There is no shortage of candidates who want to run for public office in Brattleboro or Rockingham.
Monday was the statewide deadline for candidates to turn in their nomination petitions to their town clerks to get on the ballot for Town Meeting Day on March 1.
There was a last-minute flurry of candidates turning in paperwork to Brattleboro Town Clerk Annette Cappy. The result is a competitive slate for the Selectboard, with eight candidates on this year's ballot compared to six last year.
Newcomer Ken Schneck and former board member Spoon Agave will square off for the three-year seat being vacated by Martha O'Connor. Agave ran for a three-year seat last year.
Six candidates have filed papers for the one-year seats being vacated by Jesse Corum and Daryl Pillsbury: Joe Bushey, Christopher Chapman, Hilary Cooke, David Gartenstein, Kathryn Turnas II, and John Wilmerding.
In Rockingham, incumbent Selectboard members Ann DiBernardo and Peter Golec each took out papers for both a three-year and a one-year seat.
DiBernardo eventually returned her papers for a one-year seat. She will face three other candidates running for two one-year positions: Bellows Falls trustee Lance Allen, Josh Hearne, and Deborah Wright.
Golec, who is finishing up his one-year term, opted for the three-year seat, where he will face former Selectboard Chair Lamont Barnett.
Selectboard member Fred Bullock, who was appointed to the board last year, did not choose to run for re-election.
All three open seats on the Rockingham School Board are contested.
Carol Blackwood and Bill Metcalfe seek the one-year seat held by John Bohannon.
Annie Guyon and Chad Illingworth will compete for the three-year seat being vacated by current Chair Mike Empey, while incumbent Joseph Brissette will be challenged by Suzanne Groenewold for the two-year seat.
On the Bellows Falls Union High School Board, incumbent Jan Mitchell-Love is being challenged by Jim “Jiggs” McAuliffe for a three-year seat.
Here are how some of the other races are shaping up around Windham County.
Dummerston
Selectboard Chairman Andrew MacFarland and member Wayne Emery both opted not to return for another term.
MacFarland has served on the board for four years and has said he wanted to do something different. Emery, former highway department foreman, won his first term on the board three years ago. Like MacFarland, he too wants to do something else, including running his recently established trucking business.
Former Selectboard Chairman Lewis White will seek MacFarland's two-year seat. Mark Whitaker, a member of the town's Route 5/Route 30 Committee, and Brattleboro Union High School social studies teacher Bill Holiday are running for Emery's three-year seat.
There is no opposition for the town School Board seats held by Rick Mills and Dan Normandeau (one year) and Roger Aquadro (three years).
Guilford
Most of the incumbents are running again, including Selectboard Chairman Richard Clark, who is seeking a three-year seat on the board.
Lisa Barry is running again for the three-year lister seat, and Neil Quinn is seeking to hold his three-year auditor position. Patricia Beu is also seeking reelection on the one-year town agent seat.
Town Clerk and Treasurer Penny Marine, appointed to the positions by the Selectboard last July after the resignation of Jaclyn Root, is also running. Both the clerk and treasurer seats are three-year terms.
Other openings exist on the Cemetery Commission and the Conservation Commission, with one seat on each, and two seats on the Planning Commission.
The Guilford School Board seats held by Paul Dery, Jody Hauser and Chairman Kevin Freitas are all open.
Newfane
Town Clerk Gloria Cristelli is one of four candidates running for two open one-year seats on the Selectboard. Dennis Wiswall and David Berrie are also running.
John Mack will vie for the three-year Selectboard seat, as will Frank Suponski.
Cristelli is unopposed for her Town Clerk position, as is Treasurer/Tax Collector Maureen Albert-Piascik, although Albert-Piascik is being challenged for Deliquent Tax Collector by Marshall Glickman.
No candidates have stepped forward for a three-year term as Leland & Gray School Director. Kenneth McFadden is unopposed for a three-year term as School Director, while Kim Friedman and Pam Meihak are running unopposed for the two, one-year seats, and Jay Urato and Bahman Mahdavi are unopposed for their respective seats on the LGUHS board.
Deborah Luskin is unopposed for the moderator position.
Wilmington
Two current members of the Selectboard, James Burke and Margaret Streeter, are seeking re-election. Burke is running for a two-year seat, while Streeter is seeking another three-year term.
Three resignations from the board of listers last fall means an extra seat will come up for grabs on March 1. In addition to races for two one-year seats and one three-year seat, there will be another contest for the remaining two years of a three-year seat.