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Two Pass on Party to Run for Clinton Town Council

When voters head out to the polls on Election Day, they won’t just have the usual choices of Republicans or Democrats when it comes to deciding who sits on the inaugural Town Council. Thanks to successful petition efforts, both Leah Saunders and Jane Scully Welch will appear on the ballot as unaffiliated candidates.

This November, Clinton’s form of government will change from a Board of Selectmen (BOS) style of government to a town manager form of government. Under this form of government, a professional, accredited town manager will handle many of the duties currently handled by the first selectmen. The town manager will be hired and overseen by an elected seven-member town council.

Both Saunders and Scully Welch are former Democrats. To appear on the ballot, both candidates had to collect a petition of at least 66 valid signatures. The number of signatures needed is based on requirements from the Secretary of the State’s Office.

Scully Welch is a current member of the Board of Finance (BOF), and said she changed parties to represent the voters that do not belong to either of the two major parties.

“I’ll always be a Democrat in my heart, but I felt the two-party system limited people. If you’re an unaffiliated, there’s a lot of good people that can’t get on the boards and commissions without jumping through hoops and I think that’s wrong,” said Scully Welch. “This way I can vote my own way and not have to toe the party line, so to speak.”

Saunders said she changed parties about a year ago in response to feeling like she no longer aligned the town Democrat’s views on the matters affecting the town. Saunders says that she was pressured by the Dems to follow the party line on issues, a request she was not a fan of.

“Anybody who knows me knows I don’t take orders and I do what I think is best once I get information and talk to the players involved,” Saunders said.

Saunders was a member of the BOF for four years. She ran an unsuccessful primary campaign to keep her seat during the 2017 elections.

The Town Council race is already a crowded field. Other candidates besides Saunders and Scully Welch include Democrats Christine Goupil, Jack Scherban, Tim Guerra, and Dara Onofrio. The Republican field includes Carol Walter, Dennis Donovan, Chris Aniskovich, and Mark Richards. The Green Party candidate is Eric Bergman. In the 2019 election, the four Town Council candidates who receive the most votes will be elected to four-year terms, while the next three highest vote-getters will receive serve a two-year term. The council can be made up by no more than four members of the same party.