Nomination Papers Now Available for Reading Municipal Election

Residents hoping to run for elected positions can now declare their intentions by pulling papers at the Town Clerk's office.

Wednesday was the first day residents could pull papers for the election, which has been moved forward by one week ahead of the originally scheduled date of April 8.

The Secretary of the Commonwealth recently called for a special election to fill the state senate seat left vacant by Katherine Clark, who was recently voted into the United States senate.

As a result, Reading's municipal election will be held on April 1 in conjunction with the special election for state senate.

There will be several key positions that will need to be filled this year in Reading, including two seats on the Board of Selectmen.

Ben Tafoya is considering a run for Clark's vacant seat and is unlikely to run for re-election to the Board of Selectmen as a result. In addition, Chairman James Bonazoli recently announced that he will not run for another term.

One candidate who has already emerged as a Board of Selectman hopeful is Kevin Sexton. The local realtor posted on his intention to run in a blog post on Patch, and he also said that on Wednesday he not only pulled papers, but also returned them with the required 50 signatures.

Are you planning to run for office this spring? Let us know in the comments section below, or declare your intentions in a Patch blog or announcement.