Clark, Englund win re-election to Cheshire County commission

Nov. 9—A pair of Democratic Cheshire County commissioners won their re-election bids Tuesday, one beating his Republican challenger handily, the other clinching a tighter race.

In Cheshire County District 2, incumbent Terry Clark toppled Anthony Ferrantello, 7,109 to 2,908, for a four-year term on the commission. And in Cheshire County District 3, incumbent Robert Englund edged out Leo Plante, 6,653 to 5,851, for a two-year term.

The results mean Democrats will continue to hold all three seats on the county commission, a part-time elected body responsible primarily for overall supervision of county departments, buildings and land, as well as budgetary oversight.

The District 2 race pit Clark, 67, of Keene — a decades-long county resident, former Keene city councilor and former county treasurer — against Ferrantello, 71, a retired architect who said he moved to Keene from Tarrytown, N.Y., about a year ago. District 2 covers Keene, Marlborough and Roxbury.

In the more competitive District 3 race, the winner, Englund, 80, of Stoddard, is a retired physician who worked for more than 30 years for Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene and is finishing his inaugural four-year term as commissioner. He faced a contest from Plante, 76, of Dublin, a founder of Lionheart Classical Academy in Peterborough. Cheshire County District 3 has been redistricted to cover Alstead, Dublin, Gilsum, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Marlow, Nelson, Rindge, Stoddard, Sullivan, Surry, Walpole and Westmoreland.

In both county commissioner races, the Republican candidates had questioned the incumbents' decision to establish the county as a regional EMS provider. But the Democrats defended the new ambulance service, saying it is necessary in a rural area where many departments rely on volunteers and comes after years of talks with private service providers and fire chiefs.

"There was talk five years ago that our ambulance service in the county was in trouble," Clark said in an interview before Tuesday's election. "There were a lot of hiccups going on, and a lot of the chiefs and EMS people and the hospital were very concerned."

Likewise, Englund said his decades working in medicine locally have made him aware of a the strong need for a centralized EMS provider. When it comes to saving lives, he said, every second counts so having an ambulance nearby when someone needs it is essential.

Earlier this year, the county spent $1.1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to purchase property in Swanzey and construct a home base for the new ambulance service there. Expected to be operational by next year, Cheshire EMS will be equipped with seven ambulances and a paramedic intercept vehicle, according to county officials, who hired a chief to lead the department in August.

Clark said that in addition to launching Cheshire EMS, he has helped get the county's community power plan off the ground and worked to ensure all county employees make at least $15 an hour — all while keeping taxes low. Even with all those accomplishments, he said, in 2020 and 2021 the county budget resulted in just a 1.4 percent and 0.6 percent increase, respectively, in funds raised from property taxes.

In the runup to the election, Englund also talked about his work with medication-assisted treatment, a program that allows inmates at the county jail with substance-use disorders to take Suboxone, a medication used to treat opioid addiction. Suboxone, which Englund said blocks the pleasurable effects of drugs like fentanyl and heroin, has been very effective for inmates at the jail and has helped reduce recidivism rates, he said.

Commissioner Jack Wozmak, a Walpole Democrat, was not up for re-election this year. With two of the districts for Cheshire County commissioners shifting with the recent state-wide redistricting, which takes place every 10 years, Wozmak will no longer live in the district he represents. Walpole is now part of District 3. However, under state law, he will be allowed to fulfill the remaining two years of his term.

Other county races

For Cheshire County register of deeds, Democratic incumbent Anna Tilton of Keene won re-election over Maria Santonastaso of Rindge. Tilton received 19,325 votes to Santonastaso's 13,011. Chuck Weed, a Keene Democrat, ran uncontested for re-election as Cheshire County treasurer; Democrat D. Chris McLaughlin of Westmoreland ran uncontested for another term as county attorney and Jeremy LaPlante, a Keene Democrat, ran uncontested for re-election as county register of probate.

This story has been updated with final vote totals from the Cheshire County register of deeds race.

Ryan Spencer can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1412, or rspencer@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @rspencerKS