Elayne Clift did not seek reelection.
When the four candidates said last month that they were joining forces, they said they did so in response to what they saw as “the enormous discord, rancor, and erosion of trust generated by the board's actions over the past several years.”
Although the RFPL is owned by the town of Rockingham, it is overseen by an elected board of trustees that is independent of the Selectboard.
Much of the turmoil of the past year on the RFPL board stems from the library's $3 million renovation project. Financial problems by the general contractor for the project, Baybutt Construction Co. of Keene, N.H., led to the firm's bankruptcy and the town and the RFPL being stuck with about $700,000 of unpaid bills to the project's subcontractors.
The financial turmoil was a contributing factor in the board's decision to fire Library Director Célina Houlné last August, alleging insubordination and financial malfeasance - allegations that the former librarian has denied and addressed publicly.
Houlné has filed a civil suit against the trustees and the town alleging unlawful dismissal, and seeks reinstatement, compensation for lost income and benefits, and payment for attorneys' fees.
Also winning on Tuesday were Selectboard Chair Tom MacPhee, who, along with incumbent Susan Hammond, won the two one-year seats that were up for grabs, defeating Wright and Stefan Golec. Incumbent Peter Golec ran unopposed for a three-year seat.
Voters OK town, school budgets
All the budget articles on the school district and town meeting warrants passed at Monday night's meeting at the Bellows Falls Opera House.
Voters approved a $10,638,645.90 district school budget.
Windham Northeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Christopher Kibbe told voters this was an anticipatory budget based on projections of attendance within the district. Part of the $220,000 increase in the budget is due to anticipated increases in the school system's population of students with special needs in 2014.
Kibbe told voters that “all towns and villages up and down the Connecticut River Valley” are seeing an increase in children entering school with an individualized education program, or IEP. Although some students needing an IEP will move out of needing one, he said most who have one would continue to rely on the special services it affords throughout their education in Windham Northeast.
On the town warrant, voters approved a town budget that brought the amount to be raised by taxes to to $4,031,995, for a total property tax increase of 5 cents per $100 of assessed value, according to MacPhee.
An additional $65,000 was requested due to a highway department snow removal vehicle throwing a rod last month and needing to be replaced. The measure was approved, with 119 voting yes and 45 voting no, in a paper ballot.
The Rockingham Free Public Library budget passed, 107 to 44, also in a paper ballot requested by voters.