Sagar, Parker Win Selectmen Race

Dave Parker and Gary Sagar were the winners in Monday's Seekonk Board of Selectmen election for two three-year seats.

Parker, the lone incumbent in the race, was the top vote-getter with 1,063 ballots marked in his favor. Sagar received 992 votes. The rest of the order was Nelson Almeida (877), Robert Blanchard (825) and David Viera (756).

"I'm thankful that the people decided to rehire me," Parker said at the , where he as well as Almeida and Viera waited to hear the final results. "As opposed to the other four candidates, I was really reapplying for a job that I have already done. [The voters] had three years of decisions to base their votes on, rather than just promises."

He continued, "This makes me feel that they think for the most part I'm doing the right thing. So it was a vindication … and that does feel good."

This will be the second term for Parker, who currently serves as chairman of the board.

Speaking at his victory party at the  hall, Sagar said he was thankful for the support of so many voters, despite the challenges he believed he faced.

"There was a real attempt to run a smear campaign against me, so I'm happy that I came in second," Sagar said. "I think that had that smear campaign not happened, I would have had more votes."

Sagar, who campaigned with Blanchard, was accused of having . Also, it was alleged that fliers for his campaign were illegally placed on mail boxes.

First on the agenda for the newly elected selectman, who will begin his job on Wednesday, is to hold a review of Election Day. Earlier this year, the Board of Selectmen had granted Sagar's request for voting polls to open at 7 a.m., five hours earlier than usual. He said this was successful in getting more people to vote (nearly 27 percent of registered voters participated, a high amount by Seekonk standards), but there were some parking issues at the lone voting location, Seekonk High School, that he said should not have happened.

Also, Sagar wants to hold a joint-meeting soon of the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, Finance Committee and Capital Improvement Committee. 

"I would like to see if we can do something to consolidate some of the operations of this town," Sagar said.

Almeida, a newcomer to local politics, impressed many political observers with his strong third-place showing. He said he would run again next year.

"First time out there, to come in third of five and lose by 115, that’s not bad," Almeida said. "It shows I have a lot of support out there."

He attributed his success to his campaign message of being a newcomer without any political agenda. Among those who were impressed with his showing was Viera.

"He had an excellent showing for his first time out," said Viera, who had won and lost selectmen campaigns prior to this one. "He did a great job. I think he's going to be a force to be reckoned with at some point in time."

Viera said the voters made a strong statement with his last-place finish.

"I've been around for a long time, and it's clear they want fresh faces, new blood," Viera said.

He would not rule out another run for office, but he said, "the voters have spoken," and doesn't think he would do it. However, Viera noted that he said the same thing after his last loss.

In the School Committee contest, Mitch Vieira was elected to a second three-year term and Brian Freitas was also elected. They were the only names on the ballot. Write-in candidate Jeffrey Starr Mararian was also in the contest, but there were not enough write-in votes for him to win.

The above results are unofficial. Write-in ballots still need to be counted, but the order of finish will not change.