There are a potential of 355 mail-in and emergency ballots to be counted, but Stallwood said he didn't hold much hope that the mail ballots would change the outcome. Oster needs to win 91 of the outstanding ballots in order to confirm his victory. For years, Oster said he has dreamed of following in the steps of his late father, Gerald, who was the first town administrator. The way I was brought up, if you think you can do it better, you do it better. Right now, we're at a critical juncture.
More attention has to be given to planning for the future.
Meanwhile, the mood was morose at the Stallwood Insurance and Real Estate office on Front Street, where about 40 supporters quietly looked at each other in disbelief. Stallwood ran on his record, boasting of having only five tax increases over his nearly three decades in office. But after 28 years, voters apparently had grown weary of the status quo. You can't be disheartened by getting almost 50 percent of the vote. Stallwood said he had no regrets, but noted that his fractious relationship with the Democratically controlled Town Council over the last two years may have hurt him at the polls.