Bennington voters approved the town’s $1.7 million budget Tuesday, and Thomas James won the open Select Board seat over David Hardwick by a margin of 131-107.
Resident Mike Munhall said he hoped James would win, for a “breath of fresh air.” Other voters agreed, including Doreen Cawley, who said that she knew James personally and wanted him to win.
“He’s a very honest man, and I think he knows most people in the town, so I think he’ll do well,” she said.
“We’ve had some solid people in there, I trust in them,” said Crystal Hall, a resident who brought her daughter Laquea to vote for the first time.
Another voter, who asked to be identified only as Linda, said both Select Board candidates would be good for the town.
“We can’t go wrong no matter what happens,” she said.
Linda also said that while spending should be kept down, she supported all of the capital reserve fund articles and articles for funding local charities.
“They will save money in the future,” she said. “Bennington’s in a good place to set ourselves up for the future.”
The vote to approve the budget was 181-47, and all of the town’s warrant articles for funding capital reserve funds and local charities were approved, including reserve funds for the town library, building maintenance and police and fire equipment. Charities included the End 68 Hours of Hunger program and the Grapevine & Family Resource Center in Antrim.
Munhall said he understood people’s concerns about spending and tax increases, and that he supported keeping spending low for the most part.
“I get it, as long as services are kept in place,” he said.
Munhall also pointed to the warrant articles concerning funding from taxes for the Conservation Commission, saying that the Select Board has been trying to ignore this revenue stream for the commission.
“They conveniently forgot about it,” he said, adding that the selectmen had “run roughshod” over the town.
The warrant articles, which called for 75% of gravel and sand taxes as well as 75% of land use change taxes to go to the Conservation Commission fund, were approved.
In uncontested races, Town Clerk Deb Belcher was re-elected. Jeffrey Rose and Melissa Clark were elected to the two open three-year ZBA seats, and Christopher Maple was elected to the open two-year ZBA seat. John Cronin was elected as moderator, and Brenda Gibbons was elected as supervisor of the checklist, all in unopposed races.
Jill Wilmoth was elected as library trustee, Karen Belcher as cemetery trustee and Melissa Clark as water and sewer commissioner in the remaining uncontested races.
In a write-in race for the two open Planning Board seats, Todd Wheeler and Luke Hardwick were elected with 26 and 25 votes, respectively.