Plymouth Voters Elect New Select Board Members in Tight Race

Voters reject ballot measure to revoke civil service law for the Police Department

Plymouth's annual town election saw 7,992 voters across 18 precincts choose new leaders and weigh in on important issues.

Bill Keohan and Deb Iaquinto. secured select board seats, receiving 4,638 and 3,575 votes respectively.

Voters narrowly rejected revoking the Civil Service Law for the police department, with 3,424 in favor and 4,143 against.

At a pre-election forum, Select Board member Charlie Bletzer highlighted the urgency of the situation: "We're down 20 officers. This is a public safety crisis. Waiting another year is just unacceptable."

Scott Vecchi, a retired police sergeant and candidate, offered a different perspective: "There's got to be an underlying cause. As the captain of the ship, it's on the chief to address whatever issues are causing people to leave."

In other races, Paul Samargedus and Luis Alberto Pizano won school committee seats, while Christina Bryant defeated Deborah Rae Dugan to hold a one-year seat she was recently appointed to.

Francis Frederick Mand claimed the contested planning board seat.

Voters also overwhelmingly approved a non-binding question about communicating with state leaders on radioactive wastewater discharges from the decommissioned Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

At a candidate forum, newly elected select board member Keohan shared his approach: "I've gained this institutional knowledge of how the town works, and I'm putting those facts to use."