Potential Candidates Enter Seekonk Election

Election Day in Seekonk is not until April, but potential candidates are already beginning to prepare for the contests. Michael DelRosso, grandson of former Selectman Robert DelRosso, pulled papers Monday for a potential Board of Selectmen run. Also on Monday, local television talk show host Jeffrey Starr Mararian pulled papers for the school committee contest.

Both men must collect 50 signatures from registered Seekonk voters to get their names on the ballot.

If DelRosso enters the race, he would face Francis Cavaco, the current BOS chair. Cavaco announced last month that he would seek a new term. His seat is the only one on the BOS up for renewal in April.

Cavaco has served on the board since he won a special election in August 2008 to complete the term of Carol Bragg, who had resigned. Cavaco was elected to his first full term in 2010.

The school committee contest is for the seats occupied by David Quinn and Francis Creamer. Neither incumbent has announced whether they plan to run for re-election. This would be Mararian's second attempt at a school committee seat. He ran as a write-in candidate this year. He also took the write-in route for the special selectmen election in September and the regular selectmen contest in 2005.

For the upcoming election, Mararian said he would collect the required 50 signatures to get his name on the ballot. He is confident about how he will do.

"I not only have the ability to win, I will win," said Mararian in a Monday evening interview. "And this will be a positive campaign. I will never speak ill of the other candidates."

Mararian, who refers to himself as the town's unofficial mayor, said he would release a document in a couple weeks called the Contract for Seekonk. It will feature "very specific ideas and proposals" that he would bring to the school committee as one of its five members.

Known for his offbeat humor and eccentric qualities, Mararian said this would be a serious campaign.

"It is going to be serious, but one that will include my sense of humor," Mararian said.

He told Seekonk Patch in September as the ballots were counted in the special election that he would run for selectmen next year. Mararian, whose youngest of three daughters attends Seekonk High School, said Monday that he had changed his mind after some analysis.

"I determined I could better serve the people, including the children, of Seekonk on the school committee," Mararian said. "That is where I can make more of a difference."

Editor's Note: The original version of this article stated Cavaco won a special election in 2009. The election was in 2008.